GA aviation vs Airlines

I was just curious as why there is so much interest into how many airline types are made compared to the GA. The airlines seem to be used as to start a flight climb to a FL and go to bed and get up in the morning to make the landing.

The GA would seem to be more fun flying into different airports and exploring the world. Also the training would help out if you are really serious about getting PPL.

With the shortage of pilots now that would be an encouragement to get a license and with the possible reduction in the need to have 1500 hours. I know the cost of training is going up but some of the airlines are now offering pilot training.

Just curious.

Don R

Without knowing for certain, but based on the many posts I've seen here over the years, I'd say your answer, Don, is that there are so very many simmers who would love to be an airline pilot, or who think it's such a glamorous thing, with the high end equipment involved and the large chunk of automation so they can imagine themselves in the captain's seat.

Airline pilots have been glamorized since at least the 1940s and, beside them, GA piloting probably seems rather mundane. Of course many of us who are real world pilots do, indeed, go for the GA stuff, but don't seem so vocal about it, reveling in the variety of GA types that we probably couldn't afford in the real world (love those Bonanzas and Barons, REALLY sweet in the real world), along with relatively rare types (Stearman, Harlow, Spartan, SF-250, T-34, etc.). But you are also more likely to need to learn to fly these (LOTS of time, effort, skull sweat, etc.) than the more automated types (within the sim, that is- doesn't apply to the real world of course). And I have at least a brief time in the real world version of all those mentioned except the Spartan, with more time in some such as Stearman and Bonanza, so I can appreciate the chance to "experience" them in the sim.

The above is my current opinion based on observation over the years (1998 to present), but without hard and fast research to back it up. I'm sure others have varying opinions...