“I’m seeing a virtuous cycle,” said National Business Aviation Association president Ed Bolen at this year’s NBAA convention in Orlando. He was speaking of The Alliance for Aviation Across America. Ad hoc Washington coalitions are often just “inside baseball” (and... Continue Reading →
The show goes on
Posted on December 20th, 2012 by Drew Steketee
Conversations drifted to tragedy in Connecticut, but the holiday season’s 25th annual Toy Parade went on as scheduled at the Spruce Creek Fly-In community in Florida. The parade boasted an ingeniously decorated Cub, Cherokee and Waco, the latter owned by... Continue Reading →
Vero Beach Memoirs
Posted on November 14th, 2012 by Drew Steketee
With apologies to both playwright Neil Simon and Brighton Beach, it was a sentimental journey Nov. 10 to Vero Beach, Florida, for Piper’s Factory Fly-In, the final event of the Cub’s 75th Anniversary year. Continue Reading →
Notes from NBAA: Good show!
Posted on November 11th, 2012 by Drew Steketee
The National Business Aircraft Association show made it into the Orlando Convention Center unscathed Oct. 30-Nov. 1 despite an on-again/off-again Presidential TFR, turmoil from Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast and economic headwinds in the industry. Show attendance looked thin but... Continue Reading →
Bowling alone
Posted on October 28th, 2012 by Drew Steketee
The new flying club proposal from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is news, but the association has tried it before. Moreover, Americans generally (pilots in particular) are individualists – even more so recently, says a unique thesis titled “Bowling... Continue Reading →
Embry-Riddle: Climbing out despite turbulent times
Posted on October 8th, 2012 by Drew Steketee
You might wonder how a big aviation university is doing during the recession. After all, airline flying is not the glamorous, big money career it used to be. What’s a college to do? At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach,... Continue Reading →
GA’s next generation of entrepreneurs: PilotMall.com’s Neil Glazer
Posted on October 3rd, 2012 by Drew Steketee
I always marvel at how anyone makes a go of it in aviation. I’m especially cheered by young people who stake their claim. I’ll be writing about a young aviation entrepreneur or leader from time to time. The first represents... Continue Reading →
General aviation goes to the political conventions
Posted on September 3rd, 2012 by Drew Steketee
For the first time, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the National Business Aviation Association teamed to hold events at the two national party conventions. The goal: Schmoozing politicos to hold high the flag of general aviation. I attended... Continue Reading →
The evolution of AOPA Live
Posted on August 16th, 2012 by Drew Steketee
Many associations and news organizations are producing video news and features – some even in the TV news format – now that the Internet has solved distribution issues. But since the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) pioneered an in-house... Continue Reading →
Will Generation Y be pilots?
Posted on August 8th, 2012 by Drew Steketee
Several recent, seemingly unrelated reports pose issues in our hopes for a new generation of pilots. Boeing’s July announcement that half a million airline pilots will be needed worldwide by 2031 made big news. But many of us have heard... Continue Reading →
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