By Ernie Stephens
Editor ’s Notebook
Forget Work and
Have Some Fun
This, my friends, is going to be a two-part editorial. This first part contains a recommenda- tion directed at each and every
individual who reads Rotor & Wing,
from the CEOs of the industry’s leading producers, to the summer intern
who found a copy of this magazine on
the table in the break room. It has to do
with something that happened to me a
couple of weeks ago.
I don’t fly as much as I used to, but I still
get to pilot a helicopter a couple of times a
month, if I’m lucky. It’s mostly to do aircraft
evaluations for this publication. When I
question.) For a short, but glorious 30
minutes, I had a chance to do something
I haven’t done in several years. I flew
around with no particular place to go, no
particular mission to complete, and no
particular time fuel notwithstanding to
finish by. And even though I didn’t really
go anywhere spectacular, it didn’t matter.
I got to enjoy the sights, the sounds, the
feel and even the smell of flying for flying’s sake.
And therein lies the point of the first
part of this month’s editorial.
When was the last time you set aside
your professional responsibilities and
That leads me to part two of this piece.
For several weeks I’ve been telling my boss
that I miss flying, and how I wish I could
get out this office more and visit the members of our beloved aviation community.
But running a magazine takes quite a bit
if time and desk work. I just don’t get very
many chances.
One day, he said, “Ernie, how would
you like to be the editor-at-large for
Aviation Today and Rotor & Wing?”
Nope. I didn’t know what an “
editor-at-large” was, either.
He said an editor-at-large goes to all
of the aviation shows, visits businesses
that serve the helicopter community and
serves as the liaison between Rotor &
Wing magazine, our big aviationtoday.
com website and the world.
How could I refuse?
So, the bad news is that this will be
my last issue as editor-in-chief of Rotor
& Wing. The really, really good news is
two-fold. First, I’ll now have more opportunities to be out among the people and
machines that I’ve loved being around
and writing about all these years. And second, Rotor & Wing’s new editor-in-chief
will be Joy Finnegan, who was the boss at
one of our sister publications. She’s been
in the aviation industry for more than 30
years. She will be introducing herself to
you in this spot next month.
They say it’s nice when things come
together just right, and this is one of those
things. We get a great person at the controls running the magazine, and I get more
time to see what you’re doing at your place
and share the photos, videos and stories
with everyone via the magazine and the
website. It can’t get much better than that…
unless my boss issues me a company helicopter to get around in!
“Fun. Always try to get fun in!”
— Philip Johnson, Architect
do, I’m focusing on safety, of course, but
I’m also paying close attention to things
such as how the aircraft handles, whether
or not the avionics are user-friendly, and
dozens of other characteristics. A couple
of weeks ago, I was getting a biennial flight
review. So, instead of paying attention to
those kinds of nuances, I had to be just as
focused on executing the requisite maneuvers and “hitting the numbers” while being
graded. (It was extra interesting, because
I had not been in that particular model of
aircraft in over two years.)
Fortunately, I managed to prove that
I was still capable of driving helicopters
with some degree of proficiency and
just the least little bit of flair. But before
being told to return to the hangar, the
flight instructor said, “We’re done. Do you
want to just fly around for a while?” (He’s
a smart guy, but that was sure a stupid
just piloted or rode in a helicopter for the
pure enjoyment of it? And if you happen
to work in this industry but would rather
eat broken glass than actually go up in
the air, when was the last time you just
walked around a helicopter and admired
the technological hocus-pocus that
makes such an ungainly looking contraption fly?
Do yourself a favor once in a while
and just savor the enjoyment of being in
or around helicopters. Take a ride. Soak
in the view. See what your neighborhood
looks like from 500 feet. If you don’t like
to fly, bring a pal or child to the flight
line. Surprise them with a ride, if you can.
Have fun watching them discover vertical flying machines. It’ll put you back in
touch with the joyful side of this industry, and remind you of how incredibly
cool all of this is.
