Portland, Or. 2015
This one's gonna be long. Honestly I wasn't even going to do a blog. The thought never even crossed my mind. I had the site 90% done before I even considered it and then spent a couple days trying to convince myself that no one would read it and it would be a colossal waste of my time; and that realistically may hold true, but then against my best efforts decided that for the $16/month or whatever I'm paying for the site coupled with the fact that I went to college for 4 years to learn how to write, that maybe I should do it, if for anything just to get my money's worth.
Now here we are. 1:46am on a Friday morning probably 3 weeks before this site will even go public.
So this is just a little history of this site, me, and I guess what I might want to do with it going forward..
I built an early version of this website in 2015. I was a senior at the University of Kentucky and really just made it as an easy way to share my photos on a platform other than Facebook. I made it, uploaded some stuff, and never really did anything with it.
So about the whole photography thing.. I just like taking pictures of things I find cool. That's about it really. I've done professional gigs and made money from it, but for the most part it's strictly me taking pictures of cool stuff for my own enjoyment. When you go to the home page it might seem like my photography is the main purpose of this site. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. I don't know yet. That said if you're looking for a photographer for a small-ish event, something low key, or any aerial photography see the contact me page and get in touch with me. (I'm still learning how to do these shameless self plugs.)
Japan. 2016
And yeah all the flying stuff.. I just have a slight obsession with things that fly and seeing the world. Realized that at a young age and have basically never imagined myself in a career outside of aviation. When it came time to look at colleges I knew I just wanted to fly planes for the rest of my life so why go anywhere other than a big aviation school? I applied, toured, got accepted etc. to the likes of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, University of North Dakota, Arizona State University, etc. 18 year old me chugged the kool-aid and decided on UND. College out of state, flying brand new airplanes, aviation classes, and hockey for the next 4 years. What else was there was to even consider?
Then spring break of my senior year of high school happened. Instead of going to Florida with my family I chose to stay in Lexington for the sole reason that the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team was playing in the 2012 NCAA national championship. I, as did the rest of the nation, knew that we were favored to win it and damn if I wasn't determined to be in Lexington if happened. Monday night the Cats beat the Kansas Jayhawks and brought home their 8th national title. I was definitely up until sunrise the next morning partying with friends on the now infamous State St. in celebration.
When I woke up Tuesday morning at 3:00pm on April 3rd, I checked the weather app on my phone to see what I was dealing with for the remainder of the day. 72*, partly cloudy. Nice. I had Grand Forks, ND saved as well since that's where I was going to be headed to college in just a few short months.. 28 degrees, light snow, night time low of 11*.. That was the moment I said to myself "you know.. maybe going to UK for college won't be the worst idea.. Mom's worked there for 20+ years so I'll get half off in-state tuition to begin with, have more scholarships from the state for staying in-state, the weather doesn't suck, and maybe all those pilots I've come to know over the years aren't wrong when they tell me that it doesn't matter if you do your flight training at an overpriced university or if you do it for a fraction of the cost at a small airport in a plane that's as old as old as your parents."
I applied to UK that evening and was accepted later that week. Needless to say, that was an interesting conversation with my parents when they got home from vacation a few days later.. "Hey Mom and Dad, I know I'm graduating in like a month but I decided to change my whole college plans while you were gone. Don't worry it's cool, I've already been accepted and everything."
I spent the next 4 years getting my degree done, doing all my flight training at a local flight school when I had time, and working for a regional airline at LEX to offset flight training costs. A year and some change after I graduated from UK in May 2016, I'm now a Commercial Multi/Single Engine pilot, Instrument Rated and have my flight instructor (CFI) checkride scheduled in the coming weeks. Hopefully by the time this goes public I'll be teaching the next generation of pilots!
Christmas Day. 60 degrees and raining. The airline world never stops!
Looking back on the decision I made 5 and a half years ago to stay in Lexington and go to UK instead of going to college for an aviation degree I can't say I'd do anything differently. I've been extremely fortunate to have things just fall in place somehow. It might take me an extra year or two to be flying for the airlines if that's where I decide I want to end up, but I've had experiences flying and networked with people here that never would have been possible at a large aviation university program. I traveled the world for basically free while working for the airline in college, including meeting up with other pilot friends all over the country and flying with them in places I never otherwise would get to fly in. It was a decision that young dumb 18 year old me probably should have put some more thought in to, but hindsight being 20/20, I wouldn't change a thing.
Going forward, I guess that's what I want to do with this blog. Talk about airplanes, share my experiences along the way, post pictures, and I don't know, talk about stuff I think is cool at the time.
Now I'm sure you're tired of reading if you've made it this far, so I'll shut up now. I'll keep the updates coming and hopefully do it in 1/3 the amount of words.