75 years is a long time. The average lifespan in the United States is around 79 years. It goes without saying that in 75 years, Stevens Aerospace & Defense has seen a lot of change in our industry and developed a rare formula for success. In September 2022, I wrote a piece for T &T’s Company Chronicles feature about Stevens. In the article, I delved into how Stevens Aerospace & Defense started and navigated an ever-changing aviation environment. This month, I wanted to highlight Stevens again to help celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2025. You’ll see the reprint of my 2022 piece further back in this issue.
In addition to Stevens’ momentous anniversary, June 2025 is gearing up to be full of travel and face-to-face time with our industry leaders. I will be in Florida visiting with Flightline Group in Tallahassee, then driving down to Fort Lauderdale to help manage the second annual Pinnacle Air Network HR committee meeting at Banyan Air Services. After that, I’ll head to the great white north of Prince Edward Island, Canada, to take part in StandardAero’s customer appreciation event and airshow. That’s a lot of great stuff going on.
A long time ago, I was co-pilot on a Beechjet 400A. I remember without any fondness whatsoever the unpleasant task of lavatory servicing after a flight if one of the passengers just had to go while airborne. Luckily, the Beechjet had fairly short legs, so it didn’t happen often, but when it did, it was pretty painful. Peter M. Greenfield sent in a humorous and poignant story about his days in an old Convair 580, when servicing the lav was left to the pilots (did he really go to college for this?). Thanks, Peter, for the unpleasant memories we get to relive this month.
We’re about a month away from EAA’s Airventure in Oshkosh, WI. I’ll be there with my cameras looking for the next year of Editor’s Pics, along with all the new stories we’ll be learning about for you readers. Stay tuned for lots more.
Fly safe out there!
