Having flown some formation in my youth, I was familiar with the addictive nature of this kind of flying. Back then I was a mixture of self-trained (read: SCARY and NOT RECOMMENDED) and loosely instructed. My “training” was from a grizzled Vietnam-era F-4 jock. He was in a Pitts and I was in a 2/3rd scale composite…
When the group (Blogging in Formation) settled on this topic for June I wasn’t sure what to write, but after some some introspection the choice was clear – the first flight in my RV-8 topped the charts as most memorable. Get a cup of coffee this is a long story! One of the things that…
Some of the folks that frequent this site will know that my RV-8 has been down for maintenance. Luckily that has been remedied (more on that in a future article) and I am once again back flying my favorite airplane. Conveniently I needed to test fly both the airplane and my new GoPro. The images…
INTRODUCTIONStarting this week, six aviation bloggers will join forces to provide a series of powerful posts. Think of us as “blogging in formation” for the next six days. These daily posts will describe how the author came to be part of this amazing thing we call FLYING. You don’t want to miss this. Tune in…
Flying is an amalgamation of victories and defeats, thrills and chills. Therefore let us not forget, “there but for the grace of God, go I.” This fine Summer day dawned really beautifully. I had a trip for an owner of a C-421B from KDUC (Duncan, OK) to M25 (Mayfield, KY). We were under contract to…
This is a fictious story of an average middle-aged guy with a family that also has an affliction – it’s called flying. NOTE: This could be anyone. Jack is a loving family man. His wife and two kids mean everything to him. But now in his 40s, life is starting to provide more opportunities to…
Teaching myself aerobatics: Don’t try this at home! Disclaimer: this post is for entertainment only. I do not recommend anyone using the concepts or techniques employed here by the author. Dateline 1992. I was a starving flight instructor flogging my way to a logbook full of flight time in hopes of moving on to the…
I shot this video in 2011 during the 40 hour test phase of my RV-8. The music is totally cheesy and way over done, but at the time it seemed appropriate. I didn’t have a lot of time on the aircraft at this point so the aerobatics aren’t perfect by any stretch – still…
Fall Flight: A short video I shot this video back in October during the height of fall foliage season in Ohio. It’s short and not too dramatic, but I thought I would share it now that we are in the throes of winter and the flying up here is scarce. The video was shot with…
Keeping my ticket in my pocket: A TFR tale by Jim Savage I recently encountered a situation that could easily have turned very bad for the endeavor of me retaining my pilot certificate. I can remember a time, not all that long ago too, when I might look out the window, use my eyes, nose…