AKRON — In the 1970’s, Mary Hruby became a pilot when a lot of women wouldn’t dream of it. It was a joy that she shared with her husband. Then icing over the Sierra Mountains forced them down, and when rescuers finally found the airplane wreckage, the snow had been falling for days. The Sierra Mountains had claimed a life, but miraculously spared two others.
COLUMBUS – Most wouldn’t be surprised to hear Ohio State Trooper George King is on the lookout for marijuana fields and highway speeders. But few would guess where he’s hiding: in the clouds.
King works for the aviation section of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He flies a Cessna 182, which is nothing like the jetliners [...]
WADSWORTH, Oh. – She can’t drive a car, but this 15-year old girl traveled from Holland to a small country airfield in Ohio to learn how to fly an airplane. The proud father snapping photos of her from the taxiway is one of our nation’s leading space-based telescope repairman.
KENT — Some time after the first solo and before becoming licensed, every pilot who has learned how to fly since the 1920s has been warned, “There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots—but there are no old bold pilots.” How then, does one explain Richard Schwabe?
MEDINA — Pilot attempts to learn how to fly a “conventional” airplane from the 1940’s. All that is required is to be able to balance a baseball bat in one hand, and push a two-wheeled suitcase in a straight line while running. If successful, there may be hope of not ruining Earle Olsen’s 62-year old pride and joy.
RAVENNA — It’s a bright Thursday afternoon at Portage County Regional Airport, a few weeks into April. Some pilots are taking advantage of the clear weather. Others are dusting out the downtime clutter in their hangars or simply displaying their planes in the spring sun.
SUN BEAU VALLEY FARM — Every September, crowds of people jam the city streets and the pastures of this farm for the Ravenna Balloon-A-Fair. They come for the parade and to enjoy the festival atmosphere and to watch balloonists launch ships with names like Kaleidoscope, Whale Boy, Second Wind, Kilroy, Boo-Lou-Noodles and Diamond Girl into the skies. Lynee Bixler always has a Sublime experience.
COLUMBUS – The Ohio Highway Patrol has used aircraft for searches and photography since 1948. But the first time pilots engaged in traffic enforcement was in 1952, when two Ohio Highway Patrol pilots saw a semi driving recklessly in Mahoning County. According to an Ohio Public Safety newsletter, they radioed a ground patrolman, who pulled [...]
GEAUGA COUNTY – It’s summer and the cornstalks are tall, the fields are vast and the anomalies are easily identified from the air. George King, state trooper, works the skies, assisting his ground-based colleagues in spotting highway speeders, missing persons and cornfield marijuana.
WADSWORTH — Why are aspiring pilots from Belgium, France and Japan traveling to a small country airfield in Ohio? Dan Weltzien knows—he invited them. He also manages one of the most affordable flight training operations in the world from his apartment above Skypark Airport’s narrow airstrip. But don’t ask him about the Egyptian mummy case.
LAKE ARTHUR, Pa. – What could possibly be more fun than a boat, than when it is also an airplane. Fly with Dan Marks as his amphibious Aviat Husky slips the surly bonds of western Pennsylvania’s grass and asphalt to splash down between the rolling mountain banks of the Allegheny River.
The Kent State University Precision Flight Team can drop a 2-ounce container into a barrel from 200 feet and land a Cessna 152H in a box the size of a football field. These regional winners head to nationals this month.
