» By Jeff Pardo ILLUSTRATION BY DAN PAGE Time is money THE HOBBS METER IS THE INSTRUMENT PILOTS LOVE TO HATE Just like the weather, about which everybody jokes but against which no one ever takes action, there’s another equally uncaring adversary. It’s one against which we are all totally and utterly helpless, and each time we proudly mark the mounting hours in every succeeding line of our logbooks, we must first reconcile its sepulchral tally. Our opponent is the Hobbs meter. MAY 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING / 45