People own airplanes—or fly airplanes—for a handful of reasons and actually levitating them into the air may not be high on the list. The DNA chain that manifests itself in the urge to become a pilot probably started with those cave dwellers irresistibly attracted to bright, shiny objects. As a class, pilots like gadgets, complexity and mechanical challenge to varying degrees. And the avionics industry has been happy to feed the need.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/avionics/avionics-for-old-guys