FBOs

Over the last few years the news we hear in the Pilot’s Lounge, here at the virtual airport, has tended to be pretty grim. With Chicago’s Mayor Terrorist destroying Meigs, TFRs and airspace restrictions as rampant as mushrooms in a damp cellar and airline managers doing their level best to bankrupt their charges while competing […]

Three guys are in the cockpit for today’s flight from Los Angeles to the beautiful splendor of Newark, N.J. Normally, having a jump seat rider in the cockpit for such a long flight is a huge pain in the butt. Today, it’s not so bad because the seat is filled with the butt of Jeff, […]

Most days when I come home from work, no matter how bad things are (and they usually are), I take a few moments to calm down and take stock of my life. Invariably, I come to the conclusion that I’ve got it good. I’ve got a good home, a good wife (a great one actually), […]

I‘ve always liked Grumman airplanes. They range from the funky (the Duck and the Widgeon) to the awesome (Bearcat). What does that have to do with the Gulfstream? The lineage, and history. Grumman built the first Gulfstream, a Gulfstream I (a twin turboprop). Over the last 40 years the company has gone through the now-common […]

Every once in a while I find myself leaving the pleasant confines of the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport and speaking to a group of pilots. So long as they don’t throw produce and I depart before my tires are slashed, I consider such endeavors successful. I usually discuss the contents of whatever talk […]

Finally, the long winter has passed, and we pilots are finally able to shed our heavy uniform coats and show up for work in our summer attire — white shirts with epaulettes.The winter uniform coats are great for “experienced, healthy” (meaning chubby) captains like myself, because the formal jacket covers a lot of the results […]

For those who haven’t been counting, this concludes my second year of writing for AVweb. No one is more surprised than me. It doesn’t seem that long. I guess it’s true. Time does fly when you’re having fun.And it has been fun. Even more important, at least in my book, it’s been educational. Everyone’s heard […]

Before we get into this month’s column, a little “housekeeping.”I’d like to remind readers that my old email address (jdeakin@avweb.com) is no longer valid, as the new owners have done away with AVweb email for columnists and other staff. My current addresses are my “Old Faithful” for more than 20 years, jdeakin@compuserve.com, and my newer […]

I consider myself very lucky to be able to go into the pilot’s lounge, here at the virtual airport, and talk with or exchange e-mails with some very perceptive, knowledgeable pilots. I deeply appreciate the time they take to educate me so that I can write this column. In the last five months I sent […]

The office of my Flight Surgeon was littered with the usual magazines, health books, drug interaction guides, free pens with medical supply house names on them, and of course, the ubiquitous television in the corner of the room talking about how you should take care of yourself and strive not to smoke, drink, inhale radon […]