Earlier this week I had the opportunity to fly with my buddy Tom, who built his own RV-4. Tom is a former Air Force instructor, now turned corporate pilot. He built his RV-4 13 years ago and been loving it ever since. He can’t bring himself to park it long enough to paint it, but…
My Journey to Flight As part of the Blogging In Formation Series this is my post about how I was drawn to flying. All of us have a different story of how we came to be involved in aviation. For some, you are just starting this journey, for others, it has been a life’s quest. I…
It is rare that I recycle stories in the blog, but I wanted to share this great little piece written by Kelly Yamanouchi of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Especially with the ‘iffy’ press airline pilots have gotten after the movie Flight starting Denzel Washington. I could only wish to have such an illustrious career – you…
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…
I hate to disclose this embarrassing nugget of information, but the confession might cleanse my soul – ok maybe not. Some background first. If you frequent the blog you’ll know that I fly an RV-8. I love all sorts of airplanes; I am no RV snob, but I gravitated to the Vans designs some years…
Airshow Performer Duane Cole When I was growing up, one of the best known aerobatic pilots was Duane Cole. It wasn’t because Duane flew a fire-breathing monoplane or did countless snap-rolls on his down lines; Duane was popular because he was an entertainer. He campaigned a modified Taylorcraft for most of his career, which spanned…
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…
Modern Day Barnstormer: John Mohr If you haven’t heard of John Mohr, he’s the guy in the stock Stearman that flies so low you have to be in front of the crowd to see his performance. I first saw John at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends in 2007 here in Columbus, OH. This airshow…
Self-Appointed Airport Police In my hometown we had a gentleman who took on the self-appointed role of airport police. He was actually a nice guy and he meant well, but boy if he thought you were doing something unsafe, he was in your face. We’ll call our man, John, for this discussion. He was in…
A shout-out to aviation’s volunteers Flying creates such an emotional connection that it really draws people in, many of these folks actually never fly. In fact, some of the more important people to our hobby aren’t licensed at all. The good news about aviation is there are so many ways to be involved and you don’t…