A backseat driver in Super Decathlon N2468W Photo, er, lucky shot, by Dave

What is this website about?

A pilot's logbook is a prized possession, an exacting memoir of past adventures, airplanes flown, and places visited.  But aside from the litany of destinations and flight times logged in the book, the striking visuals seen from aloft are what stay with me the most.

When I became a private pilot, I started carrying a digital camera with me every time I flew.  Over time, the photographs came to represent as meaningful a chronicle of each flight as the logbook entries.  This site was created to share some of my favorites.  It's my attempt (somewhat feeble, granted) to share my flying experiences with others.

"Why?"  

That's the most common question I hear from people who learn that I'm a pilot.  Many will immediately look for a practical explanation for this madness.  But practicality, at least in a tangible or financial sense, is completely outside of the scope here.

September 18, 2005: Flying with Dave in the Stearman.

-  I fly because, while at the controls of an aircraft, earthbound worries stay on the ground.

-  I fly because soaring through the sky in control of my own destiny is the realization of a childhood dream.

-  I fly because, from above, the Earth can be dazzlingly beautiful.  And even when it's not, it's still fascinating to see the everyday world from such a different perspective.

History and Influential Characters

As long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by flight and flying machines.

In my younger days, it never occurred to me that I could be a pilot because I never met any "ordinary" people that flew.

"Steeper," Dave cajoled.  As I pushed more, I could feel the pressure in the controls change, continuously telegraphing the interaction between the airplane and the air that held it aloft.  The experience imparted an incredible feeling of freedom and control.

While at the controls of that airplane, physics actually sang to me.

Dave also took my buddy Kent for a ride that day and evoked a similarly enthusiastic reaction.  Within a month, Kent and I had enrolled in ground school through Kalamazoo Community College.  

Starting January 2002, I began giving tours as a volunteer docent at the Air Zoo, Kalamazoo's world-class aviation museum.  Not only did this give me the opportunity to share my passion for aviation with others, but it also allowed me to teach again - something that I missed since completing graduate school.

Nothing fancy - a 3.2 or 7.2 megapixel Sony Cybershot camera.  All pictures in the site were taken by me unless otherwise noted.

What About Cheating?

With digital photography comes the temptation to cheat a bit and create scenes that never existed in real life.  I use Paint Shop Pro to fix framing (crop and rotate), remove digital noise, clarify photos taken on hazy days, and make minor adjustments to brightness and contrast - all with the intention of reproducing the original scene as closely as possible.  The photos on this site are otherwise unadulterated.  Well...mostly.  The banner is a "Paint Shopped" composite of multiple photos.  Sometimes it's fun to cheat a little and I have made a habit of doing so on previous site banners.