One of my first memories is of being a 3 year old standing in the doorway of the master bedroom of my parent’s home in East Hartford, Connecticut. My newborn sister, Suzann, was in my mother’s arms. My dad stood by the closet, sliding his impossibly slender, 6 foot 4 inch frame into a flight suit festooned with […]
Politics for Pilots
Dreams vs. goals
In the center of my town there is a park. In that park is a large blue chalk board where passersby are encouraged to finish the sentence, “Before I die I want to…” That’s a big statement. It’s got weight to it. A sentence that starts with those words begs for serious consideration. It’s not […]
Embracing the adaptability shuffle
You’ve been there. The flight has been planned meticulously. You’ve reviewed the weather information, you’ve got your charts in hand, the iPad is fully charged, there are no TFRs, no adverse weather conditions, and no NOTAMs to give you pause. You launch off with confidence. Then everything goes wacky. Maybe the weather suddenly and unexpectedly […]
Strive for a bucket-less life
I apportion the blame this way: 40% goes to Jack Nicholson, while a slightly lesser share, 30%, goes to Morgan Freeman, with Rob Reiner picking up the remainder. All three did a magnificent job of portraying men staring eternity in the face, in the 2007 blockbuster hit, “The Bucket List.” The story was excellent, the […]
A peek at the other Friendship 7
Of the thousands of aircraft on display at SUN ‘n FUN in Lakeland, Florida, this week, one is of particular interest. While the Blue Angels thunder through their routine in the sky above and vendors from every corner of the continent display their latest and greatest wares, I will be at least a little bit distracted […]
Hey, wanna go flying?
There’s nothing unusual about seeing two guys in the early stages of middle age, looking over a fabric-covered airplane before launching off to seek out a pancake breakfast or watch the sunset over the hills. Nothing unusual at all. Yet there was something about the two guys on the ramp at Orlando Executive Airport that […]
Financing your flight training
Most of us who fly came to the decision organically. Nobody forced us to fly. We wanted to. We yearned for the opportunity. We flew in our dreams and looked up to the heavens whenever the sound of an engine passed overhead. The decision was ours and we pursued it, each in our own way. […]
There’s a bigger story behind SUN ‘n FUN than you know
Three weeks from this very moment, thousands of General Aviation News readers will be found not at home, but in Lakeland, Florida, at the annual SUN ‘n FUN International Fly-In and Expo. Their pilgrimage will begin shortly. Much is made of the economic impact this massive event brings to the city that says of itself, “Close […]
A woman’s place is…
Thanks to a stroke of good luck and a bit of favorable geographic proximity, I got to spend some time at the Women in Aviation Conference held in Orlando, Florida, last week. If you missed it, let me tell you, you really did miss something. This is no idle gathering of vacationers disguised as convention […]