{"id":14,"date":"2017-12-15T19:39:36","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T19:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/?page_id=14"},"modified":"2025-12-01T10:19:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:19:57","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas-Flyer Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve been flying since 2000, starting with ultralights and then I moved into experimental aircraft of different sorts. (Well, I actually started flying in 1969, but that’s another, much longer story.)\u00a0 This blog is a collection of stories and images I\u2019ve captured which I hope will enlighten and entertain.\u00a0 I am by no means an authority, but I\u2019ve had a lot of fun flying ultralights, experimental’s and LSA aircraft and hope the stories on this site can provide you with some interesting perspectives of flying very light aircraft.<\/p>\n

This cartoon exemplifies the kind of flying
\nI do\u2026 and the trouble I can get into!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in aviation, you should join the local EAA chapter, or other local flying club. You don\u2019t need to be a pilot or own an aircraft to participate. I\u2019m a member of the local EAA chapter, Chapter 347, and the local gyroplane club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re curious about the history of this site, please\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I hope you will enjoy reading the various Texas-Flyer
\nstories as shown at the left, under “STORIES”,
\nor linked below.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you are using a smaller screen, the stories can be found by clicking on the menu button above.\u00a0 I would greatly appreciate it if you will subscribe to the blog<\/strong>; you’ll get an email only if I post a new blog entry.\u00a0 And, finally, each story now allows for comments; feedback is always appreciated!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/caption>\n
Stories<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Recovering from a website crash…..<\/a><\/p>\n

2021<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

LSRC Fly-in 2021_<\/a>, Oct 16
\nCritters Lodge Fly-in 2021_<\/a>, Oct 9
\nMarch 2021 and flying to lunch!_<\/a>, Mar 30
\nFebruary 2021 and a Winter Storm_<\/a>, Feb 28
\nJanuary 2021_<\/a>, Jan 31<\/p>\n

2020<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A new home and the rest of 2020_<\/a>, Dec 31
\nFlying around the pandemic_<\/a>, Aug 31
\nValentine\u2019s Day Flight to Rockport_<\/a>, Feb 14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2019
\n<\/strong><\/span>
\nBoxing Day Flight_<\/a>, Dec 26
\nSky writing_<\/a>, Nov 19
\nKingsbury Aerodrome Fly-In 2019_<\/a>, Nov 9
\nUnder The Wire Fly-in 2019_<\/a>, Aug 29
\n4th of July Flight_<\/a>, Jul 4
\nCritters Lodge Fly-In_<\/a>, Apr 27
\nA different way back_<\/a>, Mar 26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2018<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My first annual_<\/a>, Dec 17, 2018 – Jan 20, 2019
\nWinter flight in the Cavalon_<\/a>, Dec 11
\nLunch at Brenham Airport_<\/a>, Dec 2
\nFlying with the Blue Angels_<\/a>, Oct 21
\nBack on the horse_<\/a>, Oct 14
\nFirst Cool Fall Flight 2018_<\/a>, Oct 11
\nAviation tools, Blogging tools_<\/a>, Jul 1
\nA Visit to Bailes_<\/a>, Jun 30
\nA Flight to the Dallas Area_<\/a>, Jun 22
\nFlying the corridor_<\/a>, Jun 3
\nADS-B_<\/a>, Jun 1
\nSun N Fun 2018_<\/a>, Apr 13-15
\nAerial photos of cyclists_<\/a>, Apr 11
\nGang aft agley_<\/a>, Mar 19
\n$38 Hamburger_<\/a>, Feb 26
\nFerrying My Cavalon_<\/a>, Jan 14
\nAll Kinds of Changes_<\/a>, Jan 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Want to know why there seems to be a 9-year gap between stories?\u00a0 Click here to read about the history of this site!<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2009<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Gyrocopter Transition Training_, Jun 16<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2008<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Short Flight With Jimmy Young_<\/a>, Jan 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2007<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

More Local Flying_<\/a>, Aug 25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2006<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Waller Flying_<\/a>, Sep 2
\nFerrying a Challenger_<\/a>, Aug 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Aventura’s Last Trip_<\/a>, Sep 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2004<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rick’s Crash_<\/a>, Mar 11
\nJohn’s CH701 Journey_<\/a>, Feb 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2003<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wimberly_<\/a>, Nov 29
\nScout Flyover_<\/a>, Oct 4
\nMustang Beach_<\/a>, Sep 6
\nMinnesota to Houston_<\/a>, May 24
\nThe Sandbar Landing_<\/a>, Jan 19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2002<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wharton For 4_<\/a>, Nov 23
\nCircumnavigating Houston_<\/a>, Oct 5
\nFerrying My New Plane, The Aventura_<\/a>, Aug 17
\nBolivar Peninsula_<\/a>, Jul 5
\nCalhoun County_<\/a>, Jun 7
\nBolivar Ferry and Lighthouse_<\/a>, May 19
\nSportFlyer Fly-In, Engine-Out_<\/a>, May 4
\nPierce Field_<\/a>, Matagorda Island, Apr 28
\nMS150 Bike Ride_<\/a>, Apr 20
\nThrough The Fog_<\/a>, Apr 13
\nA Big Day For Jim!_<\/a>, Apr 5
\nRoger’s Place_<\/a>, Mar 23<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2001<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My Rossi Trike_<\/a>, Jun 25
\nFlying In My Quicksilver_<\/a>, May 19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2000<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My Ultralight Training Experience_<\/a>, Oct 15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
art work Copyright 2025 by Robert Laird<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There is an article I wrote about beach flying that was published by Adventure Pilot magazine in 2005\u2026\u00a0 but they have ceased to be a magazine and have branched into aviation software, specifically, iFly GPS (an excellent piece of software!).\u00a0 But I resurrected the article and have made it available to you… you can read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About Me<\/strong><\/p>\n

My dad was a naval aviator, my oldest brother got his pilot’s license when he was 16, and I tried to follow in his place.\u00a0 So I originally did ground school and some flight hours when I was 16 but I was unable to continue at that time.\u00a0 Fast forward to the year 2000, and I found myself looking around for something I could do in Houston.\u00a0 (My previous avocation — cave diving — required lengthy trips to Florida, and a developing personal situation prevented me from making those trips.)<\/p>\n

From the ’70’s, I remembered that ultralight aircraft were at best unreliable, but in 2000 I wondered whether that was still true.\u00a0 As it turns out, it wasn’t!\u00a0 The technology and maturity had improved considerably, and kits were being made by people who knew about materials, aerodynamics, engines and other aspects, resulting in a much safer form of flying.\u00a0 So I found a local EAA ultralight club and started hanging around and asking questions.\u00a0 And reading.\u00a0 I did lots and lots and lots of reading and researching.\u00a0 I finally decided to take the plunge and found myself under the tutelage of John Wall out of Bailes Airport near Angleton, TX.\u00a0 You can read about my ultralight training here<\/a>.\u00a0 My 2nd-eldest brother, Jim — who plays a large part in my adventures — decided to join me in my training and several years of my adventures.<\/p>\n

After training, I promptly bought 50% of a used Quicksilver MXL; the other 50% was purchased by my brother, Jim.\u00a0 We both flew the Quicksilver in the local area until my sights were set on a Rossi trike (a flex-wing ultralight).\u00a0 After I bought the trike, Jim became the sole owner of the Quicksilver, and he and I were able to fly around together.\u00a0 That didn’t work out very well, however, since the trike was much faster than the Quicksilver, so Jim eventually upgraded by selling the Quicksilver and getting a single-seat Challenger.<\/p>\n

Not too much later, I decided trikes were not my thing, and moved on to a RANS S12-XL.\u00a0 Now we were more equal in performance and had many adventures flying together.\u00a0 \u00a0 Many times we flew down by the coast between Galveston and Matagorda Island, and my mind started thinking about all that water and how a seaplane would give me access to more places.\u00a0 Eventually, I moved up to a seaplane, the Aventura II.\u00a0 While I enjoyed having the seaplane, I could not find anyone to write insurance for me, so I felt uncomfortable flying it without some level of protection.<\/p>\n

In an effort to downsize the sunk-cost a bit, I sold the Aventura and bought a Kolb MkIII, and started doing some ultralight flight training in it — by this time I had received my UL instructor rating (BFI).\u00a0 The folding wings of the Kolb also made storing it at home a lot easier.\u00a0 \u00a0I thought the Kolb might be the last aircraft I would own but, at some point, I became enamoured with gyroplanes.\u00a0 (Actually, I had been enamoured with them since the late 50’s\/early 60’s!)\u00a0 But I found one — a single-seat UL gyroplane, the Gyrobee — that was inexpensive and would let me see if I liked that kind of flying or not.\u00a0 I didn’t want a repeat of my flex-wing experience.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, I loved it!\u00a0 To the almost total neglect of my Kolb, I ended up flying the Gyrobee a lot but, after a couple of years, I had to sell it because of some financial problems I was going through.\u00a0 I held on to the Kolb, though.\u00a0 Eventually, I did sell the Kolb (early 2017) and for the first time in 17 years, I was without an aircraft of some sort.<\/p>\n

Retiring brought me a windfall, and I had had my sights on a 2-seat, fully enclosed gyroplane: the Cavalon.\u00a0 In October 2017 I bought one (see photo below).\u00a0 Is this the end of the story?\u00a0 Who knows?\u00a0 I’ve been having fun figuring it out!<\/p>\n

The above description of my trajectory through many aircraft is just a summary.\u00a0 Some of the stories on this site go into more detail, and I encourage you to read them all.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Six of the seven aircraft I have owned<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you want to contact me, email me at:\u00a0 robert@texas-flyer.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Privacy Policy<\/strong>:\u00a0 This site is intended for educational and entertainment purposes.\u00a0 Any and all info provided by you — for example, to obtain a subscription to this site — will not be used for any other purpose than that intended, and will not be sold\/rented\/etc.\u00a0 Any\/all info, data, pictures, text, comments, names, etc. are stored within the WordPress environment on servers provided by a hosting service and are, as far as I can tell, secure from anyone but me seeing that data, except of course for the displayed stories\/pictures\/comments, which are available to the public.\u00a0\u00a0If you leave a comment on this site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.\u00a0\u00a0Also, if you leave a comment, the comment itself and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so I can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.\u00a0 \u00a0For site visitors that register on this website, I also store the personal information that you provide in your user profile.\u00a0 All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators (i.e., me) can also see and edit that information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

By default I do not collect any analytics data. However, my hosting service may collect some anonymous analytics data.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0— originally created Dec 15, 2017<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been flying since 2000, starting with ultralights and then I moved into experimental aircraft of different sorts. (Well, I actually started flying in 1969, but that’s another, much longer story.)\u00a0 This blog is a collection of stories and images I\u2019ve captured which I hope will enlighten and entertain.\u00a0 I am by no means an … Continue reading Texas-Flyer Blog<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":91,"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5099,"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions\/5099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texas-flyer.com\/newblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}