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Greenville, SC - Orlando, FL

added Jun 21, 2004

The Drive to winter home. Ahh...it's good to be in the warm air!

Columbus, OH - Greenville, SC

added Nov 19, 2003

Taking 5 days to travel only 500 miles is what this trip is all about. Wally Hines provided hospitality of the finest kind amidst the fall colored Blue Ridge Mountains. We flew a huge grass field followed the next day by a much more restricted area. In between flights, his girlfriend RJ showed off the reason these mountains are so famous. Flying with the balloons added nicely to the autumn scene.

Then it was off to Chris Bowles slice of paradise. He and Tammy run Southern Skies and have a rare combination: mountain soaring and motor flying within a 20 minute drive. It was soarable too. Heading into the afternoon thermals left me with a top landing on Moore Mountain and a 30 minute spell above launch. It was fun flying with the gang there too.

I got to try out the new Fresh Breeze Radne which was a nice ride, smooth, quiet, light. The rain cut this visit short and my road trip got under way on Sunday afternoon with Atlanta as the destination. But after working on the computer for too long, the heavy eyelids dictated that be cut short and I pulled into Greenville's airport which is right off the highway. Two flights to Chicago later and I was home.

Home - Columbus, OH

Sept 15, 2003

added Nov 12, 2003

On the road again! After an extensive piece of shop time, the ship is again at sea, so to speak. It has been retrofitted with a built-in inverter that allows use of all the outlets for greater geekiness.

A more complete version of these stories and pictures will be appearing in our portion of UltraFlight magazine coverage.

Bittersweet in New Paris, OH

The kick-off segment left Chicago behind with New Paris, OH as the target. It was the home of friend and fellow pilot, Wally Shilts. His girlfriend Gail, a soft spoken and sweet person spread his ashes over the home of his raising.

And we all flew. Bruce Brown, Dan Kriseler on the Tandem with Gail McEnzie, Rick Grimm and myself all took to the air on a pristine afternoon. We commemorated Wally's life in the way he would have enjoyed.

Having flown with him on so many occasions prior to this it was sad to finally be sharing his home air without him. The family is a wonderful collection of loving folks who were supportive of Wally and his idiosyncrasies.

MFD

I grew up here and my parents still live in the house of my raising. It's always good to see them but what a great bonus to have my most personal flight there too.

One afternoon I headed out to explore from a nearby field. Launching into a very light breeze left the county at my fingertips. The direction I picked put me over a tree'd hillside that I'd seen many times from its adjacent road. But what I never saw was the large house perched atop the hill and concealed by trees.

There in the yard was an entire family waving wildly at me. I flew alongside the treeline and they were obviously excited about seeing this thing.

And they were standing in a large, smooth grassy yard. I couldn't contain myself.

This family gave a welcoming wave that I just couldn't resist. 
Of course having that big green yard didn't hurt either. 

As I doffed the motor and harness, the kids were beside themselves with enthusiasm. It was invigorating. Cameras rolled, cards exchanged, shutters flashed and a new friend was made. I think back on how I would have been in a similar situation at their age...yup, I'd have gone nuts too!

Setting sun, a tight launch and the desire to soak up the valley's colorful hurah got me to cut it short and ready my launch. I picked what I thought was the best location, did a test run without the motor then did it for real with the motor. Fortunately it worked well and allowed me to always have an out. More waiving as I climbed away: it was almost tearful.

More exploration, foot dragging in places that my ground-bound youth never dreamed of touching, silky smooth air and my favorite music: a memorable evening.

The next destination was Southbound to Columbus OH where I left the Enterprise and returned to real life for a few weeks.

SLC-Home

June 10, 2003

The thought (never make much of a plan with these trips) was that I'd make it maybe to Denver I This started off glorious with flying.

SMF-SLC

May 15, 2003

This started off glorious with flying amongst the locals and a long cross county. It was hard to leave...thanks Chris "Crashmaster" for you hospitality. Onward to Salt lake City.

The drive alone is gorgeous and, as with most of the trip, I flew every day...sometimes morning and evening. Frequently I would think to myself "OK, no flying today...just enjoy the drive". And then some special piece of the planet would show itself just itching to be flown over. How could I resist?

Arriving in SLC gave me opportunity to soar "Point of the Mountain" and visit with some of the locals there before hopping the jet home.

LAX-SMF

Mar 15, 2003

The longest duration trip to date. It included soaring at Marshal in Ontario, flying dry lake beds South of Las Vegas and a planned rendezvous with a group of fliers in Death Valley. 

After three days of some gorgeous desert high, including a picture that wound up on the cover of Ultraflight magazine, it was west to the water again. Highlights included soaring the dunes near Monterey, driving up the Pacific Coast, paying over $3/gal for gas, soaring the dumps of San Francisco and ending with beautiful motoring among friends in Sacramento.

LAX-VTU

Feb 14, 2003

This was a short trip with great fun as the Enterprise provided a home during the "Paratoys" Fly-In of Bob Armond.

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