I think you misunderstand how much planes cost. Many GA pilots aren’t rich. You can by a Cessna 150 for $16k as an example:

https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+...

The pilot of this is likely not some rich individual undergoing clandestine operations.

... I know of several people nearby (relatively speaking, same metropolitan-ish area) with pretty middle-class salaries and jobs who own airplanes- not jets or anything, just smaller prop planes (like itty bitty Cessna things) and a couple people with ultralights they can land in their (fairly spacious) backyards.

Meh? As a passenger, I don't want to be tracked the way we do cattle.

Maybe I'm missing the point here, but more tracking feels more invasive and more likely to lead to abuse of said information (information imbalances equate to power, too!) and I don't want any more of that than is absolutely positively unavoidable.

> or individuals so rich that what they're doing with planes that they really want to keep secret should be everyone's concern.

You know a used Cessna is within the range of a new car, right? Is anyone who owns a townhome also in your "so rich they can't have privacy" category, because the cheapest junky townhouse around me is easily 6x the cost of a cheap personal aircraft.

Um, Yes. How do you know I’m not your neighbor? I’m middle class in the tech world and built an airplane. It cost less than a lot of luxury cars probably parked outside your workplace.

There are 600,000 GA pilots in the US. It’s ignorant if you think we all have Gulfstreams.

> How do you know I’m not your neighbor? I’m middle class in the tech world and built an airplane.

My dad was a pilot and engineer, and we built many things together in my childhood (go-carts, computer video games, an automotive speedometer, more).

But there was one thing that I always wanted to do with him: build an airplane. As a 13 year old, I found different plans from vendors, created a budget, put together a basic timeline, but could never convince him to do it.

In fairness, building a plane is a huge multi-year commitment, and almost certainly more expensive than buying a used Cessna. But the price is not completely out of reach for many folks (<$100k). The real draw is the amount you learn during the process and seeing your handiwork.

I'm still sad we never did it, but it was a big ask of a dad with a full-time job from a twerp son. As a consolation however, he did buy a small wing-section kit and we got to rivet a few panels together over a weekend. First time I ever used rivet fasteners!

What did you build? Working on an RV8 myself.

8A, of course my dad helped

I think this kind of comment (“it doesn’t affect you personally, so why do you care at all?”) suggests a shocking lack of empathy.

Flying also isn’t a prohibitively expensive activity; I know high school teachers who fly small aircraft.

I think you have an incorrect understanding of who owns planes. You'd be surprised how many of your neighbors own or rent aircraft at your local GA airport.

It's not just something multi-millionaires do. In many cases it's cheaper than owning a Tesla.

Heck, one can buy a sport plane[0] for less than the MSRP of a brand new Honda.

[0] http://www.zenithair.com/zodiac/ch650/650-price.html

A sport plane sans engine. An aircraft engine is like $30,000.