You Don’t Know Jack. Or Maybe You Do.

Jack Hodgson of Uncontrolled Airspace has an undeniable connection with his audience.  He is perhaps the most recognizable and approachable guy in the aviation podsphere.  If you listen to aviation podcasts, UCAP is probably your favorite.  And if some other aviation podcast is your favorite, you probably also listen to UCAP.

I get the occasional reminder of this as I conduct my affairs in the aviation podsphere and elsewhere.  Most reminders are very pleasant.  Some are a come-uppance.  I take all of them with the excellent humor for which I’m noted (at least in my own mind).

As the weather improves and one’s thoughts drift to events like Acro Camp, my mind wanders to something that happened at Acro Camp 2 at Ray Community Airport (57D) last year.  I wrote to the UCAP guys around the holidays in 2011 to tell them about it.  That e-mail is reproduced below for, with only minor edits, for your edification.

There is no more upstanding and collaborative human than Jack Hodgson.  I bow to his well-deserved ubiquity.

_____________________________

Gentlemen:

I’m in the midst of my usual year-end rush as corporate lawyer guy, but I’ve set up some video and audio files from the Acro Camp movies so that I can begin editing again in January.  That put me in mind of an event that happened on the second flying day of Acro Camp 2 this summer.

There are a fair number of UCAP listeners among the Acro Camp applicants.  As a part of the application, I provide a long list of aviation new media and social media outlets and ask the applicants which ones they consume.  It has, for the last two years, been an interesting data point (and minor annoyance) that more of the applicants identify as UCAP listeners than Airspeed listeners.  By a non-trivial margin.  But I can live with that.

So it’s Saturday.  Day 2 of flying.  Both IPs are up with campers.  I’m sitting around in the terminal building offloading video from cards.

The CTAF radio crackles.  “Ray Airport, is there anybody there that’s connected with the Acro Camp movie?”

I’m surprised.  I’m pleased. My chest swells.  I walk over to the radio and key the mic and respond that I’m the director and that Acro Camp is in full swing.  It turns out that it’s a corporate flight crew up in the flight levels and it’s the FO talking on COM 2.  They’re passing overhead, but might be in a position to come by after a stop in Pontiac the next day.

They’ve heard of the film!  They know about the project!  They’re interested enough to call down from the flight levels!  My chest swells even more.  And then the following:

“Is Jack there?  We’d really like to meet him.”

Happy holidays.  And f*ck you guys.

;-)

- Steve