Posts Tagged ‘faa’
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This strip was conceived after I told Stefan about the last strip I wrote down (the previous strip). After telling him the background story and showing him my scribbles and sad attempts of drawing Chuck running, we suddenly had two great strips that are “classical Chuck”.
It’s always better when you can bounce your ideas off another writer and toss thoughts back and forth. It sure works for us, I believe.
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This one came from a conversation with the chief pilot of one of the local fire departments here in the greater LA area. He had one of their helicopters at our ramp for some overhaul work and Nobu and him were standing around and catching up. I walked over and joked “Hey, there is an FAA guy here. I think he’s looking for you!” and he jokingly did the exact same thing we have Chuck do in this strip.
Good times were had and a new strip was born.
The FAA doesn’t visit my office that often, but Mike may be able tell a story or two about his interactions with them. But I know how Chuck feels to some extent, because I think similar things whenever I see a police officer. I always think “Wait, did I bring my registration? Do I have my drivers license? What was the speed limit here again? Did I download something illegaly recently? Is the nuclear bomb material still in my trunk or did I remember to put it in the basement?” Things like that.
I think we all have weeks where we would like to order our coffee like that. But eventually all bad things pass. And how would we be able to appreciate the good times in life, if it wouldn’t sometimes throw us a curve ball, or if there weren’t any obstacles to overcome. I probably owe part of my positive attitude to the fact that I’ve never had a tax audit and that nobody can come and inspect my office (I’d be screwed! There’s heaps of paper and chaos with sharp pens hidden everywhere inside…)
I have to confess here that my stomach is not the sturdiest one. I don’t know what exactly triggers it, but mostly I’m fine, and sometimes I just get totally motion sick. Only threw up once in a airplane though and that was almost 20 years ago (damn, am I really that old?) when my brother took me on a ride with a motor glider, shortly after he had made his pilot license. Fortunately he was already smart enough to bring a plastic bag!
But my very worst kind of experience of motion sickness was a few years back, when my wife and I went diving in Thailand. They took us an hour off shore with a speedboat. While still on the boat, our instructor gave us a quick refresher course. I could already notice the sickness coming on and was eager to get into the water. During the dive, everything was fine. But after we surfaced, I got terribly sick. And I knew I had about 2-3 hours of lunch break, another dive and then an hour trip back home ahead of me. I will spare you the details, but I was sick the entire time… I really atoned for my sins that day and kissed the ground when we made it back!
Okay, enough puke stories for the day! You can share yours below, if you want to! 
So they partially shut down the FAA.
Even though Chuck is initially excited about the news I want to underline that us chickens are seriously worried about these latest events. This could bring up the user-fees for general aviation talks again which is not something we want to see at all. The possible tax law change for business jets is also not something we are not a big fan of. We want to see aviation flourish and expand (and buy more Chicken Wings Books!) and not getting even more regulated and taxed.
On the news this morning they were excited about the airlines possibly coming down with airfares because the FAA currently can’t collect their taxes. But something tells me the government I know and love will find a way to back-tax all those flights as soon as they open the doors again and the airfares will actually go UP instead…
I am not sure how much I can say to this strip without hurting my position at my day job 
Of course this one is totally invented and FAA inspectors and operators work together very closely and professionally to make aviation a safer place for everybody. And of course politics and budgets never get in the way when it comes to operating aircraft safely and efficiently. And of course the FAR’s are totally written for pilots and mechanics to guide them while doing their job and help them without overwhelming them with paperwork…
Ok, let’s see some stories and opinions!
The FAA actually IS here to help. But then, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions (such as helping others, hehe). Mike sometimes complains about how he spends more time in the office on paperwork than actually flying. I think we already did a strip on that at some point… If you fly, I am sure you have at least one FAA story you could share in our forum!
Plug of the day: Todays shout out goes to the guys at Delta Bravo Sierra, an Army related comic strip. They just did a tribute strip to Charles Schultz. Those of us who read our books will know that we like to do that too!
Well, here I was, sitting in my office during my day job as chief pilot looking over yet another set of rules and regulations that just came out. Then I started fantasizing about how the good old days must have been when aviators were truly free. Then I was wondering when the first FAR’s came out and how they looked liked. Then I asked myself why the rules came out and what sparked this new step towards regulating airspace.
Then I wondered how people must have reacted to it and THEN I thought of this cartoon…..
(….and then I got busted by my boss for drawing little chickens on company time 
)
Another great thing about our new website is that now we can upload comic strips in different sizes. So rejoice, people! From now on, you’ll be able to enjoy one of our double-sized comic strips every now and then, like this one today! Todays is actually one of my favorites. Strips like this one, where you see a lot of planes, and the background isn’t the usual ofice or ramp setting, are quite a lot of work, but those are usually the one’s I’m most proud of.
