[AJCoholic]

Craig, I wouldn't apologise to anyone - you are a good person, and a level headed guy just looking out for the best interests of your club. I know that. Some may not know that. This is of course an open, on line forum, and not everyone will like what is said and how it is said. But

Life goes on.... but dont apologise to anyone for a genuine concern and question posed to the forum.

Good luck.

[Dennis 9412]

Originally Posted by britbrat

But you didn't just put the finger on an individual, however much you wish you had by this time. When you said "how are we going to deal with these GUYS?" you implicated every older pilot as a problem.

You alone are guiltyof sticking your foot in everyone elses mouth & causing this divisive ruckus -- I think that an applology to everyone is in order, then somehow close this mess forever.

Brit, I really don't think Craig owes anybody an apology. I am quite surprised that you would expect Craig to name the individual!!

Craig is or was trying to address a problem that affects every club as members age. All the man is looking for is a graceful way to tell an individual in his club that they are concerned about his flying. Craig's reference to "GUYS" was his attempt to say that his club isn't the only one with the problem.

This is not a case of the younger guys against the old guys. I joined MAAC in 1970 and I see by Craig's MAAC number that he wasn't very far behind me. After 35 years in the hobby, I don't think that anyone can say we are prejudiced against the older fellows, because we are almost up there with them. The president of my club is 76 years old and can fly the pants off of everybody else in the club. Nobody can question his abilities, but he is the first to admit that his reflexes are slowing down.

Give your head a shake, and take this thread in the spirit it was meant to be taken. - How to deal with a problem-

[Noin]

Het Craig, I can feel the heat all the way down here in Milton...lol.

I too have witnessed elderly members that have certainly passed their prime, reflexes and eye sight going or gone. I was at a club and this fellow pilot showed up that I have never seen before and as it turns out he could barely see me...lol. He was self admittingly 2 weeks away from his scheduled cataract surgey. Fortunately he called another pilot ahead of going to the field and when this fellow pilot landed his fullscale Cesna and pulled out his model plane to fly I was impressed to say the least. Then they both went to the flight line and the older pilot flew until he could no longer see the plane then switched to the other pilot with better eye sight. That to me was a responsible and realistic older pilot, the way it should be.

I have also witnessed and older pilot that tried to take off with a slight crosswind. His plane turned toward the flight line, people watching started yelling "stop" "kill it" things of that nature. This pilot cleared the fence separating the pits from the field by inches and on the other side of the fence was another pilot tending to his plane. This was by far the closest near miss I have ever seen. I said nothing as most of the executive board for this club were there and watching. When this pilot landed he actually said he heard people yelling when he was taking off and wondered what happened. I have not flown at that field since, and I am not sure if/when I will go back.

The reality is when you get older you start to lose you abilities, both physically and mentally. Thats why the people in the olympics are often very young, some in thier teens. True it happens at a different age for everyone but it does happen if you live long enough. The problem becomes how do you approach someone in this situation? We have already seen in this thread alone some people react very negatively to any reference to "older". I am 31, I have been flying since I was 11. I can tell you now that I could fly much better when I was in my teens then I can now. My reactions to the plane almost seemed like I knew what it was going to do, not what it was doing. Now I see it process it and react.

Remember we came into this world drouling, babling and with a diaper installed shortly after birth and thats how most/some of us will go out of it. I for one know I couldn't fly worth a sh.t when I was 3.

My approach would be to tell the president of your club about your concerns for the pilot in question. It is his duty as pres. to inform the pilot and if a change in flight is not seen then unfortunately it is time to hang up the transmitter as a solo pilot.

That day is coming for us all, some will go kicking and screaming but they all will go.