Flight control problem keeps flights grounded in NY and DC area

I'm an aviation buff, have been since I was a kid. First flight ever was on an AA DC-10 a few months after the crash in Chicago. Didn't matter, it was something I had dreamed about doing and I finally got the chance...closest I got were the occasional Sunday trips when my dad would take us to see his workplace, which was right near the airport...sorry dad, I was more interested in the airport/airliners(the old DTW observation deck was awesome!).

BTW, my dad worked walking distance from where Northwest flight 255 went down.

Anyway, got to fly quite a bit once I moved to the west coast. However my last flight was a Spirit Airlines promotion offering free flights on the 1 year anniversary of 9/11. Solemn, but great trip(Spirit handed us American Flag lapel pins when boarding the aircraft...remember they were clearly marked "made in China"...that's the Spirit).

Flew from DTW to LAX, turned around 30 minutes later and flew back to DTW(when they offered me the earlier flight).

Since then I've been offered many opportunities to fly, even for free(promotions)but no longer have any interest. It's just not the same with the security and attitudes(airlines/passengers)that make flying today seemly more and more like an interrogation w/delousing, rather than the enjoyable experience I remember it being in the past...and some of that was even during the hijacking era. Don't even do the plane-spotting I used to do, as the last time I went I had a security person tell me I was being monitored by 4 cameras, followed by 4-5 security personnel stopping to ask what I was doing.

...while definitely not the worst thing to come out of 9/11, it certainly changed that American freedom forever.

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