Meet Our Editors
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Contributing Editor
 Dick Karl is a cancer surgeon who appreciates the beauty and science involved in both surgery and flying; in fact, in the first piece he wrote for Flying, in July 1998, he examined the similarities between the two passions.
Dick had an interest in aviation as a teenager; he really caught the flying bug in college when he worked at Tompkins County Airport in Ithaca, New York, renting Avis cars and driving the airport limo. He soloed in a Cessna 150 in 1966, and he earned his private certificate in 1967. He's been reading Flying magazine ever since. He went on to earn his multiengine instrument land ratings and has logged over 4,000 hours in personal airplanes. Dick has owned many, including a Musketeer, an Arrow, a Cessna 210, a Cessna P210 and a Cessna 340. He now enjoys flying his Cheyenne I. He has earned type ratings in the Cessna 500 series and the Boeing 737, which he called "one of my greatest aviation experiences."
Dick's monthly Gear Up celebrates the human side of flying. He writes about his enthusiasm for both the machines and the people who fly and maintain them. His column is written from the perspective of a lifelong aviation enthusiast who has enjoyed owning, maintaining and flying progressively more capable airplanes. Now in the turboprop world, he's still amazed at the good fortune of personal flying. When he is not writing for Flying, Dick writes op-ed pieces for the St. Petersburg Times. He is also trying his hand at writing longer works; his Across the Red Line, a collection of stories about the bravery of patients and the experience of trying to heal them, was published in 2000. By day, Dick serves as the chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Dick says, "Writing for Flying has been one of the nicest, most rewarding events in my very lucky life."
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Contributing Editor
 Les Abend is currently a 767/757 captain, has logged almost 18,000 hours and has been with his favorite airline for 23 years. He began writing his Jumpseat column for Flying in January 2003.
Les soloed before he was able to legally drive and subsequently earned his private pilot license at age 17. He was a line boy at the local airport, pumping gas, towing airplanes out of hangars, washing and waxing, and supervising the office cash register while saving his pennies for flight training. He attended the Purdue University School of Aviation Technology, instructing and flying charters to help pay for his education. Shortly after graduation, Les was hired by an Allegheny Commuter in Jamestown, New York. After being furloughed, he was hired by another Allegheny Commuter operating Twin Otters. Les went from the left seat of the Twin Otter to the right seat of a 727, flying night freight for a contract carrier operating UPS airplanes. After a brief employment and furlough as a 727 flight engineer for Wien Air Alaska, Les was hired by his current airline.
Writing for Flying has been a lifelong dream for Les. His Jumpseat column provides a candid and sometimes humorous view into the life of an airline pilot.
When Les is not in the Flight Levels, he can be found flying gilders with his club in upstate New York. He can also be seen in the cockpit of the towplane. He is also an active member of the Flagship Detroit Foundation, flying a DC-3 in a display of airline heritage. Les and his wife love boating, diving, skiing and entertaining. Les is fortunate to make his home in both Connecticut and the Florida Keys.
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