“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Paulo Coelho Each year since the early 1980s I have set goals. I always had goals, lists, “to-dos” in my head, but written goals came later. When I first started, it was primarily in the context of my job/career. In fact, […]
A Journey Into Mission Aviation Fellowship
In June of 2016 on a return trip to Kansas from a family gathering in Moscow, ID, we took time to stop at the headquarters of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Nampa, ID. We have been supporters of MAF for over 25 years, but my journey with this organization goes back much further. The Paternal […]
A Hidden Airport And The Remarkable Second Amendment
“Your connections to all the things around you literally define who you are.” – Aaron D. O’Connell “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 Both the Second Amendment and flight are precious to me. Over the years as […]
When It feels AWKWARD: A Memorable First Flying Lesson
“Even when it feels awkward…” – Nancy Cullen “Anything worth doing well is worth doing badly in the beginning” – Marshall Thurber I do not like doing things badly. I want to do things well. The first time. I see others doing a thing well, with grace and ease, so I jump in and, well, […]
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday – When Things Go Really Wrong
“Mayday” is not a call you want to have to make, but sometimes things go wrong…. When it was time to relocate our airplanes closer to home, logistics were considerable. One had to be transported by truck, the other needed its annual inspection before the re-positioning. Once all the details and dates were known, a […]
How Flying Is A Walk Of Faith
“Sometimes a pilot has to take a firm grip on emotions, forcing oneself to take a firm control of a nervous stomach or shaking hand.” Weather Flying, Robert N. Buck Aviation is a world seeped in perceptions of thrills and frightful emotions. In reality, it requires just the opposite. Being led by ones emotions […]
What Is So Wrong About Distraction?
As a former air traffic controller and current private pilot, we learned about distraction – to recognize, mitigate and, avoid it in my work environment was a core part of training. In the air traffic world, side conversations and noise not related to the work at hand was watched for meticulously. Why? Everyone knew distraction […]
If It Is The Joyland Carousel Then It Is Wonderful Wichita!
My husband and I recently visited Botanica, The Wichita Gardens. This is the new home for the Joyland Carousel scheduled to be open to the public fall of 2019. I have know this was coming, seen pictures and layouts, but it was not until this visit and seeing the building site, did I truly […]
If You Are In Kansas Then You Can Be An Aviator
This was my second year as an exhibitor at Kansas Aviation Day. I and a fellow Advocate Wing member participated on the behalf of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to showcase yet another way Kansas Aviation is employed. Since a majority of MAF’s fleet of almost 50 aircraft based in 17 countries are Cessna Aircraft from […]