LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
Re: Is there a better name for general aviation?: I suggest “Mainstream Aviation.”
On first consideration, one might think that commercial aviation better fits this moniker. But most of the thousands of passengers who fly commercially have no actual connection to or stake in aviation as a field of endeavor. They are just customers. Yes, they are necessary, but they do not constitute the “life blood” of the endeavor. (They are analogous, rather, to the “food” of the organism.)
On the other hand, what is termed general aviation includes the majority of actual pilots, owners of aircraft, mechanics, and others who participate directly in the field of aviation. This is the mainstream of aviation. We have not only the most people involved, but we operate and use the most real estate — the vast majority of the nation’s 5,000 (or so) airports and all the associated hangars and FBOs and maintenance shops and fueling facilities. We are the mainstream.
Say it a few times. It rolls nicely off the tongue: “Mainstream Aviation.”
And so what if there’s just a teensy bit of marketing in the term. We need better visibility and greater appreciation by the public. Mainstream Aviation can help foster those goals.
N.W. MILLER, Redlands, Calif.
This sounds like a great idea!