Everyone has their list of airplanes they “must fly” or dream of flying someday. Some of these are out of sight for most mere mortals. Airplanes on that list might include the ‘stang, the 787 Dreamliner, and pretty much anything in the previous or current US military inventory. But I’m a realist. I don’t envision…
I Love Biplanes! One of the most existential things you can do as an aviator is fly a biplane, especially an open cockpit variety. Having been lucky enough to have been a steward to one of these sentient vehicles in my youth, I can say I have tasted it’s nectar first hand. There are few…
I have never really had any interest in the Clippers, although they were a big part of aviation’s coming of age. I just skipped over that era of aviation history, but I was aware of the art deco posters that romanticized the big flying boats and their exotic ports of call. Recently, someone sent me an…
One of my favorite airplanes and one that I will almost certainly never get to fly, is the De Havilland DH88 Comet. Actually there is only two flying examples, one being a replica that was commissioned and built in the U.S., the other is in a museum in England. The Comet is a gorgeous design,…
Foster Lane: Aviation Pioneer I wrote this article published in Air Facts Journal on one of the pioneers of general aviation, Foster Lane. Foster learned to fly between the WWI and WWII and helped to develop general aviation from it’s earliest roots. He also created a sprawling flying business in central Ohio. You can read…
A Christmas story from WWII Four days before Christmas 1943, in the darkest hours of WWII, a miracle took place. Two enemies—an American bomber pilot and a German fighter ace—met in combat over Germany and did the unexpected: They decided not to kill one another. Even more incredibly, as old men, they found one…
Ohio declares December as GA Appreciation Month I often lament about living in Ohio, mostly because of the lousy weather. One thing I can’t complain about is general aviation (GA) in this state, it is alive and well.
B-17 Gas Station A friend sent me this story and I couldn’t resist posting it here. I tried to determine who the original author was, but to no avail. My best guess is from this website by a guy named Blair Shorney. Some of the claims in the story are pretty far-fetched, but the images…