This colorful 11″x17″ calendar features thirteen views over Arizona’s spectacular Red Rock Country captured at all times of year.
Few of us view calendar covers after opening, so Greg turned the cover photo 90 degrees to create an 11″x17″ Sedona vista suitable for framing. (Monthly photos are 8½” x 11″, with plenty of space for daily notes.)
You are hereby officially authorized to remove and frame the cover photo, either to remind you of past Sedona visits, or to inspire future ones!
Ride along with renowned aviator, writer, and photographer Greg Brown in his light airplane, the Flying Carpet, as he searches behind clouds for the real America, experiencing countless aerial adventures along the way.
Listen to “Long Journey North” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast #10
Grab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #10, “Long Journey North.”
Jean and I are often asked, “Is there one aerial journey that stands out above the rest, in all your decades of flying?” Well yes there is, and this is it⸺an extended Flying Carpet trek from Arizona to Northern Minnesota, to attend a funeral.
No single event made it memorable, but rather a long cross-the-country adventure filled with all sorts of challenging and wacky and beautiful and crazy experiences, and yes a few scary ones, all glued together into one big journey. Oh, and the best airport car, ever!
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About Greg
A former National Flight Instructor of the Year, Greg is author of five books, a former Barnes & Noble Arizona Author of the Month, and recently completed twenty years as aviation adventure columnist for AOPA’s Flight Training magazine. Some reviewers have compared his book, “Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane,” to sixties road-trip classics like “On the Road,” and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”
“Greg thinks with the mind of a pilot, questions with the curiosity of a philosopher, and sees with the eyes of a poet.” — Rod Machado, aviation author and humorist
“You don’t have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in [his] Flying Carpet.” — Nina Bell Allen, former Assistant Managing Editor, Readers Digest
So buckle in and join Greg for the ride!
Please support Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Blog, & Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group!
Make a one-time donation, or better yet, subscribe your ongoing support. Thank you! Greg
So Thursday morning Jean and I decided to take off and check out the amazing autumn “flaming aspens” on Arizona’s San Francisco Peaks, followed by a brief landing at Sedona. Ride along via the following video!
Ride along with renowned aviator, writer, and photographer Greg Brown in his light airplane, the Flying Carpet, as he searches behind clouds for the real America, experiencing countless aerial adventures along the way.
Listen to “Snipe Hunt!” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #7
Grab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #7, “Snipe Hunt!” Those who savor old cars, grass landing strips, and the aroma of rotisserie chicken, will appreciate this episode.
Subscribe here to be notified of Greg’s latest posts and podcasts!
Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast directory:
About Greg
A former National Flight Instructor of the Year, Greg is author of five books, a former Barnes & Noble Arizona Author of the Month, and recently completed twenty years as aviation adventure columnist for AOPA’s Flight Training magazine. Some reviewers have compared his book, “Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane,” to sixties road-trip classics like “On the Road,” and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”
“Greg thinks with the mind of a pilot, questions with the curiosity of a philosopher, and sees with the eyes of a poet.” — Rod Machado, aviation author and humorist
“You don’t have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in [his] Flying Carpet.” — Nina Bell Allen, former Assistant Managing Editor, Readers Digest
So buckle in and join Greg for the ride!
Please support Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Blog, & Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group!
Make a one-time donation, or better yet, subscribe your ongoing support. Thank you! Greg
It was just to be a “routine” flight home from the Phoenix area, after dropping my wife to visit her mother for a few days.
But “routine,” in the Flying Carpet or any other airplane, has little to do with what you might see out the windshield.
Dense clouds shaded much of Arizona’s Verde Valley as I proceeded northward toward Flagstaff, but as I approached red-rock country near Sedona the clouds parted, flooding rich sunlight over the area’s famed crimson buttes and cliffs.
The icing on that golden cake proved to be the backdrop—distant snow-and-cloud capped mountains visible ahead on the Coconino Plateau.
The contrast of golden red-rock foreground against cool wintry background proved to be one of the most striking visual experiences of my hundreds of flights over this legendary landscape.
My Fine Art Metal Prints start at just $125, and shipping throughout the Continental US runs only $10-21 up to the largest sizes.
It was just to be a quick 20-minute flight home from Cottonwood to Flagstaff, Arizona.
But brevity of flight in the Flying Carpet or any airplane, has little to do with what you might see out the windshield. I had already photographed stunning snow showers gracing edges of the Coconino Plateau on my outbound leg.
The showers had thickened slightly by the time I made my way home, and over Sedona I found myself treading ghostly passages, chasing glimpses of Flagstaff’s San Francisco Peaks.
I rounded a veiled corner and emerged from a snowy chasm over this vibrant vista of Oak Creek Canyon. Magical light illuminated rich colors of the canyon walls, and in place of Arizona’s stereotypical blue sky it was topped with a wispy, frosty crown.
Another subtle element makes this image special. Among my challenges photographing the desert Southwest, is that people living elsewhere often find it difficult to take our regional rock colors seriously. So I treasure views like this one, where grassy terrain at right and atop the plateau help the eye to resolve those vibrant mineral-laden cliffs as real.
My Fine Art Metal Prints start at just $125, and shipping throughout the Continental US runs only $10-21 up to the largest sizes.
Our weekend guests Alex and Sabina arrived to unseasonably wet and cold autumn weather.
As with previous visitors, I’d promised Alex a Grand Canyon aerial tour. I mention only Alex because while he and I had flown together before, Sabina had expressed such fear of airplanes that I’d presumptively invited another friend in her place. Saturday, rain confined us indoors. Based on forecast improvement, we designated Monday for hiking and autumn leaf-peeping. That left only Sunday, weather permitting, for flying.
Sunday morning, both Flagstaff Pulliam (KFLG) and Grand Canyon (KGCN) Airports reported scattered clouds at 1,700 feet above ground (AGL), roughly 8,700 feet above sea level (MSL). While that was adequate for the route, the Grand Canyon Special Flight Rules Area requires a 10,000-foot MSL minimum altitude to overfly the Canyon.
Lacking pilot weather reports, I explained that we could safely fly to the Grand Canyon, but depending on arrival-time conditions we might not be able to cross. Alex was predictably game to go. Sabina, however, surprised everyone by volunteering to join us—her sister and friends had told her she’d be nuts to miss the Grand Canyon from above.
Although apprehensive, Sabina took the copilot seat, usually best for nervous passengers. Noting clenched teeth and hands while taxiing out, I offered to turn around, but she insisted we continue. After takeoff, however, she began peering out the window…
Friends have long asked me to offer some of my most popular photographic images on high-quality “Art Note Cards” of the sort often found in art galleries, for use in personal communications with friends and clients.
It has taken me quite some time to research the highest quality cards, the most appropriate card stock, and to cull and select images. Well here, finally, are my first series offerings.
Greg’s Kachina Wetlands “Mountains and Meadows” Art Note Cards.
These oversize 5″ x 7″ photo art greeting cards are press-printed on premium textured art watercolor stock, and come in multiples of four cards per image, including envelopes. (Various value packs offer up to five images on twenty cards.) Inner panels are blank for inscribing your own personal messages, and of course envelopes are included.
Thanks to all who encouraged me to imprint my images on art note cards, and for your patience in waiting for me to complete this first round. I predict you’ll be pleased with the outcome!
Thursday, I flew to meet a pilot friend for lunch. Sounds routine, doesn’t it? But Uwe Goehl, Canadian Airbus captain who flies the world for a Middle-Eastern airline, lives in faraway Abu Dhabi. We last met six years ago, so when Uwe enrolled in hot-air balloon training just across the state line at Hurricane, Utah, I jumped at the chance to reconnect. As always when bound for unfamiliar airports, I phoned ahead.
“As long as you’re not staying over the weekend,” said Art Granger, manager of Hurricane’s General Dick Stout Field Airport (1L8). “We’re closing the runway for reconstruction Monday morning—you wouldn’t want to get stuck here for three months.”
That got my attention. Sure, I planned only a day trip, but what if delayed by weather or an unexpected mechanical problem? I remembered my friend Julie, whose airplane was stranded at another airport when runway reconstruction started two days early and she couldn’t leave. So I arranged to meet Uwe at nearby St. George Regional Airport (KSGU), instead.
St. George is only 150 miles from Flagstaff, but over a stunningly remote route. Halfway lies none other than the Grand Canyon, followed by the uninhabited “Arizona Strip.” En route, only Grand Canyon National Park Airport reports weather, beyond which there are no airstrips, towns, nor even ranches for 100 miles. So while excited, I obsessively double-checked my survival kit, outerwear, water, and energy bars…
