The Jet By Cirrus Design First Taxi!

It's finally moving... at least on the ground. The Cirrus Jet has taxied under its own power, and the timing suggests it will be present at Oshkosh '08.

Aviation Advertising Needs to Move Into The 21st Century

Print advertising is quickly being replaced by digital media. The Web is a much more efficient means of communicating to your target audience about your products because it offers a plethora of ways to say what you want to say. With the Web, you can grab people by their most powerful sense: sight. We are three dimensional creatures living in a three dimensional world, so why limit your message to two dimensions? Video, music and photos all come together to augment the written word online, and when done properly, they send a powerful message.

When you buy print advertising, you pay for placement. Front and back pages are more expensive because they have better visibility. If your budget is limited, you can't afford that kind of ad placement, so you are relegated to the middle pages with the hope that someone will see your ad and then respond. That's putting a lot of faith into your advertising dollar. What if you could produce ads that migrated to the front page of the magazine as people read them? What would that be worth? Get my drift?

When you take your advertising message online, you don't have to take the same leap of faith as you do with print. You can create a message that targets specific clients using specific search terms, but you have to be smart about it.

If you think paying thousands of dollars for a cool looking website is going to get you more traffic, you're wrong.


You need good content:




If you think paying someone to list you with 'thousands of search engines' is going to get you more traffic, you're wrong.


You need good content:



If you think optimizing your meta tags is going to get you more traffic, you're wrong.

Those tactics are so 1999... We've moved into the world of social networking. You have to create good content that people think is worthy of a look, you need to get it recognized by social networks and then you'll get traffic. What that means is you need a company who can create high quality video, photographic and written content. That company must also understand social networking so that your content gets promoted and pushed to the top. You need to monitor your progress, and stay up with current online trends--companies are constantly modifying their algorithms to stay on top of users.

PR firms focus on traditional media. Ad agencies focus on traditional media. Web designers focus on traditional methods. Get the picture? If you'd like to learn more about what I could do for your company, contact me: reggie.paulk@gmail.com

Video: Alan Klapmeier Talks About The Jet By Cirrus

Check out the progress of "The Jet" by Cirrus from Alan Klapmeier himself. Here's the video.

Real Time Flight Tracking Embedded In Your Website

What will they come up with next? FBOweb.com lets you track airplanes you fly with a simple embedded map feature. I think it's a pretty amazing application of current technology. Currently, I'm tracking N825SR.

Air To Air Photography: Flying Trikes

My first air-to-air photo shoot involved me shooting from the rear tandem seat of a Tukan trike as instructor Steve Moore piloted off of Rhett Dooley's wingtip. These photos were published in Light Sport and Ultralight Flying Magazine. The great thing about an ultralight is that there are no windows to mess with the optics of the camera's lens. This was a wonderful flying and shooting experience. We'll be repeating it again this year if the weather ever calms down. Look for a video and more photos in the future. --Reggie

Air To Air Photography: Out Of My Archives

Shooting air-to-air photographs is something that has to be experienced in order to be fully comprehended. One of my first experiences involved a flight in a Cessna 172 facing aft in the left seat with the seat belt cinched over my knees. It was January, so I expected the temperature inside the cockpit to be quite crisp considering I was to spend the entire flight with the window open. Let's just say my winter parka was soaked, my legs and back ached from the awkward shooting position, and I seriously considered the sanity of taking air to air photographs--until I saw the photos. Here are some from that fateful day. Click on the photos to enlarge them. If you'd like to know what equipment I used, or what aircraft I was shooting, please shoot me an e-mail.--Reggie

Photos: Cirrus Perspective By Garmin At Night

I don't know about you, but I think flying in a new Cirrus SR22 with the Perspective avionics panel would be quite a romantic setting at night. Take your girl (or guy) on a flight at dusk and turn on the ambiance as the night approaches. Click the photos for larger. Copyright 2008 Reggie Paulk

Here are Patty Wagstaff's comments on the system:

Review: Cirrus Perspective Introduces The Little Blue Button--Situational Omniscience

Cirrus Design has introduced their new Cirrus Perspective avionics suite by Garmin, and they've gone and revolutionized the industry in one fell swoop... again.

Click Photo For Larger.

Forget the 12 inch primary and multi-function displays that have 35 percent more real estate than the 10 inch screens they replace. Forget the real-time moving terrain functionality or the highway in the sky (HITS) which allows the pilot to simply fly through purple rectangles to maintain course. Forget all of that and focus on one thing: The "Blue Button."

It's little... It's unassuming... It's the size of your pinky tip. But it's revolutionary. Three letters say it all: LVL--Level. I don't care if you've never flown before or if you have 40,000 hours in your logbook, the level button is something that's going to make you take note. Cirrus Design just gave pilots of its SR22 series one more thing to grab out of the bag when the chips are down. If you're flying along and get disoriented for whatever reason, all you have to do is press that little blue button, set the throttle to a moderate range and the world will right itself. It's that simple. Unusual attitude? LVL. Can't make sense of the panel in IMC? LVL. Workload too much for you? LVL. Wow! And if that doesn't work? Pull the parachute handle and the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) will bring you and the airplane to a safe landing. No other airplane gives either of those options.

After seeing the Cirrus Perspective first hand this week, I have to say that it doesn't just provide situational awareness. Websters defines awareness as having or showing realization, perception or knowledge. Websters defines omniscience as possessed of universal or complete knowledge. The Perspective truly gives a universal knowledge of the aircraft. From your position to the condition of the engine, you have everything right there at your fingertips. And when Murphy comes knocking, there's a blue button and a parachute.

I got a great walkthrough of the system with Ian Bentley, vice president of customer relations at Cirrus Design. Look for the video in a bit. In the meantime, see what Patty Wagstaff has to say about it here:

Photos: Patty Wagstaff Flies Her Cirrus Extra 300 During An Elegant Performance

Patty Wagstaff put on a beautiful performance today at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC) or Jeffco for pilots. She took off in her beautifully painted Extra 300 and dazzled the crowd with numerous high 'g' maneuvers--mostly outside. She must really like to feel her head about to pop, because she flies negative maneuvers for a large part of her routine. Photos Copyright 2008 Reggie Paulk

Video: Patty Wagstaff Discusses Cirrus Perspective SR22 Avionics by Garmin

Yesterday, I spoke with Patty Wagstaff about the newly released "Perspective" avionics package offered in the new Cirrus SR22 airplane. Check out the video to see what she has to say about it. I'll be adding more photos and video soon, so stay tuned. Look for my story about the event in an upcoming Airport Journals article.

Photo: Young Eagles Take Flight At Centennial Airport (APA)

The EAA's Young Eagles program is in full swing at Centennial Airport June 4-8, 2008 as they give FREE first rides to kids of all ages. My daughter was able to participate yesterday, and she had a blast as we lifted off and headed east for a 20 minute tour of the countryside in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. The flights are being sponsored by the Jeppesen Flying Club, and kids get a certificate, full-size wall poster and a magazine after their flight. Chris Jones did a fine job of piloting our plane, and I have enormous praise and thanks to all the wonderful people dedicated to making the Young Eagles program a success.

Video: B17 Aluminum Overcast Keeps It Flying In Denver

Wonder what it's like to fly on a WWII B-17 four-engined bomber? Wonder no longer... Watch the video to see what it's like to fly aboard this beautiful flying history museum. If you think the 400 dollar price tag is a little steep for a ride, consider that you may spread your payments out over four months. What are you waiting for? Head out to Signature Aviation at Centennial Airport (APA) and go on a "mission." For directions and more information, visit the EAA's official website here. She'll be in town from June 4-9, 2008 so hurry!

See it in High Definition here:



YouTube:

Update 6/3/08: Would You Like To See A Video Of The B-17 Aluminum Overcast?

I've been invited to take a media flight on the EAA's B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" tomorrow, and I can't wait. I had the opportunity to fly aboard the beautiful bird last year, and the memory is permanently etched onto my brain. I only had a still camera with me last year, but I'll have my video and audio equipment this time, so look for an exciting piece coming up in the next couple of days. You can read the story I wrote about last year's flight for Centennial Journal and it was re-published on Airliners.net here.

UPDATE: I am currently rendering the video, and will be posting it to YouTube and Veoh the minute it gets loaded. Once that is done, I'll embed the videos in a new post. Thank you for your patience.