I spent the first portion of my career as a complete independent. I was completely solo. I didn’t belong to any organization, association, or group that required membership. That decision felt right. It wasn’t.
Politics for Pilots
Sights, sounds, and connections that last
The machinery of the air fascinates me. It always has. What I didn’t expect — what I didn’t realize at all until I got into aviation on a full-time basis — is that the people who live in this world are even more compelling than the machinery they fly and maintain.
Keeping the record straight
My paper logbooks hold an emotional connection to a lifetime of effort. Notes in the margins tell the tale of wonderful flights and at least a couple terrifying incidents. They carry the signatures of pilots I’ve flown with and respect. Some are gone now. Some remain friends.
Challenge accepted
Most of us did not become pilots to expand the limits of science or technology. We took that leap in an effort to expand our own horizons. To learn new skills, adapt to new information, and accept the challenge of taking fate for a walk around the block to see if we could perform at a level few ever attempt.
An intellectual wandering
Because of its incredible pace of improvement, aviation is perhaps the best example of how the impossible becomes possible.
Jumping for joy
Flying still fills me with a sense of awe. Even after all these years I have never become blasé about the moment the wheels get light and the wings take the load uphill. I’m acutely aware that I am nothing more than an average human being, well out of my element. On my own I have no business being thousands of feet in the air, cruising along at speeds my ground-bound counterparts can only dream of as they sit in traffic.
The past, present, and future of one chunk of dirt
About 100 years ago the place we recognize as Tampa International Airport, one of the largest, busiest airports in Florida, was nothing more than a strip of grass on a farm.
Why doesn’t somebody do something?
As pilots, aircraft mechanics, aviation business owners, and interested residents, it is in our best interest to offer ourselves for public service. Establish an airport advisory committee that puts effective and beneficial utilization of the field at the forefront of its agenda. Discuss development of the airport as an asset to the community — a place where learning, recreation, business, and personal fulfillment all converge for the betterment of the residents and visitors to your area.
Uncomfortable parallels deserve consideration
The question each of us must ask ourselves is this: Do I really want to be minimally qualified? Would my friends and family be comfortable flying with me if they knew I was actively avoiding situations where I would have to prove my worth as a pilot?