Jef Raskin’s original essay appeared on the earlier raskincenter.org site. This page provides editorial context and commentary on that essay, not the essay itself.
As a licensed pilot and lifelong aviation enthusiast, Raskin was a dedicated reader of aircraft reviews in aviation magazines. This humorous essay turned that experience into comedy.
The Genre
Aviation magazines regularly publish flight reviews of new and classic aircraft, written by pilot-journalists who take a plane up for a few hours and report their impressions. Like car reviews, restaurant reviews, and technology reviews, airplane reviews have their own conventions, cliches, and predictable patterns — ripe material for satire.
Raskin’s Observations
Raskin noted the euphemisms, stock phrases, and diplomatic evasions that aircraft reviewers rely on to describe everything from sluggish performance to uncomfortable cockpits. He decoded the language, translating what reviewers write into what they actually mean. The gap between polite review-speak and unvarnished reality provided the essay’s comic engine.
Beyond Aviation
While the subject matter was aviation-specific, the essay’s humor worked on a broader level. Anyone who has learned to read between the lines of product reviews — in any field — could recognize the patterns Raskin identified. The piece was as much about the art of reading critically as it was about airplanes.
Wit and Expertise
The essay worked because Raskin possessed genuine expertise in its subject. His humor came not from mockery but from deep familiarity. He knew exactly what mattered in an airplane and exactly how reviewers danced around inconvenient truths.