My youngest son, Brian, is a long-distance runner. He ran across the United States in 1998. Having crossed dozens of states he then decided that every summer he would lay out a course of 300 to 400 miles and set a goal to run across each of the 50 states by the age of 50. […]

My great, great, great-grandfather Ebenezer Fletcher Stark married Lovisa Dibble in 1823. The Dibble family, originally from Aurelius, New York, had first settled in 1811 in Frenchtown, Michigan, where the River Raisin empties into Lake Erie. They had just established their farm, 75-acres purchased with $175 they had received from selling their property in New […]

Flying airplanes in conditions of zero visibility is doable. Due to Instrument capability, navigation aids, and ground-controlled coordination, flights in such conditions are being routinely practiced by commercial and military aircraft. However, it is the physiological human factors that conflict with instrument precision that so often result in the deaths of non-professional pilots. “Flying by […]

The Kirby Risk Electrical Supply Company was founded in 1926, by my former father-in-law, Mr. Kirby Risk. I joined the company in 1971 after his son, Jim Risk, became president. The company at that time was small, having 35 long-time employees, doing three million in sales. Jim had interest in aggressive growth and needed some […]

A number of years ago when thinking about once again doing some stunt flying, I thought it would be prudent to brush up on my Navy aerobatic flying skills. I found a flight instructor in Madison, Indiana, who had a Super Decathlon and offered aerobatic training. The Decathlon, stressed for aerobatics, was a small aircraft […]