In undergraduate pilot training, no one ever mentioned an “autopilot.” Looking back on it, it makes sense that a student pilot ought to have to fly the plane by him/herself. However, after getting my wings, it did not take long for me to meet “George.” Why “George,” you ask? Most agree the name came from the man who invented the autopilot, George DeBeeson, around 1931. Some believe “George” is a reference from the Royal Air Force in World War Two to the “owner” of the new inv

“Hey, Mom, guess who’s coming to dinner?” That may have been the question Peter’s wife asked her mother when Peter invited the Lord Jesus, James and John into her home. The problem was Peter’s mother-in-law was very ill. When Jesus arrived, He did not bring a bouquet of flowers from Harris Teeter — he brought His love and His power. “He took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her.” (Mark 1: 31) In that brief moment, we see the compassion and the power of the

I have several questions that I would like answered when I get to heaven. Some are very serious about disease, pestilence and violence. Some are kind of funny, like “Why did You make an armadillo?” (My answer is “To torment the Texans,” but there might be a better answer.) Noah will have to answer questions like “Could you not have left ‘the following’ animals and insects behind?” Actually, I believe heaven will be so beautiful and wonderful that my list of questions will be

I will never forget the first time I was scheduled to fly at night. I was a student pilot at Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas, in 1969. We were flying the “Tweet” — the Cessna T-37 jet trainer. It sounded like fun until we realized the scheduler said we all had to report for the preflight briefing at 2100 hours (that’s 9:00 p.m. … at night!) The next question was “why?” Without meaning to be irreverent, someone said, “If God had wanted us to fly at night, He would have

Before I was a chaplain, I was a pilot. I flew the Super Constellation, EC-121 and the Super Jolly Green Giant, HH-53. The “Connie” was a big four-engine propeller-driven airplane that was used for Airborne Early Warning and Control when I was flying it in the 1970s. The “Jolly” was a big helicopter used to rescue downed aircrew members in Vietnam. One of the exciting parts of flying both airplanes was instrument flying — flying “in the clouds.” Whether flying a big, multi-en