Here are some of the interesting stories in aviation that I found this week.

A sanity check concerning general aviation security
We’ll start out this week with a series of articles from The Atlantic. The main link is to a piece written by aviation writer (one of my favorites) Lane Wallace. The article is a rebuttal to another Atlantic article concerning general aviation security. Lane’s article refers to yet a third article in the same tone as hers. Well worth your time to read these. It’s nice to see that there are journalists who not only understand the world of aviation but also take part in it.

A look at the Flying Heritage Museum at Paine Field north of Seattle, WA.
This is an article from Airline Reporter that looks at the Flying Heritage Museum’s excellent collection of aircraft. The article provides links to over 30 photos of the aircraft in the collection.

The Bessie Coleman Story
This was first published in 2001, a Kid’s Reading Room article from the LA Times. It’s a good overview of Bessie Coleman’s life – a woman you got her pilot’s license 2 years before Amelia Earhart.  Short paragraphs, easy sentences – perfect for airline pilot reading.

Another airline livery to be gone forever.
Alaska Air Group has owned Horizon Airlines for quite some time, but had chose to let Horizon’s aircraft remain in that airline’s livery. The decision was made public on Jan 15th that the horizon aircraft would all be painted in the Alaska Airlines livery, and Horizon’s colors would join Northwest’s on the recently departed list. Sad to see.

An airline branding expert takes note of flight attendant performance and offers some solutions
Shashank Nigam is an airline branding expert. You have heard him a few times on the Airplane Geeks podcast. In this article from his blog Simpliflying he relates his experiences on a recent trip and provides some solutions for the conditions he encountered. Flight attendants, especially those without union representation, should take note.

A Snowbird pilot’s story and Snowbird Lead’s story.
Capt Denis Bandet flies as Snowbird #6. This is the story of how he arrived in that position – pretty much the same way that you get to Carnegie Hall. The second link is to a companion article about Lt. Col. Maryse Carmichael, the Snowbird’s first female pilot and now the commander of the unit flying the lead aircraft.

My apologies – this is next one is a direct cut and paste from one of EAA’s email newsletters. I just wanted to make sure you all saw it in case you don’t subscribe.

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