Flying and the Next Generation

No flying to report. My wife and I have been spending our time getting ready for a new member to join our family in late May. We are expecting our first child on Memorial Day. I look forward to sharing my love of flight with my children, some day.

No Flying, No Posting

I haven’t posted. I haven’t flown. In April, my wife resigned her position at her employer—effective in June—to make a go of it as a project manager and consultant to Chicago area non-for-profits and community organizations. At that time we reviewed our budget and flying just didn’t fit into it. I was (and am) quite upset to be grounded, but I know it’s for the best in the long run. Some day, maybe in two years—maybe longer—I’ll get back to it.

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. Leonardo da Vinci, unconfirmed

This week is the annual fishing trip again. This time to Deer Lake in Polk County, WI (nearest airport: AHH). In light of the above, I was not able to fly-in this year, either.

There may be some bright spots ahead. First, I’m thinking of taking a day off from work at the end of the month to visit Oshkosh. After than, I will be in Seattle on business in mid-August and have an extra morning to kill. I’m thinking of scheduling a flight with an instructor while I’m out there so that I can add Washington to the list of states in which I’ve flown. I’m have low to medium confidence on either event working out, but we’ll see.

Fatal Accident Near IGQ

I just noticed this story. A twin engine airplane crashed a couple of miles east of Lansing Airport (IGQ).

Owner Steve Leaven said the plane had taken off from the Lansing airport and was returning when it crashed... “I heard the sputtering of the plane,” Kwasman said. “It sounded like it stopped, and I heard nothing. I was shocked.” ...Garcia said: ”[...] it was literally (a) straight nose dive into the ground.”

As a student pilot, I did 98 landings at Lansing, including my first and second solos, my first solo cross country, and my long solo cross country. It is always sad to read of a fatal aviation accident, but very sad to hear of an accident at the airport I consider my second home.