“Stop staring at the instrument panel,” my flight instructor said, finger pointing to the blue stretch of sky beyond the windshield. “Everything that makes flying worth it is...

I’ve penned Lessons from the Cockpit for over four years and in all those posts I don’t believe I’ve written one as important as this. If I’ve cultivated any major life philosophy over the years, this is it…

As I neared my speaking venue, I suddenly regretted not making time to wash my car. The thin film of dust on the vehicle’s black hood looked even worse through my…

Six years ago, three friends and I spent a week paddling fifty miles in canoes on the Green River. The stretch of water winds through…

A week ago Friday I found myself at an urgent care facility with my 8-year-old, Cort. Less than 20 minutes before, we’d been at the ballpark waiting for…

Inspirational speaker and award-winning author Janae Bower co-hosts a blog currently featuring an A-to-Z series on spirituality. This week's letter is "C"—as in Christopher—and Janae has…

Aviators come from all walks of life with wildly varied personalities. But one thing I’ve noticed is, they all tell great stories. Typically, the longer they’ve been flying, the grander the…

If you read Don’t Look Back, you know I don’t spend much time fretting about the past. I’ve made enough stupid mistakes to fret over—trust me on this—but I try not to get…

One of my favorite jobs ever was lifeguarding at a developmental center for people with intellectual disabilities. The two men I remember most taught me opposite lessons about strength.

On our first day working for Mr. Bowden, we nearly burned down his mobile home park. What he did next is why I worked for him three more years.

I had a bad moment on the stern of a Navy destroyer, and then the single most beautiful thing I've ever seen came over the horizon.

I was a father of young boys, halfway through flight training, and ready to quit. So I asked for a sign. What came back was a rake handle to the face.

I found myself immersed in a sea of people last week, adrift in the ebb and flow of humanity at O’Hare Airport. Sometimes it felt as if I was swimming against a current, a riptide of passengers intent on…

When a caterpillar emerges from a chrysalis, does it know it has become a butterfly capable of flight, or does it make a leap of faith from the empty husk? I not sure we’ll ever learn the answer, but…

Someone once asked me if my airplane had a rearview mirror. While it might be useful for keeping an eye on the kids in the back seats, there’s…

For those that read Weather or Not, you know I planned to fly myself to Atlanta for the weekend. The universe apparently had another idea for me since a wicked line of thunderstorms barreled through the…

I’ve been thinking about the weather lately. This weekend, I’ll fly my plane to Atlanta to join my…

We repeat the phrase without ever hearing it. Underneath is a harder question—who taught you where your ceiling was?

I’ll let you in on a secret, but don’t laugh. Well… you can laugh, but try not to do it in front of me. Here goes: the reason I learned to fly an airplane was because…

This might come as a shocker, but aviation weather forecasters don’t always get it right. The accuracy level they’ve achieved in recent years is phenomenal, but you can bet there are times when…