The LogBook - Aviation Storytelling Podcast

This time we listen to some military test flight stories from a pilot who flew almost every jet aircraft produced between the early 50’s and late 60’s and flew many other airplanes as well.   More Information and pictures related to this episode on: thelogbookpodcast.com

This episode we hear some airplane testing stories from the youngest pilot of an airline flight test group, who was 59 at the time. For more information and pictures about the stories in this episode visit: thelogbookpodcast.com

This time we hear from two women who will share a few stories about writing books about airparks in the US and how they were both challenged to fly every day for a full month. More Information and pictures at: thelogbookpodcast.com

This time we hear from a WWII era air-force veteran and he’s going to tell us what it was like to grow up with aviation in the 1930 and we’ll listen his experiences while in the air-force and as he tried to find every little bit of time that he could to fly. Our storyteller will also share some of his war stories, which are stories from his flying career that were more eventful than all the others. More information at: thelogbookpodcast.com  

In this episode we hear from a pilot who flew around the world 3 times!!! She’s going to tell us about some of her experiences and give us some insight on how and why she did it. More Information and Pictures related to this episode are on thelogbookpodcast.com

In this episode we hear about some of the incredible things that flying can expose a pilot too, and we learn about getting into aerobatics and high G maneuvers. More information and pictures related to the story can be found on: thelogbookpodcast.com

In this episode we listen to a story of a pilot’s decision while flying his crippled aerobatic aircraft, in whether to jump out or attempt to land it. More information about the show and this episode at: thelogbookpodcast.com

In this episode we hear from a world renowned aerobatics pilot, from when he was a little bit too excited to get somewhere and it didn’t go as he had expected. Above are pictures of the actual Sukhoi flown in the story. The Following is quoted from Nikolay’s website. You can find more information about him and his business there. Nikolay earned his Masters Degree in both Aeronautical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. He was also one of the Engineers who worked on the development of the SU-26M for Sukhoi. 1991: His first visit to the USA was as part of the SU-26 Demonstration team that performed at Oshkosh. 1992: He won his 1st World Unlimited Aerobatic Championship title in France. He also attended the Las Vegas December meeting of ICAS (International Council of Air Shows) as the guest of a US friend. 1994: He competed in the Brietling Grand Prix at Sanford, FL. 1995: He won his 2nd World Aerobatic Unlimited Championship title in South Africa. He also competed in the Breitling Grand Prix in Miarmar, CA. 1996: He competed in the World Unlimited Aerobatic Championship at Oklahoma City. It is here that he became World Champion for the 3rd time. 1997: He won the Gold Medal at the World Air Games held in Turkey. 1998: He worked as the head coach for ICAT (International Center of Aerobatic Training) organized by Susan Kaster. The coaching staff consisted of John Lillberg, Allan Cassady, Patrick Paris and Xavier De Lapore. ICAT developed three training bases in the US: Dunnellon, FL; Coolege, AZ; Chariton, IO. In 1998 at the Dunnellon training base, Nikolay met world class guitarist and aerobatic pilot Steve Morse who flies a YAK 55. Steve took several lessons from Nikolay. Things were declining in the amount of work Nikolay was able to get in the aviation industry in Russia. Steve subsequently convinced Nik to move to the US and in the year 2000, Nikolay and his plane came to Shady International Airport, Ocala, FL. His family arrived at the end of May that same year. ICAT has since disbanded, however Nikolay’s experience prior to and during his work with ICAT has led him to design, develop, and implement his current project “Hi-Tech Aerobatics” where his highly developed, technically precise skills are taught to high caliber, serious aerobatic pilots from around the world. Nikolay continues to stay on the cutting edge of competition aerobatic training by constantly developing new and unique teaching methods for performing precise, power-on, positive and negative accelerated spins and other equally demanding competition aerobatic maneuvers. Nikolay now performs in Air Shows around the world. He also teaches training clinics to serious aerobatic pilots, and performs the best top level maintenance and engineering on most, if not all, Sukhoi 26’s, 29’s, 31’s and many YAK’s in the USA. His training camps are currently being held throughout the USA, Canada, Brazil, Czech Republic and elsewhere to accommodate these aerobatic professionals who wish to sharpen their skills.

In this episode we hear a very inspirational story from a relatively new pilot, about how she was able to get her pilot’s license and how flying is accessible to anyone. Here’s an image of her musical living room she had mentioned in the beginning of the story. When we came to visit “Homesick Angel” she was in the middle of her annual inspection. Today she is back up and flying. Linda painted these illustrations on the vertical stabilizer of her Cessna. Linda brought out her logbook after telling us her story and in it you can see her very excited writing after her first solo.  

In this episode we listen to three stories from another active couple in the aviation community, the first is about learning how to fly and skydiving in the 1950s. Next, we’ll hear about a hijacking to Cuba, and finally we’ll listen to how this couple met through aviation and aerobatic judging. These are what some of the airmen uniforms looked like during WWI. Skydiving in the 1950s was much different from today, with uncontrolled parachutes and technology that was used during the World Wars. Never the less, I’m sure it was still very thrilling! In the 1960s hijacking an airplane was actually quite common. It was almost seen as a non event and were normally not investigated. Of course that different now. 99 Precent Invisable (another fantastic podcast you should listen too) made a great episode about the history of hijacking airplanes, the episode is named “Skyjacking”. Like our first storyteller said, the plane had aboard the cast and crew of Candid Camera which meant the entire ordeal was national news. Allen Funt, the host of the show, was very vocal about the experience, you can read more about this here.  

In this episode we listen a story about finding the perfect airplane. We hear where this search takes him, what he finds, and the journey of taking it home.  You can see in these pictures the two stick that were mentioned in the story. One for control and the other for the flaperons. The Cassutt IIIM was designed specifically for air racing, with a top speed of almost 250 mph and a range of 400 miles with a wingspan of 14′. Now Sky’s plane was much heavy and not this capable but it was still a little silver bullet. “Job the Search Is On” is a step by step guide in becoming as successful as you can when searching for a job. It covers topics like resume writing, presentation skills, interview preparations, and much more. You can find out more information about his book on his website, or in his youtube channel.  

Featured Image Source: CBS Channel 8 In this episode we hear a few stories by a very active couple in the aviation community. The first story is about an emergency landing on a busy road, then we hear about a crash landing in an aerobatic aircraft, and finish the episode off with the Stearman ride of a lifetime and the lessons learned from that experience.  In the first story, they were flying in a Cessna SkyHawk. Although I don’t have any images from that day when they landed on the highway, here is an image of a similar plane to what they flew. CBS News 8 – San Diego, CA News Station – KFMB Channel 8 Here are just a couple news stories from places all around the country of emergency landings on highways. Above is the song “Airplane on the Highway” by Bob Wiseman. He was generous enough to give us permission to use his song in the episodes. You can find more of his music here. Above is a picture of a Starduster, which was the plane flown in the second story of this episode. The Starduster was a single placed, open cockpit fun flying aircraft. Although it wasn’t intended for aerobatics, many people, including our storyteller, used it for that purpose. The Cessna 150 Aerobat was a variant of the Cessna 150 that had a stronger structure and more power. It was intended to be used as a beginner aerobatics aircraft, as it had great flight characteristics. Above are pictures of Ralph’s 1946 Aeronca Champ that he restored. The Champ was intentioned for returning WWII pilot veterans as an affordable plane, except for barely anyone bought them. Ralph loves to show people what flying is all about, and will take anyone up in his plane, including me! It flies great and it’s so cool to see a piece of history like this. Above are some pictures of Ralph’s 1930’s era Ford flat head that he has shown at many car shows.  

Everytime I go to some aviation event I don’t think its possible to leave without a good story. Storytelling is enjoyed by all ages, especially in the aviation community where stories are the main way to share one’s experiences when off the ground. While listening to The LogBook, you’ll hear stories from people in aviation from every experience level: enthusiasts, complete beginners, airline pilots, aerobatic pilots, cross country/long distance pilots, test pilots, military veterans. And they’ll all tell stories that will entertain, inspire, and educate the next generation of aviators. You can find more information about who I am and about the creation of The LogBook on the About Page.