Kennedy Rice Dryers Flight Dept. Flip Schaitel Chief Pilot

09/30/2026

From the outside, being an corporate pilot can look like a dream job: flying modern aircraft, traveling to different places, wearing the uniform, and seeing the world from the cockpit. But behind that image is a career that demands far more than simply knowing how to fly an airplane. Corporate flying comes with long hours, irregular schedules, early-morning report times, overnight stays, delays, and time away from family and friends. Pilots may spend holidays, birthdays, and weekends at work, while constantly adjusting to changing sleep schedules and different time zones. There is also a misconception that corporate pilots simply “fly the airplane” for a few hours. In reality, a flight involves briefings, flight planning, weather analysis, NOTAMs, fuel calculations, aircraft inspections, performance considerations, communication, monitoring systems, and continuous decision-making before, during, and after the flight. The responsibility is another part that is rarely visible. Passengers may place their trust in the crew, and pilots must remain professional and composed while dealing with technical problems, severe weather, air traffic restrictions, medical emergencies, diversions, and other unexpected situations. And getting there is not easy. The path can involve years of training, expensive flight hours, examinations, type ratings, recurrent training, medical requirements, and starting over at the bottom of the seniority system. Even after earning an airline position, pilots continue training and being evaluated throughout their careers. Corporate aviation can be incredibly rewarding, but it is not always glamorous. Behind every takeoff and landing is preparation, discipline, responsibility, fatigue management, teamwork, and a commitment to safety.

From the outside, being an airline pilot can look like a dream job: flying modern aircraft, traveling to different places, wearing the uniform, and seeing the world from the cockpit. But behind that image is a career that demands far more than simply knowing how to fly an airplane.

Commercial flying comes with long hours, irregular schedules, early-morning report times, overnight stays, delays, and time away from family and friends. Pilots may spend holidays, birthdays, and weekends at work, while constantly adjusting to changing sleep schedules and different time zones.

There is also a misconception that airline pilots simply “fly the airplane” for a few hours. In reality, a flight involves briefings, flight planning, weather analysis, NOTAMs, fuel calculations, aircraft inspections, performance considerations, communication, monitoring systems, and continuous decision-making before, during, and after the flight.

The responsibility is another part that is rarely visible. Thousands of passengers may place their trust in the crew, and pilots must remain professional and composed while dealing with technical problems, severe weather, air traffic restrictions, medical emergencies, diversions, and other unexpected situations.

And getting there is not easy. The path can involve years of training, expensive flight hours, examinations, type ratings, recurrent training, medical requirements, and starting over at the bottom of the seniority system. Even after earning an airline position, pilots continue training and being evaluated throughout their careers.

Commercial aviation can be incredibly rewarding, but it is not always glamorous.

Behind every takeoff and landing is preparation, discipline, responsibility, fatigue management, teamwork, and a commitment to safety.

09/10/2026

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Pratt & Whitney PW2000 Engine Cutaway: Advanced High-Bypass Commercial Turbofan Anatomy

Explore the internal mechanical architecture of the Pratt & Whitney PW2000 high-bypass turbofan engine through this high-resolution technical cutaway illustration. Celebrated for introducing FADEC technology to commercial aviation, the PW2000 serves as a reliable powerplant for aircraft such as the Boeing 757 and the military C-17 Globemaster III (F117).

This infographic breaks down the dual-spool design into its primary internal sub-assemblies, highlighting the single-stage front fan, 4-stage low-pressure compressor (LPC), 12-stage high-pressure compressor (HPC), annular combustor, 2-stage high-pressure turbine (HPT), and 5-stage low-pressure turbine (LPT). The right panel showcases exploded core hardware in precise axial alignment, featuring technical leader lines, measurement marks, and clear airflow vectors indicating intake compression, combustion, and exhaust expansion.

07/23/2026

07/08/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E41iUGuR7/

05/21/2026

Control Towers at Monroe's Selman Field Airport (1961). At the left, construction of the new control tower, which will have 5 bricked-in floors, and cab at top. Cost $155,000. At the right, is the control tower, which was in use at the time. Monroe Morning World February 1961.

05/14/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1EG5q9F28n/

05/10/2026

"The two men who invented flight only trusted the sky together for six minutes of their entire lives.
Orville and Wilbur Wright—brothers who literally taught humanity to fly—made a sacred vow that would break most people's hearts.
They promised their father they would never share an airplane together.
Not because they didn't trust each other.
Because they loved their family too much to risk leaving them with nothing.
The Early 1900s
Every flight was a gamble with death.
Engines failed. Wings collapsed. Pilots didn't walk away from crashes—they were carried.
The Wright brothers knew this intimately. They'd felt their aircraft shudder mid-air, watched test flights end in splintered wood and twisted metal.
The Promise
Their father, Bishop Milton Wright, couldn't bear the thought.
Losing one son would devastate him. Losing both in a single fiery accident? Unthinkable.
So the brothers—men who lived to conquer the impossible—agreed to the one rule that must have tortured them:
Never fly together.
For years, they honored that promise.
While one soared, the other watched from the ground.
The sky was their masterpiece, but they experienced it separately, always protecting the future in case the present went wrong.
May 25, 1910
After years of proving aviation could be safer, after their designs evolved beyond those fragile early experiments, they approached their father with a request.
Just once. Just one flight together before time ran out.
Milton Wright, now 82 and watching his sons make history, gave them his blessing.
For six extraordinary minutes over Huffman Prairie in Dayton, Ohio, the Wright brothers finally shared the sky they'd given to the world.
Orville piloted. Wilbur rode beside him.
Two brothers, one dream, suspended together in the impossible thing they'd created.
But the Story Doesn't End There
Right after landing, Orville turned to his elderly father and asked if he'd like to see what flying felt like.
Milton Wright—a man who'd spent decades with his feet firmly on pulpit and ground—climbed into the plane.
At 82 years old, he soared 350 feet above the earth, experiencing the miracle his sons had birthed from wood, fabric, and sheer determination.
When they landed, the old bishop reportedly said:
""Higher, Orville, higher!""
The Legacy
The brothers who conquered the sky but feared losing each other.
The father who let them fly together only after believing they'd be safe.
Three generations of Wright family, suspended briefly in the clouds, bound by love stronger than the dream of flight itself.
The Truth
Some legacies are built on sacrifice.
The Wright brothers didn't just give us wings—they showed us what matters most never leaves the ground.
They invented human flight. They changed history. They made the impossible real.
But for their entire lives, they flew separately—protecting each other, protecting their family, honoring a promise made out of love.
Six minutes. That's all they had together in the sky.
But those six minutes contained a lifetime of brotherhood, sacrifice, and the understanding that some things are more important than even your greatest dream.
The Wright brothers taught humanity to fly.
But they also taught us that the strongest force isn't gravity—it's love.
And that sometimes the bravest thing you can do isn't conquering the sky.
It's staying grounded when someone you love needs you to.
Six minutes together in the air.
A lifetime together on the ground.
That's the story no one tells about the men who gave us wings.
"

04/29/2026

Air Mail Service at Selman Field in Monroe.

04/29/2026

Huff and Deland Dusters in Monroe in the early 1900s.