Joe Shepherd is "the man".  A retired Northwest Airlines Captain with over 30 years experience, his aviation roots began in General Aviation, where they remain.  He was a CFI for a while before signing on with Northwest.  After retiring, he quickly returned to General Aviation.  I'm told this is a bit of an anomaly, as many retired airline pilots hang it up altogether, preferring not to go back to the little airplanes.  Not so with Joe...

As many of you may know, there has been a show of my work at Georgia's second-largest museum, the Tellus Science Museum, since the First of June.  It is a chronological timeline of aviation history, depicted in images beginning with the Wright Flyer, up to the present day F-22 fighter plane.  Contrary to public opinion, I was not present for the Wright Flyer image, so I can take no credit for it.  However, I was able to photograph a Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" that is nearing restoration just outside of Atlanta.  The first image in the show, it is a  detail shot of the cockpit, complete with antique instruments.

It is not often that one has the opportunity to literally “step back into history”, but that chance occurred this last week when EAA’s B-17 Aluminum Overcast was in town on it’s fall tour stop. I got up early (twice!) to make photos as the first light of day broke over the horizon. Not only was it possible to take a “ground tour” of the aircraft, but it was also possible to take a half-hour ride.