Thanks for the responses.
Rick, I like your idea of pasting the "meat" into the email. I'm thinking maybe it couldn't hurt to do both (pasting and attaching) when you don't know who will be reading it on the other end.
Short and sweet is definitely the best way to go, I agree. My resume just looks a bit strange right now with over two years without employment (traveling and then injured overseas). I'd like to mention something about it in the cover letter just to give them a heads up.
How about abbreviating your work history on the resume? I've pared my down to just flying jobs with a note at the bottom that a full work history is available on request. Anyone doing something similar or have other ideas?