News & Opinion, September                   

On Mortality And Hubris...
Over the decade I've worked with AVweb it seems to me that general media outlets know news will be slow on a holiday weekend ... and they can always fill space with reckless teenagers and little airplanes falling out of the sky. They're right. The really unfortunate part is that's true for any other day of the week, too.

There is no end to the stupidity, arrogance, ignorance, distraction and acts of God that will kill a pilot and his passengers. That means you. This holiday weekend, it may or may not also mean Steve Fossett.

Over the past five years, I've lost five acquaintances -- people I've spoken to, worked with, or flown with -- to crashes. It occurs to me that it's easy to explain away a lot of these things as something that happens to the other guy. Problem is, we're all someone else's "other guy" and the fact you're still alive doesn't mean you're a better pilot. It just means you've been involved in something fatally unfortunate exactly one less time.

We all count on our skills to keep us safe in the air. Of course, sometimes that's not enough. And you may be a better pilot than the guy in the hangar next to you, but Scott Crossfield was better than both of you. And he's dead. Fly safe, every day.

 About Glenn                                           

  • Editor-in-Chief, AVweb.com (2002-2006)
(Each month AVweb serves up to 300,000 unique visitors and attracts more than 24 million hits.)
  • Editor-in-Chief, iPilot.com (1999-2004)
(The then start-up online aviation resource now offers an inventory of articles, forums, an e-newsletter, and pilot catalog.)
  • Editorial Associate, Boardroom, Inc. (1992-1999)
(Relevant products include Tax Hotline, BottomLine/Personal -- paid circulation 1.5 million -- BottomLine/Health, and I-Power Continuous Improvement Management seminars.)
  • Alternate references

 Current Projects                                    

AVweb.com -- Contributing Editor, AVwebBiz and AVflash, enterprise reporting, homepage updates, podcasts, videocast project.

IFR Magazine -- Supporting podcasts

Aviation Consumer -- articles on assignment

Published also in EAA Sport Aerobatics, Canadian Aviator, BottomLine/Personal, Tax Hotline.

 GP Videos & Alternative Media      

  •  Red Bull Air Racer -- Video News
  •  Cessna Turbo Diesel -- Video News
  •  Airbus BizJet Tour -- Video News
  •  Eclipse Concept Jet -- Video News
  •  Sonex Electric Flight -- Video News
  •  OSH AirVenture Tour -- Video News
  •  Flybys B-2, F-22, etc... Video News
  •  Cessna Mustang -- Video News
  •  Cirrus The-Jet -- Video News
  •  DC-3 Training -- Video News
  •  Cessna Next-Gen -- Video News
  •  In-Cockpit Aerobatics -- Video News
  •  Cessna LSA -- Video News
  •  Tour Sun 'N Fun, '07 -- Video News
  •  AEA, Reno, 2007 -- Video News
  •  Solar Powered Flight -- Video News
  •  Sean Tucker's Bailout -- Video News
  •  Radar Expert Dave Gwinn -- Podcast
  •  "Doc" B-29 Restoration -- Podcast
  •  The Air Tour Rule -- Podcast
  •  Open Air: D.C.'s Air Taxi -- Podcast
  •  King Air Sheds Parts -- Audio News
  •  AOPA ASF: Flight Risk -- Podcast
  •  The Capstone Project -- Podcast


 Photography & PhotoJournalism     

  •  Portfolio --  99 images
  •  Favorites -- an eclectic sample
  •  Warbirds -- World War II aircraft
  •  Click -- observational photography
  •  Photojournalism -- assignment


 Archived News                              

  •  JFK Jr.'s Final Flight, July, 16,1999
  •  The Concorde Crash, Flight 4590
  •  Flying In A Post - 9/11 World


 About the Acro-1 (photo, above)     

This one of a kind aircraft I built by myself with some help in the later years from good friend, Martin Marks. The FAA granted it preliminary airworthiness on September 6, 2001. First flight was planned for five days later. For more, see A Different 9/11.

An online tool deduced 172kts for a four-way run @ 7,000 with 23" and 2200rpm. Initial climb is near 3,000 fpm and roll rate is 360 degrees per second. The aircraft is VFR equipped, with a 750 mile range. I flew it east to west across the country in 2004.