Must-reads

“I’m on this private plane and I wake up and see [Robert] De Niro there sleeping.”

That’s a line from one of my favorite features in this issue: Margie Goldsmith’s “My Most Memorable Business Jet Flight,” which includes stories that will make you smile (about a group excursion to a Star Trek convention) as well as ones that involve life-and-death situations (such as race-car driver Brad Keselowski's flight to the Mayo Clinic for surgery for his infant daughter).

Goldsmith, a longtime contributor to these pages, is also our most experienced globetrotter. Her adventures have taken her to nearly 120 countries, from Rwanda to Tibet, and she recalls some of her most unforgettable journeys in “A Very Frequent Traveler Looks Back.”

BJT columnist Thomas Pero, meanwhile, looks forward to fall in “Giant Tuna on the September Menu,” which vividly describes the experience of deep-sea fishing for the valuable Atlantic Bluefin tuna. How valuable? “A single bite-sized piece would sell to diners for $85,” Pero reports.

Another highlight of this issue is James Wynbrandt’s Inside Charters column, which explains what you need to know if you or a family member will be flying with a medical condition. We have become so accustomed to hopping on aircraft that considering whether it’s safe to fly with, say, a heart condition, may not be top of mind. But you can never be too prepared, as Wynbrandt explains in “An Rx for Onboard Health Concerns.”

Speaking of health concerns, drinking wine can be good for you—and that brings me to our cover story on Kathryn and Craig Hall. The couple spend their days making award-winning wines in Northern California and, as Craig told BJT’s Matt Thurber, “You can take great grapes and mess them up and not make great wine. But you have to start with great grapes.”

The Halls are as enthusiastic about business jet travel as they are about their wine making because flying privately saves them time and, as Kathryn notes, “time is the most important asset that any of us have.”

We’ll drink to that.

P.S. We are thrilled to announce that at the Aerospace Media Awards banquet in Paris June 18, Business Jet Traveler was named Best International Publication (from a field of six finalists). In addition, Mark Huber’s article on the Aerion as2, which appeared in the magazine’s October/November 2016 issue, was named Best Business Aviation Submission (also from a field of six finalists). This brings to 52 the number of editorial and design awards that BJT and our contributors have received.