Flying
Flying and aircraft have held a fascination for me since I can remember. So when I can, I get out and do some flying.
I've enjoyed trying various types of flying: I've flown many types of single-engine airplane, gliders and hang gliders. I have a private pilot certificate for airplanes, with an instrument rating and endorsements for both high-performance and complex aircraft; and also a private certificate for gliders with aerotow and self-launch motorglider endorsements. I also have various ratings for hang gliders and ultralight sailplanes, which I flew regularly for 10 years and can highly recommend to anyone who wants to experience flight in its purest form!
At various times I have owned hang gliders; an ultralight sailplane called a Swift; a high-performance single-seat sailplane; and currently a touring motorglider, a Valentin Taifun 17E, which has an auxiliary engine so it can launch itself and can fly home again when the soaring conditions end. Unfortunately, the demands of the rest of my life have meant that I have not been flying this beautiful aircraft much, and I have accepted an offer from a buyer.
I've enjoyed trying various types of flying: I've flown many types of single-engine airplane, gliders and hang gliders. I have a private pilot certificate for airplanes, with an instrument rating and endorsements for both high-performance and complex aircraft; and also a private certificate for gliders with aerotow and self-launch motorglider endorsements. I also have various ratings for hang gliders and ultralight sailplanes, which I flew regularly for 10 years and can highly recommend to anyone who wants to experience flight in its purest form!
At various times I have owned hang gliders; an ultralight sailplane called a Swift; a high-performance single-seat sailplane; and currently a touring motorglider, a Valentin Taifun 17E, which has an auxiliary engine so it can launch itself and can fly home again when the soaring conditions end. Unfortunately, the demands of the rest of my life have meant that I have not been flying this beautiful aircraft much, and I have accepted an offer from a buyer.
Airplanes
Somewhat more than half of my flight time has been in single-engine airplanes. This racy red beauty is a Falco, and belongs to a friend of mine. Looks like a Ferrari with wings, doesn't it? Believe it or not, it was designed in the 1950s, and it's made almost entirely of wood!
I learned to fly airplanes in Ireland, and got my private pilot license there in 1988, the day before I moved to California for grad school. I got my US private pilot certificate in 1992, and added the instrument rating in 2004, along with the (much easier to get) complex and high-performance endorsements.
I enjoy checking out in new types of aircraft, and by now I've flown quite a few different types. Click here, or on the photo, to visit my airplane flying section and read brief reviews of the airplanes I've flown (no paid endorsements here!).
I learned to fly airplanes in Ireland, and got my private pilot license there in 1988, the day before I moved to California for grad school. I got my US private pilot certificate in 1992, and added the instrument rating in 2004, along with the (much easier to get) complex and high-performance endorsements.
I enjoy checking out in new types of aircraft, and by now I've flown quite a few different types. Click here, or on the photo, to visit my airplane flying section and read brief reviews of the airplanes I've flown (no paid endorsements here!).
Gliders
To me, the most fun flying is gliding. Unfortunately, it's not always the most convenient form of flying: it doesn't mix well with large cities like New York!
When I lived in San Diego I owned a gorgeous aircraft. N202PW is a Glaser-Dirks DG-202, built in Germany in 1982. It has 15m wings (about 49 ft) and a glide ratio of about 41:1. It's a pretty sophisticated aircraft, with interlinked flaps and ailerons, retractable landing gear, and a cockpit that sports a gps-driven moving-map display. I no longer own "2PW;" when I moved to New York I sold it.
Click here to read more about my gliding experiences.
When I lived in San Diego I owned a gorgeous aircraft. N202PW is a Glaser-Dirks DG-202, built in Germany in 1982. It has 15m wings (about 49 ft) and a glide ratio of about 41:1. It's a pretty sophisticated aircraft, with interlinked flaps and ailerons, retractable landing gear, and a cockpit that sports a gps-driven moving-map display. I no longer own "2PW;" when I moved to New York I sold it.
Click here to read more about my gliding experiences.
Hang gliders
I took up hang gliding in graduate school. I hadn't intended to, really, but one day I had a chance to skim down a sand dune, and was instantly smitten! Hang gliding is what dreams of flying are about. Head down, Superman-style, flying actually becomes the most natural thing in the world. The wing is invisible, above you and therefore behind you. Oddly enough, while it lacks the apparent security of being inside a structure, many people - myself included - find this actually makes the experience less scary. What you can't see, you don't worry will break, I guess. I learned more about flying from hang gliding than from any other flying I've done (and I mean that in a good way). Flying a hang glider you can feel the structure flex in the air movements, and although manhandling the wing is more work than operating a control stick, it's also much more of an intimate connection with the aircraft and the air itself. You can - and on many occasions I did - literally soar with the birds, two different species climbing together, same airspeed, same turn radius, same thermal, as little as 20 ft apart. It's quite a magical experience. I eventually hung up my hang gliding wings because the logistics of hang gliding are fairly onerous, other priorities cropped up, and I realized I wasn't going to make the time commitment required to stay safely current. Also, given the level of risk I was willing to take (low), I felt I had done a lot of what it was possible to do in a hang glider, and wanted to try some other kinds of flying. Maybe I'll come back to hang gliding some day; it's really an experience you can't match.
While I was in grad school, and hang gliding, I wrote a book on some of the aeronautical engineering aspects of these wonderful light aircraft. The Hang Glider's Technical Notebook was born - and it's available, in Kindle format, from Amazon.com.
While I was in grad school, and hang gliding, I wrote a book on some of the aeronautical engineering aspects of these wonderful light aircraft. The Hang Glider's Technical Notebook was born - and it's available, in Kindle format, from Amazon.com.