Month: August 2012

“Guilty Pleasures,” Greg’s October column

flying adventures, Flying Carpet column, flying destinations

BACK IN THE AIR!

“What’s your ZIP Code? And did you arrive by car, light rail, or bus?” asked the Heard Museum admission attendant.

“None of those – I flew here by light airplane,” I answered.

“There’s no check-box for that,” she replied, quizzically.

By now you know I’m a pilot who’s hard-pressed to take wing without a purpose. Jean and I had just returned from a month overseas; before that I’d been overbooked with work, and afterwards grounded with a cold. Now all I could think about was flying. But where?

I did have some practical objectives. After languishing for five weeks the Flying Carpet might have bugs to iron out before launching on serious missions. Then there was our aging Scottsdale airport car, which hadn’t been driven in months. Was it even operable? Jean most often uses that car and I didn’t want her stranded on her next errand. But I had no pressing reason to fly to Scottsdale or anywhere else.

“What about that bola tie show you’ve been wanting to see in Phoenix?” asked Jean. A hint of  “I’m sick of hearing about it,” tinged her voice.

“That’s quite a journey for a 30-minute visit,” I replied. Still, it was the only suitable day trip currently on my destination list. Friends know I’ve long been enamored with bola ties; they’re the only neckwear in my wardrobe. I’d vowed to tour the Heard Museum’s nationally acclaimed exhibit when next in Phoenix on other business, but was it worth a special trip?

“You want to fly the plane, right?” said Jean, exasperated. “You want to drive the airport car. And you want to see the bola tie exhibit, right? So fly the plane to Scottsdale, drive the car to the museum, and see the exhibit!” Guilty pleasures had now been officially approved by direct order…

Read the story in Greg’s October Flying Carpet column, “Guilty Pleasures.” (First appeared in AOPA Flight Training magazine.)

Top photo: Thomas “Tommy” Singer (Navajo). Silver and turquoise bolo tie, 2009. (Courtesy the Heard Museum, Phoenix.) See more photos here.

Visit the Native American Bolo Tie Exhibit at Phoenix’s Heard Museum through November 4th, 2012, and then at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Terminal 4 Gallery from February through June, 2013.

©2012 Gregory N.Brown

If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!

“Skimming Blue Waters,” Greg’s featured legacy column

aviation history, flying adventures, Flying Carpet column


“Need help?” yelled the guy in the boat.

“No thanks,” I replied, not daring turn my head too far for fear of falling into the water.

We were adrift in the middle of the Colorado River, me balanced precariously on the seaplane’s float, face down, pumping water out of the forward float compartments.

Twice we had tried to take off, both unsuccessfully given today’s calm wind and glassy waters.

“You must not have emptied all the water from the floats,” said examiner Joe La Placa, finally. “Get out there and do it again.” Great way to start a checkride, I thought.

I was here to earn my single-engine seaplane rating from La Placa Flying Service at Lake Havasu City, Arizona…

READ THE ENTIRE STORY in my June, 2000, Flying Carpet column, “SKIMMING BLUE WATERS.” (Mobile optimized version HERE.)

Photo: Joe LaPlaca congratulates me on earning my single-engine seaplane rating in his 150hp Cessna 150 on floats, February, 2000. See more photos.

(Read an expanded version of this story in my book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane.)

If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!

“New Mexico Rain,” Greg’s latest Aerial Fine Art Photographic Print

Greg's photographs

“Flying familiar country is like tracing the body of a lover… even the most well-known hills and valleys never become so familiar as to preclude a new adventure on every trip. Each unique palette of clouds, time, and light paints a fresh perspective.” (from Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane)

“New Mexico Rain” was photographed between Dalhart, Texas and Las Vegas, New Mexico, over the normally sun-baked high plains of northeastern New Mexico. A special thing about piloting is that you can cross the same territory many times over, but depending on season, light, and weather conditions encounter a different landscape every time. On this particular morning, rain and mist coaxed rare warmth and color from what’s normally a parched buff landscape. Read the story in “Homeward Bound,” Greg’s January, 2010 Flying Carpet column.

“New Mexico Rain,” debuts in Limited Edition sizes of 27″x40″ and 24″x36″, and Open Editions of 16″x24″ and 10″x14″. Print prices range from $175 to $1500, with many options in between. See detailed pricing and ordering information.

Like all my Views from the Flying Carpet, this photograph was collaboratively tuned for print with Master Photographic Printer Richard Jackson, who prints for the world’s finest photographers. Each individual print is meticulously crafted, matted and/or framed, and packaged for shipping under Mr. Jackson’s supervision.

Learn more about my Views from the Flying Carpet Fine Art Photographic Prints, including available images, my collaborator Master Printer Richard Jackson, and our process for creating these marvelous prints. You can also subscribe there for email updates.

Hope you enjoy this unique view from my cockpit!

Greg

©2012 Gregory N. Brown

“Uncle Carl’s Island,” Greg’s September column

flying adventures, Flying Carpet column, Greg's photographs

A kid’s perspective on family flying

My son Austin and I recently enjoyed some rare quality time together, reminiscing about our many family flying adventures when he was growing up. Although Austin went on to a professional piloting career and his brother Hannis did not, I suspect both will long relish those memories.

I too grew up in a flying family. During my formative years my parents owned a twin-engine Cessna 310. In it, my dad chauffeured us on flying vacations to the Rocky Mountains, Caribbean islands, Canada, Mexico, and innumerable National Parks. We visited rodeos, Mt. Rushmore, the New York and Montreal World’s Fairs, countless scenic cities, and the Rockford Fly-in before it moved to Oshkosh. Most Saturdays, we flew somewhere for lunch.

At the time we kids didn’t view flying as novel – in fact one of us reportedly asked at the dinner table, “Do some families not have airplanes?” But it was indeed a big deal, as evidenced by the rich memories left behind.

Among our most-anticipated excursions was the annual journey from our Chicago home to “Uncle Carl’s island,” in the West Arm of Lake Nipissing, Ontario. My folks would load us into the airplane, arm us with games and books in futile efforts to forestall pestering and fighting, and launch across Lakes Michigan, Huron, and the Georgian Bay to Sudbury, Ontario.

Overflying all that water cast this journey as great overseas adventure, not to mention landing in Sudbury’s barren moonscape carved by gargantuan nickel mines. From there, we’d pile into Uncle Carl and Aunt Edna’s car for several hours, transfer to a boat at Trivet’s Marina, and navigate labyrinthine lake passages to the island…

Read the entire story in Greg’s September Flying Carpet column, “Uncle Carl’s Island.” (First appeared in AOPA Flight Training magazine.)

Photos: Top: Greg’s sisters prepare to board the family Cessna 310 at Granby, Colorado, after vacationing at the C-Lazy-U Ranch, 1966. Above right: Uncle Carl’s island, Lake Nipissing, Ontario. See more photos here.

©2012 Gregory N.Brown

If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!