If you're fourth in line for takeoff on a nice summer Saturday morning, you may not believe that general aviation is a fragile industry seemingly always on the verge of self-destructing. But study the industry for a while and it sure seems that way, says AOPA Pilot Editor in Chief Thomas B. Haines, who has been a student of GA for two decades. Aircraft manufacturers are pleased to have delivered fewer than 3,000 aircraft last year. The number of deliveries is a modern record, but is it really good news? What's the impact of a weak U.S. dollar on the sale of aviation goods internationally? Will the next airplane you rent come with a glass cockpit and are you ready to fly it? Does Congress plan to cocoon every general aviation airport in security fencing or can we look forward to relatively unfettered airports and airspace? These are just some of the questions facing general aviation during these dynamic times (see " The State of General Aviation," which begins on page 66). "With regards to Dickens, in some ways these are the best of times and worst of times," says Haines. "We have phenomenal new technologies available to help us to fly more safely and confidently, but we're hamstrung by rising costs of all sorts, liability issues, and the general public's poor perception of our craft. To find out just how general aviation is faring here in the middle of the first decade of the twenty-first century, we devote much of this issue to answering these questions and more. We hope you find it stimulating reading and that it helps you appreciate how fortunate we are to participate in such a challenging and rewarding activity."
Creating this month's photo mosaic cover wasn't hard for Robert Silvers because the Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate invented photo mosaic technology; what was bittersweet for the artist was to look through the more than 2,500 images from AOPA Pilot's collection to craft the cover. Silvers loves flying — he has 10 hours in airplanes and two hours in helicopters — but had to stop flight training because of a medical condition. "I stopped thinking about flying because I know I can't; this collection of photos is so good — and a tough reminder for me," he says. Silvers' first published photo mosaic was of Marilyn Monroe for the cover of Life magazine. It takes him several weeks to create a photo mosaic, using hundreds of different images to re-create an existing photo in mosaic form (the original photo of the Lancair Columbia 400 was taken by Mike Fizer). Visit Silvers' Web site ( www.photomosaic.com) to see more examples of his work.
"I've always liked flying cross-country," says AOPA Pilot Associate Editor Steven W. Ells (see " 2005 AOPA Sweepstakes: The Big XC," page 139). "The thoughtful pretakeoff planning, the hustle of working down the list of items in my prelaunch list, and the anticipation that settles down prior to an early morning launch are intoxicating." Ells flew the AOPA sweepstakes Rockwell Commander 112A from Wickenburg, Arizona, to Lakeland, Florida, in April with Chelton Flight System's Nick Cain. "Sharing a long cross-country with another pilot always ups the fun factor — and always creates a bond that enhances my flying memories. My suggestion? Grab a friend and take off on a long cross-country — you'll never regret it," says Ells.
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