The 2004 air show season started back up for me in March, and the first show was in Panama City, Florida, the show we lost Chris at. As we flew over the top of Tyndall Air Force Base, I tried to pick out where he might have died. It had been a year, and of […]
Someone forgot to tell O.V. Gray to slow down. Or maybe he just didn’t listen. As his peers dialed back their activities and stopped leaving their homes, Gray soldiered on – even taking his children to the Social Security office to begin their benefits as each of them passed age 65.
Gray, the 101-year-old namesake […]
If someone had stopped me on the parking ramp at the airport and told me how everything would play out, I’d have said they were crazy. The thought crossed my mind as I gazed out the co-pilot’s window and watched clouds race past, just above the King-Air. I looked over to the left seat, and […]
The first four circuit breaker switches are on – generator, landing gear, instruments, and starter all energized. Two pumps of throttle then leave it cracked. Thumb resting over the start button, my other hand switches the ignition to both magnetos. I look at my watch. The game already started. If we’re airborne in five minutes, […]
I’m still in Wisconsin, but not at Oshkosh. I still have the green armband on - and so do a lot of other people nearby- but the camaraderie is already fading. Chance encounters with strangers now fade from a flowing conversation to glances from armband to face, a simple nod to acknowledge each other’s presence […]
Rated PG-13 for adult language
It absolutely sucks to cry in a crowd of hundreds of thousands. I did this week, a lot. I welled up a mostly supressed tear when I looked into the performers area and saw a mess of friends who were completely unaccessible to me. Nothing like a security worker telling ya […]