One of the other great loves

Number One, my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Number Two, my bride Sherelene and the wonderful family she has given me. Number three the great brothers, sisters, and friends God has blessed me with. Number Four is a tie, Photography and Flying.

From the time I was a little boy, I wanted to be a pilot. Twelve years ago I decided to learn to fly ultra lights after seeing the movie, Fly Away Home. Wesley, my middle child, and I, decided to do a book on America from 500 feet in the air. That was how it all started. The airplane above, (yes it is an airplane, it took off, flew, and landed), was my first that I flew for any length of time. I started training in Cessnas and for a short time flew a tail dragger Kolb ultra light. An unfortunate crash ended my love affair with the Kolb. It wasn’t the Kolb’s fault, pilot error.

Anyway, I transitioned to the Microlight above. This is a French Air Creation Fun Racer. This is a true Part 103 ultra light. That means it weighs less than 254 lbs., holds only 5 gallons of fuel, and is flown by a single occupant. This little guy was a blast to fly, slow and easy to control, it took me on great adventures, all over America.

Almost a decade later I got my next
plane, a Hughes Aero Predator
Powered Parachute. This was the plane
I used for the second book, America
From 500 Feet II. The PPC was also
a great way to enjoy the wonder of
flight. Floating at a slow 30 mph
over the trees and deserts was always
a thrill, and hey if a problem happened
the parachute was already open!
No problem ever did though.

The next plane should arrive next week
and the adventure begins anew. I’ve
shown one very much like it below.

I tell you all this to say that a scripture
that is very dear to me, is real and true.
“Seek first the Kingdom of God
and all these things will be added
unto you, even the desires of your
heart.”

I believe and scripture teaches us that
God loves us more than we could
ever know or understand. I believe that he also wants us to have great joy in our lives. I think in my case, He knew that my great desire to fly was in keeping with His will for me. For many years I’ve wondered why He chose to bless me with this dream. After countless talks to various kinds of groups I came to realize that my aerial adventures gave me one more interesting thing to use to reach out to others in His name and for His glory. Audiences will sit in rapt attention to tales of aerial adventures only to find me sharing how much I love the Lord as part of the talk.

Isn’t it so like God that He
could answer our most
personal prayers and at
the same time bring Glory
to His Kingdom. Then
again we are talking about
God, why shouldn’t He be
able to do anything He
desires. Of course He can,
and does.

I don’t think that God re-
wards us because we
deserve it, He blesses us
because He loves us.

Every time I take off I know that I’m rising up into the sky closer to Him, physically and spiritually.

Today’s Prayer: Father, thank you for blessing me in so many ways, and thank you for understanding my great desires and making it possible for me to realize them.

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: The top images was shot on film F100 camera, the PPC shot was made by my brother, Mark Kettenhofen, D300 and the 17-55 AFS lens, the last shot was courtesy of Wings of Freedom the builder of my new Phoenix 103.

Post Script: It took until I was over fifty years old to realize this dream. One of the little ideas that arrived in my head during the first book project was that since I was now excitedly a pilot, I wanted to master all three kinds of ultra lights; Trikes (top image), Powered Parachutes, and three axis (conventional type airplanes). With this last plane, one more dream will become a reality.
I have over two hundred hours in the first two types and now will start to build hours in the third.