An animated history of aviation

While this is simply a marketing video for the Aviation Science program at Utah Valley University, you can't deny that it does an incredible job lifting aviation's history off the pages of books. Hope you enjoy it if you haven't already seen it elsewhere on the web.

As for me, still no flying for the near future. We're undergoing some major restructuring and changes at work and I think it's in my best interest to limit the flying expenditures until everything is a bit more stable. Hope you're all doing well!

Happy New Year!

If you somehow didn't gather from my unfortunate drop-off in posting frequency, 2011 was a tad busy. Gina and I got married in November and that was obviously the highlight of the year. Due to all the time and planning that required I flew far less than in years past.

It would be dishonest of me to not also mention the simple fact that I seem to have gotten caught up in what seems to be a somewhat common situation for a relatively new pilot - quite simply, it's kind of hard to justify it at times. Yes, I will always love aviation and yes, nothing beats a Piper Cub with the door open... but there's no way around the fact that it's an expensive hobby. Couple that with the current uncertainty in the job market and I'm just not sure how much flying I will be doing this year.

All that said, I have no intention of giving it up. I would still like to learn some new stuff, too. So read along as I recap last year, just as I did in my first posts of 2010 and 2011.

Total Hours: 28.6 | Solo: 2.8 | XC: 12.8 | Dual: 4.3 | Landings: 57

Aircraft Flown: C150, C172, Cub

New Airports: I69, FKL, BFD, B16, SDC, 38D, OSU

New States: Pennsylvania, New York

First Flights: 5 (Aaron, Toni, and Russ, Jon, and Jake)

People Flown: 12 (above, plus my friends Rob, Mike and Sarah, Ted and Donna, fellow blogger TJ, and Gina)

$100 Burgers: 6 (Sporty's and the Sky Galley in April, two in June on our way to and from Syracuse, Urbana in August, and Marty's BBQ in October)

Pilots N Paws Flights: 4 (February, May, June, and October)

Stearman Takeoffs & Landings: 1 each (that was fun)

What I'll Remember: Our amazing wedding and honeymoon, showing friends the sheer fun of cutting toilet paper streamers in the Cub, our trip to NY that tested my personal limits and gave me some very valuable experience with weather, seeing the final Space Shuttle launch in person, and my first trip to Oshkosh.

2011 Goals: Fly the Stearman, log stick time in a glider, take some couples that we are good friends with on $100 burger runs in the 172, go on a yet-to-be-determined flying adventure with my groomsmen before the wedding, fly at least one Pilots N Paws rescue, continue expanding the variety of content on the blog, make sure Gina doesn't run away from the altar in November.

^ Yikes, didn't do nearly as good crossing things off last year as I have done in the past!

2012 Goals: Log time in the Stearman - Gina gave me a $500 certificate as a wedding gift, log stick time in a glider, take some of our friends flying, keep the blog more active than I have over the past six months.

Merry Christmas!

I like to pause every year at this time wish all my readers the best holiday season and New Year. This has been a year of incredible highs and lows for Gina and myself. We're both looking forward to spending 2012 as our first full year together as husband and wife!

Hopefully you and your families have a wonderful holiday... and I promise I'll get back to posting aviation-related content on here just as soon as I can. Merry Christmas!

The Wedding

Our wedding day truly turned out to be as perfect and problem-free as one could imagine. Even though we spent 18 months planning and scrutinizing nearly every last detail, I still expected some little thing to go wrong. Both Gina and I were delighted that, at the end of the very long day, we could look back on it and say it all went off without a hitch.


She was up early - all the girls left in the limo to be at the salon by 9:00 to get their hair done. It was much easier on my side as you might expect. My groomsmen and I got picked up by the limo around noon from the hotel. We were at the church around 12:30 and had about an hour to kill before we started to get dressed. I enjoyed having some down time and can honestly say I really was not feeling nervous in any way all morning.

We exchanged gifts (Gina got me 2.5 hours in the Stearman!) via our siblings and then it was time we all were waiting for. Myself, my best man - and best friend - Rob, and our pastor - who has been Gina's neighbor since she was born - Judy all walked back to our perch in a room behind the altar about 2:45.It wasn't long before the music started at 3:00 and our grandparents and parents were walking down the aisle. Then the chimes rang out and the three of us emerged from behind the altar as Canon in D started to play from the amazing 3,700 pipe organ and our wedding party came down the aisle.

Then came the moment every groom plays over in his head a thousand times before the big day - especially if you have never seen the dress. The doors opened and Gina, my bride, looking more beautiful than words could ever describe, began her walk down the aisle with her dad. I'm not ashamed to admit my eyes welled up a little bit when I first saw her. Besides, there is photo and video evidence!

I feel like our ceremony flowed perfectly. Gina and I spent many hours over the summer writing and editing nearly everything that was said in the church. The blessings, the readings, our vows. Everything was special to us and I'm confident in saying it was 100% our own. After the first kiss and first walk down the aisle as the new Mr. and Mrs. we exited in quite the grand fashion if I do say so myself.

We took some great photos in downtown Detroit and eventually made our way to Henry Ford Museum for the reception. Again, words fail to describe how awesome it looked in there. The floral arrangements were spectacular, the food came out amazing, and it was just an all-around perfect night with family and friends. We surprised everyone with our first dance to You and Me by Dave Matthews and continued to have a great time on the dance floor as the night went on.

Those of you who are married understand that it always goes by too fast. Our wedding day was no exception, though I think we did a fairly good job taking a breath here and there to try and take everything in. We have received so many comments from our guests about what a great time they had; it has been so nice to hear that and know everyone had as good a time as we did. You have probably noticed that airplanes tied everything together so I have including photos of all those details in this post. Thanks again to all of you who have sent your well-wishes and congratulations as well... we appreciate it! :)

Where two lives come together

Thanks to the magic of scheduled posts, this came online just as the organ at Fort Street Presbyterian Church in Detroit began playing Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring to signal the start of our wedding ceremony. Soon, my beautiful bride will walk down the aisle and we will be newlyweds. As she would undoubtedly say, "finally!"

We have both been looking forward to and planning for this day for over a year, ever since I proposed last April. And here we are; the countdown clock on our wedding website now reads 00:00:00. This should be an incredible day shared with family and friends.

I would be remiss not to mention how much we are looking forward to our reception at Henry Ford Museum this evening. We will be dancing our first dance together as husband and wife on a dance floor directly underneath a DC-3. The pilot in me is exceedingly happy about that... and Gina thinks it is pretty neat, too.

Thanks to all of you, many of whom I have met over the years through this very blog, who have sent us your kind thoughts and well-wishes for our wedding. I will share photos and video on here in the coming weeks as I know many of you will be clamoring for details! Until then, we are going to go start our new life together with a wonderful, luxurious week in the sun. Lobster for Thanksgiving, anyone? Yes, please!