Publications
I currently write for the Piper and Cessna Flyer magazine, as well as having published several books of my own. You can check them out below.
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want? That quote, attributed to Michael Leighton's business partner, characterizes the author's personal experience with the world of general aviation.
Things my Flight Instructor Never Told Me and Other Lessons Learned in 25 years of aviation chronicles one man's journey into and through the world of general aviation and personal aircraft ownership. Leighton's inspirations for this book originate from his own experiences over the last 25 years of flying as both a pilot, an instructor and aircraft owner. He has owned more than 70 different aircraft ranging from a very rare Travel Air 12Q biplane to a King Air 200 twin turboprop. Topics like fuel management, flight planning, reluctant passengers, dealing with weather, the FAA, buying and owning an aircraft, as well as moving up to bigger and faster aircraft, are all discussed with humor and whit. He also discusses the people in aviation he has met that have had an influence on his flying career.
Whether we're discussing the infamous "Impossible Turn" or running through the best advice I could give to student pilots, when I write for the magazines, there is a lot of useful information in it. I'd love for you to check it out!
In this techno-terrorist action thriller Robert Mallory Hershey named his restaurant and bar on the Jersey Shore The Dirty Turban because it was the most offensive name he could get a permit for. Forced to resign from a storied law-enforcement career in the face of racial profiling charges, Hershey would eventually be vindicated when the men he was accused of profiling turned out to be members of Al-Qaeda. The Congressional hearings that eventually lead to his resignation thrust Hershey into the national political spotlight. He used his fame to make his case. He didn't pull his punches. But Al-Qaeda perceived Hershey as weak. They felt he could easily be manipulated. They believed they could use him as part of a new terror initiative and by kidnapping his wife, get him to betray his country to further their cause. They were wrong. The Dirty Turban is not a political statement. It is a story about a man, who, when pushed to his limits, took matters into his own hands, and did what was necessary to protect his family. This techno-terrorist action thriller is in the same genre as The Fifth Horseman and The Sum of All Fears. If you like Clancy, Brown or Crichton then you will love The Dirty Turban.