A post on how nuts we are in aviation.

Yep, nuts.

Read it at: http://adamwebster.com/2008/04/16/how-nuts-are-we/

Adam uses the example of a Pilatus PC-6 obsessed pilot who would literally do anything, anywhere — just to get the chance to fly a PC-6.  Yes, that’s the ugly STOL plane that can be found in the movie Air America… the one that looks like it stole aerodynamic theory from John Deere. 

Anywhere means exactly that in this post — the PC-6 is used to get around in some of the most inhospitable areas — the jungles, the war torn, the mountainous.  Basically places where the closest Hilton is not just miles away, but time zones away.

I’d sell my first born for a gig flying a Supermarine Spitfire… but that really doesn’t count, right?

Regardless, it is a perfect example of how devoted many of us are to flying. A devotion that sometimes makes the most logically minded people make decisions that escape logic.

I mean, how many people out there in the non-aviation community would consider paying $120 an hour to rent a plane and fly to a greasy spoon restaurant at a far-flung airport just to have breakfast and then return?  How about commercial pilots that take a $20,000 a year job flying as a first officer on a Dash-8 when they have a $500 monthly payment to repay student loans plus living expenses? 

Yes, we in aviation will go to extremes to show our commitment to the sky.

But we are certainly not alone in our professed passions.  From Alpacas to IROC-Z’s, there are committed devotees to various hobbies and professions in any given area. It’s something like tribalism — we identify ourselves through the people we associate ourselves with and our pursuits are something of a totem of ours.

Any devoted Harley-Davidson owner will certainly say that the motorcycle is a part of their family.  It is as precious as a living thing and the hours of maintenance and care shown in addition to the hours riding on it establishes a connection that truly personifies an inanimate object.

And it is that connection — that commitment, that prompts Harley riders to display their passion on their skin.  Tattoos are certainly the embodiment of the total (and seemingly permanent) devotion to their bike.  Bikers have been associated with tattoos for as long as I can remember and vice versa. 

We in aviation have the same kind of commitment to an inanimate object as well.  We are drawn to the freedom of the sky, the smell of Avgas or Jet-A wafting from the engine when we taxi, the challenge of an unfamiliar airport, or the excitement of exploring a new place made possible by the plane.

We talk to our planes and nurture them through the toughest of times.  How many times have you almost had a full-blown conversation with your plane on a long cross-country or on a flight over water?  The plane is our best friend.

So why is it that we are so restrained when it comes to displaying our passion for aviation?  We’ll populate our houses with airplane photos or art, customize our license plate, or embroider anything in our possession with the N-Number of our plane.

But so very few of us have tattoos celebrating our love of aviation. Why is that?

It can’t be due to our fear of pain — I mean, have you ever worn a David Clark headset on a cross country of more than 2 hours?  Now that’s pain.

It certainly can’t be our fear of permanence — some of our debt loads and loans on planes (and lessons) may outlive us!  Along those same lines, it can’t be the high price of a good artist — I mean, have you seen the price of gas these days?

Some may say that aviation doesn’t have a heritage of rebellious behavior — but how do you explain the barnstormers or the air racers?

So what is it then?  Did we inherit a conservative nature from the airline pilot generation?  Did the morays of a professional appearance at all times on the job put a fear of any dermal expression in our heads?

Certainly a person can have a professional appearance and still be able to have some personal adornment.  I know of no airline that requires pilots to take their shirts off as part of the job — so what is the deal with something on a persons back or upper arm that will never be seen by the customer.

I am a pilot and aviation enthusiast and have a good amount of tattoo work myself — every bit covered by anything that can be considered to be a uniform — a polo shirt and shorts even.

Every one of my pieces is connected to flying — be it an actual airplane or even mythology.  I have made a commitment to my passion that all the work that is and will be on my body will be related to aviation like this.

But it’s so rare to find others like me out there — those of us who love flying so much that we’d take it to this level. 

And as a result, I decided to start and build an aviation and flight-related tattoo website (another blog) and it’s called Tattoos In Flight.  Take a look at http://www.tattoosinflight.com.

I am interested in hearing the thoughts of other pilots and aviation folks on the questions I posed above. 

I’d love to hear of and see tattoos devoted to aviation and flying and specifically, I am interested in seeing any general aviation or airline related tattoos.  As you’ll see on Tattoos In Flight, there are a lot of warbird and military aviation tattoos, but little on the civil side.  Email them to me at keough.ryan@gmail.com.

Feel free to drop a line below and leave your thoughts!

Earlier this week I got an email via Facebook of a fellow alum of Daniel Webster College (though a much more recent class) who now works at avionics manufacturer Avidyne.  She said she works directly with one of my former coworkers at the Collings Foundation (I only had three) and was the direct contact with the avionics department at Cutter Aviation, my new employer. Her spot in my network basically represented the crossroads of my professional career!

Another contact I made later this week through Twitter was made interesting by the intersection of my professional and personal life — aviation and tattoos.  Basically as I was promoting my other hobby blog TattoosInFlight.com (an aviation and flying tattoos gallery), we both determined we had been part of a network of tattooed professionals on the web called Inked Inc. from early on, yet had never crossed paths — and it was aviation (via Twitter) that crossed them for us!

So in other words, aviation is a really small world — a world that can make or break your career if you play your cards right. 

If you make it work for you, it’s great.  With some quality and influential contacts, you can find new opportunities that can make your job search easier and more rewarding. 

However, if you are a poor employee or have a tendency to burn bridges at your past positions, you’ll find the road to a great career to be bumpy or non-existent.  Word travels fast in a small, tight community and you need to take that into consideration when you make career moves.  Think about how many times you have heard "that guy is a crook" or "I’d never fly with those fly-by-nights" in your conversations with others in the community — it’s easy for people to complain and if they are complaining about you, good luck!

Now with rampant usage of email and the popularity of web networking and social media, the time it takes to grow a network has shrunk considerably — and the time it takes for word to spread as also done the same. In the information age, we are used to and expect almost instantaneous information.

For me, nearly every one of my career moves was done through the use of networking — and not one came from a traditional job posting.  With such a niche like aviation, each position takes a set of unique skills and specialties and in many cases jobs are filled through recommendations more than anything.  Based on that, its advisable to make friends and market your talents amongst them — because you never know when you’ll be looking or when someone may offer something better than what you’re at.

It’s always good to revisit and evaluate your network every once in a while — just to make sure your contacts are fresh and any holes you have in industry segments get patched up.  I personally have a schedule to just send personalized social emails to folks every once in a while so they know what I’m up to and to see what’s new in their world.  If a trade show is coming up, I try to email those who may be there to see if there’s a chance to meet in person.  Anything I can do to stay on their "radar" helps to keep the channels open — you never know when you might use them to travel the rough waters when faced with a layoff or furlough.

Here are some good networking resources to review before re-evaluating your own network:

Getting a Job: Networking 101 - by Daniel Bowen

Networking for a New Generation: Be Authentic - by Penelope Trunk

Business Aviation Networking Notes - by Matthew Keegan

And for those of you who are interested in venturing off into networking on the web, there are some great platforms to do so.  Here are some of the more popular:

LinkedIn - One of the largest professional networks out there. Make sure to check out "Etiquette for LinkedIn" by Penelope Trunk before making some missteps.

Twitter - One of the most interesting ways to network — in 160 characters or less.  See my feedback on Twitter at a past post here — and make sure to stop at @AeroTweets or search at Twellow to find aviation "tweeple" out there.

Facebook - OK, so everyone knows this 900-lb gorilla of social media, but still it takes a committed social networker to get immersed in Facebook and not have it overtake you.  I say, stay away from MySpace though — that’s becoming a dumping ground.

myTransponder - Still in beta, myTransponder has lots of great networking potential for aviation folks.  Right now you need to be invited to participate, but read "Making Aviation More Social" by Rob Mark at JetWhine to learn how you can participate until it’s officially launched.

Good luck on your networking journeys!

Just about anyone who is or aspires to be a pilot realizes pretty quickly that the symbolic aviators jacket is a must have — not because it’s a "need" per se, but because the ego forces it on you.  I mean, how many of us fly in a "Members Only" jacket afterall?

If you want to reinforce your new found hobby or career path with family and friends, the leather bomber jacket is a requirement.  Nothing screams "I watch Top Gun at least once a month and want to be Maverick in my C-150" like it. For some of us, it’s a love of the historic side of aviation that prompts us to go after that piece of stitched goatskin… to wear a jacket like the heroes of WWII is in some way, a tribute to their influence on us.

After a time, you may get a bit tired of wearing the sweaty leather in all climates and may switch to a nylon or cotton aviator jacket — while the leather gets relegated to the "dress" uniform.  The nylon jacket offers the bonus of washability if you have an oil-hungry plane in your care and for those gadget "cockpit is an office" types, the nylon usually adds more pencil holders on the sleeve than you can shake a No. 2 at!

Perhaps you are up North a bit, or like those ski planes in the winter.  If so, you may find yourself with one of the fuzzy collar jobs — leather or nylon.  For those of you who have flown off flat-top boats in a past life, you perhaps know nothing else other than a fuzzy collar jacket, for the Navy ALWAYS picks shearling. Gold wings look better with it I hear.

Either way, if you fly, you probably have one of these types of garments in your closet — and I am sure there are some stories behind it.  I encourage you to share a story of your particular aviators jacket by commenting here below my little story — their importance to aviation lore is just as important as the debate over tricycle vs. tailwheel planes or high-wing vs. low-wing.

My First Bomber Jacket Story

When I was growing up, I was given the opportunity at the age of 11 to attend a two-week summer camp at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, NY to experience "aviation."  For me, that was a critical time in my life as those two weeks formed the foundation for my aviation passion that has served me well so far!  Each day we’d come in with our parents as they dropped us off, and each day we’d walk past the gift shop where a genuine A-2 leather bomber jacket hung behind the counter waiting for someone to come by and buy it.  Each day I’d look at it after reading stories of guys like Gabby Gabreski or Bob Morgan — often accompanied by photos of them looking all heroic in the shot.  I aspired to be like them and wanted that jacket more than anything.  I was too young to be a pilot at that point, but I felt that jacket could get me closer somehow!

Six months went by and Christmas brought snow to the Buffalo area that made aviation seem as far away as the North Pole.  I was still reading the magazines and books that kept my flying mind sharp, but I remember I was getting blue — winter wasn’t good to explore and actually get my hands on actual planes, and paper was a poor substitute (and yes, this was before the Internets!).

When I woke up on Christmas morning, I was surprised to see that I only had a few small boxes and one large one.  My brother, half my age, had a lot more boxes overall — and though I chalked it up to favoritism for the youngest son, I still kept my hopes up.  I opened my small pile and was happy and appreciative for the books and a plastic plane model of a B-17 — but still wondered what the big one was.

I picked it up and it seemed heavy.  I was dreading the fact that it might be a sweater or a new snowsuit or something.  Clothes as a gift to an 11 year old is about as close to torture as you can get — it makes us think of back to school shopping at Penneys or something like that.  I figured it couldn’t be anything grand because mom and dad weren’t exactly rich.  My dad was a dairy farmer and my mom was a homemaker, so it certainly wasn’t a new Atari or anything (in fact, we never got a game system in my entire childhood).

But when I opened it, I nearly fell over with excitement.  In that box was the jacket… THE jacket… the jacket that was at the museum, behind the desk.  The one I dreamed of!  Mom and dad actually got it!

"It’s a few sizes too big for you, but you’ll grow into it" said mom.  Good thinking on her part — as I grew to be a bit of a tubby kid.

I tried it on, and though it was a bit floppy, it was fantastic!  I wore it all day — no matter if I was inside, outside, or right next to the woodstove.  I didn’t care how much I sweat, I had the jacket!

It was a companion of mine for years.  I wore it for my first flight lesson at the age of 16, and I wore it for my first warbird ride in a BT-13 that year.  I wore it all through my first unaccompanied airline flight to Washington DC for a school trip and never took it off while in the 727 (for luck of course!).

But perhaps the most significant thing that happened in the lifetime of the jacket happened when I wasn’t even wearing it.

After my parents split up, my mom took a job as a waitress to make ends meet.  My mom, being a tiny thing, was always cold and was heading out for work one night when she realized her jacket was still in the wash.  She asked me if she could wear my bomber jacket to work and I said "sure" of course, as I was babysitting my little brother at home anyhow.

My mom got out of work late in the evening, since she worked dinners and in the bar afterwards.  I was usually in bed well before she got home, so I put my brother to bed and I headed off after watching a bit of TV.

At 2:00 in the morning, I woke up to the phone… it was my dad.  He said that my mom had been in an accident on the way home from work and he was coming to pick us up as she was in the hospital.

My mom was driving home from work at about midnight when she fell asleep at the wheel of her car as she was driving into the valley where we lived.  The police estimated the car was traveling about 80 miles an hour when it hit a guardrail protecting a culvert, and went airborne before coming down in the ditch. My mom wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, as she had grown up in a generation that didn’t use them. Fortunately the car had an airbag and it kept her from being ejected, but it shoved her under the dash when the car hit the ditch upright.  She was able to get out of the car and pulled herself to a house next to the ditch and was able to call for help.

Because our local hospital wasn’t well equipped for trauma, mom had to be airlifted to the hospital in Rochester, NY.

I saw her the next day and she was OK for the most part.  Her left leg was badly banged up and she tore just about every ligament and tendon in her knee.  Only after years of therapy was she able to get most of it’s use back, but luckily it was the worst thing that came out of it… she was able to live life like normal, which was astounding when one looks at the accident and the condition of the car.

To this day my mom swears that it was the jacket that kept her from getting hurt worse or being killed — she said that it was my luck that had rubbed off in the jacket that kept her safe. She fought hard to make sure the paramedics didn’t cut it up or do anything to it when she was initially treated at the scene because she knew how much it meant to me. And the jacket even kept her safe on the helicopter flight — ever the lucky charm as it had served me!

I eventually grew out of the jacket and had to upgrade to another size — but we still have the jacket and my mom still wears it.  It might be a bit dirty and worn, but she loves it nonetheless. To her it’s a lucky charm that she’ll never get rid of — and to me it’s the symbol of mom’s love for me and my hobby, and her commitment to provide for us kids no matter how much it cost or how poor we were.  It may not have been able to help me fly physically, but it certainly gave my spirit the wings it needed to fly.

So please share your flying jacket story with us!  Make a comment below!

The Lockheed Jetstar is one of those airplanes that kind-of grows on you after a while.  If you were like me, you hated it at first sight in the aviation books you read as a kid.  Raised on the clean lines of the Gulfstream and Dassault Falcon lineage, I had little taste for the boxy-looking 1329 Jetstar myself.  Everything just seemed wrong: four engines where two should be… square windows… those big damn tanks on the wings… and what about that barn door of a tail huh?  Gosh, I wondered who in the heck would have loved it.

Later on, I found out it was me who would… along with many more.

Yeah, the Jetstar doesn’t have the sheer sexiness of it’s contemporaries, but that’s just it — without the Jetstar, there wouldn’t have been contemporaries!

The Jetstar was the first… the first of the screaming hot business jets. Sure, airplanes of various types had been used exclusively for business travel before the 1329, but many were war-weary surplus piston-powered hotrods burning 100 octane like the A-26 Invader that was converted by OnMark as the Marksman or Marketeer and the Lockheed Lodestar and Venturas that were converted by Howard as the 450 or 500 powerhouses.

The Jetstar was the first purpose-built bizliner that would burn kerosene — and that made it sexy for the captains of industry.

Gulfstream flew it’s first business plane, the G-I, in 1958 and marketed it accordingly — and though it burned kerosene too, it was just a turboprop. It had a big cabin and all, but for those less-educated in the field of plane-spotting, those twirly-thingies that spun around on the end of the whoosie-whatsits that made it go, made it look an awful-lot like a prop-job like all the rest before. When Mr. President of International Doodad Inc. hopped aboard, he couldn’t say he was "jetting off" and thus wasn’t nearly as cool as those who could pick up the sultry Jetstar.

So those who grew up seeing the Jetstar in the magazines and books of the 60’s loved it in all it’s roaring beauty.  Even though those four Pratt & Whitney JT12’s left a five-mile-long carbon trail behind them, it was still a thing of beauty because it was what the boys and girls aspired to — if they studied hard and ate all their vegetables, they might too someday become Mr. or Mrs. President of International Doodad Inc. and fly aboard their own Jetstar.

Of course, we all know what happened next.  Gulfstream caught on and came out with their G-II, which shared the nice big cabin of the G-I but had those sexy jets on the back… and then they came out with the III.  Bill Lear showed us that bigger wasn’t always better and gave us the Ferrari of the BizJet set with the tiny 23 and then the 25.  Then Cessna came along and showed us the Business Jet for the masses — the Citation, or "NearJet" as some called it.  Either way, the Jetstar was old-hat within a decades time and became something of a hand-me-down.  Lockheed never followed up with another business jet, so the Jetstar remained an only child.  The type attempted a revival with the P&W engines being replaced by TFE731s later as the 731 Jetstar and Jetstar II, produced between 1976 and 1978, but the airplane was surely on the decline.

Today there are indeed Jetstars operating around, but not many.  The FAA has about 70 of the 1329 on the civil register, but not all are flying.  Only two are registered in Arizona, one being a JT12 bird registered to Allied Signal (which makes me think it’s not flying) and a Jetstar II owned by a private company that seems to have recent photo records of operating (at least from Airliners.net and others). I fear that within a few years, even these holdouts will no longer see air under their wheels and will be grounded like those before them.  Perhaps they’ll go to a museum or worse, a technical school where their guts will be taken apart and put back together by mechanic trainees.  They might get parted out to maintain the examples still flying south of the border in Central and South America where they still remain fairly active.  But I fear many will just sit on the edge of airports with a "for sale" sign forever stuck inside the cockpit window, waiting for the day when the owner either falls behind on tie-down fees or they get fed up with having a broken plane, and the once-mighty bird gets reduced to scrap — a sad end, but unfortunately inevitable for many.

I hope one or two does stay flying — fueled by a passionate owner who gladly sinks hard earned cash into keeping the "first of many" in the air where it belongs.  Sure, it may be loud, dirty, and expensive as all hell — but it sure is sexy.

For More Information:

• A Great Page on the Jetstar by Robert Bogash
• Wikipedia Info on the Lockheed Jetstar
• Photos of Lockheed Jetstars on Airliners.net

But once you are 30; you’re an adult and there isn’t much left that’s off limits to you — except maybe an AARP membership — and that’s nothing I’ll look forward to. By this time, it’s assumed that you’ve got your life together and are past the entry-level jobs, have some sort of meaningful relationship, and are well on your way to personal success and happiness.

For me, I’ll remember my 30th year on planet Earth to be something of an interesting and strange year — one that became a perfect example of serendipity in motion.

Most everyone who reads my blog knows that I got hit with a layoff in March. Along with my team in the marketing department at Daniel Webster College, I was let go as part of a reorganization of that department.  For me, it was the end of a two-year employ at the college and a ten-year close relationship with DWC as a student, alumnus, volunteer, and employee (in that order).  It seemed like my life with DWC as an important part of my life ended with a 15-minute phone call on a Friday afternoon — and it wasn’t even ended by a person who had been part of my DWC family, but rather was a department head who had only known me for four months.

I was obviously crushed by the layoff and what followed was nearly four months of emotional roller coaster rides as I reflected on where my life was compared to where I hoped it would be when I first started my post-college career six-years earlier. 

But after all that self-reflection I finally came to the conclusion that the layoff happened for a reason — because now I had the renewed spirit to go back to what has been my passion — aviation.

Though my Bachelor’s degree is in aviation management, I haven’t actually worked in the corporate aviation sector since I graduated six years ago.  My former position at the Collings Foundation was far more focused in non-profit marketing and publicity management, and though DWC had a flight department and an aviation program, I found myself doing little to actually promote that unit because it seemed the program was being purposely cut-back (note: this is just an opinion — it might just be the effect of the industry).

In effect, my participation with the aviation industry was waning — and I certainly wasn’t happy with it.  But now that I was unemployed, nothing was holding me back to find a niche back in the industry again.

So, I committed myself to finding a great position in corporate aviation — and thank goodness the Phoenix area is a haven of business aviation activity.  At any given moment in the Valley of the Sun, you’ll find at least a dozen aircraft of various sizes in our skies — so there’s a lot of options.

Unfortunately, the price of fuel and the soft economy has done a lot to curb hiring at many aviation companies, so jobs aren’t exactly overflowing from the career pages and job boards — especially on the administration side.  Only the most successful and solid businesses would venture to hire — and I was fortunate to find one — or rather it found me.

Back in September 2007, right before I moved to AZ to join my wife already down here, I got an "out of the blue call" from a Vice President at Cutter Aviation in Phoenix who had been surfing around and came across my personal website highlighting my experience in website development for aviation enterprises. He was interested in hiring me as a contractor to rebuild the company website — one that was in serious need of redesign.

What was ironic is that I had just returned from visiting my wife in Phoenix the night before.  I clearly remember seeing Cutter Aviation through the window on the Southwest Airlines flight I was on — especially memorable because Cutter has the old air traffic control tower from Sky Harbor Airport installed as part of their terminal and office building.  I remember saying to myself "Hey, I should find out more about Cutter" right before we took off.

So when I moved down, I met with the folks at Cutter and they eventually hired me as a contractor to do the redesign.  While I worked on that project, Cutter contracted me to do other things — advertisements, email campaigns, postcards, etc.  Very quickly I found myself getting well acquainted with this company — a well established company.

Unlike many corporate aviation companies, Cutter Aviation has been around for eighty years.  Many companies out there, other than airlines, have been around for less than 50 years — due in part to the birth of modern business aviation happening after WWII.  Others have endured mergers and buyouts — turning from familiar family operations into large corporate megaliths.

Cutter remains family owned, operates eight locations around the Southwest, and has a diverse offering of services — fuel to maintenance, charter to aircraft sales.  With such a vibrant product mix and position of markets, I easily recognized the stability of the company and the strength of the brand.

So when the layoff happened in April, I obviously looked at Cutter as the best opportunity for me. Though the folks I worked for as a contractor had an interest in my work, I wasn’t sure if they would have a spot for me. There wasn’t an immediate opening in marketing the company and I knew summer is a time for conservative hiring for aviation companies — as it’s the slowest time of year (especially in the arid desert!)

After a few months of looking around, I thought the Cutter opportunity wouldn’t happen in time — but my patience paid off at the end of July.

A position for a Corporate Communications Coordinator — combining marketing and PR — was posted and I immediately applied.  It seemed like a perfect fit for me, easily able to capitalize on my marketing and publicity strengths.  I knew I could apply my passion… and really do something great for the company.

A week and a half later, after the standard background check and interview, I had an offer extended to me — and a week after that I reported for my first workday.

It’s the end of the first week, and I am more excited than I have ever been in regards to my career.  The company and the people that make it up have been fantastic to me and show a genuine love for what they do.  Their enthusiasm is contagious and combines well with my already-present passion for the industry!  In just the first week, I met with most of the managers within the various business units and have some great plans for the next six months to build business and communications.

What’s more, they already gave me something of a promotion — at least in the form of a title.  Everyone felt that the title of Corporate Communications Coordinator was a bit misleading, as I was going to be leading the production of marketing and communication programs.  So as a result, I have been re-titled as Manager of Marketing & Communications, a direct report to the Director of Corporate Marketing.

I cannot tell you how excited I am.  I have no problem getting up in the morning, and find myself energized and happy on my way to the office — even while fighting I-10 traffic!  Each day I go into the breakroom, upstairs in the FBO building, and look out over Cutters ramp and take in the view of the airport and our ramp — eating up the sight of those beautiful planes and being reminded how much I love aviation.

And serendipity shows that… aviation loves me too.

“What is your favorite airplane to fly or fly in… and what event did it for you?”

So now is your time to tell US a story by posting a comment here!?? Just click on the comments link and tell us a story!

I find that this simple question draws so many different responses… and in many cases people sit back and think of a truly memorable experience and are reminded of the excitement and passion that brought us to flying in the first place.?? In an era of hearing so much bad involving flying, (airline troubles, gas prices, ATC understaffing, etc.) I think it’s important we look back at the grassroots of our love for the community and the industry and remember why we love the allure of the sky like we do.

OK, so here is mine…

Picture this… Geneseo, NY… July 2005.?? It was the conclusion of the Saturday show on the “Greatest Show On Turf” at Geneseo Airport and I was searching for a friend to take me up… in anything!?? Along comes Quentin Marty (photo at left of Quentin via Eric Dumigan, www.airic.ca), the owner and pilot of a beautiful PT-13 Stearman from Van Sant Airport, and he was looking for a bit of “weight” for the front cockpit for a dusk flight!?? The Lycoming barked to life with a slightly different sound than the Continental 220 normally found on the front of a Stearman… but the sound was still the reassuring growl of a round motor, so I was fine!

We took off from the grass runway and headed due east for the best spot to mess around a little in low light of the day… Conesius Lake.?? The smallest of the Finger Lakes, Conesius is only about 10 miles long, but a mile wide.?? As we came over it, the radiant heat from the ground subsided to a cool, moist breeze.

Quentin crackled over the intercom, “are you up for some acro?” and of course I said yes!?? We got some altitude and began a slow dive with a pull-up to a nice, big, lazy loop.?? The wires hummed as we recovered and he took it into a barrel roll… lazy yet again.?? We went through a series of nice maneuvers that made the Stearman perform like the perfect lady she is.?? People below stopped their boats and took some time to enjoy the classic impromptu show over their heads.

Finally it was time we headed back… though I could have stayed out there forever.?? Quentin kept the Stearman low on the flight back so we could wave at people on the ground.?? More than a few times we did a 360 turn for appreciate kids on the ground waving at us!?? With a waggle of the wings, we were off to return to the field… a steak dinner was awaiting us at the crew tent!

That event did it for me… I was infatuated with the Stearman and continue to be to this very day!?? It was my favorite flying moment aboard my favorite plane!

Many of my favorite flying moments took place aboard Stearman products… including the photo above when I flew with Addison Pemberton (of Spokane, WA) in his Stearman 4DM Speedmail Senior… with Tom Lowe in his Stearman C3R and Ben Scott in his Stearman Speedmail Junior off our wings.?? A flight of early square-tail Stearmans over Galesburg, IL — home of the National Stearman Fly-In!

So that’s my story!?? Add yours below by clicking on the comment link!

DENVER, CO - The sound of history will soon be heard echoing through the Rocky Mountains as an authentic World War II vintage North American B-25H Mitchell arrives in Denver, Colorado on Friday, July 18th for a two-month visit offering local citizens to see living aviation history up-close and personal.

Operated by the non-profit Warbirds Unlimited Foundation of Mesa, AZ, the B-25H named “Barbie III” will be based at Denver Jet Center at Centennial Airport in Denver.  The famous medium bomber is fully-restored to 1943 standards and will be available for free viewing on the ground on Saturdays and Sundays through the second week of September and will be offering rides as well.

For those wishing to experience the ultimate trip back in time, the B-25 is available for 30-minute flights around Denver, allowing passengers to fly aboard the aircraft in the same positions our WWII veterans flew in more than 60 years ago. Flights are a $375 donation per person, per flight and up to six people may fly aboard for each flight.  100% of the donation goes into defraying the expense of operating the B-25 and helps pay for maintenance and upkeep of the rare bomber.

The B-25 Mitchell is best known for its role in the famous Doolittle raid on Japan in 1942.  The well-known mission where 16 B-25s flew from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to make the first attack on Japan following the Pearl Harbor attack has been seen in countless movies, books, and articles and was one of the key events of the early days of the war.  Throughout WWII, the B-25 played a major role as a medium bomber and ground attack aircraft in both the Pacific and European Theater of operations.

Over 9,800 B-25’s were built from 1940 to 1945, but only around 30 remain in flying condition today, flown by private operators and museums.  Out of those remaining, our B-25, the “Barbie III”, is the last flying H-model of the B-25, noted for the installation of a 75mm cannon in the nose and its configuration as a ground attack aircraft.

The Warbirds Unlimited Foundation invites you to join the B-25H Mitchell "Barbie III" in Denver and become a part of our crew and our family; those who believe that history should come alive and be preserved for generations to come.  A symbol of the mighty power of the American Army Air Corps during World War II, the B-25 flies today in honor and remembrance of our WWII veterans of all branches and we are committed to keeping the aircraft alive to preserve their memory for our future generations.

For B-25 flight reservations and information, please call our local coordinator at 800-357-6561 or visit http://www.warbirdsunlimited.org

The Warbirds Unlimited Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit foundation established in Arizona for the preservation of aircraft honoring veterans from World War II. The foundation is staff by volunteers alone and all donations and fundraising supports the restoration and operation of the aircraft it supports.

Local Information

Location:
Centennial Airport (KAPA)
Denver Jet Center
7625 S. Peoria St.
Denver, CO 80112
Dates: Saturdays and Sundays from July 19 through September 7.
Information / Reservations: 800-357-6561
or http://www.warbirdsunlimited.org

I was supposed to be at my hometown airshow this weekend in Geneseo, NY — appropriately named "The Geneseo Airshow - The Greatest Show on Turf." It’s one of the few grass-field shows left out there, and is something like a field of dreams for many aviation enthusiasts. Unfortunately the gas crunch hit me hard and made the trek of 2600 miles from AZ to NY impossible, so I am here soothing my sorrow for not being there with a blog post.

I will admit, I am not a die hard airshow fan like some — I rarely go to large shows with multiple jet teams and huge crowds. I prefer smaller, more intimate venues. I like the kind of shows where you can do a little talking with the crews and pilots and get hooked up with some behind-the-scenes access that the public can’t get usually. I like being an airshow insider.

But being an airshow insider is way more than the exclusive access and whatnot — it’s about getting more out of the show than just what’s happening in the air.  It’s about finding new ways to enjoy the event, or even just survive the harsh environment that they sometimes present to allow yourself to enjoy a show without feeling pain.

So based on that, I came up with ten ways to become the "Airshow Insider" — or ways to get the most out of your airshow experience.

10) Don’t be stupid - bare essentials
OK, this one is simple — bring what you need to survive. Wear a hat, bring sunglasses, wear sunscreen, drink water (lot’s), and make darn sure you have something to protect yourself and any expensive cameras and the like if it rains. Prepared with the basics will allow you to enjoy the show more without that trip to the EMS Tent due to heat exhaustion!

9) Friday afternoons are great
Most people going to shows plan for Saturday or Sunday, which is fine — but if this is a big show for you, and they have an "arrival day" pass, grab one and go on a Friday too. Much smaller crowds mean you’ll get more access to pilots and planes and can get some of those good taxi, takeoff, or landing shots without those heads in front of your lens. f there is no Friday show, then plan to be there early — or take advantage of photo tours if they offer them (like at Thunder Over Michigan).

Plan for an overnight
Since most "good" shows are a trip for many people, I recommend planning for an overnight stay. Even if you leave in the dark hours before dawn to get to a show, you sure as heck won’t have the enthusiasm for driving home after a long day on the ramp!  For your own enjoyment and safety, get a room and sleep up before heading back. That way you won’t have the urge to leave early, and you might even be able to take advantage of some afterhour activities. Oh yeah, book your rooms early, or else you may risk staying a good drive away from the show as well!

7) Know before you go - ASB
The Internet has been a great asset to the airshow world! Websites have popped up all over the place for airshow nuts — and the best one for the enthusiast is AirShowBuzz.com. ASB is filled with insights on the performers, kick-butt videos and photos, and a fantastic forum for airshow enthusiasts to get the inside scoop on upcoming shows, reviews of past shows, and hot news with the performers. A stop at ASB will give you the lowdown on what to see and do at the shows you love, and maybe meet some friends…

6) Make friends before you go
And what better way to connect with friends you make on ASB than to meet up at the show!  Teaming up with buddies at the show can make a show a lot more enjoyable.  Each person may have a unique insight on the show or performances, giving you a great new point of view. Perhaps these friends might have inside access to something at the show… making you an insider by association! Either way, it’s a great way to make friends and enjoy the show on a social level.

5) Afterhours sometimes works wonders
Staying around until they start to close the gates can sometimes work at the right shows. Some shows push everyone off the ramp and that’s it… but others may have activities after the public creeps out of the parking lots and the sun starts to go down. Hangar parties, crew barbeques, or even hangar dances add a whole other dimension to the event. Investigate these at the show you are going to… who knows, you might be able to buy a cold one for your favorite performer — even though it’s most likely going to be a soda anyhow!

4) Get the membership
Quite a few shows are sponsored by a local group or air museum. It goes without saying that these groups need your help — so buy a membership if you like the show. Most times you’ll get a free show pass with a membership anyhow and you’ll definitely get the extra dollar value with the newsletters and information you’ll get from the group. Plus you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve done your part to help a bit more. If you are a fan of the Oshkosh AirVenture… prepare in advance and get a membership to EAA Warbirds of America before you go — it’s worth it. It may sound funny, but it allows you access to one of the most sought-after elements of any show… flush toilets.

3) The VIP Tent
Now this one is not easy for most… but if you gain access to it, you are airshow insider extraordinaire! This tent usually comes with food and drink, shade, and show line seating for those with the hallowed wristband that allows them access. Getting that wristband is the problem. Try to make friends and ask around on ASB for folks helping out, or if you’re a local, find out what companies are helping to sponsor the event and see if you can wrangle a pass from them. Either way, it’s well worth the effort if you can make it happen and will assure a very enjoyable show for you.

2) Crew or "How Wiping Aeroshell 120 got me the best seat in the house!"
Sometimes the best seat in the house is the one under the wing of a favorite plane… with the crew. Every show performer, big and small, has a crew of some sort — and many are volunteers. Join a warbird group and offer to help crew the plane (eg: running errands, giving tours, wiping oil, selling knick-knacks, etc.). Even if you don’t fly aboard the aircraft arriving to the show, offer to drive in and help. Your effort will help secure you a crew wristband or pass so you can be part of crew-only airshow activities and the like. Keep in mind that this isn’t a pass for sluffing off… you need to work and get sweaty for this one, but it’s fun and rewarding in the end.

1) The Press Pass
OK, this one is the biggie if you want real inside access. In this day and age of blogging and social media, "press" doesn’t just mean newspapers or TV. Coverage of an airshow can take many forms, and savvy airshow marketers should know this. Getting a great airshow blogger on their side is well worth the extra press pass for Friday for them. If you are an enthusiast that wants to work up to a higher level to become an insider, being a member of the press is your best bet. Airshow press day offers up-close access to the people and the planes that make the show great, and you even might get a chance to bum a ride yourself. Press passes during the show may get you behind the ropes and in areas exclusive to crews or staff alone. Beware, being a member of the press isn’t easy work though, and expect to be taking lots of photos or writing. Show coordinators want to see the fruits of your effort, so don’t let them down! Plus, you want to be asked back next year right?

Of course, the press pass requires a higher-level of skill than just being a spectator — you need the skills to write, the skills to interview, and the skills to document (photo) — but if you have these, then you are a marketable asset with some worth. Look at some of the Internet and print aviation news organizations and answer their calls for stringers if they make such an announcement. With any luck, you might have what it takes to be an airshow insider of the first degree!

Good luck airshow insiders to be!

For Skyraider owner Eric Downing… I know how much you love them!

Can you tell I like www.mymotivatr.com yet?

And why should I have been enticed??? I mean, most of the LSAs out there look like dinky versions of Cubs, Cessna 152s made from fiberglass, or generic low wing things. For me, yeah, I’d fly anything if given the chance, but the LSA / Sport push really isn’t aimed at “converting” me… but rather to get new pilot starts.

No aircraft currently being offered was really standing out to me as something that could take a non-pilot and make them go, “whoa! I want to fly that!”?? Yeah, the Skycatcher has some potential (but what a stupid name), but it still follows the regular pattern of “make it look like our other high-wings and slap some glass instrumentation in there to up sell and let’s go.”

So needless to say, I’ve been disappointed. Until today that is.

I read Scott Spangler’s post today at JetWhine and was really interested with the feature… a little LSA amphibian called the ICON A5.?? Yeah, it looks a lot like some of the homebuilt amphibs I’ve seem out there for years, but the thing that caught my eye was the cockpit. It was so… cool looking… and it has only a little bit of glass on a Bendix King moving map GPS.

??

Oh now I am sure a whole load of people will call blasphemy on me for that one… I mean, everyone loves glass PFDs these days! What? Ryan Keough doesn’t want a G1000??? Oh he must be CRAZY!?? Someone get him on some meds stat!

You know, I would love to have a G1000 — but not in an LSA.?? To a regular, fairly experienced pilot who grew up on steam gauges, a glass PFD of any sort is a bit of a learning curve… but to a new sport-pilot-to-be… it must look like the most complicated thing out there! I am sure there are some that would get their jollies off learning a system like that, but I thought the concept of the sport pilot certificate was to build pilots that were doing it for fun — not for learning complicated computer boxes for flying that barely needs an attitude indicator in severe clear!?? Having glass in an LSA just seems like such a waste of money and silicon!

The Icon really seems to care less about the computer chips and more about the cool.?? I mean, here is a plane you can trailer… you can land on water… and land! It’s got a cool stylized cockpit that looks like it took some cues from a Lotus Elise.??

Best of all, it looks like something that could turn the heads of the guys I see trailering boats to Saguaro Lake each weekend.?? They could see the fun factor here, and that’s what would sell them.

I like the fact they try to make it all look sexy… a sexy unveiling… a sexy cockpit… sexy in a rather un-sexy looking exterior. But you know, some people are really getting excited about it… like Forbes, Business Week, and the WSJ. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?

Sure, it’s a bit unconventional, but I like unconventional.?? Everyone seems so apt to beat up the unconventional companies like Eclipse these days who want to do things in aviation a little different.?? You know what, I’m all for it!?? I think some of the negativity that comes from the populous that’s critical of paradigm shifts comes from the fact they need to learn something new… something that might be a bit outside the comfort zone.?? Something that, heaven forbid, might make them take notice and change things in their business practices because the competition is changing the game folks!

And on behalf of that paradigm shift, I’m reading up on LSAs and Sport Pilot… because I want me one of those Icons!

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