Flying is my right

Low Pass · #1 09-08-2006, 08:56 AM

Use of terminology can make a big difference. In an article on the EAA website today, "FIVE YEARS AFTER 9/11 - WHERE DOES GA STAND?", the term privileges is used.

http://www.eaa.org/communications/ea...60907_911.html

Use of this term in relation to flying really irritates me. Flying is a right. It's very easy to understand. Just read the Constitution. The 9th and 10th ammendments are very clear on this issue.

Use of the word right implies that any citizen can fly as long as they meet the requirements to exercise that right. Is this not the case? It's no different than the right to free speech. There are basic requirements necessary to exercise that right as well. But you won't hear anyone calling free speech a privilege.

If this irritates you too, let them know! I think it's important.

www.eaa.org

920.426.4800

captainron · #2 09-08-2006, 09:02 AM

Sorry, it's a Privilege, granted to you by a government entity, just like a driver's license.

Low Pass · #3 09-08-2006, 09:16 AM

So buying a handgun is a privilege?

Have you read the Constitution?

admin · #4 09-08-2006, 09:22 AM

Before a heated discussion of the Constitution flares up, please consider the spirit of the rules for posting before you hit 'submit'.

http://www.vansairforce.net/rules.htm (specifically #9 under 'The Line')

Thanks as always,
Doug (owner)

N916K · #5 09-08-2006, 09:26 AM

IX Has been found to be properly qualified to exercise the PRIVILEGES of
II Private Pilot
III Certificate Number #########
X Date of Issue ##########
..........

captainron · #6 09-08-2006, 09:28 AM

No, that is just a purchase! Whether you have the right or not to purchase one is up to the governing powers. You know that under the 2nd. ammendment, you have the Right to keep and bear arms. You have the Right to self-defence. If you want to carry your weapon outside your home, you would then be required to obtain a concealed-carry permit in most jurisdications, which would be a Privilege. You can lose your Privileges if you do something wrong or illegal, and you can lose your Rights this way also. If you are convicted of a crime, you have lost your 2nd. ammendment Rights as you are no longer allowed to posess a gun!

captainron · #7 09-08-2006, 09:29 AM

Sorry Doug, hit the submit button too soon!

Bunker Hill · #8 09-08-2006, 09:56 AM

Yet I can drive all I want without a license as long as it's not on a government-maintained roadway. Don't grow so accustomed to being governed that your grasp on the underlying nature of your own liberty is lost.

It's crucial that flying be viewed as a natural right IMO, even if certain organizational requirements (registration, licensing, insurance, medical, etc) need to be met before a person can exercise it. That fundamental shift in perspective may be the only thing left to differentiate us from any number of other Socialist societies as the noose tightens around GA's neck. I wouldn't be too quick to disregard it.

It's the Government's job to regulate society, and by it's very nature, any increase in control that it can muster makes it's job that much easier. It's not sentimental or emotional, and it doesn't care about aviation heritage or your love for flight. It's no secret that if you don't maintain critical awareness of your own open pockets, "gov.org" will most definitely consider it their job to maintain them (and their contents) for you by default. Continue to perceive the government as the sole grantor of your wings and the day will soon arrive when regulations and/or financial responsibility will have driven the average pilot into extinction - ESPECIALLY in a post-9/11 society.

Low Pass · #9 09-08-2006, 09:58 AM

Couple of points. What the FAA writes on the certificate really is irrelevant to the way I think about my right to fly. If the FAA had their way, they'd outlaw GA. That way, there'd be no more accidents they'd have to explain and no more annoying GA pilots or planes to regulate.

As for handgun point, you lost me. It is quite clearly one's right to purchase and own a handgun if I abide by the regulations. It's also my right to carry that gun in public if I follow the regulations.

Flying is the same. As a citizen, I have the right to fly any time I want if I abide by the regulations.

My point was to bring attention to this mindset. If we behave and think as if the fed gub'ment bestows all things good and proper ("privileges") on the dirty masses, we'll be treated as the dirty masses.

jcoloccia · #10 09-08-2006, 10:19 AM

Without getting into the debate, I just think it's interesting to note that lately I've had the subject of "What would it take for you to move from the United States?" come up several times (I've been in Europe for 3 weeks). The three things I came up with were:

1) Take away my free speech
2) Take away my gun (the fact I only use it once a year for target practice is beside the point)
3) Take away my flying

I'd be gone in an instant.

Any politicians out there feel like championing an amendment for #3 also?