The odds are good you’ve never heard of Lon Cooper. There’s no reason you would have, really. But you should have. We all should have. At least we should have if life is fair, which it is not. So working on the theory that being late is better than nothing, allow me to make the […]
Politics for Pilots
To the Expo we will go
Two weeks from now the US Sport Aviation Expo will be kicking off in Sebring, Florida. Unlike most aviation gatherings, the Expo is not a traditional airshow or fly-in. It’s more of a product showcase. Visitors get the chance to kick the tires and run a hand over the skin of actual aircraft. You can […]
Hope for the new year
I recently had the good fortune to sit around a rather large table with a group of aviation believers. These are people who know aviation, have faith in it, and understand its importance to the economy of our nation and the world. They are also aware of the tremendous educational benefits aviation provides to its […]
Golden opportunities and bitter pills
Participating in politics is, in essence, an exercise in dealing with people. The goal is to establish a method of governing or providing management services. But in the end it all comes down to developing and utilizing your ability to talk to, listen to, and work with a staggeringly diverse group of people. Like most […]
Rectifying past mistakes
Everything is not necessarily as it seems. That’s true in political endeavors more often than we might want to believe. A case of mistaken assumptions was recently uncovered at my home airport. Perhaps you will find the story beneficial to you and your attempts to positively affect the management of your local airport. The airport […]
Inherently international
It started with Louis Bleriot in 1909. Bleriot, who was essentially an engineer and an auto parts manufacturer, had been interested in aviation for nearly a decade. His fascination with flight nagged at him until he designed his own airplane, built it, and climbed into the pilot’s seat. Of course he didn’t do all this […]
The potential of potential
Believe it or not, even the most complex things can ultimately be broken down to a remarkably simple origin. Take your house, for example. While it may seem somewhat ordinary to you, a person who lived in an earlier time would be fascinated by the almost magical qualities of the amenities and gadgets you live […]
The lure of the $10 hamburger
No, I did not leave a zero off in the title to this piece. Although general aviators have long joked about the lure of the $100 hamburger, I think it is time we downsized, right-sized, and economized our way into a larger population. So I recommend the $10 hamburger. It’s available for a tenth the […]
General aviation is awesome
Hurricane Sandy made a mess of the northeast last week. More than 20 states were lambasted by wind and rain, while snow piled up in West Virginia. From Georgia to Maine, weather that nobody was happy to see came their way anyhow. There will be more to come, too. There always is. It comes year […]