I was going to post this under the thread, "The more things change...", but figured it would be too much of a hijack.
Anyway, when the topic turned to the thought of most county airports being closed in the next 20 years, I got to thinking about all of the aircraft that are still parked, waiting for the time when the owner will "get around to it."
As an example, in 2006, I was looking for a project. Something I could play with in my spare time, and perhaps end up with a viable airplane. If not, I was going to part it out.
I found a 172M at my airport, parked in a carport-style hangar, that hadn't moved in the 5 years I'd been passing it. I checked tne N-number, and contacted the owner. Nice gent, but it was obvious by his speech pattern that he was elderly. When I finally gently asked if he would consider selling it, he told me that, no, he was going to get it back in the air Real Soon Now. That was 2006; it's now 2013, and the airplane still sits there, at $150/month rent.
So, the gent has spent (at least) $12,600 paying rent for something that hasn't even been dusted off, yet he can't quite let go.
I can understand that; it's easy to equate that to someone who's had to give up driving, but keeps their car parked in their garage. At least they're not paying insurance or rent to keep it there.
The power of flight is just too powerful to sever the connection. Even if it costs us substantial money. Giving up that last connection is surrendering to the inevitable, I guess. Just strikes me as sad. I wonder what *I'll* do when that time comes...