Last Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, was one of those perfect Northern California late-autumn days, and it was a day off so I took my stepfather, Dennis, flying. Although he has a private pilot certificate, he no longer flies. But every time I visit he asks if I can take him flying. This time, the answer was "Yes," instead of the usual "No, because I'm not checked out at any of the local airplane rental companies.”
So we drove over to Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, showed my pilot and medical certificates and renter's insurance papers to the friendly folks who run Trade Winds Aviation, and just minutes later preflighted a Cessna 172S and took off into the bright blue skies for a day of aviation adventuring. This all happened without my having to get a formal flight checkout at Trade Winds, saving me at least $200 in rental and instructor fees. Before that day, I had never set foot in Trade Winds Aviation.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
