Behind the Glareshield
By Steve the Pilot
March 18th, 2026
I was trying to figure out what to write about that might interest readers, not politics but something more uplifting. I know most about flying, fly fishing and food. John has written so passionately about the latter two, so that leaves flying which I think we can all agree is uplifting. I’d been stuck on how to get started but talking with John, he helped me come up with the key theme… wonder.
“Behind the Glareshield” is where we pilots sit, it is basically the dashboard in the cockpit. The top of the dash extends out to keep the instruments from being washed out from the sunlight or glare. Flying is something I wanted to do even before I did it. My earliest memories are of my dad taking us out to O’Hare and parking at the end of the runway to watch the planes takeoff and land. He had some gizmo he would attach to the car antenna so we could hear the controllers and pilots talk. Things stepped up a notch when he joined the IL Air National Guard at the age of 38, our playground got a lot bigger and better.
First was the Korean era KC-97’s old, greasy and smelled like avgas. Then my future arrived in the KC-135 Stratotanker. Back then it burned water (yes, water to add thrust) on takeoff and made a lot of noise and smoke. But I never flew in one of those or on trips with the family. It wasn’t until college that a buddy of mine “Capt. Phil” who was studying aviation walked into my room and asked if I wanted to go fly, he had to burn some hours. He didn’t have to ask twice, I was 19, my first flight was in a Cessna 172 over the cornfields of Indiana and it was life changing….
It seems most people are interested in flying. The wonder of these two little pilots sitting in the front of this 200 ton plus hunk of metal, hurtling down a 2-mile-long piece of cement and climbing up 6 miles into the sky.
Yes, it still amazes me when I watch a plane takeoff but when I’m doing it, the task at hand is the only thought in my mind. At takeoff and landing we’re always totally focused and when something irregular happens during flight we refocus quickly. That still leaves plenty of time for observing the wonders of our incredible world.
Some ask, “Don’t you get bored just sitting there looking out the window?” No, I love it. It changes every day and sometimes every few moments. The northern lights, thunderstorms with their growing beauty during the day and lightning at night, St Elmos’s fire on the cockpit windows looks like mini lightning.
Lightning at night
Greenland and all the glaciers and icebergs, the Amazon with hours of trees and rivers and of course our beautiful and varied USA. The Lord created an incredible place.
Mountains and Glaciers over the Yukon Territory Canada and Wrangle St. Elias NP Alaska
I’ve had a pretty simple road in my career: college, USAF (T-37/38 and KC-135 R, E & A models), airline (Boeing 727, 757, 767), only two flying jobs in my life but lots of stories and thoughts. I’ve made great friends and lost some too.
Opposite direction Boeing 747 – 1000 feet below
My hope is to pass on some of my passion and experiences, and have you join me in this privilege I have as an occupation. I’m not quite at the twilight of my career, I’d rather call it the highlight of my career, though the sun is moving well into the afternoon.
The trips I get now are the best I’ve ever had since starting flying. When I started, retirement was at 60 now it’s 65, I’m in that 5-year window so I know the end of the career is in sight and I try to make the most of every moment.
Southern Greenland
Not to be morbid but it’s like knowing the day you are going to die. At 64 and 364 days you’re a qualified captain flying widebodies internationally, the next day you’re unqualified. I have no issue with it, it will be time but knowing, motivates the enjoying.
The travel season is starting anew. The loads are getting fuller and the layover cities are coming back to life, in January the streets of Venice were empty, this month it’s different. So many folks going to see family/friends, their ancestral homeland, experiencing other cultures or on the trip of a lifetime. You sometimes get in a mode where you take it all for granted but then you see or do something that brings the magic back.
Growing Thunderstorms over South East USA
We love having visitors come up to the flightdeck and say hi. I like getting the kids in the captain’s seat and getting a picture of them with my captain’s hat on, some adults get pics too!
I know that many are nervous flyers, some come up to see us before the flight to talk. I say what you already know, the flying system is the safest it has ever been and it’s the safest form of travel. The biggest thing for your safety, like in a car, is to wear your seatbelt. Up front we ALWAYS have our seatbelts on unless we are getting up and even when we go back for our breaks on the long-haul flights, we have them on when lying down. You should too, enough said.
The life of the aircrew is very different from the passengers. When I was flying domestic, I had trips that took me to all four corners of the US, that is Boston, LA, Anchorage and San Juan, big corners over four or five days.
Now most of the time I go back and forth to Europe or South America twice in a six-day period. I’m in Dublin the first trip and Lisbon the second. I’ve flown to Athens two times in six days, that was a long but special six days.
This was not the first time I had flown into Greece, that was decades ago to Crete when I was in the Air Force but this was my first time as an airline captain. We came in over the Ionian islands then across the northern Peloponnese. I saw my wife’s ancestral home of Nemea with her grandfather’s vineyards and olive groves from the air as we maneuvered in on the arrival. I got to meet a second cousin I never knew who my brother had made contact with on Facebook. All this in 24hrs then back to the states and doing it again.
It’s not been all blue skies, I was in Desert Storm, I had engine failures, radio failures, navigation failures, stormy nights over the Atlantic and Amazon, landing at the wind limits of the airplane on many occasions but experience helps. As my old Air Force pilot training instructor said, “We all start out with a luck bag full of coins, we also have an empty experience bag. If something goes wrong, we hopefully learn from it and take that coin out of our luck bag and put it in our experience bag. If one day you get yourself in a situation where you have no coins left in your luck bag, you pray that you still have something in your experience bag to pay off fate.” People would ask me what I thought about Sully landing on the Hudson. I would say, it was 100% luck and 100% skill. There’s a guy who never let a coin go.
The Wright Brothers first flight, 1903. Boeing KC-135, 1956. Man on the moon, 1969. All done in 66 years, think of the wonder of that!
There’s no real direction of where I think this column will go, it could land after this first one. I will look at the comments at the end and if you have questions, please feel free to ask them. If there is something more to write about I will.
Safe Travels and Happy Landings,
Steve the Pilot
-30-
Steve the Pilot was born in Chicago and lived on the North Side before being driven out of the city of Chicago by rising violent crime.
Comments 28
Thank you Steve. Great writing. Love the story. You’ve had a very good path.
Great story. I am forwarding to my BIL, current SWA Captain, former USAF F-15 jock – and a great guy to my sister 🙂
Nice story Steve. I like life reflections of gratitude. We must be of similar age. I too am at the “highlight of my career” but a long way from “my twilight”, however I am 74 yrs old. Thanks for your story.
What a wonderful column. It’s always good to hear someone who loves their work.
Awesome, Steve. I don’t fly often, less nervous than I used to be, love sitting Business/first when I can afford it because I’m so comfortable and feel more confident sitting right behind the flight deck, and can really experience the wonders of the sky. But, OK, let’s hear it, what was the most difficult, or close call, flight you ever had?
Two 747 window panels with a smart tv behind them are the focus of my basement mini-mock cabin. Watching a tv in front of me, reading a book or surfing the web on an iPad is more fun when you can turn to your side and watch the world below fly by. No seat belt on this recliner.
I’m very fortunate to fly a minimum of two long haul flights per year. HNL, DBX, OGG, SIN, SYD, etc. The worst thing about turbulence is having to hold up the stemware above the tray table to prevent spillage.
Be safe. Always wear your seat belt and NEVER fly Spirit or Frontier.
Steve- Best flights I ever had were in right hand cockpit seat of a C-17 flying from Manas AB, Kirgizstan to Kandahar Afghanistan. The pilot was a Delta Airlines reservist LtCol. I basically “pulled the old Guard guy on his last deployment” card to get the chance. I was 6 months from mandatory retirement at 28 years and 55 years old. I was in that seat from just after takeoff thru the landing. It was just awe inspiring to fly thru the Hindu Kush, see sunrise and fly over first Bagram and then Kabul and the vast desert south. 6 months later I used the same trick but was seated in a jump seat in cabin. What a way to finish my career. Finally, after I retired from active duty guard with INANG I became a USAF civilian and at the end of 14 years of that watched a 24 year old Air Guard mechanic navigate commissioning, UPT and KC-135 training. Today he is a reservist 1LT at a base in Indiana . He has similar commercial airline hopes as you have achieved. Keep writing these columns.
Lovely prose poem. Reminded me of the great novelist James Salter’s The Hunters”
““Suddenly Pell called out something at three o’clock. Cleve looked. He could not tell what it was at first. Far out, a strange, dreamy rain was falling, silver and wavering. It was a group of drop tanks, tumbling down from above, the fuel and vapor streaming from them. Cleve counted them at a glance. There were a dozen or more, going down like thin cries fading in silence. That many tanks meant MiGs. He searched the sky above, but saw nothing.”
Thanks to guys like you to get us where we gotta go.
Steve, I enjoyed your column and glad your friend John Kass has you helping out. I’ll bet you have some travel stories tha twoul dmake for some interesting reading, maybe that can be some material for future writings.
Well done Steve, you’re a better man than I. God bless you in your adventures and keep bringing us your bird’s eye views.
Houli
Great column. Two of my highlights. First was riding the jump seat up front on a 707F from LAX to SFO. I was a customer service Supv with AA and visiting counterparts for a face to face. I was going to take PSA up the coast but my counterpart in LAX said he’d fix it. I was fourth in the cockpit for a 45 minute trip chasing the PSA 727 I was planning to take. Second was more recent. A vacation with my wife took us to the Far East and while she stayed to visit relatives I continued to do a 360 trip. Last leg was on an A380, a bucket list item to begin with. FA told the Captain and on landing in Dallas I had an invite up front. Sat left seat and the Captain tossed his hat at me for the photo. I was Like a kid. BTW those lambswool seats are COMFY!
Keep your horizon level and may landings always equal
Takeoffs. I Left the airline biz many years ago for a different career but once
JET A is in your blood it never leaves.
Thanks for the column, Steve. A nice escape in these turbulent times (pun intended).
Bob M.
Thank you for sharing your story about flying. My sister is a pilot and it’s so different flying in a Cessna than any commercial flight I had. Thank you for your service and bravery.
Steve:
Please continue to write; I share your love of flying (Private), and will look forward to your perspective on our lives from 35,000 ft..
John Higgins
I’m aways a passenger and totally enjoy the view from 30K feet but get nervous at the top of an 8 foot ladder (go figure). I’m sure that’s because the pilot becomes my Higher Power while I’m the passenger and your message supports it. Thanks for your contribution to us and your service to John.
Great article! My dad took me to the airport to watch 707s practice land & take off at our local airport as a kid to get me out of the house after my sister was born. I’ve loved flying as a passenger ever since. From my first flight in a small prop to early flights on 777s and 787s. My bucket list flying was 1st class in the bubble of the 747. I always book a window seat and my favorites are the Grand Canyon flying west a few hours before sunset, southern Greenland, and seeing the dark hue of the atmosphere above and a sea of clouds below. Getting upgraded to sit up front where it’s mostly air noise and not engine noise definitely adds to the experience. I feel lucky.
Safe continued travels and flying!
Welcome Steve The Pilot and thank you. Kass has mentioned you frequently and I do believe that the City has suffered a great loss losing folks like you, the neighborhood stalwarts, who otherwise would have stayed if not for the terrible leadership of successive administrations who allowed the city to descend into failed social experiment whole selected folks got rich, and their loyalists largely suffered.
Sadly, we are engaged in a battle for the nation and I’m not confident in either “side” as I think it’s a dialectic: shitty and shittier, that we have to choose from. I think you’re appreciation of the miracle of flight and the wonders of nature is brilliantly described and you have served you nation and your employer as well as the flying public well.
I am saddened by the hollowing out of the city and the loss of leaders such as yourself and John Kass. I cannot say as I blame you for leaving.
Uplifting column, Thank You! I never wanted to be a pilot but I love watching airplanes.
In the 1950’s I remember watching passenger propeller planes take off and land from
the roof of Midway Airport. Sometimes we’d watch from the fence surrounding the airport.
That was exciting and fun for every kid!
Now I often say a prayer for pilots and planes flying overhead for a safe journey.
As an adult it’s been my privilege to fly coast to coast across our beautiful country.
And I enjoy the old airline commercials on You Tube – what a hoot!
God Bless all of the pilots, flight attendants and everyone in the flying industry!
Steve, we know John pines to get back to the river. Sounds like that trip back may be longer than just the distance. When he gets his legs back, maybe get him out to local pond and throw some BoogleBugs from the shore for bass. It ain’t the river, but still an effective therapy for the soul. That big 8wt will work just fine.
Great perspective Captain Steve. Thanks for your service to our country and aviation.
Steve – Enjoyed the column today. Made me think back to my first airplane ride, also in a Cessna 172, out of Palwaukee. Always fascinated with aircraft and aviation but was thwarted from pursuing a career by poor vision. Left Illinois about a year ago for AZ. Now I get to look up and admire F35’s in and out of Luke. As my wife and I say, the sound of freedom.
To John… best wishes and get back soon!
Boy, that took me back! When I was a kid, I grew up 5 miles directly South of Midway Airport’s midpoint. I’d see airplanes on base for one of the 4s or 31s. I wanted to learn to fly but was discouraged by my mother who thought it was too expensive.
When I moved to Southern California 40+ years ago after college, one of my new friends had his Private license. We found a couple of adventurous ladies and arranged a double date to a restaurant at Riverside Municipal, about an hour and a half away (we took the long route over LAX and Disneyland).
I still remember lifting off Runway 7 at Burbank (now Rwy 8) in a Cherokee Warrior and I had tears in my eyes from the joy of finally flying!
I was hooked. 6 months later, I had my Private ticket.
Thank you for the memories.
I was a flight attendant for 31 years. Retired after 911. It just wasn’t a job. It was a lifestyle! Buying wine in Paris, coffee in Germany, chocolates in Switzerland,etc. I loved filling my daughter’s lunch box with goodies from my travels as did she. I miss it every day but couldn’t do it today with the behavior of today’s passengers. Enjoy the remainder of your ride Steve!
Steve: Great piece. i also wanted to fly since I can remember. An early marriage, college, kids prevented that until I was about 40. Eighty two now. Following a 172 that I bought while still a student, I have owned 2 Mooneys, 3 Aerostars – last one was a Factory 700P, and a 1946 J3. I have nearly 5000 hours. Probably a 10th of yours.
You got right the two bags. I reached into the bag of expoereince and the bag of luck many times. A person flys enough and things just happen to the AC and to the weather and to the people on the ground who are supposed to know better. Unable was one of my favorite calls back to them.
But, you did not mention the bag of lust. Taking off to the East at dawn under a low overcast and bursting into the sunlight. That is a God Struck moment. As is St. Elmos Fire appearing on the cowl and the windscreen of a Mooney at maximum altitude over the Rockies. These are privileges that can only be experienced sitting in the left seat up front. And, sitting in the back seat alone in a Piper Cub on a beautiful summer evening at minimum altitude to hear the kids playing ball and smell the newly cut grass.
Remember to check 6,
Great article Steve. In my younger days I always dreamed of being a pilot, but due to vision issues didn’t qualify for the Air Force. When I used to work in Elk Grove Village I would, during my lunch break, watch the planes take off and land. I’m still amazed how such a machine can safely get off the ground and land again with relative ease. The most flying fun I’ve had was flying in a small plane out of DuPage airport and seeing my work place, home, and downtown Chicago from above as well as the beautiful scenery over Traverse City, MI(I was not the pilot).
I remember being in Lincoln for a work trip sitting on the front steps of the airport looking out onto the runway. (years ago, they would bring you your rental car while you waited outside). I watched as one of our beautiful fighter jets was doing touch and goes, straight up towards the sky. The sound was deafening but all I could do was watch with my eyes wide open.
Always wanted to be a pilot but didn’t have the stomach for it. When you love what you do, it isn’t a job and sounds like you are one of the lucky ones to live it.
Thank you for a great column. I never tire of reading about flying. I was an air traffic controller at MDW many years ago and a private pilot. I have a sneaking hunch you and my best friend, whose story is very similar to yours, may know each other.