Passion for Flight

Blue Angels taxiing after airshow in Pensacola, FL. A stop in Pensacola, FL, on a road trip in October 2016 from Dallas, TX, to Tampa, FL, turned out to be far more exciting than planned. Wife Ute and I had scheduled a visit at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola , FL. National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, FL, viewed from nearby lighthouse. We arrived at the museum on a Tuesday shortly after 10 am, anticipating a visit of several hours. A surprising number of people parked at the same time, then proceeded to walk toward the adjacent runway of the Navy base. "They must know where to go," we thought, and just moved along with them. Shortly we joined a queue. Asking a neighbor in the queue, we found out that there was to be an airshow. "Oh well, why not take the time and watch it," we said. "There will be plenty of time to visit the museum afterwards." Listening to announcements of volunteers managing the queue, it finally dawned ...

Mass Ascension at day break. If you want to be blown away, fly to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM, at the beginning of October and be awed by the colors and shapes of hundreds of hot-air balloons. Friend Arie and I visited daughter Ingrid to see this spectacle. It starts while still dark. A few balloons are equipped for night flight, and pilots have the appropriate rating. They take off for the Dawn Patrol. Dawn Patrol. Soon the sun rises over the Sandia Peak to the east. Hundreds of balloons are readied for takeoff and rise into the day. Then the entire sky fills with balloons; see title photo. Burner shoots flame into partially inflated balloon. There are more than a dozen whimsical shapes; most photos below are courtesy of daughter Ingrid. You cannot but smile at the the cow and many other specialty balloons . . .  At night, the balloons are inflated for Night Magic Glow, but do not take off.  Preparing ballo...

Salt Flats south of Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas We are cruising in our Zenith 601HDS, N314LB, past the southern tip of the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas, en route from Dallas, TX, to Deming, NM, to visit friends Lynn and Philip.  Below is an unusual view of the Salt Flats. Normally, they are parched, but today they are wet with moisture and even contain some ponds. What an unusual view! Out comes the camera. For a good shot, we dip the left wing, use the telephoto feature of the camera, move the camera while waiting for the right composition, and become totally absorbed. Time flies when you are having fun, or here, when you are absorbed in taking a good picture. By chance I look up from the viewfinder, and what the ....? The plane is spiraling downward at a steep angle. Ten more seconds of photography fun and I would have been in serious trouble, trying to recover from a deadly downward spiral. So this is the day to learn a lesson: If you are flying solo, as we ...

View north from Rollins Pass, CO. "The Dog Stars" is a terrific sci-fi book by Peter Heller. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it tells the story of a survivor pilot who with his Cessna 182 Skylane, affectionately called the Beast, tries to make a difference. The author is himself a pilot and has made sure that all technical discussions are correct, down to the minutest detail such as pulling mixture control. Want to learn more about flying?    My book Lessons from Piloting for 45 Years  covers close shaves over more than four decades involving thunderstorms, mountain weather, faulty runways, equipment failures, and more. Learn key strategies for coping with these dangerous situations.  They include two tools called Sully's Rule and Forecast Evaluation. We are not giving anything away by saying that the story begins at the Erie airport (EIK), which is just a few miles NW of Denver, CO. You learn that on the first few pages of the book. We are also not sp...