Tag: flying

Episode #25a – Cradle of Aviation Hall of Fame Day

Welcome to a special feature of the Stuck Mic AvCast. My name is Carl Valeri and I will be your host today as I share with you some interviews and lectures from Long Island Air and Space Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This is a special event hosted by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and the Cradle of Aviation Museum.

The Cradle Of Aviation Museum is Long Island’s “Air And Space Museum”. The museum has something for all ages including outstanding exhibits, activities for children, a collection of historic airplanes,  a lunar excursion module, and a giant screen dome theatre. All those  interested in aviation or space will surely enjoy this significant museum.

The Cradle of Aviation Museum is host of the annual Long Island Air and Space Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony. I was fortunate to attend this wonderful event and am happy to share some of the interesting interviews and highlights from the ceremony.

The 2012 Inductees to the Long Island Air And Space Hall Of Fame Include:

  • Harriet Quimby – the first licensed female pilot and first woman to fly across the English Channel.
  • William Shepherd – Space Shuttle mission specialist, first commander of the international Space Station, and recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
  • Jimmy Doolittle – A flight instructor and test pilot whose most significant contribution to aviation was the world’s first flight by reference to instruments at Mitchel Field in 1929. His most famous feat was when he lead the attack on Tokyo in 1942 for which he won the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The following audio includes :

Interview with Jim Hughes – an enthusiastic docent shares his knowledge of the museum and Harriet Quimby.

Interview with Giacinta Bradley Koontz – Author The Harriet Quimby Scrapbook.  Giacinta accepted the Hall of Fame Award on Harriet Quimby’s behalf.

Lecture highlights from “Jimmy Doolittle… American Hero, Aviation Pioneer” presented by Jimmy Doolittle’s granddaughter Jonna Doolittle Hoppes. Jonna accepted the The Hall of Fame Award on behalf of her grandfather. You can listen to the entire lecture at ExpertAviator.com.

Enjoy the show!

Listen to Episode 25a Below

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Cruising the Alaska Talkeetna Range in a Super Cub on Skis

This video is for sure a long time coming. Some of you may recall that back in February of 2012 I spent some time up in Alaska flying in my friends Super Cub. This trip was particularly more special than my last visit because the airplane had it’s bush wheels removed and replaced with a set of skis for winter fun and flying. So when CJ told me about the skis on his plane, I knew I had to get to Alaska ASAP!

My previous visit was in August 2010 where we did some summer style bush flying landing on gravel bars, mountain tops, and even camping out on a glacier overnight. Yup, a glacier! You can do that kind of stuff in Alaska. Actually, funny side story here… while snow mobiles are NOT allowed within Denali National Park during the winter months, airplanes ARE! How cool is that?

But I digress so back to the story at hand. Arriving in Anchorage in February, we drove north to Talkeetna where we stayed in a cabin at the Meandering Moose Lodge. Oh the memories! Middle-of-the-night walks from town, intoxicated on good times and local microbrews, trekking through snowmobile trails in the darkness of a the Alaskan winter sky. But you’re here about the flying and not my social exploits, of course.

In this particular video we depart from Willow, AK and headed easterly out to the Talkeetna Mountain Range for some sightseeing. HOLY SHIT what a view! Most spectacular flying experience I’ve ever had hands down. Cruising down the valleys, crossing ridge lines, and coasting downslope were some of my favorite parts. But you can see all that for yourself in this video above.

Now I know this video is kind of long pushing the 40 minute mark BUT it’s worth EVERY MINUTE for the spectacular views and cool flying experience. Skip around if you have to, you won’t regret it. My friend Chris told me, “Just awesome! Watched it with my kids. It’s the first time they sat through a aviation vid without any complaints! 4 and 6 yr old. Great job!” If kids like it, so will you.

One last thing, if you want to hear me talk more about the the aspects of ski plane flying including my flight lessons and jumping out of the airplane to stop it from colliding into other objects on the icy taxiway then listen to Episode #21 of the Stuck Mic AvCast about Fly It Forward Recap, Planes-Trains-Automobiles, & Alaskan Ski-Plane Adventures.