What is Modern Aviation?

A quick ponder on what really defines modern aviation and if we are properly respecting the science and the art of flying.

Tonight, I sat in a small hangar, in a back room that was relatively crowded. We ate a community meal together, sat around and chatted about our recent flying adventures and then held our club meeting which included a very well done educational presentation on Pearl Harbor. While sitting there, I thought that this is aviation. This is where it started and this is where it continues to be in its happy place.

Tomorrow, I will go to work at a company that is trying to help the massive challenges in the aviation training industry. They aim to make sure we have enough pilots to continue supplying airlines and corporate gigs, instructor roles and everything else that might come from pilot training. They can provide economy of scale to these problems to literally impact the aviation industry as a whole. Somehow, this just doesn't have the same warm and happy feeling as that back room of a hangar. Yet, somehow it's still critical.

So the question is, which one is modern aviation? Or more broadly, which one is aviation? Which one has the ability to romanticize aviation and inspire future aviations?

The both do. There's no way around it.

How is Mass-Produced Aviation even Cool?

In our lives, we've experienced the need for almost everything to have efficiencies built into the process. People and businesses are trying to do so much and require intricate resource management in order to balance it all. Flight schools can't survive if their airplanes are not flying. Pilots cannot get sufficient training if they are not in well structured programs. Flying is expensive and without the thoughtful planning and well structured training programs, an individual alone can waste thousands of dollars.

I know because I've been there.

Pilots need to be "produced", to a certain extent, to resolve market issues and future demand. I hate writing that, but the reality is there are great opportunities available and some structure is needed to get there. The jobs pay well. They are quite literally one of the coolest jobs to have. The jobs fulfill childhood dreams unlike many industries that people can end up getting careers in. So, besides the sterile classrooms, outdated training videos, and everyone who talks to you looking to capitalize on the thousands of dollars you are going to spend, at the end of the day you are flying an airplane! If the industry is making you feel queasy, it's temporary, and the skies are blue ahead.

How do we Maintain the Real Heart of Aviation

People love to feel like the are a part of something. That's where clubs come in to the picture. There are thousands of different aviation clubs around the world, all with different purposes. Some clubs are formed around an airplane for members to fly. There are clubs that meet to discuss building airplanes. Other clubs are informal and just meet at the hangars a certain night each week and swap stories.

For anyone caught up in the mass-produced aviation previously discussed, I highly recommend you join some clubs like these to network and hear stories. It is likely you are training with a flight instructor that has only a few more years of flying than you do. You enter a club and now you are sitting across from someone that has been flying for 40 years. Their stories are enchanting and their passion is contagious. Many of the people attending these club meetings can't even fly anymore due to health issues or other personal reasons. This is their outlet and there is a lot of wisdom and knowledge to be gained from people who learned in a different era.

Don't be afraid to make some new friends, even if they aren't quite the same as you!

So What is Modern Aviation?

It's the CFI training people for 8 hours a day trying to build time.

Modern aviation is the 70 year old retired pilot who has a story about every topic you bring up.

It's hanging around the hangar and talking shop.

Modern aviation is going to airshows and enjoying everything from aerobatics to military fighter jets.

It's an entire industry and hobby all tied into one community.

It's those who just look up at the sky, whether the engine is putting along or screaming like a bullet.