Promoting Conservation From a Cessna 210, With Bruce Gordon

By John Zimmerman
Jan 27, 2026
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Pilot's Discretion Podcast, episode 122

Bruce Gordon learned to fly in Aspen over 40 years ago and has been flying in the Rockies ever since. He uses that experience to share tips for flying piston airplanes out West, name some of his favorite airports, and explain why the Cessna T210 is the perfect airplane for his missions. Bruce also talks about EcoFlight, the organization he founded that uses light airplanes to promote conservation, and how short flights can change people’s perspectives about the world. In the Ready to Copy segment, Bruce talks about flying with John Denver, lessons learned from mountain climbing, and the best soccer player of all time.

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Quotes:

The risks of mountain flying: “it's the density altitude and the weather systems that can come on you so quickly with very high terrain.”
Why ice is a constant threat: “when you fly around Aspen, the MEA is 16,000 feet. So almost any precipitation or cloud cover you're getting into, it's icing.”
A pilot’s first visit to the Rockies: “my advice would be to tiptoe in, do your homework, and if you've got time to spare, maybe land at one of the front range kind of airports and do your planning.”
Checking out in the 210: “three things of advice: gear, gear, and gear.”
How small airplanes can help conservation efforts: “it gives the land a voice.”
Why EcoFlight is different: “we want to give a balanced perspective. We want education. I don't want people looking out the proverbial left side of the airplane, and I don't want them looking out the proverbial right side of the airplane.”
The power of flying in an age of AI: “that's what I love about being in an airplane, looking down at the landscape: you are looking at it.”
Preparing to land in crosswinds: “it's thinking rudder. So I'm tapping the rudder a bunch and just getting myself ready for that.”
Mountain climbing lessons that apply to aviation: “I've climbed in the Himalayas four or five times. For me, it is all about awareness.”
What hasn’t changed in Aspen over the last 40 years: “this place really has changed, you know, and a lot of it for the worst—but the creeks are the same, the rivers are the same, the mountains are the same.”