Robbie, I think you and I need to ask these ladies and gentlemen if we may have permisson to quote them concerning their frustrations with AOPA in our respective articles.
They are very telling comments. They may well also shed light...nay, puts the finger on the pulse as to why Clinton is the success it is and why people love it so much. I am also thinking of Katie's post comparing Clinton to Oshkosh.
Clinton has obviously managed to retain and preserve something that aviation in America in general appears to have lost.
How do we make sure that bright, burning spirit always remains vibrant and never suffers the fate of being extinguished by its own success?
Jennifer in Norway
Jennifer in Norway
Jennifer, you have stated this eloquently and in the most basic of terms. It's a great and challenging question for us all.
My friend John and I flew at sunset this past Wednesday, I did some IFR recurrency that ended with a sunset arrival at home. It was stunning and breathtaking in beauty. We sat silently on final soaking it in.
Afterwards, we discussed flying and this very subject. Why has it lost the magic and charm it once had?
Certainly costs more, but so does everything.
I think these posts hit it on the head, and the Bonanza pilot stated it best. At lease we still know how to have fun with our airplanes. Sounds like the fly-in now has a theme or motto of its own making.
One thing Clinton has is all of us and this spirit. Years ago I used to attend a skydiving event every summer about the same time we now hold Clinton. It was magic. The brother and sisterhood felt there was something you could almost put a finger on, but not quite.
Over the years, the event grew and changed dramatically. A series of fatalities occurred, and oddly enough - some serious injuries involving - golf carts. It moved locations and this year it was not held for the first time since 1990.
Clinton has this very charm and this exact mix of fun and atmosphere and special grass roots, back to basics flying that much of the general aviation population has gotten away from. Katie said it, as have others. Oshkosh is not what it used to be.
Friends, we have an obligation to one another and to our love of flight - Clinton is very special, very magic. Jennifer offers a challenge:
"How do we make sure that bright, burning spirit always remains vibrant and never suffers the fate of being extinguished by its own success?"
I'd ask us all to ponder that one. It's a very good question...
...and it is up to each of us, not to Royson or to Lori, to answer.
