Valkaria Airport (X59) lies on the eastern coast of Florida, south of the much larger Melbourne International, and north of Vero Beach Municipal, the home of Piper Aircraft. The non-towered, sleepy airport at Valkaria has no self-esteem problem, however. They’re small and casual and friendly and they like it that way. Social and civic organizations […]
The conundrum of community
We who write about general aviation have a tendency to use a particular term to describe the lot of us. It is fairly common for us to describe the collective bunch as “the aviation community.” The intent is to bond us together, at least in the reader’s mind. And in many cases the term is […]
Don’t ask, don’t tell
It’s no surprise to anyone in the aviation industry to hear that the pilot population is shrinking. Sure, it’s sad – but it’s not a surprise. We all know it’s shrinking. If only there were something we could do to reverse that trend. Good news — there is. In fact that trend can be reversed […]
A gift to remember
Jim Torphy has celebrated quite a few birthdays over the course of his life. At 90 years old, his personal anniversary has become somewhat more impressive though, and so his birthday party last month surpassed what most of us go through each year by quite a bit. Torphy is a pilot. In fact, he’s a […]
If general aviation ran like Publix Super Markets
Southerners are familiar with the name Publix. The supermarket chain is more than a thousand stores strong, with something in the neighborhood of 150,000 employees. They embrace a family friendly attitude from top to bottom in their business model, and prize superior customer service above price. It’s a formula that works, and has worked amazingly […]
A long road to a big win
Tourism may not seem like a natural partner of the general aviation community, but it can be. It can even be argued that it should be. And as an naturally argumentative sort of fellow, I’ll be happy to take up that issue and carry it wherever I have to in order to make progress for […]
Winners and losers
Regardless of what kind of business you are in, there is one common component that has massive influence on whether you experience economic success or disaster. That component is known as the customer. Yep, customers are the magic elixir of business, regardless of whether you’re selling toothpaste, muscle cars, or flight lessons. In the end […]
A word of advice: Be polite for a better outcome
When viewed from a comfortably detached perspective, the ironies of life can be entertaining. Let’s face it, we all get a lot of good stories from the oddities that happen all around us. Then again, those same ironies can be an infuriating series of experiences if seen from a viewpoint that includes personal involvement. Consider, […]
Celebrities brought down to earth
While watching an episode of Top Gear recently (the English version on BBC America with Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond) I noticed that a familiar American celebrity popped up on screen. Tom Cruise was given the cheery task of being their Star in a Reasonably Priced Car feature for the episode. He did […]