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Is your significant other or any of your relatives a pilot ? And you want to give him an aviation related gift, but can’t choose ? Here is a small guide for you, and help finding your way through the maze of all possibilities.

The list of things pilots like and need is nearly endless: sunglasses, watches, radios, GPS, flight bags, kneeboards, calculators, plotters, checklists, flashlights, … The problem with this kind of gifts that they’re either highly technical, or very personal. It’s not easy to know which watch or sunglasses your favorite pilot wish, not even talking about buying a GPS if you know nothing about that.

Even if you heard him / her talk about something, be careful. If you heard Garmin handheld GPS, was it a 296, 396, 495 or 496 ? Or may be a 96… or 96C ? I understand that you don’t want to reveal your surprise, but then it’s may be better to opt for another strategy.

If you want to open the discussion and propose something, try a Garmin handheld GPS, a radio from Sporty’s, or RayBan sunglasses. If your budget is on the high end (let’s say 3500 US$ or more), try proposing a Breitling watch.

There are also many aviation related but non-flying gift options: books, models, DVDs, software. These are less risky options, the only danger being to buy something he / she already owns. Sporty’s is a good place for many gifts, and if you look for other ideas, you can browse their website.

If you want offer something to a US pilot wannabe, they also offer online training courses. Click here to get a demo, but be careful, this could be addictive for you as well..

This post now looks like a giant advert for sporty’s, so I feel compelled to mention that I have no affiliation with them. If you look for another one, you can visit pilotjourney.com. If you chose to offer a model airplane, have a look at Hangar Models, they even offer custom paint and tail number.

Another option which is always available is a voucher from one of these shops. Most flying clubs or rental organisations have accounts for each pilot, and you probably can deposit some money there. And for wannabes, an introductory flight is THE perfect gift.

I’m sure that many of you, pilot readers, have other ideas, or have something to tell about gifts you received, were there surprises or not. Feel free to share that in comments.

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Category: Pilots Talk
Tags: courses gift pilot shops

Ten days ago, Julien - the editor of Making Time for Flying - sent me an e-mail to tell me he was in Germany for a couple of weeks, and proposed we meet. Meeting with a reader, fellow blogger, and pilot student, how could I say no ?

We decided to meet for a coffee in Frankfurt airport. As I did not resumed my flying here, and as Julien was as away of his Australian homebase as possible, no flying was planned. Can you guess what we talked about ? Yes, blogging and flying. Julien is only one or two flights away from his PPL exam, so keep your fingers crossed for him..

We compared flying in Australia and Europe, and amongst many topics came variation. You know, the difference between magnetic north and geographic north. For all European pilots trained in the last decade (if not longer), variation was a trap to avoid in theoretical examinations. But for people like Julien, flying where variation is above 10 degrees, it’s a rather important thing to know.

We discussed various topics, while looking at a Lufthansa Boeing 747, and we observed the full turn-around of a TAP Airbus 319 - yes, we discussed a lot. To keep track of this event, we asked the waiter to take a picture of us…

This is how two blogging pilots look like when they meet - Julien on the left, and myself on the right. When I told about “animating the general aviation community”, I was referring to this kind of things. It’s not much, but who knows where this can lead ?

Years ago, I answered the questions of a member wannabe, in Geneva aeroclub. I was the only one there, and spend a few minutes to present him the club. He became a very active member. If I just told him “come back when the office is open”, I’m not sure it would have been the same.

If we want to keep the flying community strong and alive, we have to make it happen. By the way, have you seen the slogan on the jetty, in the background of this picture ? How cool is that ?

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Category: Pilots Talk
Tags: Australia blog community pilot variation

Love and money don’t go together. This is particularly true for persons which are in the middle range of the money scale. This became obvious to me when I heard that a generous owner would have his personal high performance signle engine aircraft operated by a local aero-club. The man in question is in love with his plane - which I must admit is a very nice one.

Pilots have strong relations with the planes they fly, but for owners this is even stronger. I’m not criticizing that. However the idea of this plane’s owner was to lower the cost of ownership. He was not flying enough to get an interesting cost per hour for himself, so his goal was to leave club members fly with his plane… simply because he did not had a lot of money.

Things got complex because he had lot of love. To “protect” his beloved airplane, he started to define rules… many rules.

(more…)

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Category: Pilots Talk
Tags: aircraft cost owner pilot renter