There are pilot blogs, there are ATC blogs, and there are blogs from corners of the aviation world that are less frequently chronicled and well worth a read.

Ever wondered who’s the guy with the headset and the very long cord who walks alongside an airliner as it is being pushed back from the gate? In the US they call them dispatchers, and they are responsible for coordinating the whole aircraft turnaround. Nothing like reading past entries on this blog to form an appreciation for a stressful, safety-critical and badly underpaid job.

Blogs written by pilots’ partners have really opened my eyes to the receiving end of the pilot lifestyle. Not that the pilot lifestyle is as glamorous as it used to be anyway. Partner of a Pilot says it like it is, and private pilots who may be thinking about going for CPL and making a career of their passion should read this and think twice before making a decision, or at least have their partner read this if the decision is already made! Jetgirls.net has tons of information for pilot’s girlfriends and wifes. I couldn’t find any blog written by a male partner of a pilot though.

Blogs written by flight attendants are often hilarious, but this will be the topic of a future post. There’s way too many good stories from the other side of the cockpit door to do flight attendants justice in the space left here. Aircraft mechanics do not blog much, with the exception of Chad at In the Overshoot. Chad has found a job as a pilot, and now reports mostly on his flying in remote areas of Canada, while through his older posts about aircraft engines vs automobile engines or questioning the wisdom of always trusting the instruments you can really hear the aircraft mechanic in him speak and enlighten us all on what’s happening under the hood.