Not good.

[Mcstealth]

I guess it is no different than the Timothy McVeigh bombing in Oklahoma, but the fact that a GA airplane was used will just make it worse for us. I know you can still rent a moving truck with no one turning their head, but an airplane! They are real weapons . That is what the "General Public" is going to say!!!!

[hansel]

Agree... we have major challenges ahead, and this is a big setback. Some places (like my home field) love and support flying and their local airports. Others do not. One sad example is an area I used to communte to when I worked in the Bay Area: Palo Alto. Frankly, many of its citizens want to shut the airport down (e.g. a portion of the airport was nearly converted to a compost pile a few months ago. That's right, compost. Thankfully, enough reasonable ppl spoke out and the city retreated.) Sadly, this Wednesday Palo Alto had its first fatal takeoff accident in years involving three employees of the Tesla motor company-- and now the angry mob is at it again. If you want see what non-pilots think about "rich boy hobbies" see the comments section of the article below-- but be forwarned, some of these people are delusional and these comments may make you angry.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=15756

We need to do everything in our power to educate others and maintain our freedom to fly. These next several years may prove the most difficult but important of all.

[MooneyMitch]

I apologize for possibly sounding like a broken record here, but with all this recent stuff, it is our duty to get out there and dispel these negative and sad issues that can and are attacking our freedom to fly. Once again, Craig Fuller [AOPA] has asked us all, not just Mooney drivers, to become "engaged". We have to speak up for ourselves and for General Aviation.

Now here comes the broken record part. Of course there are many ways in which to become engaged, but The Mooney Ambassadors is a terrific way in which we Mooney lovers can participate. It doesn’t matter if you fly with this group, or that group or whomever, it’s about getting out there and talking to the public about the values of General Aviation to our communities. The Ambassadors is a win, win, and win way to do all the things we love………..Support our maker [Mooney Airplane Co], promote GA [and its commerce that supports us] and have some fun places to fly our planes!

GAServesAmerica.com is a great resource for information that can help us all disseminate accurate information to the public and the press. Come on everyone, let’s get going on this. What a perfect time to do it!

www.mooneyambassadors.com

[Buster1]

While I agree it's bad press, and unfortunate...for folks to blindly throw GA under the bus is wrong.  I think most average citizens will understand that this was an isolated idiot...err, I mean incident.

It's just like gun issues.  GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE.

[MooneyMitch]

Quote: Buster1

While I agree it's bad press, and unfortunate...for folks to blindly throw GA under the bus is wrong.  I think most average citizens will understand that this was an isolated idiot...err, I mean incident.

It's just like gun issues.  GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE.

[FlyDave]

Geeze - another person with "issues" in a GA aircraft (yeserday's issue is mentioned in this article also):

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/02/allegedly-stolen-airplane-makes-unauthorized-landing-at-lax.html

This guy had to be out of it - he couldn't put a Cirrus down on a 10,000 foot runway.

I guess, like anything else, bad news comes in clumps..I hope we're at the end of this clump though.

[FlyDave]

Oh Yeah - at least they aren't flying Mooneys (see, theres a silver lining in most things in life)

[hansel]

Quote: FlyDave

Geeze - another person with "issues" in a GA aircraft (yeserday's issue is mentioned in this article also):

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/02/allegedly-stolen-airplane-makes-unauthorized-landing-at-lax.html

This guy had to be out of it - he couldn't put a Cirrus down on a 10,000 foot runway.

I guess, like anything else, bad news comes in clumps..I hope we're at the end of this clump though.

[FAADAR]

Quote: hansel

Agree... we have major challenges ahead, and this is a big setback. Some places (like my home field) love and support flying and their local airports. Others do not. One sad example is an area I used to communte to when I worked in the Bay Area: Palo Alto. Frankly, many of its citizens want to shut the airport down (e.g. a portion of the airport was nearly converted to a compost pile a few months ago. That's right, compost. Thankfully, enough reasonable ppl spoke out and the city retreated.) Sadly, this Wednesday Palo Alto had its first fatal takeoff accident in years involving three employees of the Tesla motor company-- and now the angry mob is at it again. If you want see what non-pilots think about "rich boy hobbies" see the comments section of the article below-- but be forwarned, some of these people are delusional and these comments may make you angry.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=15756

We need to do everything in our power to educate others and maintain our freedom to fly. These next several years may prove the most difficult but important of all.

[fantom]

Gee...they shoulda filed flight plans ;-)