FBOs

“You should write a book,” said Jenny, our senior flight attendant for today, who was standing behind the center console of our airplane.She was no doubt referring to the fact that so far today not much had gone right and we could fill at least a romance-novel-sized tome about our trials and tribulations up to […]

Did you ever notice it’s always the little things that jump up and bite you? We all worry and obsess about the big things. We know not to fly into thunderstorms. We know to stay away from icing. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on the big things. It’s made aviation one of the safest forms […]

I‘ve just had the rare opportunity to fly this very rare and remarkable warbird, and I’m just busting out all over to tell all. I am still amazed that I got the chance, and it appears that I’ll get to fly it on a continuing basis. To my knowledge, there are only two flying in […]

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 […]