AIRPLANES
As you can
see from my Patents
page, I have worked on a number of aviation-related patents. Although I am not a pilot (at the present
time), nor do I own an airplane, I am an EAA
member and an airplane enthusiast.
On the right is a picture I took in the only airplane I’ve
ever piloted – an ultralight on full-lotus floats at Ft. Myers Beach
Florida. There is something about
flying barefoot in your swim trunks – you feel more naked than wearing a
swimsuit on a motorcycle.
My eventual goal is to be able to move somewhere less congested
that the greater DC area within the next 5-10 years and be able to have some
land suitable for small plane flying. A
tiedown at National Airport is out of the question, and most local GA airports
have been closed since September 11th.
We have attended
a number of EAA Oshkosh and Sun’N Fun events over the years. IN addition, during our travels, we try to
stop by and see any aircraft collections that happen to be in the area. Wright-Patterson AFB, Tillimook, Mongahan
AFB are a few of the memorable places we’ve visited
Left: a real pretty 1948 Stinson Voyager at Sun ‘n Fun. Nice.
RIGHT: We took
Mark’s Dad (Bill) to see a B-17 and B-24 at Page Field in Florida (Confederate
Air Force display). For $7 they let you
crawl through the planes! Bill was a
flight engineer and top turret gunner on a B-17 in WWII and was shot down early
in the war. This was the first time he
had been in a B-17 in almost 50 years.
As he put it, the last B-17 he was in was on fire. A brave man!
BELOW: Cessna Caravan on Floats, Dry Tortugas, 1999. A fun trip I highly recommend. See Seaplane of Key West for more
information.
