The Pilot’s Lounge

Itis only May, but here in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport, a few of thepilots are already making plans to go to Oshkosh, Wis., to the annual EAAAirVenture blowout the end of July. Some are checking out their camping gear andperusing Sport Aviation magazine to see what is going on and when they […]

One of the more occasional visitors to the Loungestopped in and brightened our day recently. Kirby was here for a while; hecracked a few jokes, talked about old airplanes a little, chatted with some ofthe regulars and then left, driving slowly away in his beat-up pickup truck. Hisage is starting to show and it aggravates […]

It wasn’t really a bad day, just a little challenging. The wind was gusting to about 15 and it was bumpy. The clouds were solid at 3,000 feet, but the visibility was great. Students were working hard in the crosswind and the gusts, and a couple of pilots were sitting here in the Lounge drinking […]

Oneof the regulars here at the Pilot’s Lounge went through an interesting processrecently. Armando made the decision to obtain his flight instructor certificate.He has a full time job that pays reasonably well so he probably isn’t going tochange careers. Some of the other regulars thought he was crazy to spend themoney to get what is […]

As the snow piles up around the windows at the virtual airport and some of the resident airplanes grow funny appendages on their landing gear, I always ponder the fact that many pilots will spend a pile of money to put their feet into skis but few ever explore flying airplanes with skis attached. That’s […]

Winteris finally getting a grip here at the virtual airport. Airplane owners aresniffing the air and have set up engine heaters. Lots of hangars have airplanesplugged into wall sockets, as owners hope their steeds will start on the coldmornings without damaging the engine. The regulars here at the Lounge arestarting to look forward to our […]

Wehave a December tradition here in the Pilot’s Lounge that some would regard asoverly maudlin or sentimental, but it is our way, and we like it. A significantnumber of the folks who fly from our little, virtual airport celebrate thewinter holidays. As a result, we always set aside one evening for folks to bringin food […]

“Afirst solo is like the birth of a baby.” The usual suspects were sitting in the Lounge discussing the fact that we areseeing more students at the airport when old Hack dropped that line on us. Itdid stop conversation for a moment. We generally enjoy the process ofchallenging oddball analogies, so we wanted to toss […]

It’sbeen a very satisfying month in the Pilot’s Lounge. Summer is spooling down andthe temperatures are dropping, so our airplanes are actually starting to performon takeoff. Dave, tail wheel pilot, one of the Lounge regulars, and owner of aHusky, just passed his check ride for his instrument rating. Doing such a ratingin a tandem, tail […]

It’slate at night in the pilot’s lounge. Outside the windows, the pilot-activatedrunway and taxi lights are dark, silently awaiting the next airplane – althougha propeller hasn’t turned in several hours. Everyone left quite a while ago;some inquired as to whether I was going, and accepted my “a bit later”before becoming receding taillights. There is but […]