Howdy everybody. (Does one reply to the first post or the last?) I'm surprised that Doug Ritter hasn't responded to this post.

Aardwolfe, I'm sorry about the loss of your friend. It's an awful way to lose somebody.

Like dewey, I'm low-time pilot, but I make my living dealing exclusively with the legal aftermath of aircraft accidents. I'm not going to speak directly to the accident that Aardwolfe mentioned because I don't know the facts. But dewey made a lot of good points. The Aeronautical Information Manual specifically warns pilots about the dangers of mountain flying, which is especially hazardous in the summer time. That's because the combination of heated air and high altitudes causes small airplanes to strain to perform at the edge of their normal performance envelopes. That generally means that an airplane can only climb slowly and its service ceiling is diminshed. There are also weather phenomena that are uniquely associated with mountain flying, such as "mountain wave" turbulence, which small airplanes can have trouble avoiding. The final problem is that the topography of mountainous areas provide little in the way of emergency landing areas if you lose an engine.

Most general aviation accidents occur for one of two reasons: weather (including high "density altitude" because of high temperatures on an otherwise severe-clear day); and fuel exhaustion. Both hazards can easily be avoided with adequate preflight planning.

Is general aviation a Boy Scout activity? Sure. I think its A LOT safer than motorcycles (my hat's off to the Nall report, but I've been riding for nearly 30 years). Basic pilot knowledge combines many disciplines: physics of flying; navigation and chart reading; basic math, including problems of time and distance; basic airplane mechanics; weather; physiology; radio communications; legal regulations, etc. I do not believe there is anything in that curriculum that an average, motivated teenager can't learn.

My only hesitation is that it's expensive and I don' t know how to make it cheap. The average student pilot kit of text books and charts is a couple of hundred dollars.

Nevertheless, learning to fly is all about "situational awareness" and learning to take "buck-stops-here" responsibility, because "the pilot in command is the of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft." Federal Aviation Regulation 91.3(a).

Isn't that the Boy Scouts' message?

Uncle Steve

P.S. You might want to contact AOPA, Airplane Owners and Pilots Association. They publish "AOPA Pilot." The folks there might have some ideas for Scouting.