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Category Archives: Life in General
Unbridled Student Excitement for Flying
Nothing is better than sitting in the office and having a student drop by to talk about flying their first aerobatic flight. When they become so excited they have a hard time containing their enthusiasm, it truly is an amazing … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a combat veteran of the Middle East, aerobatic flight, Air Force, air show airplanes, airplanes, Beechcraft Bonanza, commission in the Air Force, connecting to my own youth, discipline, enthusiasm for flying, eternally grateful, F-16 Fighting Falcon, first solo, flight training, Florida, flying, flying in the military, formation flying, friends, going vertical, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, military service, pilots, professional pilots, pulling 6g’s, slow rolling, student pilots, Sun ’N Fun, taildraggers, tailwheel flying, talking about flying, training aircraft, Unbridled Student Excitement for Flying
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2 Comments
Sun ’N Fun–The Day After
Okay, this is not officially the day after Sun ’N Fun, but it is for me. Often, I have said I want my 20-year-old body back; each day I live, it becomes more evident I am now well beyond 29 … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a bunch of backyard tinkerers, airplanes, at the hangar one evening, barnstormers, camaraderie, Cessnas, Continental engines, Experimental Aircraft Association, fellowship, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, homebuilt airplanes, inexperienced pilots, learning to fly, Lycoming engines, open cockpit biplanes, people who like flying and building airplanes, pilots, professional pilots, sitting underneath the wing, student pilots, taildraggers, Tampa, training aircraft, What Sun ’N Fun Is All About, “homemade” airplanes, “store-bought” airplanes
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1 Comment
What Sun ’N Fun Is All About
Sun ’N Fun is all about camaraderie. Pure and simple, it boils down to people who like flying and building airplanes getting together in fellowship. There is not one group of people to better “hang out” with than those who … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a bunch of backyard tinkerers, airplanes, at the hangar one evening, barnstormers, camaraderie, Cessnas, Continental engines, controlling the finances of the project, Experimental Aircraft Association, fellowship, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, homebuilt airplanes, inexperienced pilots, learning to fly, Lycoming engines, open cockpit biplanes, people who like flying and building airplanes, pilots, professional pilots, seeing the light, sitting underneath the wing, student pilots, taildraggers, Tampa, the last of the sunset, training aircraft, What Sun ’N Fun Is All About, “homemade” airplanes, “store-bought” airplanes
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1 Comment
The Tragedy of Sun N Fun
Yesterday will long live in the memories of many of the homebuilders who flew their airplanes into Sun N Fun this week. For those who survived the devastation, they will always be grateful. For the builders who lost their planes…, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged "spam-can" airplanes, a great deal of property loss, a treasure, aerial displays, airplanes, builder-owner pilot, Cessnas, Florida, flying, friends, homebuilders, homebuilt airplanes, horrific storms, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, Lakeland Airport, learning to fly, life must go on, memories, no one died, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, Sun N Fun, taildraggers, Tampa, The Navy's Flight Demonstration Team, The Tragedy of Sun N Fun, training aircraft, Vero Beach, Wichita
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1 Comment
Sun N Fun Gets Slammed
It is early, but late. I have slept too long. It is after 6 a.m. and I am usually up and writing by 5:45 most mornings. But last night was a late night and so I understand why I am … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a comforting rain, airplanes, airplanes upside down, Cessnas, double-check the weather forecasts, editors, Florida, flying, friends, get up to make coffee, go back to sleep the word processor, hangars demolished, lightning and thunder, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, radar screens, rain, student pilots, Sun N Fun, Sun N Fun Gets Slammed, taildraggers, Tampa, The Lakeland Airport, the pinging of hail, the Sunshine State, the telecommunications expert, thunder, tornadoes, training aircraft, typesetters, typewriters, up and writing by 5:45
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1 Comment
An Instant in Time, A Crossing of Paths
I was the lucky winner in the fall of 1984. Somehow, I won the squadron lottery to represent the outfit in Las Vegas at the Annual Convention of Naval Aviation—Tailhook. In September, when it was time to go, I travelled … Continue reading →
Posted in History, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged 1986, a complete psychological study of the human condition, a friendly face, a friendly politician, a special place in history, An Instant in Time A Crossing of Paths, Annual Convention of Naval Aviation, Atlanta, boating, dropPING a couple of bills on games of chance, fishing, flying of jets Monday through Friday, Geraldine Ferraro, Guantanamo, her vice-presidential run for the White House, Las Vegas, lobster diving, lucky winner, Norfolk VA, racquetball, running into old friends, sailing, scuba diving, tailhook, Walter Mondale, watching people, wingman
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1 Comment
The Last V-bomb Casualties
It is almost always bad to be last. If you are the last casualty of a war, that means you survived all of the worst of the times, saw the light with the coming end of the war, and then … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation History, History, Life in General
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Tagged anti-aircraft fire, barrage balloons, England, German V1 and V2 attacks, German V2 rocket, gyroscopic guidance system, Ivy Millichamp, Life in London during the war, London, pulsejet engines, RAF pilot, Spitfire, the last casualty of a war, the last civilian killed by a V2, The Last V-bomb Casualties, very little warning before the explosion, “Buzz Bombs”, “Doodlebugs”, “tipping”
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1 Comment
The Smell of Sunshine
To me, traveling from one point precisely to another is fascinating. Navigation is easy to understand when traveling on the surface of the earth. It is a simple matter of following directions. In other words, you can travel down Highway … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a little too cocky, becoming lost, checkpoints, determine direction, draw a line on a chart, following directions, Fort Meade, going from point A to point B, holding airspeed, Lake Wales, measure distance, navigation, navigation at sea, new student pilots dependent on GPS, Piper Cub, setting a heading, technology failure, the compass rose, The Smell of Sunshine
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4 Comments
Learning to Read
I always knew I was going to be a pilot and I also knew I would be a writer. When it came to reading and writing, there are a couple of people to whom I am very indebted. My mother … Continue reading →
Posted in Life in General, Personal, Reading, Writing
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Tagged baby-books, bookmobiles, books appropriate to age-level, boyhood crushes, Florida, friends, Hillsborough County, Learning to Read, Marianne, mom, new worlds, pictures in books, Pierce Junior High School, pilot, reading and writing, Saturday morning, Tampa, The world of words!, writer, writers
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3 Comments
Sky King!
As a bit of humor, yesterday I posed the question of Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie knowing one another. By the time I finished writing at the end of the piece, I realized the true answer to the question would determine the … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General
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Tagged airplanes, an old Cessna T-50, baby-boomers, Cessna 310B, Cessnas, Florida, Florida’s Beeline Expressway, flying, Gloria Winters, his niece Penny, influencing more young girls and boys into aviation, judgment, Kennedy Space Center, Kirby Grant, Lassie, learning to fly, NASA, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, Rin-Tin-Tin, Ripcord, Schuyler “Sky” King, Sky King!, STS–16-A, The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin, the shadows of Mercury Gemini and Apollo, the Sky King Youth Ranches of America, the Songbird, the Space Shuttle Challenger, The Whirlybirds
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6 Comments
