Telling Aviation Stories
Every day, aviation serves and connects people, cultures and businesses.
As an aviation writer and lifetime flyer, I aspire to capture how aircraft uniquely enhance and empower our lives and communities. In this industry, you’re often marketing an experience or emotion more than a product. Or even better, telling a story through the lens of the pilot, operator or passenger living the experience.
Aviation Translation
Something I learned from a young age is that aviation speak can initially pose intimidation, practically appearing like a foreign language from the outside with all of its lingo, codes, technical terms and acronyms.
As a child growing up in an aviation family, I absolutely loved and appreciated flying but often felt like an outsider when surrounded by pilots. But then something happened. I unexpectedly learned to fly during college, earning my private pilot’s license in just two months.
Almost as though I had entered another realm, the language barrier began to fall. Words and phrases pilots spoke became clearer. My eyes were opened to the true passion and comradery among this group. Flying was not so complex after all.
Perhaps most importantly, I learned flight is an accessible and attainable activity, not strictly exclusive. The experience brought forth a confidence and clarity to alter my entire career path and join my father and sister in the business aviation world. As it turns out, one of the best decisions I ever made.
Making a Wide Impact
An aviation upbringing, private pilot’s license and marketing degree laid the perfect foundation for a career marketing and communicating about aircraft and aviation services. But undoubtedly, it is personal experiences and connections that drive some of the best writing about the people who fly, own or maintain aircraft.
My recent tenure as editor-in-chief of Twin & Turbine Magazine – a monthly publication dedicated to aircraft owners and operators – especially amplified a growing passion for covering human interest stories related to aviation’s widespread yet personal impact. In whatever they read, I find people most often search for relatability or inspiration. In other words, “How does this affect me?”
At T&T, this took form in a range of articles detailing aircraft operations, lessons learned, safety programs, humanitarian efforts, charitable flying organizations, air show gatherings, new and innovative technologies – every piece dispensed and packaged from the actual pilots and aviation professionals working in the field.
Less than one percent of the U.S. population holds a pilot’s license, yet this small and mighty group makes an incredible impact on our country and the world (nearly $250 billion in total U.S. economic output from business aviation alone).
I consider it an aviation writer’s greatest goal to help bridge the gap between those on the inside and outside of this niche industry. Because whether you are writing about general aviation, business aviation or commercial aviation, the magic of flight connects and compels us all.
PHOTO: Little makes me more nostalgic than flying with my dad, Randy Groom, in a Beechcraft Bonanza.
