Newsgroups: rec.aviation

In article <14326@auspex-gw.auspex.com>, tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett) writes:
 
> I'm one of those people without a goal in mind who think that a 
> Private Pilots license is a goal in itself.  Somehow I and quite a few
> others seem to manage to still eek out some enjoyment from aviation and
> flying without devoting myself to complications.  I have been flying
> since 1977, without an IFR license or even a commercial license, and
> I don't have any plans to get either one of them.

I guess I didn't really explain myself properly when I talked about the
number of Private Pilots vs. the number of Private Pilots with
Instrument Ratings.  In order to put the 14% ratio in perspective, you
must consider that a number of people with Private Pilot's licenses do
not use them.  My assumption is that since the license never expires,
the government includes even those without current medicals in the
number of private pilots licensed.  I also used a reference, Dogan, in
this case, which supports the ratio.  So the ratio of ACTIVE private
pilots with instrument ratings could be quite a bit higher.  Also, I
brought up the fact that many people go on to get commercial licenses so
they also make the number of instrument-rated private pilots appear small.

Then in finest rec.aviation fashion, I created a drift.....  and
speculated why someone with something as absolutely priceless as a
license to fly wouldn't use it.  I could only think that these people
wandered away from aviation because they failed to establish other
aviation-related goals.  These goals could be anything.  For instance,
they could include flying to some really neat places like Oshkosh, the
Grand Canyon, the CBFI, Martha'a Vineyard, etc.  It could even mean
getting another rating just for the heck of it.

> I'm not at a loss for what to do next -- I'm still learning how to fly
> and the thought that it is necessary or required that I go after 
> additional ratings in order to have the interest or reason to expand
> my abilities and skills is flat wrong.  I think you're wrong to say
> that 50% of the people who get pilot's licenses are then left with
> no confidence and never fly again.

My experience has been that I've discovered more inactive pilots at my
place of employment than active pilots (7 to 4).  Perhaps this is a too
small a sample but I couldn't think of a more 'random' population.
For instance, I couldn't consider just my friends from the airport or in
my EAA chapter because I won't find a truly representative sample there.
Come to think of it, some of my EAA friends are so busy building planes
that they haven't flown in years :-).

I have nothing against VFR-only pilots.  I AM a VFR-only pilot.  I am
just looking for a reason to explain why someone would abandon such a
great hobby like aviation after he or she went through the trouble of
getting a license in the first place.  I suggested that perhaps the
private pilot's license (and not necessarily flying) was their ultimate
goal.

Tom is so far away from being an inactive pilot that I can only imagine
that he misinterpreted my intentions in trying to shed some light on the
mystery of why it seems so few private pilots have an instrument rating.

To summarize my points:  

1.  A lot of private pilots are inactive.  
2.  Many 'apparently private' pilots have commercial licenses.

Thus, these two points can help put in perspective why only 14% of all
private pilots have their instrument ratings.

Lee Devlin             |    HP Avondale Division  | phone: (215) 268-5697 
Piper Colt N4986Z      |    Rt 41 & Starr Road    | email:
Spirit of rec.aviation |    Avondale, PA 19311    | devlin@hpavla.avo.hp.com
Newsgroups: rec.aviation