If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets. -- Mel Brooks

Lavon North Airport
Lake Lavon, Texas
8 August 2002
Noonish

There is no flying without wings.— French proverb

Lavon North Airport, home of Future Flight, Inc.
The gravel trail going through the grass is the runway.

The Hanger

The Quicksilver Sport II Ultralight with
instructor Dave English

What freedom lies in flying, what Godlike power it gives to men . . . I lose all consciousness in this strong unmortal space crowded with beauty, pierced with danger.

— Charles A. Lindbergh

Flight is the only truly new sensation than men have achieved in modern history.

— James Dickey, 'New York Times Book Review,' 15 July 1979.

Whether we call it sacrifice, or poetry, or adventure, it is always the same voice that calls.

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Poyekhali!
(translation: Let's Go!)

— Yuri A. Gagarin, shouted as Vostok 1 lifted off, 12 April 1961.

We have no effective screening methods to make sure pilots are sane.

— Dr. Herbert Haynes, Federal Aviation Authority.

Me in the left seat ready to take off.
The nose wheel went flat while we were taxing.
I tried not to take it as an omen. We refilled it and took off.
The Ultralight only needs about 100 feet to lift off.

Aviators live by hours, not by days.

— T. H. White, 'England Have My Bones,' 1936.

Ok, this one might as well be a blue screen shot, but here we are at about 600 feet banking over Lake Lavon. Dave gave me a tour of the area and then handed the controls over to me. I went as high as 950 feet and low enough to buzz a corn field. I did some turns, one touch and go, and landed it.

The Ultralight has the wing surface of a Cessna but only weighs a few hundred pounds, so the winds and thermals tossed us around a good bit, but that was just fine. I flew as fast as 60 knots. We were in the air a scant 20 minutes.

Any pilot can describe the mechanics of flying. What it can do for the spirit of man is beyond description.

— Barry M. Goldwater, US senator.

Chicks dig us, and guys think we're cool.

— Tom Krizek, airline captain

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.

— African proverb