August 2, 1998 AVweb's Oshkosh 1998 Coverage Team: Staff and Contributors

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by	The Editors of AVweb

Carl Marbach — Publisher

Carl Marbach is a co-founder of AVweb and its Publisher. Carl is a 4,000-hour pilot, and commutes between homes in Boca Raton FL and Aspen CO in his 1978 Aerostar 601P. Carl was the founder and CEO of Professional Press which published five computer magazines including DEC Professional. After Professional Press was acquired by a venture capital firm, Carl founded Internetwork Publishing Corporation and now devotes himself to the emerging field of electronic publishing via the Internet. A lifelong resident of Philadelphia until 1994, Carl and his wife Helen now live in Boca Raton, Florida.

Mike Busch — Editor-in-Chief

Mike Busch is a co-founder of AVweb and its Editor-in-Chief. Mike is a 5,000-hour pilot, CFIA, CFII, CFIME. An aircraft owner for 28 years, Mike presently owns a pristine 1979 Cessna Turbo 310, and performs virtually all the maintenance on it himself. He is an instructor for the Cessna Pilots Association, a long-time sysop of the AVSIG aviation forum on CompuServe, and was formerly a Contributing Editor for The Aviation Consumer and IFR magazines. Mike and his wife Jan live in a semi-rural area of the central coast of California between Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo. Prior to founding AVweb, Mike retired from a long and successful career in the computer software business.

Bob Kaputa — Managing Editor

Bob Kaputa is Managing Editor of AVweb. Bob started out as a staff photographer for daily newspaper, working on feature articles and writing a weekly motor sports column. Moving on to a second career in electronics at a large company in the midwest while also obtaining his private pilot certificate and instrument rating, he brought his skills as a senior maintenance specialist to the airport, working on his own airplane and as a part of the "annual team" at the local FBO. Now, as an independent computer consultant and 10-year veteran manager of the AVSIG aviation forum on CompuServe, Bob brings his unusual blend of skills and experience full-circle to electronic journalism here on AVweb. He lives in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.

Douglas S. Ritter — News Editor

Doug Ritter is News Editor of AVweb. An experienced and respected aviation journalist, Doug is a contributing editor to The Aviation Consumer and Aviation Safety and a former contributing editor to Flight Training. He also writes for CODE ONE and AOPA Pilot, as well as other aviation publications. Doug is best known for his insightful product evaluation and comparison articles, his interpretation and explanation of complex technical and engineering concerns related to aircraft systems and products, and his in-depth investigation of aviation products, flight safety and human factors issues. He is a leading expert in the area of aviation survival and a working member of the SAE Aerospace Council S-9 Cabin Safety Provisions Committee and S9-GA General Aviation Sub-Committee. Doug is also the publisher and editor of Equipped To Survive, a web site devoted to survival equipment and techniques.

Jennifer Whitley — Copy Editor

Jennifer Whitley is AVweb's Copy Editor. A student pilot based in Austin, Texas, Jen flies a C-152 Aerobat and enjoys being upside down at every available opportunity. She has also been known to jump out of airplanes, on occasion. When not debating the finer points of style with the AVweb editors, Jen turns her love of language to her linguistics studies at the University of Texas, to a deeply-held concern for adult literacy, and to a perenially unfinished novel. She can often be found at a bar down on Sixth Street, trying to explain the aerodynamics of a spin to her non-pilot friends, who listen graciously for a while before suggesting that she get the next round.

Liz Swaine — Newswriter

Liz Swaine is is a member of the AVweb newswriting team. A private instrument-rated pilot, she owns and flies a 1966 Mooney M-20E affectionately known as "Mike." Liz's love for aviation began some years ago when, as a reporter at a TV station in Pensacola, Florida, she was assigned the Blue Angels beat. From there, she moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, and as news anchor at the ABC affiliate, covers military happenings at Barksdale AFB. She has deployed all over the world on training missions and war games, and has flown in just about every cargo hauler and transport in the military inventory. She knows the discomfort of sleeping in web seats and the surprise at the contents of the notorious military "box lunch". Liz has traveled to Russia to cover the fall of communism, to Saudi Arabia to report on the build up to Desert Storm, and to Israel to look at the Arab-Israeli peace process up close. The fast pace of her life extends to her play...she is a former triathlete and bicycle racer. Getting her Commercial and Multi-engine ratings are on her short list of things to do.

Randy Jenkins — Graphic Artist

AVweb graphic artist, Randy Jenkins is a 1996 graduate of Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Mo., and holds both an Associates and Bachelors degree in art. He has held down various jobs from assembly line worker to hotel desk clerk before coming to AVweb. In July of 1997, Randy started working for InterNETWORK Publishing Corporation (publishers of AVweb) on their Travelbase and Kids' Camps sites, and one year later was added to the AVweb team. Randy, unfortunately, knows next to nothing about airplanes and aviation, but is extremely happy for the opportunity to learn. He lives in Pompano Beach, FL with his wife Jacque and their son Marcus.

John Deakin — Columnist

AVweb columnist John Deakin started in aviation as a hangar-rat and lineboy, worked his way up the aviation food chain via charter, corporate, and cargo flying, then spent five years in Southeast Asia with Air America. He joined Japan Airlines 31 years ago and is now a very senior 747 captain with over 32,000 hours. He also flies his own immaculate Robertson STOL equipped V-tail Bonanza (N1BE) and is very active in the warbird and vintage aircraft scene, serving as an instructor in several aircraft and as an FAA Examiner on the Curtiss-Wright C-46, his all-time favorite.

Howard Fried — Columnist

AVweb columnist Howard Fried started flying with the Army Air Corps in WWII, where he served both as a multi-engine instructor pilot and in combat piloting B-17s. After a stint teaching sociology and on-the-air and management jobs in the radio business after the war, he turned to teaching flying again full-time. Over 40,000 general aviation hours later, he is still instructing and running his own flight school. Along the way he administered over 4,000 flight tests as a Designated Examiner until victimized by rogue FAA officials. You simply cannot survive all those student pilots without learning a great deal along the way and he has generously shared that hard earned experience over the past few decades in articles, a long-running column in Flying magazine, two popular flying books aimed at student pilots and instructors, Flight Test Tips and Tales and Beyond The Checkride, and a series of audio tapes, Checkride Tips from Flying's Eye of the Examiner.

Michael Maya Charles — Columnist

AVweb columnist Michael Maya Charles made it to the left seat of a major airline via the long slow flight instruction-charter-corporate route, but never left general aviation in the process. He is still an active GA pilot who has flown hundreds of different aircraft in his 30 years of flying. MMC also holds an A&P certificate and restored and maintains the beautiful red 1979 Cessna 185 Skywagon (N301MC) that he currently owns. He is an established aviation writer who is perhaps best known for his "Pro's Nest" column in FLYING magazine and numerous features in AOPA Pilot. He offers his varied expertise as an aviation consultant and expert witness for the legal and insurance industry.www.airsafetyexperts.com. Besides his love of flying, he also enjoys the outdoors with his wife and young daughter.

Walter Atkinson — Contributor

AVweb contributor Walter Atkinson became interested in aviation at a very early age when his father, a WWII aviator, began fying a Comanche in the 1960's. He practices General Dentistry in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, because he enjoys it and it supports his hobbies of racing sailboats and flying his Aerobatic Bonanza and his C45H (Twin Beech). He has published three novels and over a dozen professional articles in refereed journals. He holds ASEL, AMEL, Instrument, and ASES Private ratings.

Brent Blue, M.D. — Contributor

AVweb contributor Brent Blue, M.D. is a Senior Aviation Medical Examiner who writes for several aviation publications. He is a 5,500 ATP rated pilot and regularly flies a Cessna 340 and an antique experimental biplane called the Flaglor HighTow. Dr. Blue is on the EAA Aeromedical Council and created the EAA's AME Pilot Advocate Program. He was the team physician for the U.S. Aerobatic Team at the World Competition in Hungary in 1994. Brent practices medicine in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and frequently lectures on aviation medical topics. He is married to Nancy who keeps him in line and has three children. Dr. Blue is also the sysop for CompuServe's AVSIG (aviation) Forum Medical section.

Rick Durden — Contributor

AVweb contributor Rick Durden is a practicing aviation attorney who holds an ATP Certificate, with a type rating in the Cessna Citation and Commercial privileges for gliders, free balloons and single-engine seaplanes. He is also an instrument and multi-engine flight instructor. Rick started flying when he was fifteen and became a flight instructor during his freshman year of college. He did a little of everything in aviation to help pay for college and law school including flight instruction, aerial application and hauling freight. In the process of trying to fly every old and interesting airplane he could, Rick has accumulated over 5400 hours of flying time. In his law practice Rick regularly represents pilots, fixed base operators, overhaulers, and manufacturers. Prior to starting his private practice, he was an attorney for Cessna in Wichita for seven years. He is a regular contributor to Aviation Consumer and AOPA Pilot and teaches aerobatics in a 7KCAB Citabria in his spare time. Rick makes it clear he is part owner of a corporation which owns a Piper Aztec, because, having flown virtually every type of piston-engine airplane Cessna manufactured from 1933 on, as well as all the turboprops and some of the jets, he cannot bring himself to admit actually owning a Piper.

Joe Godfrey — Contributor

AVweb contributor Joe Godfrey is an instrument rated private pilot who flies a 1974 Bellanca Viking. Joe has been hooked on flying since age 6, when his parents bought a house in the pattern of Blue Ash airport in Cincinnati. He composes music for commercials, films, broadcast and corporate media and has composed and produced thousands of music tracks for America's largest advertisers. In addition to contributing to AVweb, Joe has written for The Aviation Consumer and IFR magazines. He teaches a one-semester graduate class in broadcast production at The Advertising Arts College and is a director, mission coordinator, and pilot for Angel Flight West, a non-profit organization that uses private airplanes to fly indigent patients for specialized medical treatment. So far, Joe is the only AVweb contributor that has logged time with Ella Fitzgerald and conducted the London Symphony.

Tom Gresham — Contributor

AVweb contributor Tom Gresham is a private instrument rated pilot who passed his private checkride at dawn, New Year's Day, in Anchorage, Alaska. As editor of Alaska magazine he used his 1947 Luscombe 8E to tour the state for three years. Having upgraded to a newer plane, a 1959 Cessna Skylane, Gresham now operates out of central Louisiana, flying his "straight tail" 182 over much of the eastern U.S. A magazine writer, editor, photographer, book author, television host (ESPN) and national radio talk show host, Tom ranks flying as first among his many loves.

Nancy Hattaway Miller — Contributor

AVweb contributor Nancy Hattaway Miller is a perpetual student pilot whose main hobby is training CFIs for a "better" job in aviation. Nancy was the fourth employee at PC World Online and was instrumental in developing their web site and newsletter products. When the bleeding-edge online environment began to seriously interfere with her flying time, Nancy moved to the print side of PC World magazine where the pace is merely frenetic. In a work history variously described as "Renaissance" or "checkered", Nancy has earned her keep as a photographer, writer, chemist, programmer, soda jerk, college instructor, typesetter and veterinarian. She and her husband Patrick enjoy the temperate climate and blue skies of Northern California, and are always happy to give California weather reports to their friends in thunderstorm or windchill country.

Matt Paxton — Contributor

AVweb contributor Matt Paxton started flying gliders in 1970 at age 16 and later earned his commercial glider certificate and CFIG. Matt instructs or tows most every Sunday for the Springwood Soaring Association. He also holds a commercial SEL certificate and is instrument rated. He is a partner in a 1962 Bellanca 260. He has flown to Oshkosh four of the past five years and has worked as a volunteer for the past two. He is president of The News-Gazette Corp. in Lexington, Va., which publishes newspapers, a regional travel magazine and operates a commercial printing operation. In 1997, The News- Gazette won an honorable mention in AOPA's Max Karant aviation journalism competition for coverage of an effort to build a local GA airport. This year, The News-Gazette went on-line and the company began offering website development services. Matt never buys lottery tickets because he used up all his `luck of the draw' by winning a flight on the EAA's B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" in 1995. Matt and his wife, Margaret Ann, live in Lexington, Va. with their two daughters.