Mark Phelps
Editor, Flying eNewsletter

Mark Phelps traces his passion for aviation back to age eight, when he'd stop at the town library in Milton, Massachusetts, while negotiating his paper route. There, he began what has become a lifetime pursuit; filling his heart and mind with the stories of aviation's heroes, past and present.

After graduating from college in 1975, he learned to fly, maxing out his first-ever credit card. His first job in aviation came in 1978 as a recruiter for an aircraft mechanic's school, and Mark bought his first airplane, a two-seat Grumman AA1-B, in 1981. (His current airplane is an IFR-equipped 1954 V-tail Bonanza.) In 1986, he landed a dream job as associate editor at Flying, and he has returned, in early 2008, as editor of the Flying eNewsletter. In between, he served on the editorial staffs of the Experimental Aircraft Association and Aviation International News as well as in the communications department at Dassault Falcon Jet. Along the way, Mark has been privileged to fly some of the airplanes he read about as a kid, including a Supermarine Spitfire, and to meet many of the heroes whose stories filled the pages of those books.

With approximately 1,800 hours' flying time, Mark is an active instrument pilot. When not flying or fussing with the vintage V-tail, Mark fills in the time playing ice hockey in an "adult" (old men's) league. He lives in central New Jersey with his wife and twin sons, who came into his life in 2001.