Tag: total eclipse

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

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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

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“We’re So Vain,” Greg’s December, 2017 Flying Carpet column

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“You’re So Vain…you flew your Learjet…to see the total eclipse of the sun,” taunted my friend Tom Lippert from the old Carly Simon song.

We laughed because he and his wife Laurel had just flown their Cessna 182, Henry, from Truckee, California, to meet our Flying Carpet in Hailey, Idaho for this year’s celestial event. Jean and I had originally planned to fly to Oregon, but amid predictions of gridlocked airports and roads I’d phoned Laurel and Tom, asking if and where they planned to view the eclipse.

“Greg, that’s three months away!” Laurel had chuckled. But upon learning that hotels and airport ramps were already filling, she proposed we rendezvous in Sun Valley where friends would loan us their condo. For 38 years, Jean has endured stories about the time I flew to Canada for a mid-winter total solar eclipse, on a weekend she had to work. (Flying Carpet, March, 2002) Now, finally, I hoped to share the experience with her.

As media hype grew, however, so did our concerns. Would there be room to land and park? Would the weather cooperate? Could we count on ground transportation? Should we bring groceries, assuming restaurants would be full and stores empty?

Then there was the route—traversing high mountains across Arizona, Utah, and Idaho, and transitioning Salt Lake City’s mountain-ringed Class Bravo airspace…

**Read Greg’s entire column, “WE’RE SO VAIN“** (Mobile link here.)

Top Photo: “Tom and Laurel Lippert eclipse-watching with Greg and Jean, at Galena Summit, Idaho.” Lower Photo: “Colander holes cast multiple images of the pre-totality eclipse.” SEE MORE PHOTOS!

(This column first appeared in AOPA Flight Training magazine.)

Greg

©2017, 2025 Gregory N. Brown

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