Welcome to my web site.  It has several facets.  I am busy writing and taking aerial photographs.   Click on the links below to get to any of these topics.

Pictures of some selected subjects

Egypt Ferry Trip

Corn Mazes 

Steamboats on Lake Eustis, Florida

See my photos on dreamstime stock photography site 

See the flyer on the latest AMERICAN adventure novel written rather loosely with me as a central character.  THE Great American Novel

See my photos of the University of Virginia Women's Rowing team on the St. Johns River  Virginia Rowing Team

See the photos taken in January,2009 of the All-American Rowers on the St. Johns River.

For the moment, this part of the site is primarily about my "Vulture", a Turbine Legend kit plane which lost its virginity and overall looks during the construction phase.    It took two and a half years to build the plane (about five man years).  The Legend originally had a big (huge) scoop, like the P-51, which housed an oil cooler for the big-block piston engine.  No real airplane should have an automotive engine in it unless it is a Rolls Royce!  Doug Karlsen of Turbine Design was good enough to furnish the kit builder with a turbine and engine mount, betting on the come, and the plane was then forever a turbine.  The kit builder, from Kansas, immediately reverse engineered the engine mount and began offering his own engines.  Not very ethical.  He was also very unresponsive during the construction phase and we essentially wrote the construction manual during construction of the first two kits to fly.  He is now selling a highly hyped kit and is not to be believed.

One of the main problems I ran into while trying to sell the Vulture was the persistent rumor, reported by other Legend owners, that I had aileron flutter in my airplane.  Not true!  Never happened, obviously.  The problems that other owners apparently had with aeleron flutter were avoided in my plane by a change in design.  The others may still have a problem.  Ask them.

From the left on the instrument panel, we have the switches for lights, avionics, pitot heat, gear selector and uplock magnet switches.  Moving inward, we have the transponder, audio panel (Garmin), Icom transceiver with flip-flop, Garmin 430, Angle of Attack meter, STec autopilot, and a volt/amp meter.  The JPL fuel-flow meter is over the vacuum DG.  STec HSI next to that and above the Echo Flight StratoCheeta Flight Manager.  This latter GPS gets DTN weather from the OrbCom satellites and shows NexRad radar, Metars (on screen and text) and winds (on screen and text).  It also has terrain avoidance with the antennae and mountains shown clearly.  Neat for a low approach under VFR.  It is also updated with the approach plates every 56 or whatever days.  Above that is the altimeter, airspeed, and instant VSI.  There is a chip detector, some engine instruments, and the major instrument cluster for the Walter 601-D turbine.  To the right is the fuel interrupter for starting, the vacuum gauge, and the engine switches.  Oxygen is from a fiber tank in the fuselage and feeds two Mountain High oxygen systems.  I get roughly 50 hours out of 500 psi and I run the oxygen from sea level on up.  Can't hurt.  Gauges are present to convert to full-face mask if desired but my experience is that you don't need it.  The turbine is most efficient at 22,000 feet.

This gives you an idea of the frontal profile.  It is like a greased bar of soap!  Very narrow but with 29 inches at the shoulders in the cockpit.  Visibility to the front, low, is not great.  An approach speed of 120 knots on final, coming on with the flaps as you come down the steep final provides good visibility and the flare is not difficult.  Speed bleeds off quickly and I usually touch down at about 80 knots.  Going into Beta just after touchdown limits the rollout just fine.

I had over $500K in it when I finished and sold it.  The plane had 300 hours on it, The Diemech/Walter Turbine and Avia prop had 100 hours (about) since IRAN by John Cook of Diemech Turbines.  108 gallons of fuel, which I figured at 100 gallons usable.  The range is about 500 NM with an easy 30 minutes left.  Consumption is about 32 gph at 265 to 275 knots, 39 gph at about 285 to 290 kts, and 42 at something in the range of 290 to 305 knots.  The new owner is flying the hell out of it and reports great satisfaction.