Saturday, July 19, 2008

A REAL letter from flyover country

When it comes to aviation, I guess I'm mostly a 'gee whiz' style of writer, which is not at all the style of writing I tend to do for my day job.

Many folks seem to like both, but I can't say I've encountered a letter like the one I'm posting below. Especially when it comes to publishing the weekly RV Builder's Hotline, I'm aware that people all over the world open it up each Saturday and I think that's pretty cool. This is even better.

A few months ago, I wrote an article for Kitplanes magazine on the history of my RV airplane-building project. This week, editor Marc Cook forwarded a letter he received about the article. I admit that the way it started, well, I was pretty scared.

I am writing to demand that you never let Bob Collins ever write
anything for your magazine again. In my opinion he poses the single
greatest threat to aviation...ever.

We all know the single most important element in aviation is, of course, looking cool! Forget safety, without looking cool, who would want to be a pilot. Now, imagine me, a major airline pilot sitting in my cockpit at 35,000 ft. reading Kitplanes magazine (which, of course, I would never do because it's against the rules).

I come across the June article "Letter to a Friend" by Bob Collins and begin reading about the core elements of beauty and dedication that make us build and share this amazing experience that is homebuilding. I read about the experiences that change our lives and those of our families for the better and bring us together as a ommunity of common travelers.

And, let's say for the sake of argument I have a little moisture welling up in my eyes. Now I have to set the magazine down on the glare shield (which, of course, I would never do because it's against the rules) and turn toward the window pretending that I have dust in my eye so nobody will know that I am getting a little weepy in the cockpit! This man is a menace and must be stopped!


Yours, ever so cooley,

Chris Hawley

Talk about cool. Wherever you are, Chris Hawley, safe travels.

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