I’m typing this from the cool shade of a large airplane hangar in southern Wisconsin, typing on my iPhone while the Thunderbirds blast off into the sunshine. I’m here to share the time honored aviation tradition of an air show–a singular genre of event that brings pilots together as friends. We arrived in a gleaming, polished silver 1957 Beech 18. I flew it for about an hour while the owner munched on a sandwich. What an amazing feeling it was to sit in the cockpit of such an incredibly beautiful work of art. We are parked next to a 1944 DC-3.
Over the last 48 hours I’ve met so many pilots and heard their stories of success and disappointment. But today we are celebrating the achievement of Doug the dirtbike racer, who passed his Commercial pilot checkride yesterday. He arrived this morning in his Cessna 182, with a big smile on his face. Sharing in his joyful moment is part of what makes aviation so great. It’s about community.