Justin’s Pilot Reports (PIREP)

…into skies wide and blue

….into canyons of cumulous.

…into a sea of air.

Leonardo da Vinci says it all, “When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”

That statement, at least for me, is so absolutely true. When weeks or months go by without flying, the sky seems to beckon to me - sometimes urgently. I’ll see a small airplane overhead and a chord is struck deep inside me. It’s hard to describe.

This is an excerpt of A prop and spinner will lead me….
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On April 5th, 2007 I had a reunion.

A reunion with the sky.

A clear, blue sky and a gentle breeze were my playground. My transportation to this playground was Skyhawk 23758, a Cessna 172 with a “glass cockpit” and an urgent desire to defy gravity. Or was that my desire? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

I know. I just made a reference inferring that the airplane I flew had feelings.

But don’t they? I wonder what kind of results I’d get if I took a poll, right now, to find out how many pilots assign human characteristics to their flying machines. Assigning some feeling to your airplane surely is Anthropomorphism at its best!

This is an excerpt of Reunion with the sky….
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Something even better happened. My wife gave birth to our baby daughter, Ms. Sara Elise Moore. Sara was born on March 15th at 12:51pm weighing in at 6lbs, 6.5oz and stretching all of 18.5″ long.

As you might suspect, Sara is keeping me quite occupied. That said, it appears she is already interested in following in Dad’s footsteps…

Grandma bought Sara this warm outfit for overnight napping. It won’t be long before Dad is back in the air again and there’s no question that the time will fly and the next thing you know I’ll be blogging about Sara’s second flight. Second, because she’s already experienced flight - in the womb - a few months back.

This is an excerpt of If you thought I was abducted by aliens, think again….
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An online, college-accredited aviation program for high-school students that can lead to a pilot’s certificate. Sound to good too be true?

Believe it! The EAA’s Aeroscholars program is gaining momentum across the country as a fun and exciting educational tool that, at a minimum, helps high-school students develop strong math and science skills. Critical skills that students need in order to compete in a job market flooded with technology skills requirements.

On October 2, 2006 I attended an open house at Wright Flyers Aviation, a flight academy here in San Antonio to learn more about how to get this program started locally. The guest speaker was Dr. Lee Siudzinski who leads the program and is an educator with over thirty years of experience.

This is an excerpt of Aeroscholars promotes high-school math, science skills….
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Today marked a very special flight. Truly, the youngest Young Eagle I’ve ever introduced to aviation.

My unborn child.

My wife Shannon is pregnant with our baby daughter. Our first child. We’re thrilled, amazed and totally overwhelmed by the gravity of this event.

When I mentioned to Shannon that I was going to go fly this morning, she was eager to join me. We both quickly recognized the “cute” significance that in the truest sense, a third passenger would be joining us for the ride.

This is an excerpt of The youngest Young Eagle….
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An upgrade or so ago, the photos for my blog got beamed into cyber-purgatory.  Shannon, my better half and web guru, assures me they’ll be returned soon to this space-time continuum.

So…thanks for being patient.  And for those of you new to the blog, just wait till you see all the photos you’ve been missing!