Recently, a friend of mine was working on a Holly carburetor off his vintage car when his nephew stopped by. The nephew looked at the carburetor and asked “what does that thing do?”
The scary point here is that the nephew had just graduated from a technical school with a degree in auto mechanics!
If new auto mechanics don’t know what a carburetor is, then how difficult is it going to be to teach Millenials how to fly?
Alas, here is a list of some, but not all, of the problems with teaching them to become pilots.
- They refuse to get their hands dirty by checking oil.
- They refuse to check fuel tank levels or sump tanks because fuel smells “yucky.”
- They are entirely confused by what can be found by a walk around of an aircraft. They think there should be a phone app for that.
- Some of them have difficulty in getting into an airplane with jeans around their knees and refuse to risk being seen out of uniform.
- They can’t find the power seat switch.
- Primer? No idea what to do here.
- If they don’t know what a carburetor is, try explaining carb heat.
- They are totally confused by the round thingies in the dash with the black pointy things in them. If a non-digital watch confuses them, good luck with steam gauges.
- I need to lean out the mixture strength? Doesn’t a computer do that?
- They’re baffled by the need to push a button to talk on the radio. And the person on the other end talks in a strange language. Who the hell is Roger?
- They are totally confused by a heading of 19. Also operating in three dimensions is not covered by GPS.
- There’s not enough room in the cockpit to use a selfie stick.
- It’s difficult to talk on a cell phone with head phones on.
- It is almost impossible to text with two hands and fly the airplane. This is particularly bad during takeoffs and landings.
- The flight instructor yells at them because of number 14.
I have had the pleasure and honor to work with a lot of young people and am amazed at how much they know. Much of their wealth of knowledge is about things they need to know to function in today’s high-tech world and job market.
But I still think there should be a life course in high schools that teaches some practical skills like changing a tire on a car and balancing a check book.
However, the other side of the coin is that GA needs to come into the 21st century and update the technology and systems we are using. We are basically trying to sell GA using horse and buggy technology to an audience that has never lived without computers or cell phones.
Not true of the millenial students I’ve had.
Where do Millennials go to learn sailing in a high tech, computerized sailboat? Oh, an how about those “high tech Harleys?” lmao.
The examples in the artilce are more about more about overall lack of interest than lack of technology and apply to any age group.
I know a lot of under 40 generation(s) that think light planes are cool regardless of what era they are from.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/
If anyone’s interested. Millennials range in age from 23-38 years old while Generation Z is 7-22 years old. The two teenagers in the picture aren’t even millennials. But obviously accurate information was not the point of this article.
Half the problem is that these jokes are pretty boring. Millennials love self-loathing humor but “can’t read a clock” and “what’s a carburetor” are pretty stale. I didn’t know what a carburetor was when I started, but I didn’t realize it was standard to come out of the womb with that knowledge. The “fuel is ‘yucky’” comment is just off mark. I’ve been around a lot of pilots my age and a lot slightly younger, no one has ever complained about visually checking fuel? Sagging pants has been out for, like, ever. Do we have anything true we can laugh about?
So idk, I’d reconsider trying to make satirical aviation articles if I wasn’t actually funny. I certainly didn’t click on this expecting satire and it was a pretty disappointing read. The generational gap is real and if you want to continue recruiting younger pilots throughout the years then it desperately needs to be bridged at some point.
Some real problems we face recruiting millennials? There’s some fear towards introducing technology into the cockpit. I am very happy I got my private in a steam panel. I understand my backup instruments and pitot-static system better than other students now finishing their private in a g1000. Easy solution to that is just spending more time teaching g1000 students about their standbys, maybe spending a couple hours in a ‘77 to mark the differences in the two panels. The G1000 makes me a safer and more informed pilot every step of the way. I know my instruments are working correctly as long as they are displayed and I know EXACTLY what they’re reading. I have more fail safes if something goes wrong and when something goes wrong the g1000 brings that to my attention. Checking the ammeter with your forehead flashlight is easily overlooked at night but the g1000 does not allow that.
Not to mention iPads and foreflight? I’ve seen a few, I wouldn’t say most or even many, older pilots scoff at the technology but it’s an incredible tool for situational awareness. If I were to lose instruments in any plane I am very confident that in such an emergency I could navigate and fly by reference to foreflight until landing. I never have to worry that I’ve brought the wrong paper charts, or maybe not enough paper charts. I have updated charts and documents always. I’m never stuck using hours old calculations based on unreliable forecasts. I have every airport’s AF/D available to me. And every young pilot I know absolutely loves playing with their foreflight or other aviation apps outside of the cockpit. Because they LOVE aviation and they want to understand every aspect of the technology made to make flying easier and safer and fun.
I enjoy hearing stories from older pilots. I love to hear what flying was like in earlier days. It’s truly impressive that you all were able to navigate by paper charts and playing with your e6b on the fly. But even most that I’ve talked to seem to enjoy shaming me for not having stories of my own. As a low time pilot, my stories are fun times and things I’ve seen from the air, and the few times I’ve gotten to experience actual. Shouldn’t they be? Older pilots have a tendency to glorify their emergency situations, even ones brought on by recklessness. Scud running 100 ft below the clouds, flying with faulty equipment that ends up failing, getting into thunderstorms, etc. Hearing the stories is exciting to me and it’s a great opportunity for me to learn, but it really rubs me the wrong way when an older pilot brushes me off for not having anything to add. Are we not all aiming to always be as safe as possible?
I’m sure there’s plenty more to be said. Maybe we can get a real article about generational differences and open up a discussion on how to get more young people interested in flying?
“But even most that I’ve talked to seem to enjoy shaming me for not having stories of my own.”
It’s partly an age thing and partly a cultural thing.
As you can see in this thread, old people (and I should know) need to value their experiences, and have a hard time remembering what it’s like to be young. And can’t imagine that these young whippersnappers can be capable.
As for the “There I was …” mentality of thinking their reckless mistakes were funny …. I know people who love to laugh at the stupid things they’ve done. But any level-headed person wouldn’t think it’s funny at all. Makes me question the judgment of someone who laughs about improperly hand-propping a J-3 or scud-running.
I just came across this today only read through about half of the comments. It was… interesting.
Depending on where you get your definition of “millennial” from, I am one. Somewhat on the tail end, but alas, I am one all the same. I make my living flying, and I also hold an A&P. I try my best to break the stereotype of a lazy, technology driven group of people.
I couldn’t help but want to play devils advocate while reading this article. While I understand the humor (from the “old timers” and “millennial” perspective), I would like to address an issue I’ve come across more and more recently. The fallow is not meant to “dog on the old timers” but it’s a real problem I think.
Each new aircraft is more technologically advanced than the last. I think most often of when a mechanic wanted to show me the Falcon 7x he was working on. We went into the cockpit and he started pushing buttons and the screens started to come on. After 4 button pushes he stopped, said “i screwed that up” and turned it all off. That aircraft is so advanced, there’s a specific sequence just to power it up! I think having a group of people/pilots that understand the technology (and are “digital natives”) is going to help with all this new technology as it becomes ubiquitous.
I’ve talked to sim instructors who have had issues with older pilots not being able to “fly” the newer generation of aircraft. I say “fly” because let’s be honest, you’re a systems manager now with a brief moment of panic before the wheels touch the ground 😉
Our company has had to do A LOT of retraining on the Legacy 400/500 fleet because of systems management issues.
Don’t get me wrong, I am embarrassed to fall into the millennial category and I do my best to be hard working as I can. But the truth is, I grew up building PC’s and writing a little code. So now all my friends parents come to me when they have issues with… pretty much everything. I’m not trying to be arrogant, it’s just the way things are going. I grew up without TV in the house and yet I’m the most tech savvy out of the people I know.
Again I realize this was a joke and I did laugh while reading the article and the comments. I just wanted to inject a little something I’ve been noticing over the years. I may look 8 years younger than I am… I get a lot of “are you old enough to be out here” and “does you mother know where you are” fallowed by “great landing!” and “that was a great flight!” Everyone has their own strengths, and being jerks to each other isn’t helping anyone.
Maybe a problem for Millenials but I believe too much Glass is a problem for current pilots.
My fear is we are coming to a point where even the most proficient pilots are dependant on automated technology to fly from A to B. This is only dangerous when electronic things quit working that have too much tied into single systems. Then it is back to old school for many but will always be the plan of every day for me. When those old analog systems are not available is the day I do not fly.
“My fear is we are coming to a point where even the most proficient pilots are dependant on automated technology to fly from A to B.”
Flying an airplane involves technology. I recently had a vacuum pump failure during a VFR flight, with the resultant effect on the steam gauge attitude indicator and directional gyro. The trusty old GPS helped as a backup, aided by eyeballs and the whiskey compass.
Technology isn’t the problem. Reliability is.
I think you’re correct and I missed making the point explicitly.
It is not the automation, it is the failure of pilots to maintain reliability across the systems. When electronics fail that is a physics problem. When a pilot fails it is a reliability problem.
So as not to be too harsh, I am not against the glass. What I see is too much dependence on automation and failures to maintain knowledge of how to fly without it.
If we are to depend on automation to handle the controls we may as well go fully autonomous. After all, isn’t that we end up when pilots are not redundantly proficient.
Nobody criticizes using an autopilot. It “reduces pilot workload”. But they’re old and familiar, so no one is worried about them. (other than maintaining hand-flying proficiency, which is considered routine)
Personally, when I’m flying I’m there for the experience of being in the air, not to fiddle with the controls – even though I fly a simple non-automated airplane. And if I were flying to travel from point A to point B I’d be even less interested in fiddling with the controls. A fully autonomous aircraft would give me more opportunity to enjoy the flight.
I was one of the first 10 people to respond to this article. I’m amazed how the responses have Blown-up my Inbox. After reading all the responses, I have some brief additional comments.
I don’t believe the author meant any malice. His millennial comments, I believe and hope, were meant to be humorous ( I totally missed it). They were much like other Millennial comments I have heard on various topics. Still it rubbed me and a lot of other aviation enthusiast the wrong way. But perhaps they opened and broadened our understanding of the deep divide in gender and generational differences. I for one had no idea of the passion involved in those difference. GA can ill afford that divide.
I hope General Aviation News; AOPA; and, EAA are taking notes. GA’s health and growth depends on inclusion. For those outside the community and looking into the GA world I suspect are confused and intimidated. GA seems to require some secret code to crack into the understanding and passion of flying.
My advise is to welcome all just as they show up. Use your passion for inclusion. Take the Young Eagles parents for a ride.
This is a truly pathetic article. The only line of any merit is the sentence suggesting GA needs to move into the 21st century – and to be clear, I don’t even agree with the logic of that statement, just that if the author of this article is an instructor than perhaps he needs to evolve and stop being such a judgemental, ridiculous fool. If his studenta don’t yet understand what a carburettor is, or how the dials work, or how to use a compass then TEACH THEM! Not everyone’s starts out flying with all that knowledge and it is on the instructor to provide it to them, not make inane, pompous judgements about them not knowing because they happen to be several generations younger than him. They are there to learn – they show up to the lessons, pay a lot of money for them… quite possibly they are there because they want to learn? This article is honestly a complete disgrace and the author should be more embarrassed by writing it than any student pilot should be about wanting to capture a moment of their training with a photo, or for suggesting there might be a way technology can help make the student pilot life easier. Afterall, without progressive technology we wouldn’t be flying 380s around, we’d still be in those steam engines the author so fondly refers to
A teaching moment: Steam gauges, not engines. Refers to the older instrument panel with round dials with needles instead of the TV screen displays (glass) one now sees almost everywhere.
I’m old, but I’m not a fool, thank you. I can be judgmental, though, like the posting I’m replying to, but I’ll be polite.
So, you don’t see it as being intentionally tongue-in-cheek then?
You kids now a days have no respect for your elders and don’t know how good your generations has it. You would not know hard work if came up and smack you in the ass. With all this new technology that has come out, your generation won’t last another 30 years when someone will blow the whole world up and there won’t be nothing left to complain about. Things are just so easy for your generation, you will lucky if your generation accomplishes anything. So quit your complaining, set your goals and achieve them. Sound familiar? It was told to me by my Mom when I was 18 years old in 1970. Things never change from one generation to another. Do they? What will you be saying to the next generation when you are now the older ones…………………
This is the dumbest article I’ve ever read. It fails as a factual analysis of a potential problem; it fails as a satirical article by pandering to the “get off my lawn” crowd; and frankly, it’s poorly written and edited.
It was clearly compiled by someone who has little to no experience with millennials or comedy. The author lacks the foresight to recognize that young people are the future of aviation, and that the industry needs their support to survive into the coming decades.
Disclaimer: I am a millennial, and I too recognize the habits and lifestyles of my peers, and I’m all for making fun of them for it, I do it all the time, myself. But it’s important to the craft of humor to actually be clever and witty in one’s recognition of these points.
Furthermore, my millennial peers who are involved in aviation are some of the most driven people I’ve met. The exorbitant cost of flight training (artificially high due to liability insurance requirements and high taxes—Thanks baby boomers) has required them to make significant sacrifices to learn to fly and even to stay current.
Short of having rich parents, we’ve all had to make sacrifices to get started in aviation, and flying has always been expensive.
In my case, I extended for another tour in Viet Nam for an early out and the opportunity to save the money I needed in order to learn how to fly. Combat pay, no taxes and not much to spend the money on allowed me to send the majority of my $330/month home to a saving account.
I needed $3800 in 1967 for private, commercial, instrument, multi-engine and CFI. I met my goal and, thankfully, the GI Bill finally allowed for flight training around the time I earned my private. I still had to work at night to support myself while going to full-time flight school during the day. This falsely accused “baby killer” lived in an $83.50/month studio appartment in SF’s Tenderloin district making $1 to $1.50/hour pumping gas and doing mechanical work. Frankly, I’m not sure how I pulled that off. I was lucky to make $45/week before taxes. Motivation is an amazing thing.
I finished all those ratings in 10 1/2 months. My first flight instructing job paid $210, before taxes, the first month. I instructed for seven years and bought my own jet rating (with a family loan) in a Citation 500 before I could finally get a jet job for a foreign airline in the Middle East. I couldn’t compete with the ex-military jet vets going into corporate aviation and the airlines. The most I ever earned as a CFI was $1300/month in 1975, my last year as a fulltime CFI. With inflation, that wasn’t much.
Sure, it’s expensive and takes effort. It was then and it is now. It’s called making a life. Don’t be blaming boomers for your financial difficulties. We’ve all dealt with taxes and inflation.
Everyone retreat to your safe place, stow the pitchforks and torches and press on in aviation without further malice towards Visser. Everyone has made their point. At least that’s my take…
I just adjusted all your numbers for inflation.
You had an apartment in San Francisco for $600/month, which cost less than half of your income. You made $5000/mo as a CFI. You started out at $1500/mo as a CFI. Your investment to be a CFI cost $30000. I’m finding it hard to empathize.
You can’t live in urban California for that price today. You would be hard pressed to become a CFI for that cost today. Your CFI pay is on the very high end for pay today.
I’m not saying you didn’t make huge sacrifices. I’ve heard family stories about basically living in poverty while working for a commuter. The tenderloin is no joke but you seriously have to be oblivious if you think it’s not harder today.
Manny,
I never claimed that prior generations didn’t have to sacrifice, you certainly did. Your story of struggle only reinforces my point that those who are willing to make significant financial sacrifices to learn to fly are usually outstanding individuals, regardless of generation. My comment about boomers referred primarily to the ruling class who have refused to address the need for liability and tort reform as well as a significant increase in fuel taxes and other areas. I too worked minimum wage jobs to pay for my flight training, every generation has, hence the leading line of my original comment. Jaimee’s analysis is spot-on, and enlightening.
Some of you need to look around and realize that jokes come in all flavor. Pull the Cessna Johnson bar out of your ass and laugh!
Sad that most millennials won’t know what a ‘Johnson Bar’ is…
Listen, I don’t care if you are the Sausage King of Chicago. You’re an ossified old fart. I hope you have on your preflight checklist “Take Geritol,” “Secure Dentures” as items 1 and 2. Do you have room enough in your airplane? Did you have a HoverRound type rating there, or were you grandfather’d in?
Doesn’t sound very nice, does it?
Only someone as old as me would get the joke behind your name, because I’m as old as you are.
You are the reason kids want nothing to do with flying. Waxing nostalgic about the Good Ol’ Days of steam dials and fancy VW Beetle engines in front of the firewall… You’re a dinosaur. And dinosaurs went extinct.
Take your tired Millenial jokes and shove them in your colostomy bag.
How exactly is it that he knows the struggle of teaching a millennial student when he is not even an instructor?
Just some old oil dude how likes to fly….
Boy Ben. I sure enjoyed the heck out of you get your teeth handed to you by the assembled multitude. I agree with every single “boo” and then some.
This was a hurtful, mean-spirited Millenial slugfest hit-job and you should be ashamed to have your name associated with it.
I’m going to show this to my son, a Millenial, whose Old Man taught him how to love flying and change oil, currently in ground school, this article. Then I’m gonna tell him “DON’T be like this ossified old Alpha Hotel.”
IMHO GA is seen as unapproachable and way to expensive of a hobby more then antique equipment
Look to Diesel truck racing and a Lot of “kids” building monster drag pick ups
And the JDM / Rice scene before some kids DO get “dirty”
Wow. A whole lotta butt hurt in the comments.
A sad commentary on our politically correct society. Whatever you say or do will offend someone. Our ability to take a joke and laugh at ourselves has become a lost art.
People have always been offended by these kind of jokes and comments.
In the past they were taught to suck it in and take it because … well because the people on top wouldn’t like it if you told them how you feel.
That began to change, oh, 50 or 60 years ago.
If you don’t like it, man up and take it.
This is embarrassing. I just got my ATP at 22 after flight instructing for a little over a year. We need to encourage new pilots of all ages. This article is a disgrace.
Oh my, the sensitivity…
I turned 23 the day this article was published and to be frankly honest, it’s this type of mindset that pushes a large portion of the younger generation away from aviation. It’s hard enough as it is to pay for flight training, let alone be looked down upon the second you actually get into it. I’ve been flying for the past 8 years now and am currently an Assistant Chief Pilot of a multi-million dollar flight school. I agree with the statement aviation will eventually need to catch up in technology, but blatantly saying all millennials are too dumb to read a clock and fly disgusts me. Great job stiring the pot, but unfortunately the aviation community is small. I hope you have a solid job, because you won’t be finding employment from me or any of my other peers.
OOOOOOH! SICK BURN!!!
I couldn’t agree more. I’m not a Millenial, but I made damn sure my Millenial kids can read a clock and change a tire.
*** It’s a ‘Holley’ carburator.
As a female pilot (both fixed wing and rotorcraft) and an A&P, I’ve heard my fair share of “jokes” targeting large groups of people. I’ve been told to get back in the kitchen, asked where the stove was in the cockpit, and have had it pointed out to me that the wrench I’m holding is, indeed, not a spatula.
I get that you were trying to be funny. I assume you didn’t mean anything offensive and that you know plenty of millennials who are great pilots. I admire your bravery for posting on a public forum because writing and publishing online can be freaky. I thank you for the follow up at the end, where you hit your point about GA and where it can go. Perhaps this list was an eye-catcher to make your overall point that GA needs to catch up.
But I ask that you think a little more about why you wrote this and about what articles like this do to the community. Perhaps consider that being reductive and using old, tired jokes that assume the uselessness of an entire generation, even ironically, is still contributing to a hurtful narrative that really isn’t true. I realize this can be tough because it isn’t your reality. Maybe you have experienced being the butt of oppressive narratives, and maybe you haven’t. If you haven’t, it will be even more difficult to step out of your own perspective of the world (I believe you are strong enough to do it anyway). But I assure you, as someone who is the target of a known oppressive narrative (women in masculine fields), this is ALSO an oppressive narrative and there is not a lot of value in perpetuating it.
Intentions don’t mean much if someone is still held back or hurt because of them. I won’t say that the generation conversation is as destructive as the gender one, but I do know that women died because men didn’t want them to fly (WASPS in NC when disgruntled men put water in their fuel tanks). I have experienced the consequences of “jokes” because I have been objectified and valued based on that object sexuality more times than I can count. I’ve also had people become clearly upset when they learned I was their pilot, those instances typically followed up by comments about my age. Thankfully, my skills as a pilot were enough to change those opinions, but it is still upsetting that my abilities were questioned because of my age before I could even prove myself.
I don’t want to be further devalued because of the year I was born.
Anyway, I respect the effort and I’m sorry if you are getting a lot of hate because of what you posted. I hope I was able to offer a thoughtful response that would start a positive movement rather than a negative one. Best of luck in your writing and keep the dirty side down.
Brilliantly said.
Well done.
I really hope this guy never writes an article again. Waste of my time
Ben Visser, I sure hope this is a joke.
I was born in 1991, therefore I unfortunately fall into the millennials category. For you to place all of us under this…not fair. Not right.
I sure hope you’re not an instructor. 1-15 are absolutely crazy. I know what a 6 pack is, it’s what I learned to fly in a 1967 Cessna-150.
I also enjoyed getting my hands dirty,learned how to change the oil in the airplane and also helped change all 3 tires, I didn’t need a dang selfie stick and I always wore a belt. This article is absolutely ridiculous.
I think there are truths from both sides of this. Why don’t we just acknowledge and respect these generational distinctions and press on as a group in support of aviation? Afterall, we’re on the same team. We have enough enemies of aviation without arguing from within.
52 years in aviation this year, liking both steam and the magenta line. There is the dufuss contingent in aviation regardless of age or experience. Cooperate, graduate and adapt.
To quote that emminent philosopher, Rodney King, “Why can’t we all just get along?”
Can’t learn how to read unless you know the alphabet (horse and buggy).
Everything you need to know.
I think you are judging an entire generation by it’s stereotypes. Sure there are many like that, but there are also many very on the ball. Why is a kid wanting to learn to fly if they are afraid to get their hands dirty? My generation had people who didn’t want to get their hands dirty. But if they wanted it bad enough they learned. Same with millenials. Keep in mind that these same millenials are joining the armed services and protecting our country.
Oh and much of your complaining about steam gauges and such is really obsolete when C-172 trainers are equipped with Garmin glass cockpits. Try to keep up.
Millenials:
Boomers: ThESe DAmN MiLENniaLS aNd THeIr… *spins roulette wheel* …refusal to get their hands dirty by checking oil. I tell ya hwwat, these kids…
What a diverse set of opinions.
The common thread of which is the next generation will master the changes in technology and the freedom of flight will prevail.
Remember how colour TV was going to kill the movie theatres?
Let’s laugh at another group for being different than we are and then wonder why they don’t want to learn to fly.
I’m 36 and have made flying my world. I’m still reminded by the old guard that I’m younger and therefore not quite worthy. I’ve seen people try to talk to my older non-pilot flight crew about the 185 I’d just landed because they couldn’t believe that I was the pilot. Other times it’s been while instructing-
“Just so you know. I’ve been flying longer than you’ve been alive.”
Me, thinking to myself after examining logbook, “I’ve flown more in six months than this guy’s flown in 35 years.”
Some of my young students were the most driven and passionate people I worked with. Some were out of touch and lazy. I can say exactly the same about some of my older students. We’re all just people and sharing a cockpit works out so much better if you’re not starting out with a chip on your shoulder.
Well said, Ryan. I’m 52 and am completely in awe of the 20-somethings and 30-somethings I’ve had the pleasure to work with (and even fly with). Bright, enthusiastic, motivated, curious…all great qualities. Please feel free to slap the back of my head if I ever become one of those “back in my day” old geezers!
Thank you! Well said.
Excellent article by Ben Visser – but in this era of victimhood and humor-less hyper-sensitivity it should probably have been served with all kinds of warnings that it was provocative and included something as offensive as humor.
When I look at the associates, friends and relatives I grew up with, worked with, and retired with I can name a long list of people who could learn, make, build, fix, and drive just about anything. Finding somebody from my age group to give me a hand fixing something has never been an issue.
But while there are obviously lots of very capable millennials (the ones you never hear about) who have all these abilities, there really still is a problem with the much larger group that can’t do any of the above. When I think of my millennial kids and their cousins, spouses, friends, and co-workers I can only come up with a super-short list of young guys who can change the oil on a car. (And I taught some of them how to do it.)
And please don’t lecture me that “they know so much more than the older generation about electronics and computers and smart phones and apps”. No they don’t! Once you have acquired a basic knowledge about this kind of stuff on your own, you realize that the typical millennial only has a superficial knowledge here as well. He/she can go to the app-store and find you a ready-made app that can do something for you, but can he/she write a coherent paper in Word or build a basic spreadsheet in Excel? Nope! Like it or not, too many millennials do not have the skills required to do much of anything.
But as far as our dying general aviation is concerned, don’t blame the millennials – they did not get us here. There is plenty of blame to go around, and our self-serving FAA bureaucrats deserve the majority of the blame for banishing us to use WW2 technology to this day. Who can blame millennials for not getting excited about flying around in hopelessly obsolete technology invented in the distant past?
And it is Ben Visser’s generation that deserves the blame for keeping these failed FAA bureaucrats in charge of general aviation. While we simply HAVE to get the FAA out of the business of “managing” general aviation, that is unfortunately not happening. As soon as somebody tries to dismantle the FAA by parting its functions out to other entities, Ben Visser’s generation closes rank around the FAA – ostensibly out of an incredibly short-sighted desire to “save the world’s best ATC system”.
Maybe the millennials (or their kids) will do better than that.
I definitely had to have a hard think as to whether or not the article was supposed to be funny or not. I don’t come to GAN for humour, so it certainly made me wonder, if it was clueless or funny.
I’d agree with most of your post, apart from to say, that most people do seem to coast through life. People who have the skills you describe are definitely in a minority in all generations. I have a wide group of friends from 20 to 60 and some are utterly hopeless and they’re spread evenly across all ages.
I’m not sure I found the humor. I found it to be rude and disrespectful, even if it did have a “concession” at the end. I am a millenial, and I have really only met one other millenial out of the 50-100 I have met who only know superficial things about programming, computers, phones, apps, etc. He didnt know how to plunge a toilet, change the oil in his car, or perform basic home and auto maintenance. Maybe it’s just because I choose to keep company with intelligent people and I consider being able to do many of those things for yourself to be a form of intelligence. Whatever it is, millenials are not as hopeless as the baby boomers make them out to be. In just my close group of friends, there are knitters, sewers, upholsterers, woodworkers, pilots, mechanics, people working on historic cars, people maintaining their own homes (heck, my husband and I have replaced flooring in not just one, but TWO, houses), electricians…. and all of us are pretty decent cooks and bakers, to boot. Generalizations like this only hurt industry. I have always thought of my aviation community as being inclusive, excited for people with a passion to fly, whether they’re young, old, male, female… If I were not already a pilot, this article would certainly make me think long and hard if I want to join a community where this kind of opinion is flaunted.
Along with other commentators; I’m not sure how to take this one. I see the cheap humor in using stereotypes to get some laughs but also the concessions at the end. Yet overall this one tips into “get off my lawn” territory. Look; we are not going to live forever and if we want GA to continue on past us, we need a way to communicate this to the next generation.
Let’s face it, most people are pretty logical. “Wait- so you’re telling me this thing will cost thousands (or tens of thousands) a year, was designed in the Eisenhower administration, and statistically is more likely to kill me (per mile/hour/whatever) than a car?”. Yeah- I wouldn’t be interested either. But for those few who see the view from above, who have tasted the joy of flight, and have found pleasure in always working to be a better pilot, this doesn’t matter. The risk is worth the rewards.
So GA news please think about writing another article but this time taking it seriously. There are a lot of reasons that teaching millennials to fly is difficult but this doesn’t seem to take those reasons seriously. Cost, diversity, and accessibility are the first culprits. This isn’t because “its right” or its some crazy socialist agenda, its because at base this is a numbers game. If you only get one percent of people and want more people, then expand your group of people. If we want more pilots, we need to widen our scope beyond just cranky old white males. This “article” is not helping with that.
Well, if one of Ben’s purposes was to generate discussion, he certainly achieved that goal!
I remember taking a neighborhood teen to the airport for an airplane ride. He was perplexed when we got in my Toyota Supra because he did not know why I kept moving that stick back and forth on the center console. He had never seen a standard transmission in a car!
At the same time, I became a 40 year old wide body Captain way out of seniority because so many of the guys ahead of me on the list who had spent their whole careers flying the 707/727 were terrified of the flat screen cockpit of the 767.
So just because young people may have to make an effort to take their eyes off of the phone, at the same time there will always be oldsters who are resistant to change as well.
I have also noticed that many of my generation who have scoffed at technology in the past are now embracing it because in may cases social media is the only way they can communicate with the children and grandchildren. No one even calls on the phone anymore let alone, God forbid, write a letter!
Bob
As an ex-airline guy I’ve seen that reluctance to fly glass, but as glass becomes more and more ubiquitous there is also a reluctance to fly steam gauges. Children of the magenta line, so to speak. No autopilot, no flight director, no confidence. Having said that there is always evidence of real talent from every generation.
All too easy to be negative in my view. Last summer I took a young lad flying with me to Southend from Denham in the UK. The plan was to drop him off at Southend and then pick up another couple of lads, all about 13 I think and take them for a flight around the South East.
The world of difference between the attitude and interest level of the children was dramatic. The first lad was inquisitive, helpful, asking good questions, always attentive. The other two were interested in looking out the window, phone in hand.
The list above seems to be predicated on a lot of assumption. STEM education in aviation is having a great effect and people are trying. Folks should spend more time focusing on making things better instead taking the doom and gloom stance. Lots of young people taking to the skies and a lot of then btw, won’t even need to know what a carb is because the a/c they’ll be flying won’t have one.
Unfortunate humor, angry at the world, or just poorly researched subject matter?
We raised the Millennials and we are the leaders and ambassadors to this community. We should be looking in the mirror as you narrowly noted. Criticizing definitely is not the right direction.
Stick with analyzing oil, not people.
Ask today’s solo student….after pattern practice completed what the CTAF is? Let us know if you get a ‘deer in headlights stare’. That could be just one scary one. Instructors??Jus’ sayin’
Sounds like a failure on the instructors part.
Is Exactly and No excuse for CFI and student.???
Ben, I think you may have the record for the most comments of any General Aviation News article.
I must say there are many younger folks out there not interested in flying. When I was their age, I only knew one other guy who wanted to fly in my high school senior class and there were 605 seniors in my class in 1973. I don’t know if the other guy ever learned to fly, but I made my goal to complete USAF pilot training in 1978.
Now I fly with cadets in the Civil Air Patrol and plant the seed in the next generation. They come around slow, but they eventually come around. They learn quick, soloing in as little as 9 hours in a few rare cases. They accept the fact the aircraft are what they are.
I also teach late bloomers as my 69 year old student calls herself. And it requires a different teaching technique.
So show the new generation the excitement of flying. Let them take the controls and try to land. It is not as easy as it is in the simulator, but us old instructors need to show how the new technology is used with the old aircraft.
Yes, Ben, us old instructors need to learn how to communicate with the new generation. Once they hear and understand us, they want to learn to fly.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
The Old Timers of today heard the same kinds of things from the Old Timers of 50 – 60 years ago:
1. I don”t know what this new generation is coming to. They have no respect for their elders. Children should be seen and not heard.
2. They don’t know the value of a dollar. In my day, we had to work for every penny.
3. They have to be entertained the whole time. In my day, we made our own entertainment.
4. And they’re lazy. In my day, we walked to school three miles in the snow. Uphill.
5. That rock and roll music is just noise. That Elvis whats-his-name is too dirty to be on television. In my day we had good music, like Caruso and Cole Porter.
6. My teenagers spend all evening yakking with their friends on the family phone.
7. And their lingo – I’m not their “Daddy-O”. And where the heck is “Splitsville”?
8. Get a haircut. You look like a bum.
9. They’re all drug-crazed hippies/beatniks.
10. Take that gum out of your mouth. Act like a grown-up.
Sadly, most Boomers didn’t want to become pilots, even though pilots were heroes of the age, and the kids could ride their Huffy bikes right up the the flight line and pay for flight lessons by washing airplanes.
Ha! Very true, Rollin! I believe that ancient Greek and Roman texts have been found where grumpy old men are recording their complaints about the “next generation.”
So, as I replied to Keith below, this article is more of an admonishment of the elder members of the aviation community than of the younger millennial members. So, my request to our millennial aviators and aerospace professionals is to keep calm and try to be patient with your elders, so to speak, and not take too much offense to the grumpy rants and good natured teasing within this article and adjoining commentary. For millennia (literally!) the next generation has been looked upon with skepticism, consternation, and puzzlement. For example, the Boomers weren’t always too thrilled with us Gen-Xers, and the Boomers had to follow the “Greatest Generation”…..(who wants that pressure?!?)
Every generation has their laggards and their rising stars. Most of the Millennials commenting on this article, I would say, are definitely examples of the latter. You are obviously passionate, driven and duly proud of your accomplishments; and I think that I speak for most of the graying portion of the aviation community when I say welcome aboard and best wishes in your aviation pursuits!
Lighten up youngsters, we all were rookies once, and got the same flak. You counter it by trying even harder to prove them wrong, and so gain their respect. Much of the above is NOT that much of an exaggeration. I had a co-worker who had to buy his kid a GPS because he couldn’t read a Texico road map to drive home from college. You youngsters can (and do) make fun of us dinosaurs when we’re banging our heads on the wall because our “smart” phones are way too smart for us. (guilty)
What’s sad is that when we grew up, we could walk into a garage and get our hands dirty. I got to hang out with a Grandpa and Uncle in a Chevy dealership garage. Wouldn’t be allowed now. How many of you young folks would like to help do a brake job on a 427 Corvette and take it for a test drive? I did.
Don, individual results vary…. for instance: by 30 (I’m 33 now) I have done the following:
-got a degree in Aerosace engineering
-got a degree in Systems Engineering
-served in the US Army (in Afghanistan as well)
-worked as a wildland firefighter for 2 seasons, Arizona and Alaska
-built log cabins which were helicoptered into remote locations in Alaska
-rebuilt a Long EZ
-helped build an RV-9A
-currently building a velocity
-did the Lycoming Engine Service School
-got an A&P license
-PP ASEL with 600+ hours
-own a business in aerospace
-work for multiple aerospace companies managing and engineering multiple large projects
So yes, I would take you up on rebuilding your 427 brakes, while I’m at it I might as well swap the engine
Well Ben, then you would have enjoyed building a Starduster Too start to finish, restoring a DH Beaver, swapping bladder tanks in our C205, replacing the engine in my PU truck, working on our cattle ranch, all the while getting Pvt, Com CFIIME and a stint in the oil patch cementing gas wells for a year before a 31 yr career for the FAA. Retired now.
There is also another reason for lack of interest. Lack of resources. In Reading, Pa. there were at one time 8 plus airports/fields in the area. Now it’s down to one. Darn thing they were here while I was growing up and now at 67 I am in the Dino stage I guess since I hear that was ancient history.
This entire posting with attendant comments has both truth and fiction that I found both humorous and sad. I’m sure many were nodding their heads and many were insulted.
If you truly have a passion for aviation, value the history of the past and embrace the technology of the future. You can’t fully erase history and you can’t stop the continuous evolution of change. There is nothing so constant as change in aviation.
Well … I can see where young folks or millennials might take exception to the way Ben wrote his article — joke, or not — but I tend to agree with him. As I am often apt to say, if the shoe fits … you wear it.
I used to give Young Eagle rides but after I saw how SO few followed up with taking some flight lessons … or even came back to the airport on their own to explore aviation some more, I gave it up. I got tired of giving expensive “E” ticket rides to kids too young to wipe their noses, too. If you operated a business with the success rate of Young Eagles flights, you’d starve to death! And I see this lackadaisical attitude in young people all over the place — not just in aviation. How much more do we “old timers” have to do before young people take both an interest in and PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for taking it up? Why is it suddenly MY job to cajole them? You can lead a horse to water but … ! A few do. Keith … good on ya and any more like you! But you are in the minority. Numbers all through aviation reflect a dwindling target population. We have a problem, Houston.
I HAVE talked to the kids at Lakeland, Joni. And I agree that they HAVE the fever. “Lites,” et al, brought a bunch of them to Airventure last year and I talked to them there, as well. So what’s the difference? Schooling. Schools these days are — IMHO — are often hotbeds of left leaning people moulding the minds of our young people in the wrong ways. That’s the way I see it, sadly. A few excel — despite overwhelming odds — but most just follow the mould. Recently, there’s more and more talk of young people taking up trades vs getting useless college degrees in basket weaving. GREAT! Maybe that’ll make a difference. I’m 72 years old and I just crawled under my pickup truck to replace an evap canister vent valve AFTER troubleshooting my issue and then teaching myself how that system worked. Imagine a millennial doing that? I think not … in 99% of the cases.
As for flying old tractor technology … who’s fault is THAT? It ain’t mine or anyone here. There’s a group of bureaucrats at 800 Independence in DC who are SO fixated on safety that they forgot they have a like mandate to “promulgate” aviation. It was IN the 1958 Act which founded the FAA from the CAA but they’ve now forgotten it and even say that it’s no longer in their “mission” statement. BS !! If they don’t get their proverbial “stuff” together, they won’t have a reason for being. THEY are the reason Cessna 150’s are no longer built and Cessna 172’s cost $400k. There’s a short window of opportunity left before all of us “old” timers — who can impart and inspire the next generation of aviators — are gone. The FAA better wake up pronto. I don’t hold much hope. For gosh sake … how long has it been since Michael Huerta left and they’re STILL operating with an interim Administrator, Dan Elwell.
Lastly … nothing — and I mean NOTHING!!! — makes me more livid than going to a fast food restaurant and throwing a few extra coins in to make even change and having a young person look at it in bewilderment and then tell me they can’t deal with it. If THAT’s is who we’re trying to attract to aviation … FUHGETABOUTIT !!! If they can’t walk, chew gum, juggle and whistle Dixie simultaneously, they ain’t pilot or mechanic material and nothing we old dinosaurs do will change that. So from MY perspective … Ben is correct. It isn’t a joke. It’s reality. No amount of hopefulness can change reality.
This has got to be the most toxic and ridiculous aviation article I’ve ever read.
-A 6000TT ATP millennial.
Right?
I was once doing an airplane checkout for a customer who had to remind me that he’d been flying longer than I’d been alive. After signing his logbook it took everything I had to refrain from telling him that I’d flown more in the last six months than he’d flown in 35 years.
Ryan Lunde
I am fond of telling my airline pilot friends that they may have
20,000 hours, but its all the same hour, repeated 20,000
times, 90% of it on autopilot.
My 8,000 are all different hours.
And I could land my Pitts Special better than they could
land theirs.
Mr. Ben, you brought a memory to me after reading your writing. A couple of years ago my Grand Son came to the house and asked me what he could do to earn some extra money, he was about 19 years old at the time, I said yes, you can cut the lawn in the back yard and I’ll pay you $20.00 ( it was small) he said o.k. so I brought out the lawn mower with catcher and 2 trash cans to empty the cuttings I left and went inside 5 or 10 minutes later I returned to find my Grandson starring at the lawn mower, I asked if something was wrong, he said with a question in his tone of voice, ” where is the motor” he didn’t know what a push mower was. I apologized to him and laughed, then I explained the difference to him, he stood there in amazement . I still love him , for his Birthday all he wanted was to go up for an airplane ride, so I did….
You mean your old rotary push mower doesn’t have an engine on it? Some, did. :-)))
Your forgot to include “Their music is just noise!” and “You kids stay offa my lawn!”
Do a YOUTUBE search “Flying Cowboy”. You will discover a very young vibrant Aviation community.
A young auto mechanic has very little reason to know what a “carburetor” is. Most every car produced in the past 20 years use fuel injection (with a computer). If a mechanic wants to learn carburetors, they just have to go ask an old guy :).
When I graduated high school in the 80’s, kids didn’t know where milk came from. They’ve still survived this long without knowing where their food comes from.
Thanks Ben for the discussion.
Also, ALOT of millennials are addicted to vaping. I wouldn’t allow that in my plane.
That is correct Daniel just talk to some the general practitioners and aero medical people. People on pills to settle their nerves, REALLY!
My father would not let my sister move out of the house to her own abode until she could change a tire/wheel. She is better at it than her husband. But, on the other hand I knew A&P’s who could not figure out a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower engine either. I guess I am lucky my father allowed our curiosity while we grew up.
OH how I could tell you similar stories, CJ. One of the very best things that EVER happened in my life was that my Father taught me how to use and respect tools for what they could do for me. At age 5, I remember building a scooter out of a 2×4, orange crate, a roller skate and a 1×2. I still have a few of those tools. In fact — ironically — I told my wife just the other day that when I head west, I want one of my original screwdrivers in my hand … just in case I wanna break out in case the bell ringer system fails. True story.
As a millenial myself (born in ’91) let us take a look at these statements:
1. They refuse to get their hands dirty by checking oil.
I have an AAS in aviation maintenance as well as hold an A&P. I have no issue getting my hands dirty and in fact look forward to the chance to do so.
2. They refuse to check fuel tank levels or sump tanks because fuel smells “yucky.”
See again #1. I have been bathed in Jet A before when working on a C208 as well as 100LL on a C402
3. They are entirely confused by what can be found by a walk around of an aircraft. They think there should be a phone app for that.
On many occasions I found things missed by my CFI during training. Having worked as a mechanic for my college gave me a chance to really learn problem areas of the aircraft I was flying.
4. Some of them have difficulty in getting into an airplane with jeans around their knees and refuse to risk being seen out of uniform.
I pride myself in my uniform. When I taught as a CFI, and now as an airline captain I stress the importance of professional appearance.
5. They can’t find the power seat switch.
I received my tailwheel endorsement in a 1940 J3. there wasnt even power to start the engine much less move the seat.
6. Primer? No idea what to do here.
No? See points above.
7. If they don’t know what a carburetor is, try explaining carb heat.
Try teaching your CFI about systems on an aircraft that they dont fully understand.
8. They are totally confused by the round thingies in the dash with the black pointy things in them. If a non-digital watch confuses them, good luck with steam gauges.
I made my CFII start my BAI training in a steam gauge DA20. we only transitioned to glass after we couldnt do any more in the 20. Also suggest trying to fly cross cockpit in hard IFR in a 402 doing 170 to the marker with a 767 chewing your tail on final to BOS.
9. I need to lean out the mixture strength? Doesn’t a computer do that?
I admit mixture was a foreign concept when I started. I learned on a rotax 912-F1. Leaning was accomplished by a compensating system in the carbs themselves. However I think I can say I have a grasp of it now…
10. They’re baffled by the need to push a button to talk on the radio. And the person on the other end talks in a strange language. Who the hell is Roger?
As a kid I think I annoyed my dad with how often I wanted to sit and chair fly to practice radio calls. I always looked forward to getting flight following for even short flights as a chance to talk to ATC and get more comfortable on the radio. As an amateur radio operator I have learned my fair share of foreign radio languages (look up CW!)
11. They are totally confused by a heading of 19. Also operating in three dimensions is not covered by GPS.
I would point out that GPS does in fact provide 3D navigation. Now due to system limitations in vertical guidance isnt as accurate as lateral, but with a baro compensated system you can end up with some very accurate 3D navigation (again, airline captain, A&P, and CFII I have seen this before a time or two)
12. There’s not enough room in the cockpit to use a selfie stick.
Youre right, there isnt. Im not sure how that matters though as I’ve never owned one (and wouldnt be caught using one)
13. It’s difficult to talk on a cell phone with head phones on.
Again, boomers issues with technology. Modern headsets have bluetooth and I have used it for phone calls in the aircraft. Living in an uncontrolled field with no RCO or GCO my best bet for picking up IFR on the ground is to call the local TRACON for my clearance. This helps out the system by allowing me to take a short void time and not clogging up airspace for very long.
14. It is almost impossible to text with two hands and fly the airplane. This is particularly bad during takeoffs and landings.
Again, not sure how that matters but nice try making a stab.
15. The flight instructor yells at them because of number 14.
I feel youve given up at making insults and just are trying to make this list have 15 items in it.
As a CFII myself I could comment on “boomers” inability to understand new technology or its impact on aviation safety. The struggle as a young CFI and captain to overcome older student and passenger issues with my age. I have grown tired of “are you old enough to fly this” from people your age. I find this article insulting, and based on no actual fact.
Whoa! Hold on there, Millennial Maverick! I think that you (as well as many others) are completely missing the point of Ben’s article.
Ben is actually (in a humorous, light-hearted way, I think) admonishing us old, gray-haired (or bald) aviators out here to get with the technological times if we want to recruit more bright young hotshots like yourself into the industry. By making a few humorous comparisons between the millennial stereotype and much of the aviation community, he is trying to illustrate the chasm between the technology of the modern era versus many of our antiquated aircraft and training methods.
Ultimately, us “old timers” are the butt of his joke, not you. So, just take a deep breath and relax. Maybe his humor is not exactly your taste, but you shouldn’t really be that insulted either. If you can’t appreciate his humor, then just smirk to yourself as you reflect on how you’re winning at life and your career is on a sky-rocketing path to greatness!
Condescending attitudes like this are part of the reason general aviation will die with you old guys. Sincerely, a millennial with an ATP and 2000 hours of flight time.
My thoughts exactly. Grouping an entire generation into such a condescending package is counter-productive. My 20-something peers are some of the hardest working people I know.
While we’re at it, let’s blame the entire Baby Boomer generation for teaching Millennials to saddle up $70,000+ in student loan debt to eventually barely scrape by. And those high school classes you want to see? Get off your computer and do something about it.
Sincerely, an 800 hour Commercial Pilot Millenial
Interesting that millennials want to blame the last generation for the debt. The information on worthless degrees and debt that can’t be discharged was/is readily available on the internet.
Also, the call for us to “do something about it” proves the theory.
No. Do it yourself. Like we did.
Hogwash! I have millennial boys and they are better mechanics than the old guys at the shop where I take my cars. One of them has a triple engineering degree, structural, civil and mechanical. The engineer became a commercial hot air balloon pilot at age 18 and is getting his fixed wing now on weekends.. Now at age 30 he is the engineering manager for the company where he has worked since his interneship in college. Oh yea, and he married a millennial last year. She is a hydro engineer and her dad taught her to get her fingers dirty also. The two of them together bought his second home where they just completed a hands-on remodel of the entire structure.
Sounds like the author’s sample is too small.
This is a harsh commentary on Millennials. If you haven’t been exposed to a subject can you really expect people (of any age) to understand it. The millennials have just as much capacity to learn as my generation (I’m 68). We just like to bash them for the things we think they should know. This is NOT limited to aviation. Aviation can be clannish, a mutual admiration society despite efforts like young eagles. Perhaps we’re just making excuses for the poor job we have done in sharing our passion; making it accessible and approachable.
Millennials are easy targets . We need to look inward and better understand our reaction to them and plot a course of inclusion.
Perhaps this was just meant to be humorous. If I missed the joke then the jokes on me.
Oooh, this should have been posted with trigger warnings, and lots of ‘only joking’ emojis. The outrage was strong among the youngTwitteratti. As a grumpy old grandma, I thought it was amusing and accurate commentary on the cultural and technical changes in the last generation or two. Even I, well into my seventh decade, have so embraced my smart phone and iPad, that I feel a bit uneasy out of the electronic loop. Imagine how hard it must be for those who have never known otherwise.
GA seems slow to catch up and keep up, expensive and clunky, bureaucratically hobbled, but I look back at my earliest memories of riding right-seat with my aerial-photographer dad 60-some years ago, in his pride and joy, with its single coffee-grinder Narco radio We have come such a long way, with glass panels in even littlest trainers. What fun to marvel at the progress.
Y’all punks pull up your saggy britches, now, put your phone down, and pay attention! You need to start collecting stories of your own good old days of deprivation for your future grandchildren.
I knew it was “Tilt – Game Over” when I told the student to meet me at the airplane at “Quarter After Ten”.
(local time 😉
It’s true, much of GA is old. However, the avionics package need not be. Heck, my headset Bluetooth-connects to my iPhone. My experience flying Young Eagles, lots of them, has been uniformly good. These young people do connect, because they are beginning to become passionate about flying.
As someone who got their pilots license in 1967 this write up made me literally LOL. Hilarious
Dear Ben, while your assessment of Millennials is hilarious and spot-on in general, there are refreshing examples of the following generation, Generation Z, in Lakeland, Florida, who are rebuilding and repairing aircraft, flying anything they can, and inspiring others to join them. The Lakeland Aero Club is about to celebrate their 58th teenager earning his pilot’s license. Come to SUN ‘n FUN and meet them. They are impressive.
correction! 85th student!
If I was an instructor I would make my students to fly without GPS. Make them fly the way I learned by a map, a plotter, go old school and leave phone at the airport. Would be interesting to see how they would react without their phone.
First, one needs to teach them how to read a map; Preferably on the ground please. Next one needs to teach them land navigation with a compass and a map. Again, preferably on the ground.
This article and some of the commentary following has a tone of ‘old timers’ assuming their generation is somehow superior the other younger guys coming up. This article is one example, as is the commentary about GPS, glass panels and the alleged lack of interest younger kids have regarding engines and flying.
Let’s be honest. Resistance to change is sadly a negative human characteristic and nothing new. Arrogance is also a negative. When combined you get some of the attitudes I just described.
Just as there are still people who are expert horseman and love to care for and breed horses (despite the existence and advancement of cars) there will be aircraft and pilots even after most flying objects have no human pilot at all.
Why? Because it’s fun. Even when the navigation is done by satellite and when the aircraft itself is made largely of Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs).
C’mon. A steam gauge carb’d single engine aircraft is hipster as f*ck. You are training the wrong millennials;)
This, definitely this. GA spam cans are seriously retro (in a good way) and hipster. Also I know a massive number of millennials (myself included) who love old stuff and are into crafts and metal work in a big way. Personally I’d love to have a simple old sports car with a big V8, but they’re too expensive for me.
Yep. It must be weird for a Millennial to step back into their grandparents’ world when they crawl into one of those old machines that hail back to the Dean Martin era. It must be even weirder when the pilot thinks that it’s all normal and all the hassles somehow make it all heroic.
On a recent flight, my passenger (a 60+ year old techie) kept asking why this or that system was so far behind modern standards. I didn’t have a good answer, only that pilots have always put up with and resist change.
I frequently meet young people who are involved in outdoor recreation, including challenging outdoor sports. I think they’d respond better to the lure of recreational flying than the $100 hamburger. But I don’t think they’re as fascinated with tinkering with temperamental machines like pilots were 50 or 100 years ago.
“On a recent flight, my passenger (a 60+ year old techie) kept asking why this or that system was so far behind modern standards………….”
Because the FAA holds back advancements in GA by the overwhelming, draconian, and extremely expensive hurdles that must be overcome to receive their blessing. One look at the experimental/homebuilt world proves that.
Exactly. Most of the pilots I know are completely open to change; in fact, they would welcome it. Who doesn’t want better avionics, etc.?
The hurdle isn’t so much resistance to change, but regulation-to-death of any attempt at improvements.
Well… there is truth to the difficulty with certifying avionics/aircraft-equipment.
But there is also a high standard of safety which is the FAA’s end reason/goal.
Let’s not forget that Mother Nature throws a ton of variables at us from the ground up thru altitude; things most people are inclined to avoid (regardless of whether they’re Millennials or not).
For example, my iPhone and iPad shutdown in the heat of summer, but my avionics don’t. Some avionics go from 120+ degree baking on the ground to -20 degrees at altitude with all kinds of engine vibrations, etc. At that’s just a tip of the iceberg. Here are just a quick summary:
1. It has to be very, very reliable. Can’t crash or freeze like IOS or Windows.
2. Has to be compatible with other avionics and not interfere with other avionics.
3. If GPS, it has to receive the GPS satellite and WAAS signals to a high-reliability degree so as not to leave us lost and confused in IMC on approach.
4. If communicating with ATC (transponders, radios, etc), has to do it without interference of adjacent channels or other avionics when transmitting.
5. Has to pass all of DO160 – Lightning, HIRF, Radiated Emissions, Conducted Emissions, Vibration, Shock, Temperature etc.
The schools I know have aircraft outfitted with G1000/really cool avionics. Expensive? Yes. Safe for excursions upwards where the air becomes too thin to sustain life after just a few miles? Yes.
I too am critical of the thumb- texting millennials… but most people I know are not knowledgeable about flying and are not interested in getting their pilot’s license.
Rick,
In regards to item 1, you do realize most Garmin equipment is (or was) running Windows CE under the hood, right? So, “can’t crash like Windows” is sorta oxymoronic.
Ed –
It’s good to hear that you have forward-looking friends.
Ask them what they think about FADEC, liquid cooling, Swift fuels, all-electric power, AOA indicators, ADS-B, LSA, the Icon A5, and the prospect of autonomous VTOLs. See if they’re demanding the technologies that have already been proven and are excited about the developing ones, or express concerns over the unknown and comfort with the tried-and-true.
The FAA has shown a willingness to be flexible if the GA community and industry ask for changes. The went with LSA and a weight waiver for the A5. We got half a loaf on BasicMed (due to external objections). Bye Aerospace says they’re working with the FAA under the new Part 23 on all-electric certification. We don’t get exactly what we want, and per Rick above FAA has to ensure that any changes are appropriately safe and reliable. But they’re not the eternally rigid bugaboo that some people try to characterize them as.