Tag Archives: camaraderie

The Last Bush Pilots: A Review

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last bush pilots

I have two constants when it comes to my book-reading life. I read anything written by a fellow pilot, but I almost never read non-fiction. In this case I am really glad I broke one of my rules to read Captain Eric Auxier’s novel titled, The Last Bush Pilots.

The funny thing is it’s hard to tell what is real or fiction and isn’t that the best of both worlds? You see Eric has been there and done that; he was an Alaskan Bush Pilot in his youth dreaming of some day making it to the “show.”  Which he ultimately did as he is now gainfully employed at a major airline.

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Oh the lure of a grass runway: One of GA’s Best Kept Secrets

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sod runwayOne my favorite things to do is land on a nice grass runway. There is something about it that almost makes it seem like a guilty pleasure.

No TSA, no metal detectors, no sequestration-impacted-control-towers, and rarely any fences, and certainly no barbed wire! It is flying in the most organic sense of the word.

My first grass airport landing with in El Reno, OK. at Gibson Aviation. There’s a famous cylinder repair facility there and they have a runway right outside of their shop – as it should be. I had 137 hours in my logbook. My vessel was the veritable C-152 and I remember it well. Most of all I remember thinking how cool it was to fly an airplane like the pioneers did it so long ago.

The reality is grass runways have several advantages over their paved counterparts.
  • Less wear on tires and brakes
  • Directional control is easier
  • Touch down are smoother
  • Stopping distances are shorter
  • It’s cool! Eddie Richenbacker and the Red Baron did it that way
  • If its an omnidirectional field you don’t have to mess with those pesky crosswinds
grass strip

my rv loves the grass

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7 Habits of Highly Effective Aviators

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7 Habits of Highly Effective Aviators
superman fly likeHabit 1 – Seeks perfection. I believe this is a key trait and it should not be limited to the professional. If you always strive to be the best, you’ll need to know how to accept coming up short without being frustrated. If you fall down you just dust yourself off and get back on the horse. 

 

promoting aviationHabit 2 – Is an ambassador. Successful pilots are advocates for aviation. They look at it from a team perspective. We all win or lose together in this small community. With aviation under attack it is never more important than to be lobbying for our cause.

 

crystal ballHabit 3 – Always thinking ahead. This is just good airmanship, but knowing how to see the way forward is hugely important. At a macro level this involves seeing where you’ll be in 10 years as an aviator or at the micro level, it’s staying ahead of the airplane in a given maneuver or procedure. 

 

fonzHabit 4 – Doesn’t let the ego get out of control. As a pilot It’s good to have a healthy ego. This business of flying airplanes isn’t for the meek. But there are all kinds of problems associated with an over-inflated ego. It’s a balance that isn’t always easy to manage for some of us, but the best aviators have this dialed in.

 

safe flyingHabit 5 – Values safety and manages risk. Successful pilots must respect the need to be safe. Risk management is a large part of what we do as pilots, the good ones give it the appropriate amount of attention. The bad ones just create more statistics and make it hard for the rest of us. Continue reading →

Jet Jocks: How professional pilots can shun recreational aviation

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airline pilots

Ok, many of you may not be familiar with this curious phenomenon. Jet Jock is my pet name for professional pilots that not only don’t fly outside of their day job, they are actually repulsed by the idea.

I first encountered this species of aviator in my youth. The local airport was home base for a large corporate flight department. Their facilities were up on the North end of the field and never in all my years flying did I see any of those pilots. They must have jumped out of their corporate rocket ships and blazed a trail for the lake or the golf course.
 
I remember wondering why they wouldn’t come down and check out all the neat stuff we had going on at the FBO. 
 
Later in my career I ran into this again and found that it is pretty common. Common enough that those of us in my company that still fly GA actually stick together. 
 
That’s not to say that just because a pro pilot isn’t actively flying for pleasure doesn’t mean they don’t want too. Many can’t afford the extravagance, but would love to do it at the first opportunity.  Continue reading →

What General Aviation Needs: 8 not-so-easy solutions to GA’s woes

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General aviation solutions

What General Aviation Needs: 8 not-so-easy solutions to GA’s woes

When you look across the landscape of General Aviation it becomes apparent that there are some challenges. 

I took the liberty of writing down a short list of pain-points for you perusal (not in any specific order). 

1.  We need airplanes that are inexpensive to purchase and fly
In my opinion, this won’t happen until one key development is solidified – electric flight. If we can develop a 200 mph 4 seaters that can run on electrons, the cost of flying will go down exponentially. These electric birds also need to be less expensive to produce than our current dinosaur-burners.

2.  More accessibility
More and better access to airports and training facilities. Many airports are like fortresses. Plus the FBOs aren’t super-friendly so we have some work to do in that department. (related article here)
 
3.  Fewer restrictions
The whole user fee issue just makes my blood boil. How is it that our current fuel tax isn’t a user fee already? Why would do we need a standalone fee? It will be a huge waste of money, make our system less safe, and drive folks away from flying. (related article here)
Also no 3rd class medical. This is in work and I feel like this can have a really positive impact on GA. The less barriers for entry, the more folks participate – simple. Also we’ll retain more of our current population.  Continue reading →

RV NATION: It’s a grass roots thing!

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RV NATION: It’s a grass roots thing!
Scott Brown, creator of RV Nation, is building a community. A community of like-minded RV folks where they can come together to talk and exchange all-things-RV.

The really cool thing that Scott is doing is providing significant value to members. One of the ways is by leveraging the power of the group to obtain discounts from all sorts of cool vendors. These discount are a huge value-add for RV Nation members.

Another value-add is the RV Nation Squadrons. Almost like EAA chapters, they will provide a local club feel that really lets members connect.RVN Scott and tracy

RV Nation is also about grass roots flying. Keeping it simple and getting as many people involved as possible. They host an annual fly-in as well as a youth education events.

So don’t take my word for it. Go on over to RV Nation by following this link and look around. I have only scratched the surface, RV Nation has so many offerings and it continues to grow. Scott is very active and approachable with the members, so if you have any questions, he’d be happy to get back to you.

by Brent Owens                                                                   Subscribe to the mailing list

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Does flying lack value?

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does flying lack valueDoes flying lack value? In talking to a pilot friend I hadn’t seen in a while, the topic of flying came up, of course.

He mentioned he wasn’t flying and wanted to buy an airplane, but didn’t want anything he could afford. His tastes were beyond his budget and he would rather go without than comprise.

In this particular case we have a fully rated, experienced pilot that isn’t flying at all. So is it really about owning the right airplane or something else? He has access to a wide range of nice rentals in our area. Certainly renting would be far cheaper for him than owning.

Our conversation was cut short before I could probe further, that’s unfortunate because I’m really intrigued by this mentality. I wonder, how common is this line of thinking?

I could be judgmental and say he simply lacks passion or imagination and that may be true, but I feel like there’s something larger at play here; more like a general perceived lack of value in flying..

In today’s world there are so many interests competing for our time that it begs the question; does flying provide enough value to justify the time and money?

This is one if the reasons more socially connected pilot communities flourish, belonging provides the additional value-add that tips the scales.

value added

Want to fix the pilot problem? We have to build local communities of pilots where everyone feels like they are part of something bigger than themselves. You might have heard me harp about this in previous posts, but it’s still true and conversations like this reminds me that we are not growing as an industry.

I honestly believe this would fix my friend’s problem of choosing not to fly. The good news is there are several people working on ‘plug-and-play’ local organizations/clubs to do just that - AOPA and Aviation Access are two that are working this actively . The EAA  long ago recognized this and their successful chapter network has kept a lot of folks flying over the years. (See related article here)

It won’t be an easy task, but there are some really large untapped markets out there ripe for this kind of nudge in the right direction. Once it gets started, it can be self-sustaining – the old adage, “a crowd draws a crowd” fits here.

Does flying lack value for you?

I’m optimistic.

by Brent Owens                                                                   Subscribe to our mailing list

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It’s your aviation blog…what do YOU want to see?

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It’s your aviation blog! With several hundred readers per day, I wanted to reach out and see if your aviation blog is providing aviation content that you want to see.

I obviously talk about topics that I am interested in, but that certainly isn’t what everyone wants to read. If you have topics that you feel I should touch on, please comment below or if you would rather, send me an email.

I frequent many other aviation blogs to stay current and on-point with subject matter, but I would love to offer what you want, not what the mainstream is publishing.

by Brent Owens                                                                     Subscribe to our mailing list

Bob’s Wings

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Bob’s Wings
Saturday a contingent of friends and fellow builders descended upon Bob’s T-hangar to assist in the permanent installation of the wings on his beautiful RV-10.

Although there were twice as many people as needed it was fun to see everyone together on a sunny, but cool day in early February.

It only took an hour to transform the fuselage and separate wings into a full-blown airplane. I think everyone but me flew off to lunch, I had other commitments so I was ground-bound unfortunately.

Since Bob made the wise choice to paint it prior to assembly it really looks ready to fly. You can see from the photos that it’s gorgeous!

I am sure he’ll be flying this spring – I can’t wait! Continue reading →

Should I fly into Oshkosh?

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Flying into Airventure

Should I fly into Oshkosh?

This is a question that many aviators ask themselves.

Airventure Oshkosh is an amazing experience that should be on every pilot’s bucket list and for thousands it is the one event every year they WILL NOT miss.

But for some there is a risk versus reward question. Sometimes the answer to that question leaves them seeking other methods of getting Oshkosh or worse, not going at all.

Assuming we are familiar with all of the rewards, lets focus on the risks. Continue reading →