I can well believe ELP is an issue in aeroclubs in some countries around Europe, but mailing 100+ of them was done on the advice of pilots from those countries, who even helped me to narrow down the lists of clubs to the important ones 
So this “popular but well worn mod attack vector” is not gonna work 
Well, there was this but that’s just France. I know from 42 years in business that ELP is actually pretty damn good in say Benelux, and indeed Norway and Sweden too, and this would extend to aeroclubs in these countries. I also know quite well where it isn’t (where one does zero business without a “fully native” local rep) but it no more than reflects broader cultural factors.
my club alone do more flying and more diverse flying than this site can come up with
EuroGA is a user-contributed forum, so if anyone feels some aspect of GA is under-represented, they should contribute accordingly. This is not a €300/year aviation newspaper where one complains to the editor if the content isn’t to one’s liking
Almost a month later, the weekly periodicity has returned
It’s amazing how a forum can be a mirror of economic activity… but has there really been such a spontaneous return to going to the office?
Still not quite back to previous levels, and clearly the effect on activity remains strong. With quarantines etc around the place, and many people personally worried about it, a lot of trips are not being done.
My impression is also that the activity is less in terms of actual posts. There seems to be far fewer, and a lot of the topics hang around for much longer, before being replaced with something fresh.
Yes; from what I can tell new threads are 30% to 50% down. As I say there is generally a lot less activity going on – among those who contribute on EuroGA.
Not really surprising given the economic hit being the biggest thing since WW2. On top of that is the summer holiday season which is always down. On top of that the GA demographic is not exactly a load of 20 year olds and most older people are quite worried about travel.
The longer trend is that as the years go by, common topics have been discussed (the big joke in GA for years has been that the printed magazines always did articles on carb heat, carb heat, carb heat ) so what we need is for people to “make an effort” and throw some new stuff into the saucepan. There is a vast range of great GA topics out there. EuroGA is a community project; nobody is running it for money (it will never make money, for various reasons) and it is what we all make it. I know I bang on about this but it really is what it is.
What is really needed right now is for lots of people to go back to leaving leaflets at airports, because apart from google SEO that is how most people find out about EuroGA.
One of the biggest interests to me have been the trip reports, to inspire and inform. It appears there are fewer trip reports as fewer trips are made.
This time last year i had flown three times as much as this year or more and many European trips.
As an owner of a permit aircraft some of the discussion is interesting but not very relevant, that isnt a criticism but just how the forum works.
I also think even if trips can be made many people are releuctant and/or are put off by the hassle factor of multiple forms, masks, temp checks, etc so they ultimately fly less and stay closer to home.
In the UK the continued suggestions from HMG that they may impose quarantine on returners from France at short notice makes the long weekend tour much less likely if you are under “house arrest” for the next 14 days.
I did update the airport database after a trip to Ostend and will do for Kortrijk when i have their landing fee invoice! Such a great airfield and really helpful, if only we had more airfields like that in the UK.
Maybe, with the database running, some write a db report instead of a full trip report, which takes much more time.
As a suggestion could there be a permanent thread that writes through when there is a new DB entry just to show where and the date? so one can see as it is updated and read whenever convenient.
I for one have read a report and thought make it a trip.
That one is definitely on the list. Many thanks for the suggestion.
The undisputed barometer of economic activity known as EuroGA is improving, with those who read the forum only Mon-Fri (presumably, only at the office) coming back
Peter wrote:
The undisputed barometer of economic activity known as EuroGA is improving, with those who read the forum only Mon-Fri (presumably, only at the office) coming back
Nice! Still, activity does not seem to have reached pre-Covid levels yet.
