Jamie Beckett

2 months ago | generalaviationnews.com | Jamie Beckett

Throughout the nation there has been a long tradition of evangelicals raising tents to welcome the public. Their intent is to comfort the believers while providing an opportunity to encourage newcomers to the flock. It’s been a largely successful program, unregulated and largely independent as it is. Aviation shares a common thread with these religious events. We hold air shows and fly-ins and pilot association gatherings. We gather the faithful to commune with our common interests.

2 months ago | generalaviationnews.com | Jamie Beckett

I’m enamored of travel by general aviation aircraft. Some of the happiest, most satisfying moments of my life have been spent at 2,000 feet above the ground, watching the world roll by beneath me. It’s remarkably easy to become deluded into thinking we live on a desperately overpopulated planet covered in concrete, steel, and glass. This belief can be reinforced by what we see and hear from our position on the ground amidst the clutter of modern life.

2 months ago | generalaviationnews.com | Jamie Beckett

There is a common expression that deserves close scrutiny: Dream big. As a motivational phrase, it’s excellent. Without dreams the potential of the life we live is reduced. It’s drab and repetitive. Unsatisfying in many ways. Of course, if we dream big, we will fail big too. Nobody wins every time. The likelihood of a loss or a failure increases with the size and scope of the dream. Yet it is worth the effort to try. Because we know for sure that without risk there can be no reward.

Mar 25, 2025 | generalaviationnews.com | Jamie Beckett

In the spring of 1994 my wife and I took our new baby daughter to the ballpark in Winter Haven, Florida. The former spring training home of the Boston Red Sox, the Chain of Lakes Park became a last-minute shelter for the Cleveland Indians. Hurricane Andrew literally blew away any hopes of playing ball in Homestead that year. Spring training puts an interesting blend of veteran players and new hopefuls on the field.

Mar 11, 2025 | generalaviationnews.com | Jamie Beckett

Being airborne isn’t an experience everyone dreams of. That seems peculiar to me, but it’s true. My flight training adventure started at MacArthur Airport in Islip, Long Island, New York. Like so many flight students I was excited, a bit nervous, and completely over my head. While I’d taken a formal ground school course and passed my initial private pilot knowledge test with a blistering score of 72, I didn’t have all that solid an idea of what was happening. Still I was motivated.