I was taught by a powder puff derby winner and 1932 olympian who ferried P-51 Mustangs during the war and was flying 30-40 hours a week into her 70s.

She founded and headed a college program of flight instruction.

Pretty much a women's liberation role model right?

Of course, it's quite clear she would have thought all your whining was completely craptacular.

Do, don't bitch, don't blame. Just do.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, by James Thurber. One of those classic short stories you should have read in high school. It's about a very average man who spends his days daydreaming of a life full of adventure.

So you bitch about 4 paragraphs out of 32, and the first of that 4 paragraphs is paragraph 12.

THE NEW YORK TIMES IS MISOGYNISTIC!!!!!!!!!

Slow day at Salon?

OTR?

And why it's relevant: His wife bosses him around all the time. I think the story takes place while he dutifully follows his wife on a shopping excursion.

Anyway, I'm betting a quick wikipedia search could've added the impression of some literacy to your article. Research!

When I mentioned to my wife that I wanted to take flying lessons my Honey-Do list got quite a bit longer.

We're all just becoming pussies. And not in any gender relative way either. Soon all Americans will be wearing respirators and bike helmets, sun hats, SPF33, water bottles and hand sanitizer at the ready, homeopathic pills to fend off the flu. Everyone will claim to have carpal tunnel and allergies to everything. Flying? We're a nation of helpless agorophobes.

General aviation has suffered particularly from two things - mounting cost, and the fact that it actually requires serious study to meet the requirements to acquire a private pilot's license. And while a private pilot's license is essentially issued for life, the pilot must periodically recertify - yep, more serious study - to be allowed to continue flying.

This "hobby", in short, isn't for those put off by academic effort, or for showoffs. You take it very seriously or you find something else to occupy your shrinking leisure hours.

So you bitch about 4 paragraphs out of 32, and the first of that 4 paragraphs is paragraph 12.

I guess they just can't find the time to bitch about EVERYTHING like you do.

How does one become a "pussy" in a non-"gender relative" way?

There are women instructors. There are women aerobatics pilots.

There are some amazingly beautiful sights in Northern California that can be appreciated in a whole new way from 2000 feet AGL.

There are some fun and funky airports close by to a fun and funky little town.

Have you ever considered it? Your husband (if you're married?)

Why not then?

The NYT article itself or the fact that the writers don't use google:

http://www.girlswithwings.com/home.html

Thank you, that was very cool.

In a non-gender sort of way, of course. Flying amounts to hours of boredom punctuated by moments of great terror. I'm an instrument rated private pilot with 1600 or so hours. Today getting a private license plus an IFR rating would cost at least $10,000. In 1964 I bought half a brand new Mooney M20E for about $10,000. Sharing ownership one or two others is common, or belonging to a flying club where a group owns several airplanes. Today a retractable a new high performance airplane costs at least $300,000. My old Mooney in good shape today would go for about $50,000. A good cross-country (140+ knot) airplane will burn 8-12 gallons of $4-5 fuel per hour. If I gave up most of my other interests I could still afford to fly, but I, and many others, will not do that. I think I did most of my flying during a Golden Age, when costs were reasonable, and the country was not on a constant terror alert.

A young unmarried guy or gal with an income of at least $60K could fly today, if they lived in a low-cost more rural area. But it takes a lot of commitment.

A couple of years ago I rented a Cessna 182 to fly my wife and me to Minnesota from Idaho for her HS reunion. It took about seven hours to do what is about an 1200 mile road trip. We were able to fly directly to the small airport in her hometown, and not have to go into a major city and rent a car. When we stopped for gas in Miles City we ate the sandwiches we had brought. Under the right conditions it sure beats driving or flying the airlines. Of course there is no security check and we could carry all sorts of stuff that the security people would not like. If I had another $20K a year I'd still be fling.

My wife soloed shortly after we got married, but never got her license, but she can fly the plane when I get tired of it. Of course that means she's not a pussy.

Basically, if job outsourcing, skyrocketing housing costs, and killer health insurance premiums necessitate a two-income family, those same factors are probably, indeed, not leaving a lot of free money and time to take flying lessons.

Correlation, not causation.

It's true that General Aviation is declining, and that most pilots you'll meet on any GA field are "retired white guys," as the article mentions. But I don't know if I'm more upset by the Times writer's willingness to make such glib assumptions about gender ("nearly every boy" used to dream about flying) or AOPA prez Phil Boyer's willingness to publicly alienate and condescend to the women his association needs more than ever. Honestly, he's trying to get women interested in flying by teaching them how to "help" in the plane?

The women's group at the airport where I used to take lessons, a tiny hilltop airstrip in Northern California, would not have taken kindly to the tone he sets in this interview. They were a large and vocal group who welcomed and supported me as a budding pilot. One of the group's leaders, a woman in her 70s, had a line of flags painted under the window of her Mooney, representing the various countries she had flown in and to. She even flew the Bering Strait once.

Why didn't I get my license? It was money, pure and simple. Not only does it cost significantly more per hour than it did when my parents (both of them) were getting their licenses (my mother could fly before she could drive), it also took longer than it did for them. I've heard from my parents and others that you used to be able to solo after less than 10 hours of instruction. My instructor rarely let a student up alone before at least 15 or 20.

Part of what I always loved about flying, and about pilots, was a striking *lack* of sexism on the field. There was no derision, no condescension -- just a mutual love affair with the sky. Makes sense in a hobby where the names Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart are often mentioned in the same breath.