Greg Brown: Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago -Ride along with renowned aviator, writer, and photographer Greg Brown in his light airplane, the "Flying Carpet," as he searches behind clouds for the real America, experiencing countless aerial adventures along the way.
A former National Flight Instructor of the Year, Greg is author of five books, a former Barnes & Noble Arizona Author of the Month, and recently completed twenty years as aviation adventure columnist for AOPA Flight Training magazine. Some reviewers have compared his book, "Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane," to sixties road-trip classics like "On the Road," and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
Says aviation author and humorist Rod Machado: “Greg thinks with the mind of a pilot, questions with the curiosity of a philosopher, and sees with the eyes of a poet.”
Observes Nina Bell Allen, former “Readers Digest” Asst. Managing Editor, "You don't have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in [his] Flying Carpet."
So buckle in and join Greg for the ride!
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Episodes
Time Travel
April 15, 2024 21:00 - 37 minutes - 25.6 MBOne thing I love about flying is that there are so many dimensions to it. It might be as simple as going from point a to point B... For a meeting... Or a "hundred-dollar hamburger." But sometimes piloting takes you mystically and magically to faraway places—spiritually or across time. And that's what this story is about. So climb into my Flying Carpet, buckle up your seatbelts and prepare to takeoff on today's adventure, "Time Travel." Greg Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcar...
Eclipse!
March 25, 2024 01:00 - 24 minutes - 16.7 MBAs I record this, we’re just two weeks away from the 2024 total solar eclipse that will come up through Mexico and cross much of the Midwest and eastern United States. I suspect that many of you plan on flying to see this eclipse, but if you’re not, you probably should be. Plenty of people have experienced a partial solar eclipse, and a few have experienced an annular solar eclipse. But if you’ve never experienced a total solar eclipse, it’s so much more exciting and so much more memora...
iPads, Icing, & Restricted Airspace!
December 16, 2023 23:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBOne thing I’ve learned over many years of piloting is that rarely can we plan a flight, take off, and then not need to worry about anything until we reach our destination. More often than not, circumstances arise before takeoff and en route that require planning, strategy, and tactics to get us safely where we’re going . A big part of this, too, is being prepared to land at any point… To turn around. To land at an inconvenient airport that might even be unattended. But if we’re not willing ...
Cowpunchers Reunion: Rough Flight Home
October 15, 2023 18:00 - 16 minutes - 11.8 MBYou may remember meeting my cowboy buddy "Baldy" way back in Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #2, “Cowboy Pilot,” in which Jean and I were first invited to the annual "Arizona Cowpuncher’s Reunion." If you don’t remember that episode, or haven’t heard it, you might want to get to know Baldy via that episode before starting this one. Regardless, I predict you’ll get a kick joining our flying adventure to attend a unique “working cowboys” rodeo, and experiencing our piloting travails flying there...
Bad Omen
July 10, 2023 02:00 - 15 minutes - 11 MBThere are many dimensions to piloting adventure: some are scary, most are educational, but all are memorable! Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Lobe Plays Sedona; Skies Filled with Music
March 19, 2023 01:00 - 15 minutes - 11 MB“Lobe Plays Sedona; Skies filled with music.” Along with cockpit thrills and challenges, plenty of piloting adventure arises from where flying can deliver us, both physically and spiritually. That’s what today’s episode is about. Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Vertigo!
December 10, 2022 23:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MBSome Lessons a Pilot Never Forgets "So this must be vertigo." I thought. Nausea circled my gut like the snowflakes orbiting my propeller. I peered out the windshield for landmarks, but snow obscured all but a tiny spot of ground beneath me, even at an altitude of only a thousand feet. To make matters worse, my navigational radio had obviously failed. How could I possibly have drifted so far off course as it suggested, on a flight of only 40 miles? It was almost Christmas, and I was a y...
Red Sports Car for a Day
November 18, 2022 20:00 - 14 minutes - 10.3 MBRide along on Greg's youthful adventures in airplanes and automobiles! Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Fifty Years Aloft
October 06, 2022 01:00 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MBI was recently awarded the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, for 50 years of safe piloting. It’s mind-boggling to consider how short the history of aviation is, that I should have personally flown for over 40% of the entire history of powered flight! In this episode I reflect on how general aviation flying has changed since I took to the skies in 1972. What’s more, today’s story kicks off a whole series of future episodes sharing many more cockpit adventures from those five decad...
Talking Spirits
August 17, 2022 00:00 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MBPiloting is a sophisticated activity that requires a good deal of training, hand-eye coordination, planning, and application of judgment. But today’s episode focuses more on spiritual aspects of flying--that is, why we do it, rather than how we do it, and it's topped off by a crazy destination. This story is one of my personal favorites, and I hope you’ll enjoy it. Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, snug up your seatbelts, and prepare for takeoff on today’s adventure, “Talking S...
Captain Midnight
April 17, 2022 01:00 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MBAs you’ve likely heard, the final Learjet was recently delivered following almost 60 years of production. I was a kid when the Lear 23 was first introduced in 1964. Although a few other corporate jets were flying by then, most companies still motored around in relatively slow, unpressurized piston airplanes, many of them repurposed WWII-era bombers and freighters. The Lear was so sleek, sexy, and fast in comparison that it seemingly arrived from the future, revolutionizing air travel as ...
Backstory: Flight Instructor Hall of Fame
April 05, 2022 00:00 - 14 minutes - 9.75 MBEvery aviator develops mutually rewarding relationships with the flight instructors delivering his or her wings. Well, here’s the backstory of one of those relationships, that over 22 years led to the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame. It’s a story every pilot will appreciate. Read my 1999 NAFI Mentor column referenced in the Podcast. Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Share Your Gift of Flight! (updated)
October 31, 2021 20:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBTips and tricks for introducing family and friends to general aviation flying, including some hysterical stories about how NOT to do it! Learn how to treat family and friends to their critical first airplane rides, to ensure that they enjoy themselves and want to fly with you again. Heads up that this is a live recording of a talk given several years ago, meaning audio quality is somewhat variable. But if you’ll stick with me I promise some great tips, along with some fun stories pilots a...
Share Your Gift of Flight!
October 31, 2021 20:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBTips and tricks for introducing family and friends to general aviation flying, including some hysterical stories about how NOT to do it! Learn how to treat family and friends to their critical first airplane rides, to ensure that they enjoy themselves and want to fly with you again. Heads up that this is a live recording of a talk given several years ago, meaning audio quality is somewhat variable. But if you’ll stick with me I promise some great tips, along with some fun stories pilots a...
Pilgrimage to Oshkosh!
July 27, 2021 19:00 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MBEveryone knows this is Oshkosh AirVenture Fly-in week, right? Well, grab your logbook, 'cause it's time for "Pilgrimage to Oshkosh," Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast #18. Whether you're at AirVenture now or just wish you were, I promise you cross-country time, some laughs, and a fresh perspective! So hop in the Flying Carpet with me, and we’ll go check it out! Greg PS: If you enjoy this podcast, please share with friends! Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/...
"Parlez-vous Anglais?"
June 21, 2021 00:00 - 19 minutes - 13.7 MBEver wonder what it would be like, flying yourself into a foreign country where pilot communications are transmitted in an unknown-to-you language? Well, here's your opportunity to find out! This episode marks fifty years of a treasured friendship, arising under unusual circumstances from a long-ago foreign adventure, and continued over the years through Flying Carpet adventures like this one! Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrow...
Parlez-vous Anglais?
June 21, 2021 00:00 - 20 minutes - 14 MBEver wonder what it would be like, flying yourself into a foreign country where pilot communications are transmitted in an unknown-to-you language? Well, here's your opportunity to find out! This episode marks fifty years of a treasured friendship, arising under unusual circumstances from a long-ago foreign adventure, and continued over the years through Flying Carpet adventures like this one!
World War I in the Air!
May 18, 2021 17:00 - 31 minutes - 21.8 MBEver wonder what it was like to fly primitive airplanes into battle in World War I? Well, here’s your opportunity to find out! “The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is its soul,” ⸺Sir Walter Raleigh, The War in the Air, 1922 (Music by Hannis Brown) Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Birthday Flowers
March 13, 2021 17:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MBWhen celebrating birthdays with zeros in them, flowers alone won’t do it. So when Jean marked a new decade I sought somewhere special we could fly to celebrate. “But it seems weird celebrating a big birthday in Death Valley,” she said... Check out the photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com ! (Music by Hannis Brown) Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Realm of the Ancients
February 07, 2021 03:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MBExperience archaeology by Flying Carpet: Earning your wings is more than piloting an airplane; it's about where flying can take you! Don't miss this episode's photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com ! (Music by Hannis Brown) Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Mayhem Beneath Our Wings
January 07, 2021 23:00 - 12 minutes - 8.57 MB“Look!” said my wife with horror. “There’s been a terrible crash!” Glancing downward, there was just time for me to glimpse carnage on Highway 202, the Red Mountain Freeway east of Phoenix. A few hundred feet beneath us, flames and blackened vehicles littered the roadway as we crossed low on final approach to land at Falcon Field. See photos at episode website. (Music by Hannis Brown) Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCar...
Ghost of Christmas Flights Past
December 24, 2020 19:00 - 7 minutes - 5.57 MBHere's an audio holiday card to you and your family, direct from the cockpit of the Flying Carpet! It's been a mighty tough year, between pandemic, politics, and world problems, so from our family to yours, we hope this little audio card will brighten your holiday season, whatever your heritage or faith. May the coming year mark happier times for all of us! Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com...
Inches of Runway
December 19, 2020 16:00 - 17 minutes - 12 MBGrab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #12, “Inches of Runway!” Because wind is invisible, it rarely seems as threatening as other weather when you’re flight planning, especially under clear skies. But as every pilot learns, wind is real; like other weather features it can be helpful or hazardous. Consider, for example, a 65-knot (75mph) headwind…! See photos at the episode website. Music by Hannis Brown Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/...
Vulture's Prey
November 29, 2020 17:00 - 17 minutes - 12.1 MBThe saga of the Lobe Band Bus, rescued by Flying Carpet. "You could always circle it on the way back, like a vulture!" See photos at the episode website! Music by Hannis Brown. Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Long Journey North
November 12, 2020 20:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBGrab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #10, “Long Journey North.” Jean and I are often asked, “Is there one aerial journey that stands out above the rest, in all your decades of flying?” Well yes there is, and this is it -- an extended Flying Carpet trek from Arizona to Northern Minnesota, to attend a funeral. There’s no single event that made it memorable, but rather a long cross-the-country adventure filled with all sorts of challenging and wacky and beaut...
Flying the Mists of Time
October 25, 2020 00:00 - 14 minutes - 9.85 MBEver heard of anyone sowing terror from a tiny 2-seat Cessna 150 trainer? Well, grab your logbook ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #9, “Flying the Mists of Time,” about a little-known aviation event leading up to one of the US's most heinous terrorist acts. Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Painted into a Corner
October 09, 2020 00:00 - 14 minutes - 9.89 MBGrab your logbook ‘cause it’s time for Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #8, “Painted into a Corner,” about a scary flight, facing down thunderstorms in dark of night! Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Snipe Hunt!
September 27, 2020 00:00 - 13 minutes - 9.2 MBGrab your logbook, ‘cause it’s time for Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #7, “Snipe Hunt!” Those who savor old cars, grass strips, and the aroma of rotisserie chicken, will love this episode. And don't miss the photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com, including "the wolf in sheep's clothing!" Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Wildfire! How an Airport Helped Save a Town
September 07, 2020 23:00 - 13 minutes - 9.47 MBThis account of how one airport helped save a town from wildfires, is presented as a tribute to the countless Wildland Firefighters, in the air and on the ground, and the teams and airports supporting them, currently battling record wildfires across North America and the world. Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Ode to Night Currency
August 21, 2020 23:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MBEven after decades of piloting, night landings remain tough, beautiful, a little scary, and immensely rewarding. But just 30 minutes aloft displace all the preflight fears and apprehensions with just a single thought: CAN YOU BELIEVE WE GET TO DO THIS?! Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Sky King & the Old Apache
August 08, 2020 22:00 - 16 minutes - 11.8 MB“The roaring powerplant and squealing tires soon brought my instructor scrambling from the office.” Rancher-pilot Sky King of the legendary 1950s TV program intersects with the wackiest checkride of Greg's piloting career. Music by Hannis Brown Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
Old Pals and N-Numbers
July 23, 2020 20:00 - 13 minutes - 9.71 MBLike fond memories of long-ago lovers, beloved airplanes resurface occasionally from quiet corners of a pilot’s mind. We hear the last three digits of some familiar N-number and are flooded with reminiscences. But rarely do the abbreviated call signs used in routine communications fully match the numbers of actual steeds we once flew — especially when 1500 miles and thirty years have passed under the wings. Along the way, you'll learn how Greg's airplane, the Flying Carpet, earned her name...
Cowboy Pilot
July 11, 2020 23:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MB"I much prefer aircraft accidents to being bucked by a horse!" Meet Greg's colorful cowboy-pilot buddy, Baldy, in the northern Arizona ranching town of Seligman. Good times guaranteed! (See associated photos at GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com) Music by Hannis Brown Support the show https://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/GregBrownFlyingCarpet/ https://www.instagram.com/gregbrownflyingcarpet/
New Beginnings; Return to Flight
June 23, 2020 23:00 - 14 minutes - 9.71 MBDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us aviators have been sitting around the past many months just wishing we were in the air, rather than launching skyward where we'd much prefer to be. This story, New Beginnings; Return to Flight, originated when all US civilian aircraft were grounded following the 9/11 terrorism tragedy. Back then, as now, pilots were suddenly grounded with no idea of when, if ever, they might return to the sky. But eventually that special day did arrive when aviators...