Greg Brown: Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet: Recent Episodes
Greg Brown
Ride along with renowned aviator, writer, and photographer Greg Brown in his light airplane, the "Flying Carpet," as he searches behind clouds for the real America, experiencing countless aerial adventures along the way. A former National Flight Instructor of the Year, Greg is author of five books, a former Barnes & Noble Arizona Author of the Month, and recently completed twenty years as aviation adventure columnist for AOPA Flight Training magazine. Some reviewers have compared his book, "Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane," to sixties road-trip classics like "On the Road," and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Says aviation author and humorist Rod Machado: “Greg thinks with the mind of a pilot, questions with the curiosity of a philosopher, and sees with the eyes of a poet.” Observes Nina Bell Allen, former “Readers Digest” Asst. Managing Editor, "You don't have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in [his] Flying Carpet." So buckle in and join Greg for the ride!
Any pilot will tell you that learning to fly an airplane is a challenging endeavor. So when you fly with someone who demonstrates a natural knack for it, that's a special occasion.
Well, I recently experienced the best "first flying lesson" I've encountered in thousands of hours as a flight instructor. Here is the inspiring story.
Sawyer's "Flagstaff Pulliam Airport Spotting Guide"
VATSIM Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network
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GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com (Find all of Greg's links here.)
Greg Brown's Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet Podcast
Greg's Book, Flying Carpet; The Soul of An Airplane "You don't have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in Flying Carpet."
-- Nina Bell Allen, Former Asst. Managing Editor, Readers Digest
Greg's Fine Art Metal Prints, Pilot Achievement Plaques, & Photo Wall Calendars
Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group
Greg Brown's Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group
Greg Brown on Instagram
https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/
https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Runaway Autopilot! (Misadventures of a Corporate Pilot)
Happily I've experienced only a handful of scares over decades of piloting. But this one was a biggie!
So climb aboard my Flying Carpet, buckle up your seatbelt, and prepare for takeoff on today's episode, "Runaway Autopilot!"
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Contact Greg with your comments and suggestions!
GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com (Find all of Greg's links here.)
Greg Brown's Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet Podcast
Greg's Book, Flying Carpet; The Soul of An Airplane "You don't have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in Flying Carpet."
-- Nina Bell Allen, Former Asst. Managing Editor, Readers Digest
Greg's Fine Art Metal Prints, Pilot Achievement Plaques, & Photo Wall Calendars
Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group
Greg Brown's Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group
Greg Brown on Instagram
https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/
https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
"This might as well be Oz," I thought, upon clearing the clouds approaching Paducah, Kentucky. I wouldn’t have been surprised to experience supersaturated sunshine, and perhaps a golden brick runway.
Tales of faraway lands work magic on youthful minds, and although I’d never been here before, the stories of a special person from my youth had cast a spell on this Ohio River town as real as any bright-hued fairy tale.
Photo: Period postcard of the Irvin Cobb Hotel, Paducah KentuckyKentucky Belle Episode Webpage
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Contact Greg with your comments and suggestions!
GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com (Find all of Greg's links here.)
Greg Brown's Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet Podcast
Greg's Book, Flying Carpet; The Soul of An Airplane "You don't have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in Flying Carpet."
-- Nina Bell Allen, Former Asst. Managing Editor, Readers Digest
Greg's Fine Art Metal Prints, Pilot Achievement Plaques, & Photo Wall Calendars
Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group
Greg Brown's Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group
Greg Brown on Instagram
https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/
https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Flight instructing offers some of the most rewarding flying there is. We experience the joy of fulfilling our students’ dreams of flight, become better pilots ourselves in the process, and develop lifelong friendships with many of those we teach.
But among hours and hours of routine teaching and flying, there are occasional hard lessons, too, most often unanticipated. And those hard lessons are generally even more eye-opening and profound for us instructors than for our students.
Above all, we learn that while maintaining a relaxed cockpit learning environment, we must never become complacent.
Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, buckle into the pilot’s seat, and prepare for takeoff on Flight Number 36, “Bowling Alley Hot Dogs.”
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Contact Greg with your comments and suggestions!
GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com (Find all of Greg's links here.)
Greg Brown's Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet Podcast
Greg's Book, Flying Carpet; The Soul of An Airplane "You don't have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in Flying Carpet."
-- Nina Bell Allen, Former Asst. Managing Editor, Readers Digest
Greg's Fine Art Metal Prints, Pilot Achievement Plaques, & Photo Wall Calendars
Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group
Greg Brown's Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group
Greg Brown on Instagram
https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/
https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
There's been lots of news lately about possible extraterrestrial visits from other planets, other galaxies. And whether the government has been covering it up. In particular, many reports have revealed sightings from airplane cockpits.
So when a friend messaged the other day asking whether I’d ever experienced UFOs or extraterrestrials in the course of flight, I was reminded of an incident Jean and I experienced years ago in the Flying Carpet. You might call it “Flying Carpet Meets Flying Saucer.”
So climb into the Flying Carpet. Buckle up your seat belts. And prepare for takeoff on Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #35. “Flying Saucer!”
Greg
Support the show
Contact Greg with your comments and suggestions!
GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com (Find all of Greg's links here.)
Greg Brown's Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet Podcast
Greg's Book, Flying Carpet; The Soul of An Airplane "You don't have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in Flying Carpet."
-- Nina Bell Allen, Former Asst. Managing Editor, Readers Digest
Greg's Fine Art Metal Prints, Pilot Achievement Plaques, & Photo Wall Calendars
Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group
Greg Brown's Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group
Greg Brown on Instagram
https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/
https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
*FAN MAIL: Text Greg your comments!
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Text Greg your comments! Please name episode.
Cowboy Flying Lesson!
Perils of an Off-Airport Takeoff
This episode you don't want to miss!!!
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One thing I love about flying is that there are so many dimensions to it. It might be as simple as going from point a to point B... For a meeting... Or a "hundred-dollar hamburger."
But sometimes piloting takes you mystically and magically to faraway places—spiritually or across time. And that's what this story is about.
So climb into my Flying Carpet, buckle up your seatbelts and prepare to takeoff on today's adventure, "Time Travel."
Greg
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As I record this, we’re just two weeks away from the 2024 total solar eclipse that will come up through Mexico and cross much of the Midwest and eastern United States.
I suspect that many of you plan on flying to see this eclipse, but if you’re not, you probably should be.
Plenty of people have experienced a partial solar eclipse, and a few have experienced an annular solar eclipse.
But if you’ve never experienced a total solar eclipse, it’s so much more exciting and so much more memorable, that it’s something you don’t want to miss.
In this episode, I’ll share the stories two previous solar eclipses I’ve experienced, which I believe you’ll find interesting and inspiring whether you’re preparing to attend the 2024 Total Eclipse, or have already experienced one.
So climb into my Flying Carpet, buckle up your seatbelts and prepare for takeoff on today’s adventure, ***“Eclipse!”
Greg***
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One thing I’ve learned over many years of piloting is that rarely can we plan a flight, take off, and then not need to worry about anything until we reach our destination.
More often than not, circumstances arise before takeoff and en route that require planning, strategy, and tactics to get us safely where we’re going . A big part of this, too, is being prepared to land at any point… To turn around. To land at an inconvenient airport that might even be unattended. But if we’re not willing and able to make smart decisions “on the fly,” we cannot safely fly around in potentially marginal weather.
This episode’s flight was great piloting adventure because we did not know over the entire three-hour flight whether we would make our destination.
But when I discussed this flight with pilot friends afterwards, including some very experienced ones, I discovered that in the course of it I’d unwittingly done something innovative—an integration of new technology with what we’ve always done. Whether pilots or not, I think you’ll find it interesting.
Okay, everyone, grab your logbooks, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, snug up your seatbelts, and prepare for takeoff on today’s adventure, “iPads & Icing!**”
Follow the flight route at my website.**
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You may remember meeting my cowboy buddy "Baldy" way back in Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #2, “Cowboy Pilot,” in which Jean and I were first invited to the annual "Arizona Cowpuncher’s Reunion." If you don’t remember that episode, or haven’t heard it, you might want to get to know Baldy via that episode before starting this one.
Regardless, I predict you’ll get a kick joining our flying adventure to attend a unique “working cowboys” rodeo, and experiencing our piloting travails flying there and returning.
Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, snug up your seatbelts, and prepare for takeoff on today’s adventure, “Cowpunchers Reunion: Rough Flight Home.”
Greg
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“Lobe Plays Sedona; Skies filled with music.”
Along with cockpit thrills and challenges, plenty of piloting adventure arises from where flying can deliver us, both physically and spiritually. That’s what today’s episode is about.
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Some Lessons a Pilot Never Forgets"So this must be vertigo." I thought. Nausea circled my gut like the snowflakes orbiting my propeller. I peered out the windshield for landmarks, but snow obscured all but a tiny spot of ground beneath me, even at an altitude of only a thousand feet.
To make matters worse, my navigational radio had obviously failed. How could I possibly have drifted so far off course as it suggested, on a flight of only 40 miles?
It was almost Christmas, and I was a young University of Illinois student transporting precious parts for my motorcycle, home to Champaign...
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Youthful adventures in airplanes and automobiles.
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I was recently awarded the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, **for 50 years of safe piloting.
It’s mind-boggling to consider how short the history of aviation is, that I should have personally flown for over 40% of the entire history of powered flight!**
In this episode I reflect on how general aviation flying has changed since I took to the skies in 1972. What’s more, today’s story kicks off a whole series of future episodes sharing many more cockpit adventures from those five decades. Something to look forward to!
Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, snug up your seatbelts, and prepare for takeoff on today’s adventure, “Fifty Years Aloft!”
Greg
PS: If you enjoy this podcast, please share with friends, and rate and review it on your favorite podcast directory!
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Piloting is a sophisticated activity that requires a good deal of training, hand-eye coordination, planning, and application of judgment.
But today’s episode focuses more on spiritual aspects of flying--that is, why we do it, rather than how we do it, and it's topped off by a crazy destination. This story is one of my personal favorites, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, snug up your seatbelts, and prepare for takeoff on today’s adventure, “Talking Spirits!”
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As you’ve likely heard, the final Learjet was recently delivered following almost 60 years of production. I was a kid when the Lear 23 was first introduced in 1964.
Although a few other corporate jets were flying by then, most companies still motored around in relatively slow, unpressurized piston airplanes, many of them repurposed WWII-era bombers and freighters.
The Lear was so sleek, sexy, and fast in comparison that it seemingly arrived from the future, revolutionizing air travel as evidenced by some 3,000 aircraft delivered over so many years.
Today’s episode is a tribute to the Learjet via "Captain Midnight," one of the model’s early captains and the most dashing pilot I've ever met, who along the way inspired me and other enthusiastic kids to earn their wings in his footsteps.
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**Every aviator develops mutually rewarding relationships with the flight instructors delivering his or her wings.
Well, here’s the backstory of one of those relationships, that over 22 years led to the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame. It’s a story every pilot will appreciate.
Read my 1999 NAFI Mentor column referenced in the Podcast.**
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Tips and tricks for introducing family and friends to general aviation flying, including some hysterical stories about how NOT to do it!
Learn how to treat family and friends to their critical first airplane rides, to ensure that they enjoy themselves and want to fly with you again.
Heads up that this is a live recording of a talk given several years ago, meaning audio quality is somewhat variable. But if you’ll stick with me I promise some great tips, along with some fun stories pilots at every experience level will appreciate.
Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, snug up your seatbelts, and prepare for takeoff on today’s adventure, “Share your Gift of Flight!”
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Everyone knows this is Oshkosh AirVenture Fly-in week, right? Well, grab your logbook, 'cause it's time for "Pilgrimage to Oshkosh," Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast #18.
Whether you're at AirVenture now or just wish you were, I promise you cross-country time, some laughs, and a fresh perspective!
So hop in the Flying Carpet with me, and we’ll go check it out!
GregPS: If you enjoy this podcast, please share with friends!
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Ever wonder what it would be like, flying yourself into a foreign country where pilot communications are transmitted in an unknown-to-you language? Well, here's your opportunity to find out!
This episode marks fifty years of a treasured friendship, arising under unusual circumstances from a long-ago foreign adventure, and continued over the years through Flying Carpet adventures like this one!
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Ever wonder what it was like to fly primitive airplanes into battle in World War I? Well, here’s your opportunity to find out!
“The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is its soul,” ⸺Sir Walter Raleigh, The War in the Air, 1922
(Music by Hannis Brown)
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When celebrating birthdays with zeros in them, flowers alone won’t do it. So when Jean marked a new decade I sought somewhere special we could fly to celebrate.
“But it seems weird celebrating a big birthday in Death Valley,” she said...
Check out the photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com !
(Music by Hannis Brown)
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Experience archaeology by Flying Carpet: Earning your wings is more than piloting an airplane; it's about where flying can take you!
Don't miss this episode's photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com !
(Music by Hannis Brown)
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**“Look!” said my wife with horror. “There’s been a terrible crash!” Glancing downward, there was just time for me to glimpse carnage on Highway 202, the Red Mountain Freeway east of Phoenix. A few hundred feet beneath us, flames and blackened vehicles littered the roadway as we crossed low on final approach to land at Falcon Field.
See photos at episode website. (Music by Hannis Brown)**
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Here's an audio holiday card to you and your family, direct from the cockpit of the Flying Carpet!It's been a mighty tough year, between pandemic, politics, and world problems, so from our family to yours, we hope this little audio card will brighten your holiday season, whatever your heritage or faith. May 2021 mark happier times for all of us!
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Grab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #12, “Inches of Runway!”
Because wind is invisible, it rarely seems as threatening as other weather when you’re flight planning, especially under clear skies. But as every pilot learns, wind is real; like other weather features it can be helpful or hazardous. Consider, for example, a 65-knot (75mph) headwind…!*See photos at the episode website.
Music by Hannis Brown*
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The saga of the Lobe Band Bus, rescued by Flying Carpet.
"You could always circle it on the way back, like a vulture!"See photos at the episode website!Music by Hannis Brown.
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Grab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #10, “Long Journey North.”
Jean and I are often asked, “Is there one aerial journey that stands out above the rest, in all your decades of flying?” Well yes there is, and this is it -- an extended Flying Carpet trek from Arizona to Northern Minnesota, to attend a funeral.
**There’s no single event that made it memorable, but rather a long cross-the-country adventure filled with all sorts of challenging and wacky and beautiful and crazy experiences, and yes a few scary ones, all glued together into one big journey.
Oh, and the best airport car ever!**
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Ever heard of anyone sowing terror from a tiny 2-seat Cessna 150 trainer? Well, grab your logbook ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #9, “Flying the Mists of Time,” about a little-known aviation event leading up to one of the US's most heinous terrorist acts.
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Grab your logbook ‘cause it’s time for Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #8, “Painted into a Corner,” about a scary flight, facing down thunderstorms in dark of night!
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Grab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #7, “Snipe Hunt!” Those who savor old cars, grass strips, and the aroma of rotisserie chicken, will love this episode. And don't miss the photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com, including "the wolf in sheep's clothing!"
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This account of how one airport helped save a town from wildfires, is presented as a tribute to the countless Wildland Firefighters, in the air and on the ground, and the teams and airports supporting them, currently battling record wildfires across California and the US Mountain West.
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Even after decades of piloting, night landings remain tough, beautiful, a little scary, and immensely rewarding. But just 30 minutes aloft displace all the preflight fears and apprehensions with just a single thought: CAN YOU BELIEVE WE GET TO DO THIS?!
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“The roaring powerplant and squealing tires soon brought my instructor scrambling from the office.” Rancher-pilot Sky King of the legendary 1950s TV program intersects with the wackiest checkride of Greg's piloting career.
Music by Hannis Brown
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Like fond memories of long-ago lovers, beloved airplanes resurface occasionally from quiet corners of a pilot’s mind. We hear the last three digits of some familiar N-number and are flooded with reminiscences. But rarely do the abbreviated call signs used in routine communications fully match the numbers of actual steeds we once flew — especially when 1500 miles and thirty years have passed under the wings. Along the way, you'll learn how Greg's airplane, the Flying Carpet, earned her name.Podcast photo: Greg with college friends at Marsh Harbour International Airport, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, 1976.
Music by Hannis Brown.
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"I much prefer aircraft accidents to being bucked by a horse!" Meet Greg's colorful cowboy-pilot buddy, Baldy, in the northern Arizona ranching town of Seligman. Good times guaranteed! (See associated photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com)
Music by Hannis Brown
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us aviators have been sitting around the past many months just wishing we were in the air, rather than launching skyward where we'd much prefer to be.
This story, New Beginnings; Return to Flight, originated when all US civilian aircraft were grounded following the 9/11 terrorism tragedy. Back then, as now, pilots were suddenly grounded with no idea of when, if ever, they might return to the sky. But eventually that special day did arrive when aviators were returned to flight.
I think you'll find it relevant to the pain we pilots endured both through 9/11 and the pandemic, and the joys of once again being cleared for takeoff.
Greg
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