I don’t mean to mislead but I’m not talking about the annual get-together in Galesburg, IL or even the end of season gathering in Jennings or any dozens of other fly-ins where more than one Stearman would be in attendance. No, I’m talking about the first time ever that a couple of us got together…
Author Jon Vitt had done an extraordinary thing. He has written a book that literally takes you through every step of his journey to becoming a Private Pilot. You might read a lot of very clinic explanations of how you learn to fly, but this account takes you inside the process in a step-by-step walk…
As a pilot I have an irresistible tendency to look up when I see an airplane over head. For some reason I don’t think this instinct exists in the non-aviation oriented population. This has been demonstrated to me dozens of times when I’m in public. I reflexively strain my neck to place my gaze upon…
This is my humble contribution to the blogging in formation series. For this month’s #blogformation post, Cap ‘n Aux astutely chose “my most instructional moment” as the theme. I had to think about this one for a few minutes. As a former instructor I feel like I could choose between either side of the coin –…
If you are lucky enough to have a spouse that is in love with aviation then you can skip this post entirely. Unfortunately, not all of us enjoy such pleasantries of life. Some of us may find ourselves wedded to someone who would rather stick pins in their eyes than go to the airport and…
Ok we say we want to grow the industry, but do we really? I feel like there are plenty among us who could care less. Maybe if you stopped and asked them directly they wouldn’t be so callous, but their actions elucidate their mentality. If you are the ones among us that are active in…
This is my humble contribution to the blogging in formation series. If you had one wish for aviation what would it be? Make it: safer, more mainstream, less expensive, more accessible, increasingly social, more desirable, etc.? In a nutshell, my one wish would be to make it less expensive, of course many of your would…
This post may sound like it is targeted at folks in training, but it really applies to all of us. It assumes that we are all “students” in some form or fashion. Let me explain. You see it doesn’t matter if you are a 787 driver with decades of experience and you flew F-15s prior…
I wrote a recent article for AirFactsJournal.com that highlights what I feel is the larger issue around light aircraft safety. It has very little to do with inadequate training or marginal equipment or antiquated regulations. I think the current training programs are fine (could always be better), the equipment very safe, and our FARs exist…
When the group (Blogging in Formation) settled on this topic for June I wasn’t sure what to write, but after some some introspection the choice was clear – the first flight in my RV-8 topped the charts as most memorable. Get a cup of coffee this is a long story! One of the things that…