My Last Left Seat for FltPlan.com

I have enjoyed working with the FltPlan.com people immensely over the past year. All of you who use the system—and it is the vast majority of pilots who fly turbine airplanes for business—know that FltPlan.com is a system created by active pilots for active pilots.

There are so many useful aspects of FltPlan.com, but I think that one feature summarizes how thorough and useful the system is and that is wind. There is nothing more useless than a still air flight plan, and you never get one of those from FltPlan.com. No matter how far in advance you plan a flight you will see trip time and fuel burn based on historic wind for that day. And if you use the “quick info” page you even see the best, worst and most likely winds for that day.

The fact that FltPlan.com understands the fundamental nature of wind and its impact on every flight is evidence that it knows what is important to pilots. And the other details that we want and need to plan our flights with confidence and convenience are all there.

And FltPlan.com has developed a way to have advertisers support its service while making the advertisements among the most useful information on the site. Instead of being an annoyance as on most websites, ads on FltPlan.com provide useful information that pertains directly to each of our flights. Knowing what FBOs and services are available at departure and destination airports is a huge plus. And you just can’t beat free when it comes to a great flight planning site.

The reason I can no longer post my aviation musings on FltPlan.com Left Seat is because I am increasing my involvement with EAA and its publications. EAA is, of course, the people who bring you the Oshkosh show, the largest aviation event on earth. EAA is under new leadership from president and CEO Rod Hightower and has big plans to expand its efforts to grow the pilot population. EAA’s Young Eagles take a kid for a flight program has been hugely successful for more than a decade, and now the organization is setting its sights on attracting adults who have always been at least a little interested in becoming pilots.

So to all of the wonderful people at FltPlan.com, I say thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of such a terrific service. And I hope each of you will take a new look at EAA and its efforts to support all of aviation. As pilots we’re all in this together.