Les Abend's Flying column

I worked with Dr. Karl, before I got interested in flying and didn't know who he was except for a very well respected MD.

I do like some of what Les has to say, not everything. Haven't read this article yet. I think he puts a life-like touch to his trips.

I'm kinda getting tired of Richard Collins. He keeps repeating the same thing.
 
jtrain609 said:
Do you actually think a stray bullet is going to scare a terrorist out of a cockpit?

Seriously?

These guys know they're going to die doign what they do, what's it matter if a bullet wizzes past them.
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I ment if it hits a window or something, not scaring terrorists.

But before, as a fear thing to keep them away, yeah, didn't think that one through. Sorry for the confusion.
 
typhoonpilot said:
He still uses the term co-pilot when talking about his First Officer. That tends to irk me as I was a First Officer
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Sorry for the OT here...

Seriously...does the job title actually matter? Do you feel 'lesser' of a crew member as a copilot vs a FO?

I personally think that's petty.
 
I actually got to fly with Les on one of his flights a couple years ago in the jumpseat. I like reading his column too. Never found anything wrong with it. It's has a more personal touch rather than all the technical jargon i get bored with on the other columns. He's a pretty nice guy too.
 
I_WANNA_BE_ATP said:
I worked with Dr. Karl, before I got interested in flying and didn't know who he was except for a very well respected MD.

I do like some of what Les has to say, not everything. Haven't read this article yet. I think he puts a life-like touch to his trips.

I'm kinda getting tired of Richard Collins. He keeps repeating the same thing.
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I hate that Dick Collins does the "Air Facts" on all the Sporty's videos...now when I try to read his articles, I hear his slow, droning voice in my head and I can't comprehend what I am reading because I can't get him out of my head. Maybe I need some Zoloft or something...:drool:
 
GalaxyIFE said:
I hate that Dick Collins does the "Air Facts" on all the Sporty's videos...now when I try to read his articles, I hear his slow, droning voice in my head and I can't comprehend what I am reading because I can't get him out of my head. Maybe I need some Zoloft or something...:drool:
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I just watched a Sportys DVD "Your Private Pilot Test". To those who have seen it, the part where he talks about logbook memories. :buck: zzzzzzzzzzz
 
moxiepilot said:
All in all, Les hardly talks about the program at all. It is more of a wind bag column, talking to hear himself talk about...himself.
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As a sub 1000TT pilot I have always enjoyed Les Abend's columns even if they were a bit over the top. As a low time pilot I tend to take an experienced pilots advice/thoughts a bit more seriously than advice from someone around my own experience level. I will say this... his articles have always been a good read whether or not they contain good information or not. I think that a lot of guys with my experience use his article to subsidize what they don't hear from older and more experienced people who despise us taking the right seat in RJ's (although as to date I am not one of them).

Just a thought......
 
I read that column and had the same initial thought as Murdoughnut. I was kind of surprised by Abend's article - I've been reading him a long time and it just didn't have the same feel as his other pieces - I've written for magazines before, and I suspect some editor-fu in that regard...however...

If CAPT ads appear in the mag next month, I'm cancelling my subscription. They don't advertise right now with Flying, (at least, not that I've noticed) and if this article was a veiled "we welcome another sponsor" piece, I will lose respect for the magazine. The timing would be too effin' coincidental and makes his column look like a test-market piece. Call me jaded or just highly suspicious, but lately I've been wondering why I read the mag. It's not nearly inspiring as it used to be.
 
I gave up on Flying about 10 years ago. Its a combinations of GA fluff and "reviews" of airplanes NO READER will ever fly. It devolved into an ego masturbation for the staff writers long ago.
 
Velocipede said:
I gave up on Flying about 10 years ago. Its a combinations of GA fluff and "reviews" of airplanes NO READER will ever fly. It devolved into an ego masturbation for the staff writers long ago.
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I like about half of what Lane Wallace writes, mostly because she tends to connect the rest of the human experience to aviation in some way that is accessible. I gave up on Dick Karl because I just found the whole I-can't-afford-a-Mustang-thing disingenuous and preposterous at best.

But yeah, Velocipede - I'm not there yet but I'm getting there. We'll see what next month brings.

I should have mentioned earlier - this is the second time I've seen CAPT sort of virally inserted in a magazine - there was another publication that did an "informational" article which was NOT labeled as advertising - but it sure wasn't journalism, either.

Methinks they're backing their way into advertising. And I find it...well...ugly.
 
Les does come off as arrogant. Big man on the block because he flys the heavy iron, and writes for a magazine geared toward GA pilots. Really most of the aviation mags have the same articles over and over, how to get better landings, etc...
 
typhoonpilot said:
He still uses the term co-pilot when talking about his First Officer.
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What's wrong with copilot? I usually refer to myself as a "copilot." When talking to the average passenger, if you say "FO," they don't have a clue what that means. Yeah, copilot is a little bit old school, but I like old-school. There's nothing disrespectful about it at all.
 
Even though I'm the Captain, when my F/O is flying, I consider myself his co-pilot. Pilot Flying is the pilot. Pilot not Flying is the co-pilot. Let's not get too sensitive about terminology.
 
Velocipede said:
I gave up on Flying about 10 years ago. Its a combinations of GA fluff and "reviews" of airplanes NO READER will ever fly. It devolved into an ego masturbation for the staff writers long ago.
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:yeahthat:

I stopped reading it years ago - and that's exactly why.

It's GA magazine for industry and large training academies to drool over. It's not a GA magazine to pilots.
 
surreal1221 said:
:yeahthat:

I stopped reading it years ago - and that's exactly why.

It's GA magazine for industry and large training academies to drool over. It's not a GA magazine to pilots.
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I love the JU ad they run. Cessna 152-90kts..pfffffffffffttttttttt, CRJ Mach .84.
 
GatorFC said:
Try telling this guy it's a myth.

Chris Fogg Put Up the 'Fight of His Life' to Stay Alive
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I think you missed some details here. The post that caused Tony to link to the myth busters story was about shooting in the airplane, and what a stray bullet might do. Where in your story did someone shoot while on board that plane?? If you read what Tony linked to, you might have seen that in fact, Buster was sucked out the window when the window was compromised.
 
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