By JEB BURNSIDE. Any time two or more pilots get together, no matter the reason, the conversation eventually turns to flying. Even if one of them just got married, they’ll at least ask each other how their flight in went, and where they’re headed next. In fact, the only real exception to this rule is […]
Pilot Related
Lounging around
By JEB BURNSIDE. There are three basic types of people you meet in the typical FBO’s pilot lounge. If you’ve read many of my columns for General Aviation News, it will not surprise you to learn I like hanging around FBOs and pilot lounges. My enjoyment of this pastime stems from working as a lineboy at […]
Crop Duster
By JEB BURNSIDE. We can always learn things from other pilots, even if the lessons aren’t obvious. For me, one of the most interesting and rewarding aspects of flying is the people I’ve met along the way. So it was with a pilot I’ll simply call Crop Duster. I remember him from my student pilot days, […]
One of aviation’s guilty pleasures
By JEB BURNSIDE. “If you have time to spare, go by air” is one of many truisms associated with traveling by aircraft. It’s perhaps rooted most deeply in general aviation, where no matter how hard we may try, a schedule is merely a guideline — which means a lot of waiting. Glance around a typical FBO […]
First-Timers
By JEB BURNSIDE. If you’re lucky, you may get a chance to give someone their first airplane ride. In fact, flying passengers can be one of the real highlights of becoming a pilot. (And I’m thinking of pure passengers, the kind who have no clue how to do what you’re doing in the cockpit. Pilot-rated […]
Quirky
By JEB BURNSIDE. It’s ironic that pilots are supposed to do everything the same way each time while the airplanes we’re flying are all different. One supposed characteristic of aviation is its consistency. Performing the same tasks in the same way when dealing with a complicated mechanical device is just good common sense, and pilots […]
Three things no pilot wants to hear
By JEB BURNSIDE. Pilots have many popular sayings we share among ourselves and with others. They result from a desire to impress non-pilots with our “daredevil” spirit and how we “conquer” the mystique of flying, sprinkled with a certain fatalism. I’m thinking of things like, “The only time you can have too much fuel is […]
Two in the bush
By JEB BURNSIDE. Flying in remote Alaska is just about the most memorable fun one can have in an airplane. If you’re like me, you’ve often read about bush flying. We all have different definitions of exactly what that is, but most of us can agree it involves VFR flying in basic airplanes to and […]
The assistant principal
By JEB BURNSIDE. Most people have what it takes to become a pilot — some don’t Several people in my southern hometown’s high school were interested in learning to fly. Either the local Civil Air Patrol’s composite squadron — my chosen path for primary training — or the Reserve Officer Training Program (ROTC) provided relatively inexpensive […]