Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, will be authoring a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain.
Ask Your Captain Column – Your Questions Answered
Over the years, 121pilot has offered insight and analysis on a number of travel-related issues. You can view some of his past articles here.
For professional reasons, he remains anonymous and will not publicly disclose the airline for which he works. This will allow him to answer your questions more openly and honestly without any fear of potential repercussions.
The frequency of the column will be driven by your questions and his schedule.
He has set up a special email address where you can ask question – ask121pilot at yahoo dot com.
There are not topics that are inherently off-limits, though I would direct your questions toward those that others might also be asking, including issues of:
- Aerodynamics
- Flight safety
- Fear of flying
- Flight attendants
- Airline industry
- Labor relations
- Crew rest
- Work-family dynamics
- Flying school
- Aircraft types
I’m greatly looking forward to this column. Thank you 121pilot for your many contributions and I am looking forward to your new column. Feel free to use the email address above or ask your question below.
How different is it to fly a narrow-body vs wide body plane? Do you enjoy one more than the other?
Just to be clear to have your questions answered email me at ask121pilot@yahoo.com
You are aware that ‘Ask the Pilot’ is an established column and website of many years? Just seems like you’re ripping off Patrick Smith.
Asked and answered below. I wasn’t even aware of Mr. Smith’s website until he wrote in (and quite like it, by the way). It’s a very generic term. He’s welcome to reach out to me via the contact form above if he wants to speak further.
‘Good thing we are not trying to pass ourselves off as the great Patrick Smith’? I’ll give you props for not hiding your smug dismissiveness.
I just emailed a long time burning question. To note, I was respectful and it did not involve Hooters Air. I promise. Love this addition.
Excuse me, but I am the host of the Ask the Pilot site and column, and have been for nearly 20 years. The name is incorporated as an LLC. There is also a copyrighted book of this name.
Patrick Smith
http://www.askthepilot.com
Hi Patrick, Good thing we are not trying to pass ourselves off as the great Patrick Smith or write a book bearing the same title. Instead, we are just answering reader questions and using an extremely general “Ask The Pilot” name also used by hundreds of other websites and even United Airlines in its monthly Hemispheres magazine.
But I’m happy to give you a backlink here and want to assure you that we have no intention of encroaching on your territory or causing any consumer confusion. In fact, if you have a better name for this new column, I’m all ears.
Yes, United also appropriated the name long after I had been using it at Salon.com. It’s generic, but there are proprietary implications. It’s a brand I’ve been associated with since 2002. USA Today went with “Ask the Captain” to avoid confusion.
I’m not suggesting you’re intentionally encroaching. But it is the name of my site, my book, my column… and has been for nearly 20 years. When I do freelance stories elsewhere, or when I’m quoted by the media, there is always a reference to my “Ask the Pilot” enterprise. So, yes, it does cause consumer confusion.
Hi Patrick, in the interest of goodwill, we’ll modify ours to Ask The Captain.
Sounds like a “Lady A” “Lady Antebellum” situation.. ..which partype is going to blink first (and for how -perhaps -much)?
I’m just not in the mood for more drama right now. Mr. Smith has no legal case to stake a claim to that generic term, but at the same time I don’t want anyone to even think that we are trying to misappropriate what he has worked hard to build over the last 20 years.
@Matthew, Maybe “Ask 121Pilot” would work better? It’s quite specific, so you definitely won’t be accused of trying to usurp someone else’s site.
FWIW, his site may have been up for 20 years, but at first glance, it seems as though he hasn’t updated it in the last decade (Copyright 2011). You’d think, at the very least, the contact form would be secure…
If a question is submitted, shouldn’t Matthew also get a copy? Or does the Pilot have complete editorial control over content?
I will see questions/answers before they are published.
The title of this article still using “ask the pilot”, not yet changed into “ask the captain”, which may cause another complaint from USA Today perhaps? How about “asking pilot 121”?
I respectfully disagree that there’s risk of “consumer confusion.”
If Matthew had created an entire blog called “Ask the Pilot,” or registered the domain name askthepilot.net, or used a similar tone, style, look & feel to Mr Smith’s own site, or tried to publish a book on aviation topics with that same title, then maybe there might be room to argue confusion. That’s not what’s going on. In fact, Mr Smith has even acknowledged Matthew’s lack of intent to encroach and therefore to confuse.
Legally, pretending that a column with a generic title that accurately describes its content violates Mr Smith’s copyright just doesn’t pass muster. Imagine if Apple were prevented to call the windows in Macs “windows” because Microsoft had a claim to that name… (Spoiler: no, Microsoft cannot and has not sued Apple for that.)
That said, props to Matthew for willingly changing the name of the column, a nice gesture.
Ask A Pilot. Or Ask THE Pilot. Problem solved. Will take a 5% residual.
Just call it Ask 21 Pilots!
Mr Smith has a branding problem, he picked an incredibly generic name for his service. And to get so snippy about it, straight up ridiculous.