Celebrate ourselves

CalPilots

When Orville and Wilbur Wright wandered out onto the dunes of Kill Devil Hills to make their first powered flight, there were no crowds of well wishers cheering them on. Reporters were elsewhere covering stories that seemed more important than two odd ducks trying to do the impossible. Their greatest moment happened in almost complete…

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Welcome to the minority

CalPilots

When the topic of aviation comes up, it is almost a given that the conversation will come around to pilots. Even if the discussion isn’t about flying itself, the chatter still turns to pilots. Whether you’re interacting with an aviation-centric audience or a rabble that wants to shut down the local airport, the person most…

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Endings, beginnings, and opportunities

CalPilots

Regular readers of this column may notice a small change to the bio blurb that runs below. It’s shorter. The line about being the founder and president of the Polk Aviation Alliance has been removed, because although I remain the founder, I am no longer the president. I’ve resigned. My local newspaper, which seems to…

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Tell your story

CalPilots

Perhaps it has occurred to you. as it has to me, aviation attracts high achievers like a moth to a flame. Ours is not the domain of the weak or timid. Similarly it’s not an exclusive outpost for rich, old, white guys who split their time between the golf course, the yacht club, the airport,…

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It’s all about we

CalPilots

The conundrum of the GA industry is daunting. Solutions abound, but many of the players are not paying attention to their peers. In fact, many of the players are openly — and counter-productively — competing with their peers under the theory: If I can harm your business, my business will benefit. Not so. Not nearly…

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Critical thinking

CalPilots

There is a important difference between critical thinking and being critical. Knowing that difference can be the deciding factor in whether you are successful at affecting change or become an ineffectual aggravating irritant. Now that I have your attention…it will come as no surprise to learn I have a tendency to critique almost every aspect…

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Coming of age

CalPilots

General Aviation is dead. If it’s not dead, it’s dying. If it’s not dying, it’s paralyzed with a sickness that manifests itself in the form of high prices, lousy service, ancient participants, and a generalized sense of ennui among the spectators at the fence line. You’ve read these charges, and I’m here to tell you they’re bunk.

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Golden Opportunities and Bitter Pills

CalPilots

Participating in politics is, in essence, an exercise in dealing with people. The goal is to establish a method of governing or providing management services. But in the end it all comes down to developing and utilizing your ability to talk to, listen to, and work with a staggeringly diverse group of people. Like most…

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Sharing your two cents

CalPilots

There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that’s as consistently dull and lifeless as a public meeting when only a handful of people show up. That’s the problem with most public meetings, frankly. Nobody shows up. More…………..

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