7 Habits of Highly Effective Aviators Habit 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…
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…
Last weekend our local EAA and IAC Chapters hosted the annual joint safety seminar. We also have a FAASTeam representative there so we can give FAA Wings credit to whomever attends. The last couple of years, the venue has been PrimeAero at Marysville airport here in Central Ohio. They are gracious hosts and let us use…
How To Be a Pilot – FREE Poster (Share this with your non-flying friends) As another tool to help aspiring aviators, I have developed a poster that represents a simplified process for how to get licensed as a Private Pilot. It’s generic in nature, but hopefully it will add value to someone that is out…
Timing is everything When it comes to aviation, timing is certainly everything. I pondered this as my friend Bob and I worked on timing the magnetos on his yet to be born, RV-10. [br] You see, the mags have to be aligned and adjusted to precisely fire the spark plugs at just the right time…
Flying is an amalgamation of victories and defeats, thrills and chills. Therefore let us not forget, “there but for the grace of God, go I.” This fine Summer day dawned really beautifully. I had a trip for an owner of a C-421B from KDUC (Duncan, OK) to M25 (Mayfield, KY). We were under contract to…
It is rare that I recycle stories in the blog, but I wanted to share this great little piece written by Kelly Yamanouchi of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Especially with the ‘iffy’ press airline pilots have gotten after the movie Flight starting Denzel Washington. I could only wish to have such an illustrious career – you…
I have never really had any interest in the Clippers, although they were a big part of aviation’s coming of age. I just skipped over that era of aviation history, but I was aware of the art deco posters that romanticized the big flying boats and their exotic ports of call. Recently, someone sent me an…
I hate to disclose this embarrassing nugget of information, but the confession might cleanse my soul – ok maybe not. Some background first. If you frequent the blog you’ll know that I fly an RV-8. I love all sorts of airplanes; I am no RV snob, but I gravitated to the Vans designs some years…
This is a fictious story of an average middle-aged guy with a family that also has an affliction – it’s called flying. NOTE: This could be anyone. Jack is a loving family man. His wife and two kids mean everything to him. But now in his 40s, life is starting to provide more opportunities to…