OFFICE OF THE HANGAR KEYFOUNDING COPY · NO. 0063
TO BE KEPT BY THE COFFEE POT
The Pinnacle Compact
Concerning good company, free flight, and the keeping of a door open
On this seventeenth day of October, nineteen hundred and sixty-three, there assembled a handful of pilots who agreed on very little, except that flying was worth doing and that the stories afterward were often worth more. They wanted no grand institution, no committee to elect another committee, and no schedule to explain to their wives, husbands, or anyone else. They wanted an FBO where a person might come in from the weather, pull up a chair, and be among their own kind. Accordingly, they put the following understanding on paper.
Every person comes in through the same door.
Respect is the price of admission, and the only one we intend to collect. Speak to a new pilot as you would an old friend. No bullying, bigotry, harassment, intimidation, or making sport of somebody else's limits. Disagreement is permitted. Cruelty is not.
There shall be no test of credentials, no hazing, and no measuring a person's worth by the airplane they fly or the hours in their book.
Mind the company you're keeping.
This is a mixed-company room, fit for families and anyone old enough to join under the host platforms' rules. Tell a lively story. Laugh too loudly. Complain about the weather. But leave explicit sexual talk, slurs, graphic material, personal attacks, and jokes made at someone's expense outside.
A little salt in a flying story is not cause for alarm. If somebody asks you to ease up, ease up. Nobody should need armor to sit down with us.
The clock belongs to the pilot.
There are no required departures, meetings, or hours to serve. Fly across the country, around the pattern, or nowhere at all. Come every evening or disappear for a season. Nobody is keeping score of your company.
When you wander back in, the proper greeting is, “Well, look what the wind blew in.” An explanation is not required.
Tell the truth about the flying.
When you carry the Pinnacle name on a flight, log what you actually flew. An ugly landing is a good story; a made-up flight is not. Follow the rules of FlightLinq and of any air traffic control network you use. Treat controllers and other pilots with the same courtesy expected here.
Choose the aircraft and route that make you happy. There is no need to fly a particular airplane to impress the fellows at the counter.
Titles are for the nameplates.
A Junior is somebody we are getting to know. A Buddy has become a familiar face. An Old-Timer has been around long enough that nobody quite remembers their arrival. These titles may come with a little more imaginary flight pay, but not an extra ounce of dignity or authority over another pilot.
The Old-Timer's title is bestowed by the people with the keys, on grounds too mysterious to put in writing.
The dividend owed to every pilot.
For flying our flag, the flight system may credit you with its pretend dollars. Enjoy them. Spend them in your imagination. But the real dividend is this: your time made our small outfit a little more real, and your presence made this room a little less empty.
In return, you are owed a welcome, a fair hearing, a chair when you need one, and the freedom to be yourself without having to perform for anybody. Somebody ought to remember your name. Somebody ought to be glad when you return.
We cannot guarantee a good landing, good weather, or even good coffee. We can make an honest effort at good company.
The fellow with the keys is not your boss.
Nobody works here. Nobody reports for duty. The person keeping the FBO open may sweep the floor, put on the coffee, and occasionally ask someone to leave who cannot treat the others decently. That is stewardship, not command.
The keeper of the keys may settle a dispute or protect the room, but may not demand attendance, obedience in ordinary conversation, or a personal explanation for a pilot's absence.
Leave the light on.
We shall not measure this undertaking by membership totals, route maps, or how much virtual money passes through the books. If two people are trading stories and a third walks in to listen, it has done its job.
May the door stay easy to open, the arguments stay friendly, and the good stories improve just a little with each retelling.
So agreed, with no dues, no obligation to impress,
and no expectation that anybody will read the minutes.
Effective whenever a pilot pulls up a chair.
OCT 1963
KEEP ON FILE