New (and Old) Beginnings

As you can tell, I’m eager to dive back into GA by guiding this magazine. I won’t be doing it alone, that’s for sure. For starters, Amy left us with a terrific group of contributing writers. I’m just beginning to work with many of them, but I’ve been impressed. They all seem to have that deep love of aviation and a passionate desire to write compellingly about it. Plus I’m backed by familiar staff that includes our ace art director, Amy Jo Sledge, technical editor Meg Godlewski, and copy editor Travis Tingle. 

Here’s another new face. Cayla McLeod has joined us on staff as associate editor. She’s the kind of young, skilled, enthusiastic staffer I’ve long tried to hire at magazines I’ve run. (Well, not when I first started, as I jealously guarded my own position. But now in my dotage, I’m eager to have the next generation step up.)

Cayla got hooked during a Young Eagles flight, an experience that turned into a passionate aviation career. I’m delighted to hear that. I’d like to think some of my Young Eagle rides got the same charge.

Cayla, still just 25, learned to fly on grass in an Aeronca Champ. Oh, man, that’s the kind of background I wish I had. Growing up in Southern California, I learned to fly at the Long Beach airport, with at the time five runways, tower control, and an ugly mess of controlled airspace all around.

And not just any Champ, but one she helped restore as a student in the Ron Alexander Youth Aviation Program a decade ago. This also delights me, both because she got in via simple, vintage aircraft but also for the legacy of Alexander, who I had the good fortune to work with on KITPLANES projects over the years.

Back to Cayla. After graduating from the University of West Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in mass communications and a minor in marketing, she became active in social-media marketing and did a stint with that same four-letter aviation association I’d been with so many years before. 

She joins our staff with around 700 hours logged but in some really compelling aircraft. How about a 1917 Curtiss Jenny and a 1939 Douglas DC-3? She’s also flown modern taildraggers such as the CubCrafters Carbon Cubs. 

Cayla is also strategically located, based at the Peach State Aerodrome (GA2) in Williamson, Georgia, while I’m up here in the other corner of America, based at Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark (7S3), about 15 miles southwest of Portland, Oregon. Right now, Cayla’s complaining that it’s not 70. I have ice fog. But my summers are epic, so there’s that.

What’s our plan for Plane & Pilot? I want to build on our strong foundation to create a magazine—actually, more than that, an energized and expert content stream that’s paper and digital and video—that entertains and educates. I’m not so much interested in pedantics as real-world views on flying. How do we do it better, more safely? How can we get value from it? How can we worry less and enjoy it more? Let me know how we can get you there.  You know where to find me. (marc@firecrown.com)