Stories That Fly is an innovative online community news venture that features the very best narratives, photography and video from general aviation.
Here, you'll land a float plane on the Allegheny River. You'll launch and retrieve a hot-air balloon. You'll discover a small country airfield and stand on a hangar roof to take photos as an astronaut's 15-year old daughter flies her first airplane. You'll visit a family-run flight school, have a meal at the airport diner and learn how to fly a taildragger.
Along the way, you'll meet aviation enthusiasts like yourself. The weekend flyers, freight dogs and farmers are here. The restorers, crop dusters, mechanics, parachute packers, blimp, balloon and glider drivers are here too. Likewise, you will find the airfield operators, flight instructors, students, sport-, sim-, and RC-pilots. You are now one among the many remarkable people who make general aviation a worldwide community.
An old pilot once said, "A mile of road will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere." Our first flight has just departed. Welcome aboard.
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 [...]
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, 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.
Check out this new site for some great places to fly. A list of upcoming events is provided for the pilots and aviation enthusiasts in our own backyard (Ohio and Pennsylvania) and also a link to view all of the events in your geographic area.
KENT — “Aviation Buzz and Bold Opinion” from the Best Aviation Blog of the Year. We were delighted to find out recently that Stories That Fly is part of the buzz in an article from Scott Spangler writing for a great aviation blog, JetWhine.
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.
DAYTONA BEACH — While most airline passengers consider time spent in airports as just another obstacle between them and the comfort of their own home — many pilots and aircraft owners actually enjoy their hours at the local aerodrome. Some like it so much, that they decide to live at the airport. Join Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University pilot David McCartney as he explores the Spruce Creek Fly-In Community in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Stories That Fly launched May 2 at a celebration in Franklin Hall, home of the site, as well as the Kent State University journalism program. A crowd of approximately 70 people attended. Co-hosted by the Kent State University Flight Program.
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.
God gives wings to insects and birds, fish and angels. Everyone else has to apply to the FAA. Featured essay about a kid with one good eye and a dream of flying. See the full essay in the Oshkosh Anniversary issue of PilotMag (July-August, 2009.)
