The Journalistic Enemy of GA Stirkes Again

[Frank Giger]

Is there anyone who doesn't need more training?

It is not just aviation...

"The power of the media is willful and dangerous because it dramatically affects Western pollcy while bearing no responsibity for the outcome"
-- Robert Kaplan, Foreign Correspondent, the Atlantic

And this goes to the problem we'll never solve, since it speaks to the heart of integrity. Pilots, in the main, are overly confident, fussy, nitpicky, friendly pains in the rear who will at once state their strengths as aviators and then point out their fallibilities in the same breath.

None of us will say we don't need more training, or that we don't have things to learn - which is grist for the journalistic mill.

The flip side is that we also tend to be a bit quick to denegrate other pilot's abilities when things go wrong. One can be fully qualified and experienced at a task and things go wrong...it doesn't mean the pilot is a bozo, it just means that he is human and lead himself down the accident chain.

Not to say that some pilots aren't bozos. Luck is a mitigating factor but should never be a primary operating fundamental.

[martymayes]

And this goes to the problem we'll never solve,

Won't have to. If the topic becomes politically charged, the FAA will solve it for us. MU-2 airplanes are a perfect example.


Regarding another media story, I watched a program on the Speed Channel Sat. morning. They featured a Stearman as the aviation equivalent to the classic hotrod. Simply built, easy to restore/modify (their words, not mine) everyone who likes classic hotrods should have one. Okay, the story had some inaccuracies, false assumptions and misinformation but I enjoyed watching it for the entertainment value.

[Jim Hann]

The aviation numbers, when compared to cars, have a higher fatal incidence rate. The old adage about the drive to the airport as being more dangerous simply isn't true when talking about GA. I believe the aircraft fatality rate is on par with riding a motorcycle.

Can it be improved? Not easily. But GA really needs to get it's act together and try. Otherwise, the media will continue to hatchet the industry. Gonna be hard to get support for a libel suit when the statistical part of what they are saying is true.

If I remember the numbers from years ago, you were more likely to be in an auto accident BUT you were more likely to be killed in an aircraft accident. In other words the aviation accidents happened less often but were more likely to be fatal.

Jim

[WLIU]

Here is a good impact of the across the board cuts of the sequester. The rulemaking budget likely got cut too.

Fly safe,

Wes
N78PS

[eiclan]

in the time it took to watch that drivel you could have,sanded something,cut ,welded,measured,perused,admired any number of things or bit, or dare I say it but to keep the other half that puts up with your obsession happy by doing one of those things she has been asking for for months.By watching you just encourage them. Cheers Ross

[Floatsflyer]

in the time it took to watch that drivel you could have,sanded something,cut ,welded,measured,perused,admired any number of things or bit, or dare I say it but to keep the other half that puts up with your obsession happy by doing one of those things she has been asking for for months.By watching you just encourage them. Cheers Ross

And by taking a position of institutionalized ignoring by not watching, monitoring, voicing disapproval and keeping the media accountable for innacurracies and distortion, you will encourage, invite and guarantee more of the same. If you continue to support an ignorance is bliss attitude, then be assured one day you will no longer be able to sand, cut, weld.........guaranteed!

[WLIU]

I will suggest that rather than waste your effort writing to the media members who will never give you any positive resopnse, you should instead take the time to find a local media, TV or print, reporter and take them flying. Rent an airplane if you have to. Make a friend of aviation. The great opportunity is to create numbers of aviation friendly media rather than try to change the mind of individuals who don't care. Now this is harder work, but more constructive than just venting at someone who does not care.

The same holds true of your local politicians. Find ones that are disposed to be friendly, or ones that have not formed an anti-aviation opinion, and take them flying.

And fly Young Eagles.

Wrestling with anti-aviation people is a lot like wrestling with a pig. Doesn't accomplish much and the pig just might like to wrestle for the sake of wrestling.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[Chuck Arnold]

I watched the piece, and frankly I did not see the hatchet job that several others saw. Sure, they got a few things wrong ("a stall is when an airplane stops in the air"), and yes it was a bit sensational, but so what? The fact is that an excessive number of GA pilots kill themselves and their passengers every year by doing remarkably stupid things. Are you really going to find fault with an acro instructor who recommends spin training? Until pilots stop doing dumb things like taking off in an overloaded airplane at high density altitudes and posting youTube videos about it, regrettably, you're going to see more pieces like this on the news.

[Mayhemxpc]

You forgot to include..."with a CG well aft of the envelope."

Which will negate any spin training you had.

(I am not opposed to spin training. Lots of fun. Good lessons to be learned, too. I also believe in glider experience, although for different reasons.)

[WLIU]

I will suggest that large numbers of GA pilots are NOT killing themselves every year. When you look at the actual numbers, and you look at the numbers of new E-AB airplanes that are launched every year, and the estimated flying hours, there is not crisis. One of the folks who posts here had a nice article in Sport Aviation recently that shows this.

Now airplane crashes are much more "controversial" than auto crashes. It can make for TV that is easy to sensationalize. But TV is not reality and the hard numbers tell us that we should not get all wound up about this issue. Do our best not to be one of those statistics yes. Make ourselves miserable, No.

We do not live in a TV reality show and we should not act like we do. How many crashes a year are there at your local airport?

Each individual who thinks that the world would be safer if pilots spent more time training should go out and be first in line to sign up for spin training. The EAA IAC web site has a list of schools. Who knows, you might like it and find another aviation activity draining your bank account.

And I offer the advice in the last paragraph as someone who does upright AND inverted spins regularly.

A long long time ago, far far away, I helped film a TV segment where the host made his first parachute jump. They filmed 16 hours of video and distilled it down into 6 minutes on the air. What they picked and chose to include was very interesting. Good shots of the host sitting in the door of the airplane looking afraid. Played up the danger. Now the interesting part - after that segment aired we had a much larger first jump course the next weekend. Seems like many folks are looking for activities that are exciting and challenging, rather than safe and boring. With some work, this latest aviation hit piece might be used to bring out the adventure seekers with disposable income to learn to fly and defy death.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS