Category: life & love

“Best Landing Anyone Ever Made,” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #41

aviation history, flying adventures, Flying Carpet column, Greg's Podcasts, life & love, Well, I'll be!

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 “Best Landing Anyone Ever Made,“ Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #41, here or on your favorite podcast directory.

My family and I recently had occasion to remember my dad on what would’ve been his 100th birthday. He was a cool guy with an impressive aviation background who lived some memorable flying adventures, so I decided to honor his memory through this episode.

So climb into my Flying Carpet, buckle up your seatbelt, and prepare to take off on Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #41, “Best Landing Anyone Ever Made.”

Greg

Find all of Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

Additional Photos

Listen and subscribe to Greg’s podcast via your favorite podcast directory!

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Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

Podcast episode questions or suggestions? Join Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group!

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

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

Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!

Greg’s Aviation Books
Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints
Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques

Navigating the “Ups and Downs” of Piloting; Greg Brown on the “Calm Cockpit Podcast”

flying adventures, Greg's Podcasts, life & love

Piloting is challenging, whether you’re in the throes of primary training, pursuing your first pro piloting job, or weathering setbacks in your aviation career.

I was recently interviewed by hosts John Niehaus and Gita Brown of the terrific Calm Cockpit Podcast, regarding how to navigate and conquer such challenges regardless of your status on the aviation ladder.

Hear Greg’s interview, The Calm Cockpit Podcast, Episode #8!

Join celebrated aviator and Flight Instructor Hall of Famer Greg Brown for a lively discussion about success in piloting, whether as a private pilot or building a fulfilling career.

“Greg recounts his non-linear career journey and how unexpected pivots often led to new opportunities; including becoming an author, flight instructor, chief pilot, and photographer.

“Our discussion explores themes of identity crisis, the vital role of community and mentorship in navigating challenges, and the importance of resilience in the face of setbacks within the demanding field of aviation.

“Greg’s experiences underscore that passion for flying and the support of others are crucial for overcoming obstacles and discovering diverse opportunities within the industry.” 

Access all episodes of John & Gita’s The Calm Cockpit Podcast here!

Enjoy this interview? Check out Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast!

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 and subscribe to Greg’s podcast via your favorite podcast directory!

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

“Kentucky Belle,” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #37

flying adventures, Greg's Podcasts, life & love

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 “Kentucky Belle,” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #37, here or on your favorite podcast directory.

“This might as well be Oz,” I thought, upon clearing the clouds approaching Paducah, Kentucky. I wouldn’t have been surprised to experience supersaturated sunshine, and perhaps a golden brick runway. 

Tales of faraway lands work magic on youthful minds, and although I’d never been here before, the stories of a special person from my youth had cast a spell on this Ohio River town as real as any bright-hued fairy tale.

Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, buckle into the pilot’s seat, and prepare for takeoff on Flight #37, “Kentucky Belle.”

Greg

Find all of Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

Photo: Period postcard of the Irvin Cobb Hotel, Paducah, Kentucky

Listen and subscribe to Greg’s podcast via your favorite podcast directory!

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

Podcast episode questions or suggestions? Join Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group!

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

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

Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!

Greg’s Aviation Books
Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints
Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques

Greg’s “Mountain Sunflowers,” Fine Art Metal Print placed at prestigious golf club

Greg's photographs, life & love

Well here’s a nice honor. Forest Highlands Golf Club’s racquet director and a key tennis volunteer invited me to provide a 40″x60″ “Mountain Sunflowers” Fine Art Metal Print for the club’s beautiful new tennis facility. Thank you, FHGC!!

“Mountain Sunflowers” was photographed at adjacent Kachina Wetlands and features summertime wild sunflowers framing Arizona’s tallest mountains, the San Francisco Peaks.

Check out all my Views from the Flying Carpet aerials* and Down to Earth terrestrial photos!* (*Pages take a moment to load.)

Many thanks to all who invest in my prints, books, and pilot achievement plaques!

Greg

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

“Time Travel,” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #31

flying adventures, Greg's photographs, Greg's Podcasts, life & love

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 “Time Travel,” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #31

One thing I love about flying is that there are so many dimensions to it. It might be as simple as going from point a to point B… For a meeting… Or a “hundred-dollar hamburger.”

But sometimes piloting takes you mystically and magically to faraway places—spiritually or across time. And that’s what this story is about.

So climb into my Flying Carpet, buckle up your seatbelts and prepare to takeoff on today’s adventure, “Time Travel.”

Greg

Podcast music by Hannis Brown, and The Yahara River Valley Boys.

PS: Find all of Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!

Listen and subscribe to Greg’s podcast via your favorite podcast directory!

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“Time Travel,” Podcast Photo Gallery

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

Podcast episode questions or suggestions? Join Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group!

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

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

Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!

Greg’s Aviation Books
Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints
Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques

“Eclipse!” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #30

flying adventures, Greg's photographs, Greg's Podcasts, life & love

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 “Eclipse!” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #30

As I record this, we’re just days away from the 2024 total solar eclipse that will traverse Mexico and much of the Midwest and eastern United States.

I suspect that many of you plan on flying to see this eclipse, but if you’re not, you probably should be.

Plenty of people have experienced a partial solar eclipse, and a few have experienced an annular solar eclipse.

But if you’ve never experienced a total solar eclipse, it’s so much more exciting and so much more memorable, that it’s something you don’t want to miss.

In this episode, I’ll share the stories two previous solar eclipses I’ve experienced, which I believe you’ll find interesting and inspiring whether you’re preparing to attend the 2024 Total Eclipse, or have already experienced one.

So climb into my Flying Carpet, buckle up your seatbelts and prepare to takeoff on today’s adventure, “Eclipse!”

Greg

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

PS: Find all of Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!

“Eclipse!” Podcast Photo Gallery

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast directory:

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music

Podcast episode questions or suggestions? Join Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group!

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

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

Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!

Greg’s Aviation Books
Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints
Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques

“Geiko [Geisha] & Escort,” Greg’s featured Fine Art Photo Metal Print!

Greg's photographs, life & love

Hey Friends, check out “Geiko & Escort,” one of my personal-favorite Down to Earth Fine Art Metal Prints, photographed in Kyoto’s renowned Gion District, Japan.

Note this lady’s amazing details of makeup, dress and hair! I didn’t learn until afterward how fortunate I was to capture this photo.

Geikos/Geishas are paid entertainers so they rarely allow random portraits shot on the street. As a result, most casual shots capture them awkwardly from side or rear.

In this case I saw the couple coming, raised my camera to my waist and asked if I might take a photo. The Geiko smiled and nodded yes. Hence a treasured shot that hangs proudly on my own kitchen wall…

Incidentally, I learned from our guide at the time that white makeup and stylized eye- and mouth treatments originated to highlight geishas’ facial expressions when performing back in the age of candlelight.

Like all my Fine Art Metal Prints, “Geiko & Escort,” ready-to-hang pricing starts at just $135, with super-affordable shipping throughout the Continental US right up to the largest sizes.

Check out all my Views from the Flying Carpet aerials* and Down to Earth terrestrial photos!* (*Pages take a moment to load.)

Many thanks to all who invest in my prints, books, and pilot achievement plaques!

Greg

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

On location, “Death in Paradise!”

Greg's photographs, life & love

My wife and I recently enjoyed a surprise vacation in Guadeloupe, French Antilles (aka the French West Indies.) Few Americans know this island paradise because it’s a department of France and therefore primarily popular with EU visitors.

However, many Americans will know “Death in Paradise,” the popular British detective series. Set on the fictitious Caribbean island of “Saint Marie,” it’s actually filmed in and around the town of Deshaies, Guadeloupe.

Over our vacation I sought out and photographed numerous “Death in Paradise” filming locations, and thought you might enjoy seeing them.

Enjoy this vicarious visit to “Honoré, Saint Marie!”

Greg

PS: Look forward to more Guadeloupe scenic photographs in a future post!

Check out my 2026 “Death in Paradise” Wall Calendar! These print and ship affordably around the world.

Greg’s “Death in Paradise” On-Location Photo Gallery

Check out Greg’s 2026 “Death in Paradise” On-Location Photo Wall Calendar!

And “Death in Paradise” On-Location Fine Art Metal Prints! (More to come, shortly…)

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

All content and photographs ©2023 Gregory N. Brown

Dance troop in Guadeloupe, French Antilles. Check out the little boy joining in!

life & love

My wife and I recently enjoyed two weeks in Guadeloupe, French Antilles. Yes, there were incredible beaches, snorkeling, food, and sightseeing. (Comment if you’d like me to post some pics.)

One day we stopped by Destreland Mall near Pointe-à-Pitre, a shopping mall like anywhere else, to buy groceries.

Suddenly this fab dance troop materialized from nowhere, and it was such a scream I’m compelled to share the experience.

And as if their performance wasn’t already great enough, wait’ll you see the little boy from the audience jive with the dancers!

Greg

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

“Lobe Plays Sedona; Skies Filled with Music,” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #26

flying adventures, Greg's photographs, Greg's Podcasts, life & love

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 “Lobe Plays Sedona,” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #26

Along with cockpit thrills and challenges, plenty of piloting adventure arises from where flying can deliver us, both physically and spiritually. That’s what today’s episode is about.

Check out Lobe’s Growing Pains album!

Greg

PS: If you enjoy this podcast, please share with friends, and rate and review it on your favorite podcast directory!

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

PS: Find all of Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!

Podcast Episode #26 Photos – “Lobe Plays Sedona”

Click gallery photos to view at full size.

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!

Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast directory:

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music

Podcast episode questions or suggestions? Join Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group!

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

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

Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!

Greg’s Aviation Books
Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints
Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques