Everybody knows that people who are into aviation are rich. They’re spoiled, self-absorbed, 1%-ers who have no regard for what it takes to get by in the real world. Heck, airplanes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that’s just for the small ones. Yep, pilots and aircraft owners are filthy rich scum who do nothing but sponge off the poor and the middle class so they can live out their dreams in luxurious splendor.
That’s a common perspective, you have to admit. If you fly, or wish to fly, you’ve heard it time and again. But you’ve also noticed that your personal experience doesn’t quite match up with the classic stereotype of what this aviation crowd is supposed to be.
There may be no better indication of what type of people the aviation world is truly made up of than the campgrounds at AirVenture.
Somewhere between the tents pitched beside aircraft in the North 40, and Camp Scholler where tents and recreational vehicles mix in an odd but symbiotic way, there is a whole different population roaming the grounds.
This is documentary worthy material. When some imaginative Ken Burns aficionado comes along one day with a camera and a plan, the film they produce could bust this whole rich-pilot thing wide open.
For those who have never spent a night in Wisconsin, protected from the elements by a thin sheet of nylon, let me provide some context. For approximately a week the grassy infield and outlying areas of Wittman Regional Airport are transformed into a tent city that houses thousands upon thousands of itinerant travelers.
You might think of it as a depression era Hooverville, without the starvation, the anxiety, or the population of homeless with an almost complete lack of direction. Just the opposite, in fact. These campers aren’t stuck in the wilds of Wisconsin with nowhere to go. They come by choice. In some cases they plan this excursion all year long. They wait for AirVenture to roll around with great anticipation.
This is living, y’all.
Dirt roads with names like Lindbergh and Doolittle are punctuated by numbered cross streets, making it relatively easy for campers to broadcast their location to others via social networking, texts, or e-mail. “I’m at Lindbergh and 45th” has as much meaning to an AirVenture camper as “Meet me at Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street” does to a New Yorker. That’s important, because a big part of the camping experience for many of the attendees is having the ability to reconnect with old friends they only see at the show.
During this most recent AirVenture I wandered out to the campgrounds to visit with some old friends. These hearty souls have a name for their campsite, which in the interest of discretion I will not divulge here, but I will share this much: The name honors not just a group of longtime friends, but also a tasty breakfast meat product that is loved by many. These campers hail from California, Florida, New Hampshire, yes, even Wisconsin.
Some sleep on the ground in tents, while others house themselves in recreational vehicles only a few steps away. If the rains come, the RVs can be transformed into shelters, filling up with friends who remain cheerful even when damp. They’re thankful for the kindness. If the sun shines, or the moon pokes through the clouds, the festivities occur outside, under the stars, where hushed voices and the clinking of bottles can be heard as a hand fumbles through the cooler in search of a cold one.
Discussions tend to focus on who found what to be interesting on the flightline that day. Or perhaps the group debates the relative merits of walking over to the Fly-In Theater to see an aeronautical-oriented movie on the enormous blow-up screen, or sauntering down the road to the Theater in the Woods to hear a luminary of aviation history discuss his or her career highlights.
These folks wear shoes that are often caked in mud. Their pants have no sharp creases and their shirts come back from the laundry with no starch. In fact the laundry may be nothing more than a spray hose found in a stall at the shower house. They eat food that is tasty, but not necessarily a recognized component of a well balanced diet.
They are a diverse group in terms of age, gender, profession, and flight experience, but even so, they are far more representative of real aviation enthusiasts than the classic stereotype could ever be. What’s more, they’re fascinating people.
Each of them has a different favorite. They may be enamored of the extra-wide body Airbus 350 as it makes low, slow passes. Yet their personal choice may be to fly an inexpensive, low-powered, fabric covered machine from the days before television was common.
Some of them fly professionally, guiding a glass paneled machine over the ocean on a regular basis, but they don’t own an airplane of their own because they’ve got a mortgage and a car payment, and that’s enough of a strain for them at the moment.
These folks aren’t rich. Not in the monetary sense, anyway. After all, they’re spending their vacation sleeping on the ground next to people they only see once or twice a year. They are immeasurably wealthy in another sense, however. They know what they like, they know who they enjoy sharing their hobby and vocation with, and they are perfectly willing to make personal sacrifices to make their dreams come true.
Don’t believe the hype. If you want to meet real aviation enthusiasts, you have to get off the paved road, wade into the grassy infield, and hunker down shoulder to shoulder under a tarp when the rains come. That’s where the real aviators are. And they like their low-rent digs just fine.
Beautiful Cardinal !! Someday soon I hope to have one again.
I met a woman at AirVenture this year. She was pining how she’d love to fly, but just couldn’t afford it. When I mentioned that I was far from rich, and how it cost me about $3000 to earn my Sport Pilot license, her eyes lit up and she became very excided. “Heck, I can afford THAT,” she exclaimed. Then I went on to explain how affordable flying could be by joining a flying club. Why she hadn’t heard all this before, I’ll never know. But I think there’s a good chance the number of licensed pilots may increase by 1, some time soon.
Great article! I have worked all my life, mainly flying, so I could afford to fly. I eat right and exercise to try and extend my flying years. Flying is life and life is flying. The greatest gift fate ever gave me.
All my friends think I’m rich because I own an airplane! A 1950 Cessna 140A worth maybe 30 grand at best. It actually cost less than most cars, trucks, or even a nice Harley. What they don’t realize are the costs of maintenance, fuel, insurance, and hangar fees. The truth is, I own a plane, so I”M CLOSE TO BROKE! lol But I wouldn’t have it any other way!
I would say that probably only .2% of the pilot population is actually wealth. Most pilots are like me and love flying enough to sacrifice other areas to afford flying. Really it comes down to what you love to do. I love flying so instead of driving a new $35,000 car and owning owning a camper and and $40,000 dollar truck, I have been driving the same old beater car for 7 years that i got for $5000. I do not hav e a morgage and live in a single wide trailer that I own. I make an avarage of $35,000 per year. But fly as often as I can because I love doing it. I make the sacrafuce of owning a nice car and house to do what I love best and that is flying. When you love doing something enough you do what you must to make it possible. I think most other pilots could say something similuar as to how they find the money to fly.
I have family and friends that spend more money on boats and golf than I do in recreational aviation! and not to mention the cars they drive!
Well said
Hello Mr. Beckett.
Reading your article I traveled 30 years back in time.
When I was 20 and starting to gather the money to fulfill my dream of getting my private license. I used to spend long hours reading Richard Bach books.
Nobody like him was capable of putting in a text, the exacts thoughts and feelings that lived in my heart and soul by that time.
You, like. Mr. Bach extracted and put in words exactly the same feelings.
Now I am one of those who guide a glass paneled machine, but don’t have money to buy my own airplane because of the …. But anyway I attended Airventure this year and lived again the joy of grass, planes, and friends in a tent.
Reading Your article was an extension of that joy.
Thank you very much
Well stated!
This is so true, The stereotyping of what a pilot is does and looks like by the general public sometimes amuses and other times annoys me.
Good stuff, Jamie. Too bad you’re preaching to the choir. Articles like this should be in general interest magazines!
Excellent idea. Event attendees, and all of us, should check our hometown media’s coverage of GA – if any – and consider letters to the editor if there is a negative story, or just send a letter or proposed article, editorial or op-ed on the event or other GA issue in the news. Consider those freebie community papers, which likely look for material. Preach the word via face time with non-GA friends, too: getting the facts from a live person does wonders to cure what the listener “thought” or “heard.”
Unfortunately, good news never seems to travel very far.
I came upon this article from a friends’ FaceBook post so it *is* making it to “general interest”!
/…and helps to bring closer my dream of flying!
As a maker of kit planes for the past 32 years, I can assure you the 1% are among those who buy our product but far from the majority. Aviation appeals to a wide range of people in all walks of life and levels of income. That old adage “if there is a will there is way” can be morphed to “if there is a will there is a wing…” The bottom line is aviation is as affordable as any other recreational activity and excels in reward for what is invested over many other similarly priced activities.
Jamie, your best ever! It tracks your other regular message, on getting out the many good words about GA. Many of us likely belong to other groups which are subject to stereotypes; let’s take the same approaches we use to disprove them to disprove the misperception of GA.
Now I really look forward to attending AirVenture someday – and Sun n Fun.
PS – Is the campsite’s name Sausage? You did not note campers from Philadelphia, so presume it’s not Scrapple?
Aviation people are filthy rich and spoiled. Their tents have running water and central air. Just kidding. Looks like it was a blast!
We get some of the wealthier students at our flight school, but for the most part, the typical student pilot at SunState Aviation is not what you would call filthy rich by any stretch of the imagination. If you are truly passionate about something, you will find a way to make it fit into your life…and budget.
You captured it very well, Jamie! It was great to see you there. I’m counting down the days till SnF16.
AMEN!!!!
Love this article, I salute you Sir!