Need help picking out a gift for my boss who is huge on aviation.

Posted by agonyxcodex@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 77 comments

Hey y’all My boss is a huge aviation fan. Anything planes. Got his pilots license last year and it’s super important to him because it’s a family thing. His grandpa was a pilot. He’s in his late 30’s and attached is a picture of one of the planes he flies every now and then. He wears plane related shirts and stuff as well. Piper and Cessna are what I’ve seen so far.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly beneficial!!

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Interesting-Fuel-750@reddit

First boss told me something that stuck: gift down, never up.

In case you're wondering, gifting up can look bad on both of you.

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Tempest051@reddit

Depends on the context tbh. E.g a small business CEO that took a salary cut for the sake of his employees during COVID got gifted an entire car he'd been talking about for a while by all the employees as a thank you. "Secret Santa's" are also a thing in some work places apparently, though imo that's weird unless it's a smaller tight nit business. Otherwise ya, giving your boss a gift is a little strange unless you're really close friends somehow...

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agonyxcodex@reddit (OP)

What does this mean? Like I shouldn’t get my boss (higher up) a Christmas present? Please explain I’ve never heard of this in my entire 30 years of life

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Lost_Organizations@reddit

Excellent advice

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EmbarrassedTruth1337@reddit

Aircraft vibes? But unless it's a super small shop and yure good friends, buying your boss something is weird

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agonyxcodex@reddit (OP)

It’s a department of 4 people and we only have like 80 employees in the building. We’re all pretty tight knit.

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jkozuch@reddit

I’d feel incredibly awkward buying my boss a gift.

Even thinking about it feels weird.

I wouldn’t recommend doing this, OP. I know you’re well-intentioned, but… maybe rethink this idea.

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agonyxcodex@reddit (OP)

I’m buying something for everyone else in my department it would be odd not to get my boss something. We all do.

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cazzipropri@reddit

ForeFlight gift card.

Sporty's gift card.

Yawman flight controller for home sim.

Gift card at a nice airport diner 30-50 miles away from where he's based.

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AwarenessAmbitious24@reddit

The nose plugs part took me a sec to get lol

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cazzipropri@reddit

I should have been more specific: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/ps/cowlplugs.html

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californiasamurai@reddit

ForeFlight and Sporty's are great, all pilots would appreciate those. Tbh that would have to be $50+ so it depends on the boss/employee and their relationship.

Something that has value but not a direct value is better (e.g. vintage e6b, POH from a rare aircraft, idk) in my opinion. But I would love a ForeFlight gift card of any value to be honest

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JointStrikeFritters@reddit

Prestige Aviation themed liquor decanters…

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ImOnlyDoingThisPart@reddit

Why blur the tail number?

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FixCrix@reddit

Chat about aircraft and ask what his favorite is (may be military, like F4U Corsair, P-51 Mustang, F4 Phantom, etc). Then see if you can find a pre-assembled, desk-top model or framed print of it.

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TrumpsWallStreetBet@reddit

Old airplane parts. I have an altimeter on my desk that came out of a S-70

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taddymason_01@reddit

What gift did your boss get you?

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ashkanahmadi@reddit

Not all bosses are assholes even though most are.

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MetaCalm@reddit

You wanna bet?

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megashitfactory@reddit

Yes; I would take that bet.

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jk01@reddit

My boss isn't an asshole. You lost the bet.

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ashkanahmadi@reddit

Wanna bet what? That not every boss is an asshole? Are you going to check on ALL bosses on the entire face of the planet to prove me wrong?!!!

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californiasamurai@reddit

Depends on the industry and the company. I've had shit bosses and bosses that I'm Instagram friends with. I've had eh/neutral bosses, etc. Probably 40%+ of whether work sucks or not is decided by your boss.

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Skeetronic@reddit

50 hours of labor/week when paying for 40 hours of labor/week for the last X years

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landhag69@reddit

Man redditors just reek of shit zero pride in work employee

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Skeetronic@reddit

English is difficult, eh pal?

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taddymason_01@reddit

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go

I owe my soul to the company store

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jeff2-0@reddit

Mug

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bdavisx@reddit

I don't know about your boss, but I'm really into aviation and would love one of these:

https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/236487793/1991-aero-l-39c-albatros-turbine-military-aircraft

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Fly973@reddit

Remove before flight keychain

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RobertWilliamBarker@reddit

My advice is he's your boss and I wouldn't buy him anything.

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nbdevops@reddit

Had to double check the sub, thought I was in /r/antiwork for a second

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Cheesy--Garlic-Bread@reddit

not everyone despises their bosses lil bro, I quite enjoy mine and they treat me great

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californiasamurai@reddit

If they're nice to you be nice to them.

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Hearsaynothearsay@reddit

Not directly on point here, but the fact that there's a push to recognize Bosses Day and some employees actually try to do extra things for their employers while not getting paid the value of their contributions is really warped. Bosses already get an award in earnings..

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Lost_Organizations@reddit

Some people see unlicked boots and cannot stand such an injustice

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Lost_Organizations@reddit

Fucking preach

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ainsley-@reddit

Not everyone has a shitty asshole boss like you do by the sounds of it.

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cybermage@reddit

WW1 or WW2 pilot wings.

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Potential_Wish4943@reddit

Vintage E6B. The oldest you can afford

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californiasamurai@reddit

Second this.

The E6B is vastly superior to any low quality shit that ASA is charging $170 for. It helps you actually visualize wind correction, makes it easier for you to catch errors, and is actually faster to use (at least if you want to recalculate).

Admittedly I do own an electronic flight computer as well, but I learned how to use a manual one when trying out for a college flight team and it stuck a lot better. I can provide formulas as well if you're interested.

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stankdick2047@reddit

Definitely nostalgic aviation items

Won’t break the bank, and it’s not a headset that will break the bank

You can do a blue taxi way light lamp

They are really nice

Or get him a Ron Cole print with a piece of an airplane

I’d go in those directions

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Enough_Technology946@reddit

I just found one from WWII and I want it so bad.

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CrouchingToaster@reddit

Etsy has some people selling keychains you can customize with an aircraft registration and some also look like a pitot flag. Looking to get one for my Comanche in MSFS after I cross 100 hours with it.

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thezentex@reddit

Taxiway desk lamp

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aaron_grice@reddit

If it’s an “office holiday party” budget, a DVD or Blu-Ray of “One Six Right” is pretty good: https://a.co/d/7r9rH4t

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Mouseturdsinmyhelmet@reddit

https://imgur.com/a/jmcv7Oo

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amcl1986@reddit

If you want to throw in a joke gift I’ve seen some good t-shirts that say “Warning: May spontaneously talk about airplanes”

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InkRuby@reddit

Custom Flight Logbook? Since he recently got his pilot's license, a personalised flight logbook with his name or initials would be both practical and thoughtful. You could even include a small dedication or aviation quote on the first page.

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Animeniackinda1@reddit

I had no idea that was a thing. Thanks for the info.

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Animeniackinda1@reddit

Historic Aviation has a ton of civilian and military aircraft stuff

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stedews@reddit

My favourite gift that I was bought were Spitfire Cufflinks. I love them when I get dressed up

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PHX1K@reddit

Planetags from motogp. Google plane tags. You’re welcome

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AndrewC275@reddit

Yes! I was looking for this comment. Find out his fav aircraft type. In all likelihood, PlaneTags has a piece of one to sell you.

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NorCalAthlete@reddit

There’s enough salt in this thread to run a nuclear reactor, Jesus…

Not everyone has a shitty boss. Not everyone is grossly underpaid. Not everyone hates their coworkers / employees.

You’d think a shared interest in aviation with your boss would be a good thing, especially if said boss is only in his 30s! OP didn’t even say the dude owns the company or is the CEO, for all any of us know he’s just a low level junior manager, not someone making millions off the company’s profits.

Chill the fuck out.

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Lost_Organizations@reddit

Next it'll be a present for the landlord

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NorCalAthlete@reddit

My neighbor owns 2 properties. One’s her primary residence, the other a rental she bought at the same time ~50 years ago. She hasn’t raised the rent since it got paid off ~20 years ago. As a result she’s had the same family living there ever since and plans to let them have it for a song when she passes away.

Again, chill with the knee jerk chip on shoulder stuff. It’s not a healthy mindset and doesn’t contribute anything to conversations or progress.

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