Tom Writes: "After the Peace Corps I worked
as a photographer for several television stations in D.C.
I got married and had a son, who is now 32 and
living in LA.
Many odd jobs later I became a cartographer. Then
I put myself through a curriculum of flight instruction and started
flying for aerial surveyors on my own, and doing flight instruction
and other flying jobs.
Now I work and fly for AOPA
Pilot magazine. I married again in 1998, and now live in New
Market, Maryland, which is a small town west of Baltimore.
I went back to Thailand in 1996 when I delivered
a brand-new light-twin airplane from Florida to Bangkok. It took
seven days and I went by a route you certainly can't fly today--i.e.
over southern Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman. I was very
excited to leave Madras on the last leg to Bangkok--Don Muang. Night
fell as I crossed that small southern extension of Burma/Myanmar.
I could smell the fires on the surface, and see them on the ground.
Getting close to Don Muang, I recalled the last time I was there,
a lifetime ago. Longhouses with corrugated tin rooves made up the
"terminal buildings" back in 1969. As the airport came
into view I was quite surprised to see that the airport was huge,
and very modern. I left the plane there and stayed at the customer's
hotel for the next few days. Saw the sights. Bangkok sure has changed!
"
Tom is the author of "Flying
America's Weather" a book that explains the climates and
weather phenomenon that can be found in every region of the U.S.,
in every season. He is also the winner of the Earl D. Osborn Award
for Excellence in Aviation Journalism. More
information on Tom |
