I spent the weekend at the Northwest Aviation Conference & Trade Show. And what a busy time! All exhibitors are exhausted by the end of the weekend, but this is the type of event that inspires aviation. The greatest inspiration was from an airline mechanic, Christopher Cole, who is flying and sharing this journey of flight on his youtube channel, Freedomfixer_Flying where he shares videos of flight, how to get your A&P, and so much more. He had just purchased two of my books, we chatted and he was packing up when a young man was looking at my novels.
I asked this young man if he was a pilot. He said he wanted to be. I told him that Flight To Success be the Captain of Your Life would be the best. He said, he didn’t have money, that it was saved for gas and flying lessons. Then Christopher who is also an aviator, inspiring professionalism, passion and fun on his youtube channel, Freedomfixer_Flying , bought the young man a book. The young man was so appreciative and was going to pay it forward next year. These are the gifts and people in aviation that brings joy to the passion. What if we all paid it forward?
INSPIRING THE FUTURE
Tucked in these darling little girls bags are I am Awesome, the ABS of being me and The Happy Plane books. The passion of the younger generation will become the future of aviation. How do we reduce the pilot shortage? Inspire the children.
ANOTHER READER HOOKED
There was enough time to get some reading in. This reader purchased all 7 novels, and read 150 pages of Flight For Control the night after the first day of conference. With a purchase of all… she got ten extra entries into a chance to win the car. The drawing is on August 31, 2025 and you too still have time to enter.
HUMOR
We sold more than books. I was inspired by the bit coin, and perhaps airline management’s behavior combined. Yet, do we ever truly know where inspiration comes from? Regardless, my newly minted coins, only 100 made, were flying out the door. Yes… some people thought I was funny.
If you, too, want to own a BITE ME coin to gift to those special people in your life, email me and we’ll make it happen.
An Exhausting Conference, but so worthwhile. It’s hard to imagine all that has happened in our lives between conferences, but we are still standing and sharing the love of aviation together.
2 Comments
I would like to thank you Karlene for your resilience and dedication to Aviation Safety. Sticking to your guns in the face of adversity is no small feat. I’ve already begun reading ‘Normalization of Deviance’ and your insights are spot on. A culture of safety goes all the way to the board of directors even, or should. Thanks again for the plug. And for any aspiring Aviation Maintenance Technicians should watch my video on becoming an A&P at https://youtu.be/bMm5tIE_APk. For everyone else subscribe for free to keep in touch of my upcoming videos here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl-23VlPYSXYHkixP1L_LwA
Christopher, Thank you for the comment. Safety culture is the key for sure. And for everyone… check out the youtube videos!!! It was great to meet you!