All this work and what did it get me? Why did I do it?
I remember very vividly what got me hooked on aviation. You ever FEEL the thunder on an SR-71 Blackbird engine in your chest as it does an afterburner test? Ever FEEL the pressure wave hit you in the face 3 times in a row as the Space Shuttle comes in to land? I have had the honor and privilege :) It's something that sticks with you forever.
Back in the early 90s, the Golden Age of Aviation was at its Apex. 9/11/01 was not even a POSSIBILITY in people's minds. Our parents were so PROUD of what the country had accomplished. The science, the tech, the medicine. They wanted their kids to see it all! LOOK! LOOK at your future! And I gotta say, it was a very bright looking future indeed.
As a child, I was able to walk around all sorts of air bases and space labs. Palmdale, Edwards AFB, JPL, Miramar (Top Gun!!), North Island (Top Gun again!). All of it.
I know the world is a different place now. But if you have the opportunity to show your kiddos something EXTRAORDINARY, please: take the day off work and go experience it with your family :)
From WR‑23 to Skylab
The dream started as a fictional airframe—WR‑23, a storm-chasing ghost bird born of stealth and science fiction. She was meant to pierce typhoons and log data at the edge of chaos. A thought experiment, a flight of engineering fantasy.
But as time passed, the concept evolved. I looked at real birds. The ones already built to be tough. The ones that flew when no one else would. The firefighting tankers, the SAR amphibians, the cold-war patrol planes that refused to die. And one day... I saw the Albatross.
A Grumman seaplane. A survivor. A hero of a different age—built for the sea, the sky, and the impossible in-between. It wasn’t just a platform. It was the answer.
Legacy in Motion
This project isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about continuity. It’s about honoring the people who made the skies feel limitless—and building something that keeps that feeling alive for the next generation.
Skylab will be a flying science vessel. A mobile classroom. A cargo hauler for precious artifacts. A recording device in the sky. A kid’s first glimpse of a spinning prop and the roar of turbines. It's something extraordinary—something you can take your kid to and say: “That’s what hope looks like when it flies.”