So how old are we really?

Choose the Decade you were born in.

  • 1990s

    Votes: 9 3.7%

  • 1980s

    Votes: 36 14.9%

  • 1970s

    Votes: 47 19.4%

  • 1960s

    Votes: 54 22.3%

  • 1950s

    Votes: 70 28.9%

  • 1940s

    Votes: 24 9.9%

  • 1930s

    Votes: 2 0.8%

  • 1920s

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    242
Bob Noel said:
Mature

Wise

Seasoned

Venerable

Experienced

but not "old"
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Old is correct, and considering that younger people are more likely to use the internet than someone in their 60s, the results of this admittedly very unscientific poll show how bad the decline of GA is going to be. Where are the young people?
 
Rex Kramer said:
Where are the young people?
Click to expand...

Playing Xbox, and wii
Chatting on FB, and Twitter
Smoking weed
Sleeping a lot
Eating a lot
Staring at their I Phone
Texting

Need more?
 
Totally unscientific but interesting to observe that each decade in the poll shows fewer pilots than the previous decade (not including the 90s).
 
write-stuff said:
Totally unscientific but interesting to observe that each decade in the poll shows fewer pilots than the previous decade (not including the 90s).
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Not only does the ( unscientific) poll show that trend it suggests the mortality of aging pilots too... All of us born in the 50's are next to pass on to the great holding pattern in the sky.:yesnod::redface::sad:...

Ben.
 
N801BH said:
Not only does the ( unscientific) poll show that trend it suggests the mortality of aging pilots too... All of us born in the 50's are next to pass on to the great holding pattern in the sky.:yesnod::redface::sad:...

Ben.
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Nope, there is, as of today, 20 of us born in the 40s. I'm 1942. In all probability, after thinking about it, your right, you go on ahead of us. :rofl:

John
 
I'm just waiting for all your airplanes to sell off cheap in my 50s and 60s. I'll have the pick of the crop! Haha! :rofl: (Assuming there's any small airports left without crumbling pavement and TSA guards asking for my travel papers by then. Sigh.)
 
I have a pair of velcro jowls that I wear when surfing pilot forums or attending airport social functions. I am often the youngest at these functions by 2 decades, even though at 35 I'm in the middle of this poll :D

I try not to think about it, and enjoy flying while I can. It won't last forever.
 
schmookeeg said:
I have a pair of velcro jowls that I wear when surfing pilot forums or attending airport social functions. I am often the youngest at these functions by 2 decades, even though at 35 I'm in the middle of this poll :D

I try not to think about it, and enjoy flying while I can. It won't last forever.
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I find myself one of only a very few folks my age flying around here, too. There's a gaggle of younger folks usually hanging around the Flight Schools, and lots and lots of older folks, but the mid-thirty to almost forty-somethings are sorely under-represented.
 
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denverpilot said:
I find myself one of only a very few folks my age flying around here, too. There's a gaggle of younger folks usually hanging around the Flight Schools, and lots and lots of older folks, but the mid-thirty to almost forty-somethings are sorely under-represented.
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Those 30 to 40 somethings are busy with their kids and busy paying to raise their kids.

I have always loved aviation but didn't have the money (and more importantly the time) to take it seriously until I was in my 40s. Bought a plane at 42 and learned how to fly.

Now, at 52, I'm thinking of selling. I'm changing careers and probably won't need a travelling machine any longer. It's easy to justify the $4000 annual fixed costs when flying 200+ hours per year, not so much if I only fly 50 to 75.

Oh, I could easily afford to keep it but have better uses for my money and thus it may be time to go on to the next adventure in life while at the same time going on to my next career.

I may buy a "toy" plane, or just rent when I feel like flying. But probably not because my attitude these days towards flying is...mehhh...BTDT GTTS.

First, though, I need to determine what my next career will be (if anything) and make sure it won't require a travelling machine. But, if not, I'm out. At least that's the way I'm headed.
 
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timwinters said:
Those 30 to 40 somethings are busy with their kids and busy paying to raise their kids.

I have always loved aviation but didn't have the money (and more importantly the time) to take it seriously until I was in my 40s. Bought a plane at 42 and learned how to fly.

Now, at 52, I'm thinking of selling. I'm changing careers and probably won't need a travelling machine any longer. It's easy to justify the $4000 annual fixed costs when flying 200+ hours per year, not so much if I only fly 50 to 75.

Oh, I could easily afford to keep it but have better uses for my money and thus it may be time to go on to the next adventure in life while at the same time going on to my next career.

I may buy a "toy" plane, or just rent when I feel like flying. But probably not because my attitude these days towards flying is...mehhh...BTDT GTTS.

First, though, I need to determine what my next career will be (if anything) and make sure it won't require a travelling machine. But, if not, I'm out. At least that's the way I'm headed.
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You can run................. but you can't hide from our disease.:nonod::nonod:;)
 
timwinters said:
Those 30 to 40 somethings are busy with their kids and busy paying to raise their kids.
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I think there is a lot of truth to that statement. People seem to learn to fly at two different points in life. One is when they are young and don't have many other financial or family responsibilities. The other is when they have become more established in their careers and their children are old enough not to take up as much time.
 
N801BH said:
Not only does the ( unscientific) poll show that trend it suggests the mortality of aging pilots too... All of us born in the 50's are next to pass on to the great holding pattern in the sky.:yesnod::redface::sad:...

Ben.
Click to expand...

That may be part of it, but conclusion may be overstated. I am part of the 50's group, but at my two local airports, it seems like more than 80% of the pilots are older than me. Perhaps part of the lack of results for the 40's, and 30's are due to many never coming up to speed on the internet...
 
Tuesday or Wednesday I will find out the results of the home appraisal that was conducted on Thursday. Should it be of a satisfactory amount, my 47 year career as a custom picture framer will be over as of January first, 2012. I will be a retired gentleman of leisure.

Then it's a big question mark about my keeping my airplane, or even continuing to fly. I'm hoping for at least one more year, but that is dependent on OKCs interpretation of all the medical tests I had to go through last month. I should know in January. My doctors told me I had improved over last year, so I'm probably good for another year medicaly. Finacialy is another story.

Anyway, I'm sitting in a holding pattern regarding my future and what my "golden" years are gonna be like.

John
 
N801BH said:
You can run................. but you can't hide from our disease.:nonod::nonod:;)
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Oh, it's still fun. No doubt about it. But it's no longer exciting and I can find exciting at a fraction of the cost.

My mistake was probably that I made flying a utilitarian part of my business. 2 to 4 hour cross country flights to/from work every week turned flying into something more mundane than exciting.
 
52 years old as of today!
 
Born in the '50s, barely. July of '59. Certificated in 2006.
 
Anthony said:
Playing Xbox, and wii
Chatting on FB, and Twitter
Smoking weed
Sleeping a lot
Eating a lot
Staring at their I Phone
Texting

Need more?
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I'm 20 and I have 330 TT and a COMM/Instrument ticket. There are still some of us out there, just not enough.
 
Bob Noel said:
It's not impossible for someone to not know their actual age. I know a lovely young woman who was adopted. Her birth records are unavailable.
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My Grandfather didn't know, was born in a house with no records of it. Great-grandmother supposedly "moved up" his birthday so he could drive early, then moved it back so he wouldn't be drafted... or so the story goes. However it happened, he knew within a year or so hold old he was but wasn't certain. Not exactly sure of his actual birthday, for some reason she had 3 kids who all suspiciously were born on the same date of different years.
 
I'm 32 and will probably be paying off the credit card I used in my PPL training for a LOOOONG time to come. I hope to fly at least once every month or two for the rest of my life.

Kimberly
 
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