Author Archives: Joe Clark

A Paradigm Shift in the Wind

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Joe Clark

Sniff the wind. Can you smell it? It is very faint, but it is there. It is the odor of a completely new change coming to the publishing industry. More succinctly, the slight smell on the wind is the fear … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal, Publishing, Reading, Writing | Tagged a complete change to the publishing industry, A Paradigm Shift in the Wind, A Portrait of Grandma's Dog, access to hundreds of free publications, Amazon Kindle, Cyclotron Factor, e-books, February 2011, first time e-book sales outstripped sales of paperbacks, Gone to meet the British, independent publishers, IPads, Keeping House, Lucky Infantryman, Papa's Problem, Patriots, personal computers, publishers, Road to Barrister, Smartphones, Sunday Morning Prayers for Monday Morning People, Switch Pitchers, The Eighth Day, Will Power, writers | Comments Off

The Aeronca Champ

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Joe Clark

The Aeronca Champ is one of the most classic of airplanes from the 1940s. As with most of the old airplanes from that era, the Champ was able to fly based on a very fine balance between large wing area … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying | Tagged a near-perfect landing, a very honest-flying airplane, adverse yaw, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, Continental C-65 engine, discipline, engine failures, first solo, flight training, flying, flying at very slow airspeeds, generous wing area, how to use rudders, inexperienced pilots, judgment, keep the stick back, learning to fly, Mr. Piper’s J-3 Cub, neophyte pilots, pilots, professional pilots, sitting in the backseat, slow flight, stalls, student pilots, taildraggers, the 7AC, The Aeronca Champ, the counterpart to the 11AC Chief, the most classic of airplanes from the 1940s, training aircraft, very well balanced controls, World War II, “purist pilots” | 3 Comments

May 4, 2011

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Joe Clark

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, which makes today the fourth of May. Cinco de Mayo is a holiday in which Mexico celebrates their victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Throughout Mexico and the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged Battle of Puebla, Britain, C-3PO, Chewbacca, Cinco de Mayo, France, General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín, Hans, her penchant for puns, Luke, May 4 2011, Mexican President Benito Juárez, Mexico City, Napoleon, R2-D2, Spain, The Federation, the last European invasion of the Americas, Veracruz, victory over the French, “May the fourth be with you.” | 1 Comment

Close Calls, Near Misses, and Collisions

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Joe Clark

I have been following the blogging of a new student pilot from Down Under. Dave refers to himself as a middle-aged pilot learning to fly for the first time in Sydney, Australia. As with pilots all over, he is now … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged a middle-aged pilot learning to fly, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, and collisions, Cessnas, close calls, Close Calls Near Misses and Collisions, danger and fright, engine failures, first solo, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, MidLifePilot’s Flying Blog, near misses, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, Sydney Australia, taildraggers | 1 Comment

Where Did the Time Go?

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Joe Clark

Yesterday, you may have noticed there was no post. It is rare that I don’t post my daily blog. Since I started the blog, I only missed one other—Valentine’s Day. I would say, “For obvious reasons,” but it would not … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal | Tagged 71-year-old flight instructors, Alberto Santos-Dumont, discussions that went far beyond the topics of typical teenagers, getting us into trouble, hit the wrong switch, I thought of those times from long ago, introducing the boys to flying real airplanes, just missed a day, learning fly in rickety 25-year-old steel tube and fabric airplanes, my friend’s juvenile bedroom, posting my daily blog, red sneakers stuck in a closet talking to one another, sibling shenanigans, stretching parental nerves, talking about grownup things, talking all about our lifetimes, the Demoiselle, the look of horror on the faces of their parents, they were very naturally gifted writers, Until we meet again Papa..., Valentine’s Day, we discussed dinosaurs, we discussed Mars, we discussed places beyond our solar system, we discussed Saturn, we discussed space travel, we dreamed dreams, we learned things others could not, we learned things others did not, we learned things others were not interested in, We talked of aerodynamics and flying, We were children then, went back over five decades, Where Did the Time Go?, World War I aircraft, yes we were nerds, “For obvious reasons” | 1 Comment

Pipers and Cessnas

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Joe Clark

It is an age-old aeronautical debate, that of the low wing versus the high winged airplane. Both types have their advantages and each performs equally well, with almost the same performance statistics. So, which holds more positives than negatives? That … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying | Tagged Cessnas, ease of servicing, glare inside the airplane, low wing versus high wing, Pipers, Pipers and Cessnas, refueling steps, student pilots, the age-old aeronautical debate, The Cessna 172, the Piper Cherokee, traffic avoidance, whichever one you like the best | 5 Comments

Late Night Thoughts

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Joe Clark

It is a little before 2:30 in the morning. I awake to the storm passing overhead. I lie in bed thinking about the weather. Specifically, I think about the photos I took of the hail in the backyard during the … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal | Tagged Alabama, awaking to the storm, canceling final exams, Florida, Georgia, Hail, helping the cleanup and search efforts, Lakeland Airport, Late Night Thoughts, listening to the storm, Mississippi, North Florida, on the edge of disasters, postponing graduation, Sun ’N Fun, Tennessee, thankful for being alive, thanking God, the Carolinas, The South, The University of Alabama, thinking about the weather, tornadoes, Virginia | Comments Off

A Lesson in Ricochets

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Joe Clark

One day, the weapons instructors introduced us to the technique of firing live rounds. Now this is a little different from going down to the rifle range and learning to shoot; what we were going to do was learn how … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged A Lesson in Ricochets, airspeed, altitude, Cuba, discipline, experienced instructors, firing live rounds, flight training, flying, friends, Guantanamo, guns pattern, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, learning to shoot, live fire exercises, Marines, memories, military service, Navy, never overfly the target, pilots, professional pilots, pushing 540 knots, sailors, salty lieutenants and lieutenant commanders, student pilots, TA-4J Skyhawk, the weapons instructors, tracer rounds, tracers ricocheting in all directions | 4 Comments

Florida Authors

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Joe Clark

Last evening, we enjoyed a delightful dinner with co-workers and friends. The surprise of the evening was talk about Florida authors. In “the olden days,” the foremost Florida novelist was John D. MacDonald. He lived in Sarasota and completed many … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Reading | Tagged a delightful dinner, a graduate of the University of Florida, a prolific writer, A Purple Place for Dying, Auburn, Captiva, Carl Hiaassen, co-workers and friends, Coleman, crime stories, Doc Ford, Double Whammy, editors, Florida authors, Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, his sailboat No Mas, Hoot, John D. MacDonald, Killing Mister Watson, La Florida, Marion “Doc” Ford, memories, Miami, Miami Herald, modern-day writers, mysteries, Naples, Newbery Honor, Nightmare in Pink, North of Havana, Orange Crush, Peter Matthiessen, Ponce de Leon, publishers, Quick Red Fox, Randy Wayne White, real-life Florida fishing information, Sanibel Flats, Sanibel Island, Sarasota, Serge A. Storms, Skin Tight, South Florida, Tampa Tribune, Team Rodent, The Deep Blue Good-by, the Everglades, the Land of Flowers falling in love with Florida…, the New York Times bestseller list, the sugar industry, the Sunshine State, Tim Dorsey, Tomlinson, Tourist Season, Travis McGee, Triggerfish Twist | 3 Comments

Almost the End

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Joe Clark

This is the last week of classes and as always, it comes too fast, and moves too slow. “Time is a funny thing,” to quote the character, “Hap,” from Steven Spielberg’s movie, Always. During the last week of classes, there … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General | Tagged a day at the beach, a lot of tomorrows, a pickup game of softball, Almost the End, anyone aged 12 or less, closer to the end, going swimming, grade calculations, grading, internships, learning how to organize your time, packing and planning, posting grades, presentations, Professors, projects, summer jobs, term papers, the last week of classes, time flies by, When you are 12 time is not really so important | 1 Comment

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Author Archives: Joe Clark

A Paradigm Shift in the Wind

The Aeronca Champ

May 4, 2011

Close Calls, Near Misses, and Collisions

Where Did the Time Go?

Pipers and Cessnas

Late Night Thoughts

A Lesson in Ricochets

Florida Authors

Almost the End

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