Flying USA – August 2019

42 | AUGUST 2019 FLYINGMAG.COM

Frictions in our lives define us, not

at face value but rather by the path

we cut through them. It is our innate

and pure ability to navigate without

exceeding our personal critical angles

of attack and stalling into terra firma

that makes us resilient. To be a pilot

is to be a problem solver; to leave the

ground is to be a dreamer. To soar in

absolution means overcoming the

pull of life’s gravity and engaging the

clouds in a timeless dance of divinity.

I grew up out west near Lake Tahoe

in a small mountain town, a kid with

big dreams. I had a positivity-filled

perspective on life and an ever-present

disdain for the knowledge that my feet

were planted to the ground. Perhaps it

was the 1986 movie Rad that inspired

my lifelong friend Duncan Lee and

me to commit decades to the athletic

art of leaving terra firma, if only f leet-

ingly, by jumping bikes, snow skis,

personal watercraft, motorcycles and

eventually snowmobiles. Perhaps it

was a line in our hard-wired code that

compelled us to lift our eyes sky ward.

Either way, the stage was set for life’s

inevitable rotation speed.

Months after receiving my driver’s

license, on a whim, my dad, Larry,

arranged for a flight in a Bell 206

JetRanger. The experience would

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As human beings, we’re constantly evaluating

our paths—our dreams, our fears and the simple truth

that fulfillment always lies just beyond the veil of what

we perceive our limitations to be.

Below: Grant began flight training in a

Beechcraft C-23 Sundowner.

Opposite: Aviators in the wild: Grant, Galen

Gifford, and their instructor and flight

mentor, Chris Barbera, aka “Charlie Bravo.”