GAN blogger Jamie Beckett was recently invited to speak to the East Polk Committee of 100 at their February 2011 gathering. The topic was aviation — which is right up his alley. After talking about the speech in his blog, many GAN readers asked for a video of the speech. He didn’t have one, so […]
Politics for Pilots
The dollars and sense of Sun ‘n Fun
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. He is also a founding partner and regular contributor to FlightMonkeys.com. It was nearly 40 years ago when a spry young fellow named Billy Henderson gathered with a small […]
You can’t win if you don’t play
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. He is also a partner and regular contributor to FlightMonkeys.com. Late in 2010, after attending a board meeting on transportation (the bus kind, not the aviation kind,) a county […]
Meet history face to face
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. He is also a partner and regular contributor to FlightMonkeys.com. One of the most intriguing aspects of the work I do is that I often get to meet people […]
A new perspective on an old problem
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. We’ve seen it in Santa Monica, Calif., where the city has gone to war with the airport over noise emanating from turbine-powered aircraft. We’ve seen it at Buffalo-Lancaster Regional, […]
Counting our blessings — out loud
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was booked to make a speech to the movers and shakers in these parts titled, “The Value of Aviation in Polk […]
Can aviation change America?
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. It’s a valid question: Can aviation change America? I don’t mean I’m curious to know if it can affect the relatively small percentage of the population that’s consistently involved […]
Let silence reign
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. My local newspaper, The News Chief, ran a piece in its Reader’s Rants and Raves section this week that read as follows; “Where are the clear-thinking Winter Haven leaders […]
The comment period is now open
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. What would you say if you were booked to make a speech titled, “The Value of Aviation?” Imagine for a moment that your audience is made up entirely of […]