Plane Conversations

As a quick background, I am a very blessed guy, husband to a wonderful wife, father to two beautiful daughters. After serving in the United States Air Force for 20 years, then running a technology company, I had to figure a way to make a good living doing what I love – working around and flying airplanes.

So, armed with a lot of enthusiasm, I bought a flight school and partnered with Corporate Flight Management (CFM) in the process. Not long after that, I started a charter and aircraft management business, Harmony Air.

There are many, many great CFIs (Certified Flight Instructors) and pilots out there; but, sometimes location, hard work and fate help things along. That’s part of this story.  You see, I happened to teach Tim McGraw’s business manager to fly some years ago and sure enough not long after, I began teaching Tim to fly in a Cirrus SR22 , which I provided at our Cirrus Training Center at the John C. Tune Airport in Nashville. Like every, pilot he’s still learning but he does have his Private Pilot License and, between movies, albums, concerts, being a dad and husband, is working on his instrument flying.

Tim and I have flown to some pretty interesting places.  I was fascinated to be able to fly to the NFL Kickoff in New Orleans and to see the game from a suite. Trust me, this is not the typical CFI gig.  Now we are embarking on a really great adventure, Tim’s concert schedule has him touring in Australia and, you guessed it, I’m on my way there right now. And I am fortunate that my wife and youngest daughter are with me. My oldest daughter is in nursing school and could not miss a day, much less two weeks.

It has been a really long time since I’ve flown on a commercial flight; but, so far, American Airlines has treated us very well.  But, $10 for a sandwich?!  Really?!  As I write this, we’re sitting at the International Terminal at LAX awaiting our 16+ hour flight to Sydney and then on to Brisbane. It’s in Brisbane where I’ll get my SR22 check-out at the only Cirrus Training Center in Australia.  I’m looking forward to meeting Steve Maltby, the owner there.

A word of advice, before you go to Australia to rent a plane, do your homework. I began mine two months ago and there are still some issues I’m counting on Steve to help me resolve for my 90-day license to fly.  I plan on using that license to fly between concert venues in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.

Stay tuned for more news, pics and video……

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Aviation supports a role in society that is analogous to the Internet itself. While the hard work gets done at the points on the ground, Aviation provides the diversity of ideas that can congregate.

Sure, Twitter, Facebook, and Linked in are great for broadcasting across the globe, but nothing can happen until the rubber meets the tarmac. Emerging trends in the Last Mile of Social Media portend opportunities for Private Aviation.

The following video describes how the components of the next economic paradigm must act locally, but share globally. For anyone wondering what to do next or where the great opportunities are, think about building out the Last mile of Social Media.

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