I am very proud to announce that...

Wow. Haters gonna hate.

How long has OSH existed? There's something to be said for longevity and inertia. OSH is a mecca for pilots. And pilots tend to be getting older and less numerous. So there's a hugely successful fly in that an increasingly older demographic goes to enjoy... and those guys insist that OSH is better because it appeals to them. Shocking.

The fact that anyone is attempting to encourage younger people to get into GA is awesome. If they fail, so be it. At least they tried. The fact that so many here have an issue with trying to attract younger people into the hobby when the GA community as a whole is only getting older and less numerous is appalling. Young people mean growth. And while change may be anathema to many in this community, the hobby just gets more and more expensive because there are fewer and fewer people willing/able to spend money to do it.

Many of you bemoan the closing of facilities, entire airports, the lack of services, and the lack of investment in the infrastructure, but you also belittle an attempt to attract younger people into GA. Yeah. Those places must be closing because there's TOO MUCH participation, right?
 
Yeah used to live in Montgomery, so I'm familiar. ;)
 
ircphoenix said:
Wow. Haters gonna hate.

The fact that so many here have an issue with trying to attract younger people into the hobby when the GA community as a whole is only getting older and less numerous is appalling.

Many of you bemoan the closing of facilities, entire airports, the lack of services, and the lack of investment in the infrastructure, but you also belittle an attempt to attract younger people into GA. Yeah. Those places must be closing because there's TOO MUCH participation, right?
Click to expand...

Reads a little like attacking a group of persons. Probably not the intent.

The "Show" that was the topic of the thread had very little attendance. Even the OP didn't attend.
 
TBH it read like the OP was shilling for the event at the beginning. But her post saying that they were pressuring women to go out and advertise for the event clarified that.

Again, the fact that the show had little attendance is irrelevant. There were a great many posters here that were disparaging and belittling the attempt to attract younger people to aviation, because they felt like it was discriminating against the older guys. The older guys are pretty well represented in aviation. The fact that they got all upset over the target audience of this *one* event is ludicrous.

Bringing younger people into aviation can only be a good thing.
 
ircphoenix said:
TBH it read like the OP was shilling for the event at the beginning. But her post saying that they were pressuring women to go out and advertise for the event clarified that.

Again, the fact that the show had little attendance is irrelevant. There were a great many posters here that were disparaging and belittling the attempt to attract younger people to aviation, because they felt like it was discriminating against the older guys. The older guys are pretty well represented in aviation. The fact that they got all upset over the target audience of this *one* event is ludicrous.

Bringing younger people into aviation can only be a good thing.
Click to expand...

No one is saying they were discriminating against old people. Old people were welcome but the event revolved around a younger crowd. They were trying to create something that they claim other events don't have. If this younger crowd is more concerned about music and food than quality of displays (Sun N Fun / OSH), then that's pretty sad. Aviation should sell itself without the need for extraneous fluff that Modaero was trying to sell.

If one is into aviation, then you go to events that attract like minded interests, not age, sex or race. Also, who says the next generation of pilots have to be young. We need ALL ages getting involved in aviation, especially the older crowd who generally will have more disposable income to afford it.
 
Velocity173 said:
No one is saying they were discriminating against old people. Old people were welcome but the event revolved around a younger crowd. They were trying to create something that they claim other events don't have. If this younger crowd is more concerned about music and food than quality of displays (Sun N Fun / OSH), then that's pretty sad. Aviation should sell itself without the need for extraneous fluff that Modaero was trying to sell.

If one is into aviation, then you go to events that attract like minded interests, not age, sex or race. Also, who says the next generation of pilots have to be young. We need ALL ages getting involved in aviation, especially the older crowd who generally will have more disposable income to afford it.
Click to expand...

Is your opinion that older people are underrepresented in aviation?

And the next generation of anything is generally younger than the generation they're replacing. That's why they're the next generation.
 
ircphoenix said:
Is your opinion that older people are underrepresented in aviation?

And the next generation of anything is generally younger than the generation they're replacing. That's why they're the next generation.
Click to expand...

Of course older people are represented well aviation but the point is to get GA & commercial flying healthy. That means ALL ages.

You could have some young pilot in their 20's get involved in GA only to grow frustrated and give up early on. On the other hand, you could have an older pilot start in their 50's, have the maturity and disposable income to continue with it for decades. The older one in that example is better for the future of GA than the younger one. Like LorenD, he might have started flying early but he chose the professional path later than most. Don't have to be young to start flying for a living.

As I said, aviation should sell itself without the fluff. When I was a kid I went to air shows not to climb rock walls and eat cotton candy but to see and touch aircraft. The pilots flying those aircraft might be in their 20s or some CAF guy in his 60s. Age didn't matter to me.
 
At no point did I ever say we should exclude older people. But older people are well represented in the ranks of GA. People in their 20's seem to be a shrinking demographic.

There are three pages of posts that are belittling an attempt to reach out to younger pilots by generally older pilots. Yet there's two reactions to claims of hostility towards youngsters... incredulous disbelief, or "who cares."
 
Aviation, at least in the recreational sense has always been skewed towards the older side. It was that way when I was young. Now I'm not.

Older people have more discretionary income. Older retired people have more time. The young people who get into aviation are mostly doing it for the career opportunity.
 
While the Oshkosh attendees kind of mirrors the pilot population in general (older folks), believe me there are plenty of youngun's around. I know of several families that have three generations of attendees.
 
Everskyward said:
Aviation, at least in the recreational sense has always been skewed towards the older side. It was that way when I was young. Now I'm not.

Older people have more discretionary income. Older retired people have more time. The young people who get into aviation are mostly doing it for the career opportunity.
Click to expand...

This is it exactly. You need great piles of cash to fly GA and the youngsters just don't have it yet. The large percentage of the pilot population that is in a younger bracket are pilots because they are working their way up the airline ladder, not because they want to fly their own airplanes.

I know two of these guys through my Jet Ski club activities. Both are climbing the airline ladder and doing very well at it. They love their job. They are now in their very early 30's I believe and one is doing exceptionally well and flying 737s for Southwest and the other is still flying RJs. Neither one of these guys would give a rat's ass about GA and little airplanes. However, I think that attitude may change once they get to the top and drive the bus for a good long while, but for now it's all about moving up to bigger and bigger planes. They definitely would not have attended this event or even any of the old geezer events like Sun n' Fun, or Osh.
 
Red herrings everywhere.

I'm not questioning the REASONS for the demographics being are what they are.

I'm saying that an attempt to attract younger people into general aviation is a good thing, and that the hostility towards that effort solely on the basis of it being targeted towards a younger audience is wrong.

Am I wrong?
 
ircphoenix said:
I'm saying that an attempt to attract younger people into general aviation is a good thing, and that the hostility towards that effort solely on the basis of it being targeted towards a younger audience is wrong.

Am I wrong?
Click to expand...
You are not wrong.
But I thought the ridicule here was mostly aimed at the style of advertisement, not the actual attempt to get people to come to an expo.
I love going to aviation events but this invitation simply deterred me. But that's just me.
 
BigBadLou said:
But I thought the ridicule here was mostly aimed at the style of advertisement, not the actual attempt to get people to come to an expo.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I interpreted it a bit differently, but I suppose such is the reality of a text based communication medium without the ability to add tone or inflection short of a smiley or two. LoL
 
Warbirds are boring? If it isn't glass it isn't worthwhile? Well then, that settles it, I am definitely old and proud of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top