Wight says much of the growth at Byron Airport is from ultralights, and he advises small GA airports to think twice before banning them from their fields. And it's been good for business, he adds. Three of the field's four flight schools have seen increased enrollments in recent months, says Airport Manager Ollie Cramer. It seemed to pick up in the latter part of last summer and early fall. Like Wight, Cramer attributes that to the upturn in the economy more than anything product liability legislation did.
More people now have the money to start or complete their flight training.
If Cessna and other manufacturers can keep below that threshold, he says, they may sell some planes if the economy remains stable. Cramer's biggest concern about the future of general aviation is where all the nation's commercial pilots are going to come from. You hear all the time about the need for training of pilots, that there's going to be a dearth of pilots. Someone's going to have to keep flight training energized. While AOPA also is participating in NATA's Learn to Fly Program, it initiated a program of its own last year to help introduce prospective new pilots to flying.