This will be my last week passing along bits of aviation wisdom. It has been an honor for you all to invite me into your email inboxes for the past three years as Flying’s Online Editor. Steve Pope will be taking over the primary responsibilities for the Flying eNewsletter with the next issue, and I certainly wish my good friend all the best. Steve and I worked together for many years at Aviation International News, and he’s amassed an impressive case full of journalism awards. I’m proud to note that we were both part of the AIN editorial team that earned the 2002 NBAA Gold Wing Award for special coverage of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath.
When I first started writing the Flying eNewsletter exactly three years ago, I was both amused and deeply daunted by the prospect of writing a Flying Tip of the Week. The readership of this magazine is among the most knowledgeable in the world when it comes to flying ultralights to jumbo jets, and everything in between. What could I possibly write that would be instructive to so many dedicated and expert pilots at so many levels? My answer was to rely on passing along what I have read and heard from pilots with far more experience and expertise than I have. And it seems to have worked.
As I thought about what to say in this final tip, I recalled one of the most popular subjects I wrote about in these pages (I think it was second only to ‘How to Impress Girls’) — the old hackney phrase spoken by pilots in the movies, “Over and Out.” I asked readers to send in any situations where this seemingly contradictory phraseology might be appropriate. I got a few, and now, I have another one.
Over to Steve,
…and from me, Out.
Thanks again for reading —Mark Phelps
