Defenseload

#blog #avgeek #airline

You probably have noticed that most bloggers have whats called a "Blogroll." Here, the blogger lists his favorite blogs, usually closely related to his own. I have one to the right as well. See?

Nevertheless, its easy to miss some wonderful gems, so this week Id like to introduce you to a few of my favorite aviation bloggers.

Blogging 101

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, my aim is to call attention to a few who are either 1.) just starting out, 2.) have a relatively small audience, 3.) are vastly under-appreciated, or simply... 4.) kick aviation a$$!

I would like to introduce you to a blogger who is the original inspiration for this post. 

When I stumbled upon The Pilot Factor, I was delighted to find the bloggers writing insightful, relevant, and always with a great touch of humor. Blogging on serious aviation topics, he finds ways to relate them to iconic, often humorous themes, that resonate with me: Captain James T. Kirk, Capn Jack Sparrow, and samurai, to name a few . . . in short, he speaks to Capn Auxs heart!

A fellow airline pilot up in Canada, Jean Marcellin has been blogging since August, 2009. Though I am still delightfully exploring more past posts, heres a few links to my favorites, so far: 

A high schooler in his teens, Swayne Martin blogs about his flight training experiences over at martinsaviation.blogspot.com. Photos, videos, and interviews with other pilots abound. I seriously dont know where he finds the time to do it all, and do it right! 

Not satisfied with the demoralizing negativity he was finding on pilot boards, he sought out me and other bloggers, who were able to encourage him to pursue his flying dream. (As Capn Jack Sparrow says, above, "The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem!" Savvy, mate?) Being one of my first blog buddies, Swayne sent me this meme that he made, with quotes from my novel, The Last Bush Pilots:

Heres a link to an older post of his, that is still very relevant to all of us today:

an awesome young man who is one of my aviation heroes.

A staff Sergeant soon to be honorably discharged from the Army, Justin "JD" Campbell has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. JD blogs over at standingtall.blogspot.com, about his flight training adventures.

An amazingly successful young man in his mid-twenties, Justin is working closely with me to help mentor some of our wonderful up and coming aviation youth. Justin is on the verge of snagging his PPL (Private Pilot License.) Not satisfied with that, however, Justin plans to charge full speed ahead and bag the rest of his ratings, and join me in the airline cockpit!

I recently had the honor of meeting JD in Dallas, and made a fun vlog (video blog) about it:
One of the worlds most delightful blogs 
is run by Julie "Miss TWA" Theriot, at MissTWA.blogspot.com. (because she "really misses TWA"!)

Not a pilot herself, she is nevertheless one of the most enthusiastic, self-described "avgeeks" Ive ever cyber-met! Always on the lookout for nostalgic memorabilia from the Golden Age of air transport, she has a small but very active worldwide following.

Somewhat scatterbrained, somewhat irreverent and always zany, Miss T also has an uncanny ability to dig up the most amazing cockpit and airline photos.
Members are constantly commenting and ribbing each other, the greater cut-down, the better! Somehow, Capn Aux seems to consistently wind up as the butt of many a joke...


Twice-furloughed pilot Brian still finds reasons to be grateful as he celebrates his 3rd "blogiversary" at  The Renewed Pilot http://renewedpilot.com. 




Finally,