I love days when I can wake up and drive to the airport, put my belongings in the back of a Piper Cherokee, taxi to the runway and take off. I never feel so free until my wheels lift off the ground, and I get the queezy dropping feeling in my stomach as I begin to climb into open air. I love spending my time flying to random little air strips in towns that time forgot about.
Recently though, the FAA has been taking money away from general aviation, ignoring the upkeep of these public airports. Not only is it a shame, it's also a safety risk. The FAA has made it so expensive, that in some cases, airports can't even offer fueling services. If you're flying around a big storm and run low on fuel, and a desolate runway is the only thing for miles, you're essentially stranded there. To make it even worse, the upkeep of these strips is pathetic. Large cracks in runways pose a safety risk to any pilot regardless of skill level. Shouldn't the FAA do something about this in the eye of safety?
This would make a great paper!
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