The Great Society?

The Greater Northern Alabama Lying Pilots Hangar Flying & Coffee Drinking Society (GNALPHF&CDS) met on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, April 23, 24, and 25, 2008 at Mullins Restaurant in Huntsville, Alabama. A little background is in order… Jack Montgomery and I formed the society in 1986. Jack and I shared an office in Huntsville, and we started meeting for breakfast. Jack was a genuine retired rocket scientist and experienced pilot; I was a recovering aircraft salesman and brand-new professional public speaker and writer. Soon thereafter, Bill Broadway, high-time pilot and owner of a genuine high-tech aerial photography business,joined us. We were off and running. Over the years the group waxed and waned, with a crowd on some days, just two of us on others. We shared information, knowledge, experience, rumors, and outright lies. Then Jack retired to Florida. Later, in late 2006, wife Gail and I moved to east Tennessee to be closer to Gail’s aging parents. That was a setback for the society—I’d like to believe it was because I was the leader of the pack, but actually it was because the society was more important to me than to the others. This past week I had a speech in Huntsville, so the society met three days running. It was sorta like a reunion. On one day or another participants included FedEx pilot and LSA distributor Don Langford; USAir pilot Bob Hall; the good doctor Clyde (who has owned Bonzana, Baron, Mooney, Cessna, and Diamond aircraft); Matt Rainey, the guvmint employee who just helped put together the purchase of several hundred military helicopters; Bill Broadway and I; and a good time was had by all. We also argued, discussed, and griped about the state of the aviation industry; rejoiced in the unbelievable current safety record of the airline industry; and worried about the likelihood of its continuance. We solved most of the problems, then opined, laughed, and lamented a myriad of brand-new problems. All in all, it was business as usual. We’d love to post your comments. Please click the comment tab at the top.