Jamie Beckett

Was tasty food served in uniquely aeronautical settings a major driver of my quest to fly? No, it wasn’t even a consideration when I first got started in this business. But those mom and pop restaurants scattered from central Florida, to South Texas, to New England surely did provide a welcome perk that made all the studying, testing, and medical exams worth the trouble.

Air show season is amazing. It was then. It is now. We get to see, hear, touch, and emotionally resonate with some of the most remarkable machinery on the planet, managed by a collection of tremendously talented folks. And in some cases, we even get to ride along or take the controls ourselves.

Having the pleasure of meeting one’s heroes…well that’s a special thing. As is the aviation game which Richard Bach so meaningfully encouraged me to pursue — even if he had no idea he’d done so.

While birds are fascinating to watch, they can be a big problem for pilots and aircraft owners.

I’m a huge fan of the loosening up of restrictions on pilots when done wisely, with solid data to base changes on, and with reasonable oversight. MOSAIC looks to be doing just that.

Many, if not most, pilots, CFIs, and A&Ps are unaware of the FAA's interpretation process. And you can’t amend your behavior if you’re not aware the rules have changed.

The future may be unknowable, but I have complete faith that it will be wonderful. It will include a vibrant version of general aviation. We simply need to dream big and stop telling ourselves, “that will never work.” Rather, we should be asking ourselves, “how could we do that?”

If we are so unfortunate as to mix the very human tendency to be momentarily irresponsible with something as unforgiving as aviation, the pain is expanded beyond ourselves. The collateral damage can last for decades.

Knowing when to head for the pasture and when to continue the flight without a care in the world can make all the difference. There’s no need to tear up a perfectly good airplane in an emergency landing just because a light burned out, a secondary flight control failed, or the person beside you lets their breakfast loose in the cockpit.

It is my belief the engineers at Cessna committed to a secret pact back in 1946. To the best of my knowledge none of them ever spoke of their devious plan for the remainder of their days.