A Continuing Look At The Obstacles We Face

Aero-Analysis/Commentary by James R. Campbell, ANN Editor-In-Chief/Rabble-Rouser

• What’s The Point of ‘Next-Gen’ If ‘Now-Gen’ Crashes and Burns? (Part 1)

I'm at a point in all this that I should cease being surprised at the impressive response I get when I start a conversation with the readers of ANN. Your input and commentary on Part 1 of this obsessive rant was intriguing… and voluminous… and pretty damned inspiring. Keep it up.

I've gotten some great ideas from you… and I'm adding them to a doc that is in the works about all this… because once I finishing my first round of bitching at what's wrong with aviation, I'm going to have to start looking at the actions necessary to bring solutions to them all… and I gotta tell you, I'm getting kinda jazzed about that. I can't wait to tell you why. But first, let's get back to where I left us a few days ago.

ANN's Jim Campbell, 
Editor-In-Chief/Professional Pain-In-The (Deleted)

When last I left you in Part One, I had noted that it was time to truly fess up and deal with the fact that aviation is in a world of hurt… that the mess around us was for real and easily constituted the greatest threat to the aviation world that it has ever known.

Polite 'genteel' measures will not save it.

We need to stand up and be counted… be active and refuse to accept the damage that keeps piling up. Screw "getting along to go along" - let's get in the faces of our opposition and make it clear that aviation will not disappear -- but instead will fight to remain free… and GROW!

No matter which segment of aviation you enjoy or work in, there is trouble afoot... from the lightest Ultralights and LSAs to GA and BizAv, to the airlines and the military (and don't even get us started on aerospace... NASA, anyone?). Let's face it... the aero-world is a mess and in some of the biggest trouble it's EVER seen over the course of its short century-plus life... and while I believe it can be fixed, we feel that the time for calm discussion and polite discourse (that has been so typical of so much of aviation) is WAY behind us.
The list of threats is ponderous and daunting. The government is targeting many aspects of our biz, the economy is a mess and aviation is even worse, we have a major fuel crisis coming, the airlines have destroyed the once-glamorous persona of our aerial transportation and substituted it with something that is even less appetizing that 'Going Greyhound', NASA is directionless, LSAs are over-priced/misunderstood/horribly marketed and going nowhere, flight schools are moribund and disappearing at a fearsome rate, airports are bcoming ghost towns, the associations are either off-target/poorly run/leaderless/or just plain ineffective (at everything but screwing their 'friends')... I could go on, but you get the idea.

Yes, we're in a bit of a fix. Actually, let's be honest… I don't think it's never been THIS screwed up before.

Ever.

It's a freaking nightmare out there... and, as noted; we really can't afford to be nice or calm about it. Not any more... that time is SO long past. We need to be active, aggressive, organized and smart if we are going to turn around an industry and a lifestyle that has been under the gun for a number of decades and may never recover if stern counter-measures aren't applied ASAP.

Last Friday, I started enumerated some of the threats we faced -- Aero-Trials and Aero-Tribulations, I called them -- problems, and issues that threaten our future. As noted, I've got at least 20 of them (so far) and welcome you to comment on these concepts… and offer your thoughts, suggestions, feedback or otherwise identify other issues that deserve to be added to the list. In identifying and discussing these issues, we can then turn our attention to setting forth with plans to seek the requisite solutions… and work with those in a realistic position to affect those solutions.

PLEASE Let Me Hear From YOU!

OK… continuing in no particular order, let me present ANN's second list of Aero-Trials and Aero-Tribulations-issues and concepts we must face, survive and correct if aviation is to survive.

We Must RETHINK/Reconfigure LSA/Affordable Flying Machine Segment

Aviation is too damned expensive… and if we're going to keep it safe and ever-evolving, that's not likely to change much until we can score enough new pilots and business to being the economies of scale down to a reasonable level.

That's going to take IMMENSE work… and will not happen anytime soon. BUT, we do have part of an initial solution right here at hand… one that has been over-hyped, manipulated by some entities for their own purposes (and to the detriment of the rest of the industry), poorly sold, bastardized, folded, spindled and mutilated… to a point where it's not really doing much of anything to bring new fliers to the fold. LSA should be a bright shining star in our aerial game-plan… instead of the dodderingly unstable, limping, industry it is right now.

And while we're at it… why are we killing off Ultralights? Ultralights still represent a (largely) untapped market that could easily eclipse the frenzy we saw in this market segment in the 1980s. There was a time when Ultralights were all the rage and there dozens of companies, and hundreds of designs out there to choose… and tens of thousands of them were sold. We need to learn from what worked and didn't work back then and build the MOST basic entry-level aircraft ownership program yet. I know hundreds of current pilots (some who are now turbine aircraft owners) that started with these things… so don't tell me that they didn't result in some kind of boost to the pilot population. And while the subject is on the firing line... the FAA sure appears ready and willing to kill these things off… DON'T let them.

More important (and immediate), the LSA concept needs to be rethought, properly defined, heavily promoted, carefully marketed and aggressively supported… We need to look at the value these airplanes bring to our industry and find ways to maximize it wherever possible, while also being realistic about one over-riding fact… aviation is not and never will be inexpensive… so what we must do is build as much value into the LSA equation, for the most value possible.

We haven't done it… and what we have right now is a mess of (mostly) 'me, too' airplanes that cost too much for what they provide. That's gotta change… and fast.

Give Back OUR Damned Airspace

When I started flying… 40 years ago (YIKES), there were few places a flier could not venture and the rules and regs involved in getting from Point A to Point B were practical and somewhat reasonable. Now, however, our airspace is being ripped away in greater and greater grabs that are becoming nearly impossible to navigate without serious computer power. And it makes less and less sense to even try without the amazing nav and guidance capabilities we can cram into virtually any airframe in this day and age -- at great expense and increased complexity.

For all the Federal 'bovine excretory byproduct' slung our way about the need to protect our nation's capital and the thousands of 'incidents' that have occurred, it may (NOT) surprise you to learn that each and every one of them involved an innocent pilot, of all manners of experience and background, who wound up afoul of the ever-growing, poorly concocted, convoluted, Rube Goldberg monstrosity that surrounds OUR NATION's CAPITOL.In other words--NO THREAT TO ANYONE.

TFRs sprout up like popcorn on a hot griddle, the restrictions grow evermore ponderous and the sheer volume of the rules encountered by any pilot trying to navigate across or around any real population center is a whirling, confusing, ever-changing morass of bureaucratic insanity. It's no longer a matter of just staying vigilant, it's a matter of trying to stay clear of rules, regs, and restrictions that are often in conflict with each other to the point that every flyer, despite their experience, can easily run afoul of one ort many restrictions.

It's simply unworkable and after 18,000 hours aloft all over the world, I believe that there is no way that I can reasonably assume that simple basic piloting competence will keep me within the regs. And more to the point, many, if not most, of these restrictions are simply uncalled for and without merit. Stop it. Return OUR AIRSPACE to us.

Give GA A Seat At The FAA/Govt Table (FAA, TSA, et al)

The GA community is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Aero-World…not only do we get no respect… but the rest of the industry has little idea of the overt and positive nature of GA as it relates to their own interests. In decisions and rule-making affecting the world of aviation, it is mandatory that the GA community not only have a seat at the table while our collective futures are being determined, but that the contributions of GA are considered as a part of normal policy.

GA crosses over into so many other aspects of the aviation world that it seems counter-productive and somewhat masochistic to see it excluded from the everyday processes involved in determining the aero-world's future. When the future of aviation is in question, it is a false economy much less unrepresentative, for any governmental agency to ignore the needs, expertise, opinions, and mission of General Aviation.

And… if they don't want to hear from us, our voices should be raised and our actions should be of such strength and volume that they can NOT ignore us.

Environmental Insanity

Few groups are as well-acquainted with the way the world really looks and operates as well as pilots. By and large, I have found the aviation community to be as environmentally conscientious as any group I know - I mean, how could we NOT be? We spend an inordinate amount of time looking down upon the wonders of the Earth and we can't help but be damned impressed with how beautiful and amazing Mother Earth is. NO flyer I know wants the world to be hurt or harmed… but we also know the earth to be a hardy and amazingly resilient construct.

Despite that; aviation is being held hostage by those who seek draconian environmental measures even when the science is shaky or the cure is proven to be worse than the malady. Some of the stuff bandied about is nuts. Carbon Dioxide is a threat to the environment? Tell that to every green thing growing around us that's sucking it in as fast as it can -- and producing oxygen as a result.

C'mon folks, environmentally-inspired regs and controls need to be based on fact and carefully researched data… and the regs need to be realistic and not obsessive nonsense that looks good on the news -- or worse, a congressional committee… Threatening whole industries and requiring that they meet incredibly restrictive regs (many based on junk science or outright hype) with inadequate lead time makes no sense and will ultimately build incredible resistance to the kind of environmental upgrades that may actually make the world a better place. We flyers know the world for what it is… a beautiful orb that deserves proper care and feeding - but so do we… we simply need to tread carefully, sensibly and honestly - and the junk science needs to be kicked to the curb. If half the highly-restrictive and costly regs that have been put forward come to pass, civil aviation will cease to exist as we know it. It's time for a reality/sanity check.

Next… let's look at a few more of the problems we face… including a few that may actually present themselves as a blessing in disguise - IF we recognize what it might take to make the changes necessary to rebuild aviation and start it on a new, bolder, revolutionary new path.

More to follow in the coming days… Stay tuned!

Jim Campbell (STILL Mad As Hell and Not Willing To Take It Anymore)
Unrepentant Aero-Advocate, Professional Trouble-maker

FMI: ANN's 'Great Rant' -- I've Got Some Comments! -- Part II