“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 […]
Happy Awesome Birthday Mom – A Love Letter
“I know that despite whatever stupid thing I do, I’d be able to go to my mom and she’d still love me. I honestly believe that” ― Nellie Christine, RID I generally do not write about my mother, unless it is in reference to her family ancestors, the Rightmeiers. Writing about the connection I have with my dad […]
Two Unusual Exciting Ways To A Pilot’s Licence
“Worse than not realizing the dreams of your youth would be to have been young and never dreamed at all.” Jean Genet Acquiring a private pilot’s licence in the United States is fairly straightforward: Pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s(FAA) written exam Take flying (and landing) lessons from a FAA certified flight instructor (CFI) for at […]
How I Witnessed A Delayed Dream And Vision Fulfilled
“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it…” ― Wilferd Peterson “I turned left onto a half-mile […]
Tora 101 – The Last Flight – Tora! Tora! Tora!
Living in Wichita, Kansas, the Air Capitol of the World, I am privileged to know many aviators. Men and women who influence the world, without necessarily being well-known. I attended the memorial service of one of those special people recently, the pilot of Tora 101. I met Douglas Roy Jackson during the restoration of […]
Flight As A Stone In Life’s Bridge – About THE STONEBRDIGE
Air traffic Control is easy until it gets hard. Then it gets very hard. The problem is, it can get very hard very easily. – Unknown There’s something just magical about flight. Period. – Graham Hawkes When one spends 34 years in an occupation as unique, challenging and wonderful as air traffic control, it never really […]
Dreams – An Airport Story in Three Parts – II
“Worse than not realizing the dreams of your youth would be to have been young and never dreamed at all.” Jean Genet This is a continuation of a previous post. Enjoy! “The day arrived and on September 14, 1969, Daddy became a certified private pilot. He logged 1114.45 hours of flying time over the span of […]