oscardeuce wrote:
We need you youngin's flying. I'm 38 and for the last few years the youngest in the show briefings. I will be good to see more young faces learning the ropes.
GA is definitely aging, as is the pilot pool for many of these warbirds.
Part of the problem is cost. For guys like me who are young and not in great paying jobs, we just can't really afford to pay our bills and fly. Down here in Dallas, I'd either be looking at $500/month for cost of owning a plane with 1 other partner in it, or I'd be paying $100/hr for flying (and that in a 1970's vintage C-172). I have ~150 hours total with ~100 PIC, but for me to be able to fly the L-5 at the DFW Wing (if I could even afford the sponsorship) I have to have 200 hours PIC and my tailwheel rating. I think that guys my age who don't have the money are trying to help as I do as ground crew. Maybe in the future we'll get the money and time to move into the cockpit, but right now, that's not an option for us.
The other problem is the pay within the industry for new pilots. The pay rate is so low going in versus the cost (about $70,000 from student to 500 hours versus $18,000 - $20,000 a year for the first year of work and not getting above $40,000/year until 5+ years in the industry) that many parents and (more importantly) banks are reluctant to pay for that training.
I think that aviation is sadly killing itself because it's not doing enough to ensure that it's skill pool is being replenished at a high enough rate and are not taking initiatives to encourage more people to come into the industry since when someone sees $20,000/year to start and then see they can make at least $25,000/year at Pizza Hut as an Assistant Manager for basically nothing out of pocket in training, where do you think they're gonna go?