Coincidentally, I started a thread in our forum about the Mythbusters episode where they had the plane take off from a conveyor belt. While I usually respect the Mythbusters and acknowledge that they have to make concessions for the TV audience, I think this “myth” was completely botched. Either that, or they didn’t phrase the question clear enough.

By the way, the advice to not try anything you see here at home is also true for Chuck’s adventures!

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Fame or notoriety isn’t always a good thing, it seems. Seriously, as much as I hope we’ll become famous with our comics, there is a level of fame I hope I never achieve.

In particular, I really don’t envy celebrities. Imagine having to deal with people recognizing you everywhere you go. Never being able to poke your nose without it being in a tabloid the next day, having tv reports about your weight gain or loss, and complete strangers acting like your best friends and like you owe them something.

Fortunately, the chances of becoming that famous are slim. Bullet dodged!

Personally, I have this problem at music stores or the local version of Home Depot. Especially in music stores I sometimes wish I was an investment banker instead of a cartoonist.

This is another not-invented comic strip, depicting a situation and a dialogue that happened verbatim on a flight from South Africa to Europe some thirty-something years ago. The lady with the baby was our mom and the baby was Mike, and the “Wrongh Brothers” were German tourists.

Not that I would ever be loud on an airplane, but a threat like that would certainly work on me, and probably anybody!

I think Chuck and Julio are just kidding! I’m sure Julio trusts his planes whose maintenance he is in charge of after all. And Chuck is such a positive character that he never worries about anything and likes to just hop in and fly (no doubt because he trusts Julio so much).

Some people are just a pleasure to work with. My father in law is a good example for that. He’s always thinking ahead and has the right idea and right tool handy at the right time, all the while being unobtrusive and cooperative.

And then, on the other hand, there are people who are well meaning and genuinely attempting to help, who actually slow you down. (No offense, Chuck!)

This strip is based on my career flying offshore. I got checked out on this Eurocopter AS355F1 Twin-Star which had one button on the dashboard labeled in french of which nobody knew what it did. When I asked my chief pilot during training “What does this button do?” he responded “I don’t know. Don’t touch it!”

…and I never did. Being many miles offshore is never a good environment to try new buttons.

I also wanted to remind everybody to come hang out at the Chino Airshow! I will be there on Sunday all day! FB where you guys are at and I will try to tweet my location.

Chances are I’ll be hanging around the F4U Corsairs when I’m not cruising with the Tumbling Bear who’s flying at the show.

Oh, which pilot hasn’t been there at least once in their flying career? I have certainly learned my lessons and there is a good video online about the girl in the back seat puking as the two guys up front are putting the plane into a zero-G nosedive. They also learned their lesson I am sure!

This also is the perfect strip to announce I’ll be at the “Planes of Fame” airshow in Chino on Sunday the 6th! I’ll be hanging out and watching our buddy “Rob, the Tumbling Bear” fly his aerobatics routine.

Aerobatics are pretty much the only thing that gets me sick. I can do boats, planes, helicopters, rollercoasters… So I am always really speechless when I watch him fly!

Also, when it comes to warbirds, Chino is one of the best shows I’ve ever been to.
Come see us at the show!

Considering some bosses, the pay can’t be high enough for many a job out there.

Yesterday we have announced the winner of our contest in our forum and our Facebook page. For those who haven’t seen it yet: The winner is Matthew Odenbrett. Again, congratulations! And the Silver Chicken is already on its way to you!

Being self employed, I have to say I also have problems to relax sometimes. What’s worse, with my home office, there is practically no distinction between being at home and being in the office. The opportunity to do work is always there, and there is always some work sitting and waiting for me. Recently, I have decided to at least take one day off a week where I don’t lift a finger, or a pen.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if I never relax or chill out, but it’s really hard for me to do so without a guilty consciousness. Also, the benefits of my work/lifestyle still outweigh the downsides, but whenever I have to list the drawbacks of my job, this is always number two on the list!