Things that Fly

Welcome to Things that Fly!

Welcome to our aviation stories! Here we'd like to share stuff about all man-made things that fly - airplanes, rockets, gliders, helicopters, you name it. Enjoy! And please chime in with your own comments, questions, suggestions!

I was hooked on flying, I think, in 1941 when my father bought a ride for us in a Stinson Detroiter. I didn't want to get out of the airplane! Although I was never a professional (military or civilian) pilot, I HAVE been a pilot for more than a half-century, and was the recipient of the Federal Aviation Administration's "Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award" in 2016 for fifty years of safe and violation-free flying. I've been a flight instructor (in gliders) for forty years, and currently fly a German-built 15 meter racing sailplane in the Skyline Soaring Club in Front Royal.

Aviation has illumined my life in too many ways to list. Through aviation, I have met the most amazing people and seen the world with a clarity forbidden to groundlings. Grover Norwood summed it up nicely: "Because I fly, I envy no man on earth".

Enjoy,

Jim Kellett

1. Another Aviatrix Takes Wing [2019-06-08]
2. Girls Go Fly! [2019-01-06]
3. Another Sunnyside Aviatrix Takes to the Skies! [2018-07-15]
4. Local Marine Officer Goes Airborne! [2018-07-13]
5. Gliders at War [2018-04-19]
6. Meeting an Inglorious Basterd (Yes, that's the way it's spelled in the movie!) [2018-04-19]
7. "The Rest of the Story" [2017-12-02]
8. How High Can You Fly? [2017-10-01]
9. Size Matters [2017-06-08]