I've topped the winds-swept heights where never Lark or even Eagle flew...

Milestones in my aviation experience

My first flying lesson was on March 10, 1986 at Ithaca, NY in a Cessna 150. I logged 21 flight hours before heading off to Navy flight training in Pensacola, FL.
First solo was on July 8, 1986

“A pilot’s business is with the wind, with the stars, with sand, with the sea. He strives to outwit the forces of nature. He stares with expectancy for the coming of dawn the way a gardener awaits the coming of spring. He looks forward to port as to a promised land, and truth for him is what lives in the stars.” ‘

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1939

“Wind, Sand, Stars”

First flight for the Navy on May 20, 1987
First Navy solo in T-34C July 1, 1987

First carrier landings on April 7, 1988 on board the USS Lexington (AVT-16) in a T-2C 'Buckeye'

Earned my private glider rating on July 26, 1987 in Pensacola, FL.

Earned my wings as Naval Aviator on October 7, 1988 in the TA-4J 'Skyhawk' in Meridian, MS

Last flight as Navy pilot on October 12, 1989

First flight in Long-EZ on March 1, 1990
Purchased Long-EZ N13YV on March 2, 1990
First Flight in Long-EZ N13YV on March 3,1990

First airshow performance on August 1, 1992 at Seafair in Seattle, WA
Unrestricted Low Altitude waiver on February 23, 1996
Earned Air Transport Pilot rating on August 19, 1998
Flew last airshow performance at Salinas, CA on October 3, 1999

Standing in front of the T-34C right after my first Navy solo

Invictus on the ramp with N3006V in Ithaca, NT (1994), the plane in which I did my initial solo

Posing with the Blanik at the Coastal Soaring Association in Pensacola, FL

Posing with my two training jets, the T-2C ‘Buckeye’ and TA-4J ‘Skyhawk’ at NAS Meridian, MS

4-ship of Prowlers over the San Juan Islands in August, 1989

Me with the Prowler in July 1989

Invictus over Rushmore in 2001

Shot from the Arlington Airshow, July 1999

Summary:(as of 11/27/15)

Ratings: ATP-MEL, COML-SEL and COML-SES, Private-Glider, CFI, CFII, CFME
Flight time, including military time:

3,737 hours in all aircraft types

570 hours at night
643 hours instrument (actual and simulated)
347 hours in formation

10 carrier traps as pilot, 14 traps as passenger (4 at night - sign of insanity)
2,225+ hours in Long-EZ N13YV
Checked out in 61 aircraft types
130 airshow performances in 15 states and 5 provinces