amen capt jack

tonight i was looking through some old photos i took down in florida at this big airplane convention/airshow/event called sun n' fun. on the second day, i went for a flight in a pitts special. on the last day i was there, i found one for sale for only $29k. so, looking at the photos of this pitts that was up for grabs threw into a tailspin of thoughts and dreams and everything. unless you fly, and unless you know what it means to fly, and unless you know what i mean when i say that, you probably have no idea why this little thing means so much to me. i decided i would attempt to explain.
first off, a pitts special has one purpose. it is designed to be an aerobatic airplane. its not something youll take the family on trips with, you can only fit two people in special models of it. that being said, it is quite squirrely. a normal cessna that fits four people will fly really comfortably and handles somewhat like a jeep cherokee would if it were an airplane. can you roll it upside down? you can roll a 707 upside down (its been done, its hilarious) so yes you can roll at cessna upside down. the airplane wont like it, and youll be uncomfortable as hell trying to keep it flying properly but you can do it. the pitts is just as comfortable flying upside down, sideways, biways, and if youre sean tucker, backwards at 100mph (yup, backwards).
so this little thing is limited as far as what you can use it for. in truth, there is only one thing you can do with it. but, that one thing is so far beyond the normal envelope of what the normal person will experience, is so pure and honest in its goal, and demands such a high level of skill, that you can spend a lifetime pursuing it before you achieve it. i have always said that the goal is in the process. the process in this case is the pursuit of perfection and complete fluidity in the air. the result of the process is complete and utter freedom.
when you take off in a cessna, it will lurch forward down the runway and ease into the air. when you roll into a turn it will be nice and easy. if you roll enough, the nose will drop and your speed with increase and youll stress your arm pulling the yoke into your stomach. when you take off in a pitts, pushing the throttle forward it feels like something is grabbing you by the chest and pulling you through the canopy. it jumps into the air and begs to play. if you want to roll, it will roll as fast as thought and will go anywhere, and do anything you could possibly imagine.
what the pitts is, is freedom.
you have to be in complete control, know your limits, know the limits of the airplane, know what you can do and know when to stop. you also need to recognize and understand what you are risking, and be willing to risk that. doing this sort of thing is admittedly a little more dangrous than taking a southwest flight to florida. people die every year doing this sort of thing even after doing it for years and years. art scholl, bobby younkin, jimmy franklin, nick nilmeyer, they all built their lives on this and they all augered in. it is completely unforgiving, and equally demanding. there is something morbidly attractive and beautiful about that though. if you screw up as a banker you might get fired, and someones account might be screwed up for a day. a musician can play the wrong note and get embarassed. if i screw up, i will die. that is a big incentive not to screw up. as george said though, death is a small price to pay for looking that shit hot.
so, in the end, the pitts is perfection, it is a vehicle to reach perfection. in the final sense, it is the embodiment of my definition of freedom.

now bring me that horizon....

landmarks and waypoints

i have a friend that in one month, bought a house, got engaged, and started a business

i have another friend that moved half way across the country to pursue a career doing what he loves.

yet another is pursuing her MBA

my old roommate and bandmate is a Blue Man in Boston

another bandmate moved back home, to start a new chapter with the love of her life

someone i grew up with is turning into the real estate king of the state

a girl i knew in high school is now an assistant district attorney in new york

a friend of mine is a successful pharmacist and just bought a house

im am running a flight school and flying off into the sunset on a daily basis

im short, my friends are doing some impressive things. i hope we're all having a good time. i was originally going to conclude this entry by demeaning myself. after listing all these people that are doing crazy things and becoming established, i was going to say "i play with airplanes." granted i do play with airplanes, but i thought that flying off into the sunset was a bit more apt, there is no way i could ever demean what it is that i do, its what i love. so instead; without being too sappy, and too sentimental, i would just like to say that i love my friends, and im proud of and impressed by everything you are all doing and excited to see where you all go with it.

wow that was sappy. holy shit type sappy.


gag

nothing post #42

i wasnt sure how to start this post. i just felt like writing something, about something. so i sat and thought for a minute. and then emma, cute little emma, walked in front of me and took a dump. thanks dog, love you too. and suddenly it was all clear. actually i am entirely kidding. it led me only to the cupboard so that i could get some paper towels to clean up the by-product of my little furry friend. i still dont have anything to write about at all.

proof positive

if any of you have ever wondered why in the hell i post something up here on an almost daily basis, here is why:

"a. I love the new pic of Maggie. I hope that means she is ok.

2. I almost peed in my pants when I saw the video comment you posted on MySpace. So did Jake.

d. If there is any way you can capture Maggie for one day over Thanksgiving and transport her to Boston, I think you should.


That's all for now...I will write more later.

Oh, and I love reading your blog. It makes me miss you, and then it makes me feel like we still talk every day. :)

Love,
Glyda B"

need i say more?

(and yes, the dog is fine, pooping normally once more...which means a ton...a shit ton...HA, get it?)

that old addage

pilots like to hang out with pilots. its pretty simple. guys that make their careers flying for airlines, guess where they hang out on their days off? airports. its a disease.

we have a gentleman that swings by whenever he is back in town. he is older, soon to retire, and has been around aviation since the 60's. he has some good stories...

we get talking today, and for whatever reason i mention that the other night, "a friday night, im 25 years old, i should be out hookin up with some floosey in a bar. but no. instead i got a book, came back to the airport, and sat out in the golfcart on the ramp until it got dark." he laughs and says, "oh youre hooked." which then led me to tell him that yes i am hooked, ive always been hooked, ever since my dad took me to the airshow in 1991 and i saw bob hoover. it was at this point that he laughs again, and says "oh, bob." only he didnt say it like a fan would, he said it like a friend would. so i asked "do you know bob hoover?" (bob hoover is pretty much the god of flying. yeah the wright brothers invented the airplane, but bob hoover perfected how you use it. largely, almost unanimously revered as the best living pilot, his name is legend).

"of course i know bob, ive known him since the 70's"

um...okay. it would be the same as meeting someone that was friends with hendrix or stevie ray vaughan. we get talking about other things and about when another pilot, Art Scholl crashed while filming Top Gun. He says "well i didnt know who it was so i called Hoover to see if he knew." oh yeah, i just called jesus up to see how the hebrews were hanging. its just not something you hear everyday.

i love my job.

he also left me with some great quotes from todays conversation:

"amelia earhart? what a shitty pilot."

"death is a small price to pay for looking that hott"

"if you pull up, youll go up. if you keep pulling up, youll go down."

he also paid me a huge compliment by saying that i am extraordinarily passionate about this stuff for my age. coming from someone that has gone and done things that i can still only dream about, thats pretty nice to hear. i said it earlier, but ill say it again, i love my job.

jiggity jack

took jack flying. and i must commend him on his willingness to go and have some fun. most people i take up get rather nervous upon leaving the ground...or even just seeing the size of the plane. the mom wouldnt touch the controls, the sister was a little nervous but was ok, mark didnt like turning, dad was a wuss but he is allowed. so far the only folks that have done well have been glyda, jake, and jack. bravo. jack commented that it is pretty intimidating to be up there and to think about touching the controls. i dont get it. i never felt that, not even a little. the first time i hopped in, i was ready to go. which way are we going, okay lets go. no hesitation no nothing. so if this apprehension about leaving the ground is some part of a self defense mechanism because some people feel threatened (on some deep level i mean), i guess that means im flawed. im screwed in the survival of the fittest thing. hey chris go fly that airplane. ok. hey chris go eat some glass. ok. hey chris go be a democrat in texas. ok.

im just kidding. flying is perfectly safe. i dont want to freak anyone out. those plane crashes lately? yeah dont mind them. the cause of every accident is someone being stupid. so dont be stupid and youll be fine.

this has been "words to live by" by chris porter.

tonights excuse

i dont think i want to drink anymore. lets consider a normal night out for me, or you, or just about anyone you or I know. meet up with friend(s). head to place to grab some kind of drink and chat or hunt or whatever. drink "enough" or too much and then venture home somehow, or pass out on the hardwood floor of your friends place. i dont want whatever charred remnants of a social life i have to be based solely on imbibing. its too mundane, not exciting enough, and its way too easy to do. of course i still enjoy a glass of red (shiraz, yellowtail is primo and cheapo), or a glass of scotch (seagrams v.o. preferred, or chivas) but i dont that to be it. there has got to be other stuff to do, even in rhode island. im sure some of you are reading this and saying "well yeah, theres pot and acid and coke and friggin...kerosene, whatever the kids are into these days" but youre missing the point. none of that is constructive.
so what do i want to do? i have no friggin idea. which is why im sitting here lamenting that i dont know what i want to do on a friday night. i also have this crazy need to really kick it up a notch with all my flying. do i spend all day, everyday at the airport? yes i do. am i progressing as fast as i want to? no i dont think so, and that responsibility lies solely with me. i should just be a hermit for awhile and crank this shite out. who am i kidding though, seeing who changed their pictures on their myspace profiles is too easy a distraction. i should rig an electric shock to my computer for awhile.
one fried pooter, coming right up!

help wanted

something we all do at some point is think about the type of person we want to end up with. everyone always says the same thing, has to be smart, funny, and blah blah on down the line. so, im going to list my dream girl requirement. note: this is not at all a binding list, should someone pop up that is the antithesis to all this crap, so be it.

1) must be british: ala elizabeth hurley, ala keira knightly, ala who ever else. seriously, you could be telling me off in the worst way, but if its in a british accent, ill do something nice for you, make you a keesh perhaps. i will settle for just about any european country if not british. it means sweet vacations to places i know nothing about.

2) audrey hepburn-ish: this stems entirely from the recent gap ad with ms. hepburn dancing to ac/dc. its quite adorable.

3) goof: everyone always says smart and funny, and yeah those are great, but at least some of the time, you have to be friggin stupid. tell me a joke that makes me wonder why im even hanging out with you. and then ill remember writing this and ill say "oh yeah.."

4) fond of flying: kind of goes without saying, but i had to say it. if you go and buy a book about airplane ownership there is usually a passage in it that mentions the WAF factor or wife-acceptance-factor. no joke. so she has to love airplanes and be willing to fly in them. small ones. upside down.

5) must weigh less than i do: everyone has their taste. alot of people would call this shallow. its not, so get over it. i cant fall for someone that im not attracted to can i? nope, and i wouldnt expect you to. and by weigh less than me, i do me significantly, not by a pound or two.


thats it for now, im not going to go into things like hair color or things, those are incidental and you can always change them anyway. have i reached a new level of vain. nah, just know what i dig.

The Return of Johnny Starbucks

For too long I have made excuses for the inadequacies of my situation. For too long I have settled for those things which are mere imitations. My standards have faultered, and there is no one to blame but myself. For too long I have dreamt of the days gone past, and longed for their return. But alas, the road is long and troubled friends, there was only one thing I could do.

I went to Starbucks.

This is a big deal. My commute to work consists of a left, and a right, and I am at work. I pass a Dunkin Donuts which obviously lacks in the coffee department if youve been living off of starbucks for the past few years. the nearest starbucks is all the way over in Garden City, way way out of the way. When i was in boston, there were literally 5 starbucks within walking distance of my work. i drew you a map. I also drew a map to show you how far I have to drive to get there if i want a coffee before work. this morning though, i toughened up and went all the way there...just to get a chai. and it was great. and then it gave me a headache. i kind of forgot i gave up coffee because it gives me headaches.

where i was

i was in the curry student center, second floor, in the big conference room. it was a tuesday. i dont remember what day of the week i was born, or the first time i kissed a girl, but i remember that this was a tuesday. the theme of the meeting was crisis intervention. all 110 or 105 resident assistants were there as part of the pre-fall training. the door opened and a visibly shaken girl came in, i dont recall her name but she was one of the head folks. in a broken voice she asked for all of our attention and said that a "plane has hit the world trade center." with that, we were dismissed from the meeting and asked to return to our buildings. one girl in the back of the room started freaking out, her hands were holding her face but her eyes, as big as plates, were staring at everyone and everything all at once but not focusing on anything. it turned out her dad worked on the 100 and something floor of one of the towers. we all filed out of the conference and down the big stairs that emptied into the indoor quad. there were tv's that lined the side wall and a crowd had already gathered. this was all just in time to see the second plane hit. now things got a little more serious.
this was in boston mind you. think back to that day and try to remember how confusing it was. no one knew where the next one was coming from. i was in boston. the planes left from logan. i remember looking at the pru and waiting for a plane to smack into it. i found julia to see what she was doing and how she was holding up. her mom wanted her home...now. my mom called me too asking if i wanted to get out of the city. i declined, but i dont remember why. the FBI raided the hotel rooms of the hijackers at a hotel which was literally a few blocks from where i was. it was scary, it was terrifying. i remember thinking that it was entirely possible for 50,000 people to have died. especially when the towers came down.
the next day, i was walking around boston. there was not a plane in the sky, minus the two F-15's patrolling boston....loaded to the hilt. at the corner of hemenway and westland, there was a guy passing out flyers. he was inviting people into his corner shop for a bag of chips and a can of soda for free. it wasnt a promotion. it wasnt a gimmick. he just wanted to do something to make everyone feel a little better. ill never forget that.
the other thing that really sticks out in my mind is how hospitable everyone became. everyone was asking everyone if they were ok. take a few minutes to watch jon stewart's post 9/11 speech on the daily show. he captured the pride we all had, the fear we harbored, and the hurt we felt. i dont believe that the country has ever had a better opportunity to right so many of the wrongs that existed then. unfortunately, many if not most of them are still around. regardless, i have to love our country. i cannot express any view of dissention, or contempt for the direction of the administration without respecting my ability to do so without persecution. as jon stewart says, "its democracy, its light, they cant beat that. we've already won, they cant beat that."

workin hard

or hardly working. yup. day 2 of maggie goes to work was a bit more eventful, although this is her normal pose.
she fell asleep with her head on my foot, woke herself up because she was dreaming and yelped out loud, and farted...horribly. i tried walking her a little bit out front. her idea of walking is take a few steps, lay down, roll around in the grass, bite the leash, try to eat some grass, bite the leash again. being a dog must be tough. this isnt even my dog mind you, im pretty much the part time care taker during the day. the boss keeps making asking if i mind. um, no. no i dont. as long as she doesnt pee on my shoe, we cool. we cool.

office help

this is maggie.



maggie now spends a large portion of the day sitting at my feet while i work. its my boss's dog, but she apparently loves my feet. she is a burnese mountain dog, which means she is going to get big. at this point she is only 11 weeks old, which means she is going to be, as my boss described "friggin huge." if her paw is any indication...this is entirely accurate.

lets review. i already love my job, i get to play with airplanes all day. add in a dog. yup, my job actually just got better. if i werent me, id be jealous too.

weekend recap

itemized list of things that i witnessed this weekend:

1) more drunk, overserved people in one bar than i have ever seen
2) college freshman kids who thought that they were hot shit because they are now in college
3) a car accident, no one was hurt, but it was quite dramatic
4) a saturn sky up close
5) a chevy impala sittin on some 22's
6) a guy wearing silver leather chaps
7) the closest air to air traffic ive ever seen
8) a guy driving an RV wearing a 10 gallon hat, which was awesome.

all in all, the weekend was pretty much a wash as far as weather is concerned. i at least made up for it by going up today out to hartford....pronounced hot-fid for those not in the know. coming back into providence, i dont think the controllers had a clue what the wind was doing. they changed the runway on me and then gave me different wind info three times...on final approach. thats like a stop light changing from green to yellow, to green, to red, to green, to yellow, and then all the colors all at once. needless to say it made for a damn interesting landing. the wind was coming directly from my right...at about.....alot. the tower complimented me i think just because i was able to keep it on the runway. woot. im actually in way better shape than i thought i was as far as accumulating hours for my commercial license. from here on out its going to go like clockwork. ill probably finish up either right on schedule or just ahead of it. what does that mean for all of you? nothing, just that ill have even less of a life than i do now.

Bury Dan

few years ago i used to hang out in danbury, ct all the time. this is before i really started flying, but well into my obsession with it. i noticed that planes would be flying into this airport surrounded by huge giant hills. so, ive always wanted to go fly into that field and see what it is like.

holy shit.

the place is bad ass. basically, depending on what runway you use you either have to fly in between these huge hills, dive over them on final, or climb out like a mofo so you dont hit them. it was comical. not only that but i came in behind a pitts and saw three more sitting in a hangar. needless to say i think ill be spending some more time out at that field.

a public service announcement: yellowtail shiraz is awesome. its $6 for a bottle and is delicious. i once splurged and spent $50 on a bottle of shiraz and it was horrible. do yourself a favor and treat yourself to some yellowtail.

the poll about what i should do with my moolah is split. i think a more realistic goal at this point is to pay off my loans. way less fun, way more practical and repsonsible. or ill get the car. hmmmmmmm.

one last thing, i owe jack $10. i titled an entry "blah blah woof woof" and challenged everyone to tell me where i got that from (it didnt post to the myspace blog for some reason). regardless, jack got it. it is a jimi hendrix quote from some stage banter from his woodstock recording. now you know.