Weeknight sightseeing with some coworkers in the Skyhawk

Plane: Cessna 172
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 75 degrees, wind 180 degrees at 6 knots

I convinced a few coworkers to go flying this evening. We're still in the midst of some great flying weather. Lorraine, Joe, and I have all chatted about flying in the past. She was on board first and convinced Joe at some point throughout the day. We left work and met at the airport around 5:30pm. Sidenote - I'm sure our boss is happy I didn't take out half the Kodak color science and workflow team with any stupid pilot tricks this evening. ;-)

Getting the trusty 172 ready

Explaining the trim wheel prior to taxiing

While preflighting the airplane we all chatted and I explained a few things and answered their questions. Then I got everyone situated and strapped in. Engine running, before takeoff checks completed, and everyone ready to fly, I departed to the west on Runway 26.

Pardon the long video, but I captured some great moments with tonight's cockpit POV!

View out the back just after takeoff

Passing over the fields on the west edge of the airport

We first flew north, passing over Centerville, Lorraine's house, and the new Costco development next to I-675 before passing over the office. Then we circled over Oakwood, the University of Dayton, and Joe's house. I looped around downtown Dayton then followed the Great Miami River south past Moraine Airpark.

Costco and a Kroger under construction in Centerville

The Greene in Beavercreek

Great Miami River and downtown Dayton

Carillon Park and the Deeds Carillon

I-75 construction downtown

The center of downtown with the Oregon District behind (in the top-left)

The new Water Street District under construction along the river

Fifth Third Field

Visibility was great; we spotted downtown Cincinnati from roughly 40 miles away. Joe caught sight of a combine plowing crops below and snapped a photo. I pointed out more sights near Miamisburg as we passed alongside some hot air balloons out sharing tonight's splendid conditions. As we passed the last balloon, I rocked the wings to say hello.

Cruising south above the Great Miami River

Downtown Miamisburg

We passed over this huge combine harvesting the fields

The farm was rather scenic from above in the lingering twilight

Most of the balloons we saw were down close to the farmland

This balloon was up much higher, between 2,500 and 3,000 feet

Continuing south we passed over Mason. Lorraine is seriously into tennis so I made sure to point out the  site of the Cincinnati Masters. Across I-71 from the Lindner Family Tennis Center is King's Island; we all enjoyed the view of the amusement park from above.

King's Island is a regular waypoint on my sightseeing tours

Before returning to Stewart I asked if they'd like to try some steeper turns. Both were up for the challenge so I banked over to the right then then reversed course and went back to the left. They thought it was fun so I descended in a steep spiral. I failed to remind Joe to look out the front during that final maneuver so he didn't feel 100% by the end, though he was still doing alright. I really felt bad about that; though they were both eager and willing for more than straight and level I certainly never intend to leave any passenger with a bad feeling in their stomach. Fortunately I was entering the pattern at that point and he was fine by the time we landed.

Entering the pattern to land back at Stewart

Everyone was grinning when I landed softly, directly into the blinding sunlight and approaching sunset. So I think it was another successful sightseeing flight despite a couple degrees of excessive bank. Lorraine and Joe both appear ready to fly again sometime and said they had a great time tonight, so that's all I can ask for. Taking people for their first flight in a small plane is still one of my most favorite piloting privledges, no question.

Thanks to Joe for nearly all the photos in this post, too!

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.1 hours
Total Time: 336.7 hours

1000 Words: German & Austrian Adventures

Call me a bit behind if you'd like, but a post about my post-drupa trip in June just went up on the Kodablog.

Time sure flies, as it has been nearly six months since I traveled to Germany for drupa. After the trade show I took some vacation time solo and hopped a train to Munich to immerse myself in Bavaria. Although this was my fourth time to Europe, it was my first time in both Germany and Austria. For those of you who aren't much into reading I'll sum it up succinctly - beautiful country, wonderful people, and delicious beer!

http://1000words.kodak.com/post/?ID=2283007

1000 Words: Photographing Airshows

Some thoughts and tips I wrote about taking photos and videos at airshows went up on the Kodablog today.

Combining things I love is definitely a recipe for an awesome time. More than just watching the planes rumble around me, I enjoy going after the "perfect shot" of a maneuver and also taking videos to truly capture the experience. You have to develop a feel for your camera and know exactly when to press the shutter to catch the subject perfectly in the frame. Videos also take practice since panning and following airplanes going over 600 miles per hour and passing right in front of you is harder than it sounds.

http://1000words.kodak.com/post/?ID=2269750

1000 Words: Catching Up

A new post went up on the Kodablog today, which pretty much discusses what I've been blogging about on here all summer long.

Long time, no blog from me here. The last time you heard from me, I had just returned from Germany and said my next blog would go into more detail about my travels in Bavaria and Austria. Well, you're still going to have to wait on that one but I do intend to talk about some of what I did all summer in this post.

http://1000words.kodak.com/post/?ID=2261949

Tales from Japan

This was definitely the longest short trip I have ever taken. Confused already? Two full days of traveling, three days in a new country working long hours, and a 13 hour time difference can really tire you out. That said, it was my first trip to Japan and I am glad I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Asia.

Passing through the Japenese countryside on the train to Tokyo

Taking a taxi from the office to the train station

We had tons of work to get done in our short time there, so every day was long and busy. The commute to the office took nearly two hours - one on the train and a half hour by taxi, plus any waiting time. We could have stayed closer but then we would likely have been in a hotel where almost nobody spoke English, so we stayed in the city of Fukuoka and made the trek. It did afford the opportunity to relax and watch the country pass by, plus I was able to get some aviation reading and studying done on the train. On Thursday, we took the N700 Shinkansen bullet train to Tokyo and stayed the night there. It's the fastest in Japan and reaches 300 km/h (186 mph) while still managing to ride very smoothly along the rails.

Rice paddies are everywhere!

The N700 Shinkansen pulling into Fukuoka Station

All the food was excellent and I ate plenty of things I'm sure I would have never tried here in the US. I had true sushi for the first time (tuna, halibut, and one other) and it was delicious with a special sauce that the restaurant was supposedly well-known for. We went out for Shabu Shabu one night, which is where you have a pot of boiling water on the table in front of you and cook meats and vegetables in it. They served Kobe beef at that restaurant and the meal was again absolutely delicious. Over the course of the short week I also ate duck liver, sea urchin, prawns, possibly some octopus, and who knows what else. One night they also bought sake that had a slight anise (black licorice) taste to it that I really liked.

Riding on the Shinkansen to Tokyo

Looking out over Tokyo

The safety video on the Japan Airlines 737 I took from Osaka to Fukuoka was the kind they play on the LCD screens instead of the flight attendants speaking over the intercom. Except it was animated in a sort of anime, but really more like a Nintendo character style. The people looked very similar to Miis, to be honest. When they did the part about an emergency evacuation all these people were shown jumping down the slides and then frantically running away from the plane with their arms in the air. Good stuff right there. Or maybe I'm just easily amused.

Tokyo at night from my hotel room

Culturally, the country is indeed about as close to another planet as you can find on Earth - this being a statement I have heard from others who have traveled to Japan in the past. I really liked the country and the people were all extremely friendly and accommodating. But it was hard to not feel a little awkward at how male-dominated the society felt at times. It's just not normal for us Americans (or Westerners, for that matter) to watch a tiny woman struggle to push a heavy cart loaded with 8 suitcases and unload them in your hotel room. Yet that is normal and accepted and it would actually be rude to try to help out. So a few interesting cultural differences aside, I'd say that Japan is a really neat place and hopefully I have a chance to spend some time sightseeing there in the future.

A video I took of the ride on the N700 Shinkansen

Kodak Momentum

It always amazes me when I hear about all the different things Kodak is involved in, from the continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers I work on here in Ohio to anti-counterfitting technology in wine labels. I really am proud to work for such a well-known and respected company and enjoy the opportunities I have to work on different projects with people from all over the world. Facts like how 80% of instant lottery tickets in the world are printed with our CIJ systems remind me of the importance and impact of what I work on every day.

This morning I came across a new section on our website about many of our neat inventions and thought it was so well designed and interesting that I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

1000 Words: Düsseldorf and drupa

Just a quick update to let you know I have a new blog up on the Kodak site about the "work portion" of my trip to Germany:

"For those of us in the Graphic Communications Group at Kodak, the quadrennial trade show known as drupa might best be described as our Olympics. If you have not seen it in person I do not know that any words can truly do justice to the sheer size of the event. Close to half a million people from over one hundred countries attend the show in Düsseldorf, Germany to see the latest in printing technology. From giant offset printing presses to prepress and production software packages to Kodak's latest digital inkjet printing technologies, if it's printing related it's probably on display at drupa..."

http://1000words.kodak.com/post/?ID=2211522

About me and my blog

For those who don't know me, my name is Steve and I live near Dayton, Ohio working for Kodak as an Imaging Scientist in research and development on commercial inkjet printing technologies. While my job is great, what do I really love when I leave the office? Probably the two things I am most passionate about are photography and aviation. Interestingly enough, I don't really know how I became so interested in either.

I have always loved taking pictures. Growing up, my parents and relatives liked to tell me that I had an eye for great photos. Whether or not that was true or they were simply being supportive of little Steve, I can't say for sure. But it is something I have stuck with and developed as I have grown older. Why do I love photography so much? Maybe it's capturing a unique moment or a tiny piece of the natural beauty that surrounds us in each corner of the world. Whatever the case, I enjoy it immensely and delight in working to improve my skill. Since I love traveling so much, many of my photos on Flickr and articles in my Kodak Blog come from my adventures across the continents.

Since I was a little kid aviation and airplanes have been something I could never learn enough about. Nobody in my family is a pilot, nor has anyone even taken flying lessons as far as I know. My best guess is that I got some of the aviation bug from my grandpa - we went up in a helicopter when I was probably five and watched plenty of airplane and airshow videos when I was growing up. The whole airline pilot thing is a career I was dead-set on back in high school but in the end I didn't go that route and, aside from a few lessons about 6 years ago, the flight training got put on hold. Fast forward to today and I finally have the time and money to work on my Private Pilot Certificate.

So what will I be sharing with you in this blog? My main goal in the beginning is to chronicle my flight training, which serves a couple different purposes. One is for friends and family who are interested along with other student pilots who might be able to glean some information from my experiences. The other is for me to keep a record and hopefully enhance my own learning. I know that one of the ways I learn and retain things best is by writing them down, and that is exactly what I will be doing here.

Aside from flying, I will still be blogging for Kodak about travel and photography but I might start linking to those posts on here to better organize things. Last but not least, as time goes on and this blog evolves with me who knows what rambling thoughts might end up out here for you all to read... but until then, thanks for reading and take care!

Two notes: I am posting this on June 10th - the first four posts are backdated since I didn't get this blog up and running as early as I had intended. I also would like to thank Matt for the use his photo of the windsock at the airport where I am doing my flight training, which I made into the background image for this site.