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December 2025 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
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Category Archives: Personal
Why I Fly?
Why do I fly? Sometimes, something like that is hard to explain, especially to those who do not fly. They say a photograph is worth a thousand words; if that is so, a video is probably worth somewhere upwards of 500,000 paragraphs. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airport bums, barnstormers, Cessna 182, Charles Lindbergh, control over my life, enthusiasm, favorite students, first solo, flying checks, flying machines, flying single-engine at night, homebuilders, I knew I could do it, IFR clearance, instrument flying, instrument pilots, it was time, late afternoon Florida skies, life lessons, little country FBO, mechanics, Navy, Night flight, open cockpit biplanes, parachute, perfecting landings, picking a good place to land, pilots, Piper J 3, predicaments, professional pilots, safe landing, Tampa International, the barnstorming era, what was there to be afraid of?, You’re on your own
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1 Comment
Cutting Teeth
I am nervous, the weather is not good. I have been contracted to fly a client in her airplane, a Cessna 182, to the Cook County Airport up in Adel, GA. The weather in Tampa is awful, below mins. And … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged Cessna 182, Cutting Teeth, Flight Watch, glideslope, IFR clearance, instrument flying, instrument pilots, localizer, minimums, new commercial pilot, outer marker, predicaments, the weather is not good, untested instrument rating, weather forecasts
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Reading & Writing
If you are going to write, you must read. Moreover, if you are a writer who reads, you are going to write – you will write more, and you will find yourself writing well. Reading and writing go hand in … Continue reading →
Posted in Life in General, Personal, Reading, Writing
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Tagged driving, editors, flying airplanes, get on with life, music, On Writing by Stephen King, play a great game, practice, preparation, publishers, putting words to paper, read, Reading & Writing, sailing, teaching, typewriter, write
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2 Comments
Reading & Writing
If you are going to write, you must read. Moreover, if you are a writer who reads, you are going to write – you will write more, and you will find yourself writing well. Reading and writing go hand in … Continue reading →
Posted in Life in General, Personal, Reading, Writing
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Tagged driving, editors, flying airplanes, get on with life, music, On Writing by Stephen King, play a great game, practice, preparation, publishers, putting words to paper, read, Reading & Writing, sailing, teaching, typewriter, write
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2 Comments
First Solo, New Birthday
Today, this evening at about a quarter before seven, I will celebrate the 39th anniversary of my first solo. The day I soloed, it was raining hard. I got off work at the propeller shop and headed straight for Charlie’s. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged 39th anniversary, control over my life, first solo, I knew I could do it, it was time, late afternoon Florida skies, New birthday, perfecting landings, Piper J 3, safe landing, what was there to be afraid of?, You’re on your own
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4 Comments
My Favorite Student
Becky was a wonderful person. From the moment I first met her, she was on her way to becoming one of my favorite students. Becky came to me by way of a fellow airport bum and friend, Dave, a pilot, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airport bums, barnstormers, enthusiasm, favorite students, flying machines, homebuilders, life lessons, little country FBO, mechanics, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, someone as old as me, the barnstorming era, the CPTP program, WASPs, Wittman Tailwind
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True Solitude
In yesterday’s blog, I touched on the peculiar sense of solitude found only in flying alone. I have spent my fair share of flight time flying solo. In my Part 135 days, I was alone from Sunday night to Friday … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged A-7E Corsairs, catapult shot, catshot, F-14 Tomcats, flying alone, flying solo, hauling checks, night trap, spatial orientation, TF-41 turbofan, The Air Plan, the flight deck, the yellow shirts, True Solitude
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Unpretentious Writers
Writing is a difficult thing to accomplish at times. Few have the ability to write, fewer still have the ability to write well. Most writers have to work very hard at writing, but occasionally, a writer comes along who is … Continue reading →
Posted in Personal, Publishing, Teaching, Writing
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Tagged a man of few words, endless possibilities, Few have the ability to write, professional recognition, tax deductible, Unpretentious Writers, writersmarket.com, writing for a magazine, writing for money, Writing is difficult, writing skills, writing well
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2 Comments
Strawberry Fields Forever
OK, so I was arcing about the web reading other blogs last night and came across FlyingGma’s Blog about going to a fly-in with the top down. She and her husband started out on their motorcycle, but then changed their … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged Corvette convertible, eat my fill of strawberries, fly-ins, FlyingGma’s Blog, ground reference maneuvers, J-3 Cubs, laughing, motorcycles, relative wind, smelling all the smells, strawberries, Strawberry Fields Forever, top down, winds
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2 Comments
Vacuum Cleaners
My friend Mike commented he wanted to “see/hear” more A-7E stories. I read his email just before going to sleep last night, so of course, I was thinking of the days of the Corsair as I drifted off to sleep. … Continue reading →
Posted in Flying, Personal
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Tagged A-7E Corsair, another night at sea, flight deck, good night at sea, live jet engines, S-3 Viking, TF-41, The Hoover, Vacuum Cleaners
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