"You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky."
- Amelia Earhart
I earned my private pilot's licence in 1987. Since then I've logged over
300 hours in single-engine aircraft, mostly Cessnas. The bulk of that time
was in a Cessna
177-B Cardinal. It has four seats, and is a real sweetheart to
fly. It's based at Pottstown Municipal Airport
(N47).
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever
walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and
there you will always long to return. ” -Leonardo da Vinci
I've finally got a plan to begin training for an instrument pilot rating.
That will qualify my to fly though clouds and in other conditions of limited
visibility. My friend Ray Tackett (that's him with me on "other pictures of
me" page getting ready to fly in the Stearman biplane) learned to fly shortly
after I met him when we were both working at at what is now Merant. Now he's
got scads more flying experience than I do, and he'll be my flight instructor
for the instrument rating. My plan is that we'll follow a curriculum that
will train me for a commercial pilot rating as well.
“The airplane has unveiled for us the true face of
the earth.”-Antoine de St-Exupéry
Here's a page
my friend Julie wrote describing a short flying vacation she and I took
to Provincetown MA, on the tip of Cape Cod, in June 1997.
"What freedom lies in flying, what Godlike power it gives to
men . . . I lose all consciousness in this strong unmortal space crowded
with beauty, pierced with danger." - Charles A. Lindbergh
This is me with the airplane I flew my first solo in. The picture was taken
twelve years later...I do have a pic from the day of the solo, but
I'd have to know you really well to show it to you <grin>.
About to go flying in a Stearman PT-19.
Yes, I did fly it.
No, I didn't land it.
No, I didn't do the loop.
Yes, the instructor did.
No, I didn't throw up.
Yes, I thought I was going to. <grin>
I'm going to close this page with a poem. I thought everybody knew this
poem, it actually used to be read on television as a commercial every once
in a while back in the 1950's. Since then it's somewhat fallen out of the
public mind, but it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. It
was written by John Gillespie
Magee, Jr., an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force during
World War II, shortly before his tragic death in a training accident over
England.
"High Flight"
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Safe grounding, everybody.
Aviation