It’s no secret that I’ve been a big fan of Brandon Gonzales’ dulcet baritone since the first time I heard his first episode of Podcasting on a Plane. I was ecstatic when he asked me to narrate an article that I wrote for Plane & Pilot, so I jumped at the chance.  You can download Podcasting on a Plane Episode 097 here. My segment starts at around the 29:00 mark.

Brandon recorded a phenomenal podcast series about Concorde and, just when I thought he couldn’t top it, he recorded a series from the Kalamazoo, MI Air Zoo about the SR-71 Blackbird. The first episode in the Spy Week series is here but consider yourself warned…these episodes are ridiculously addictive.

I can also trace my first published article directly to Brandon’s podcast. He’s part of a group of moderators who created the 21st Century Aerospace Writers group on Facebook. I joined the group as soon as I heard about it and was content being a fly on the wall watching these folks who I admire discuss writing, airplanes, and writing about
airplanes. In July 2021, I created a post asking about online writing classes or workshops to help bring my writing up to a more professional level. I got some good advice from Matt Thurber (AIN,) Rob Mark (Jetwhine,) and a few others.  The response from these folks was as surprising as it was useful. 

I expected these professional journalists to point me in a professional direction.  Each one of them said nearly the same thing: If you want to write, write. 

So, I did.  One of the folks in the group, Jeremy King, sent me a message and said he’d be happy to take a look at a writing sample and give me an honest critique.  He gave me a few notes on the piece and told me that he thought it’d be worthy of a submission.  I didn’t know at the time that he was one of the editors at Plane & Pilot, but I knew the name was familiar.

I may still enroll in some courses or workshops to help hone my writing, but I think that’s just “sharpening the pencil” kinda stuff.  If you’re passionate about what you write and are willing to put in the work, the rest will take care of itself. 

Thanks Brandon. Oh, and my three-bay garage would hold a 1952 Cessna 195, a 1949 Mercury (do I really need to specify a chop-top!?), and a 2009 Kawasaki KDX-220.