Lane Wallace

** Click here to see the “Turbulance in Congo” photo gallery** “If we’re lucky, we’ll actually see the volcanoes today,” Cindy Silong says as we make our way through the murky gray skies of southeastern Uganda. Frankly, I’ll consider myself lucky if I see anything clearly today. There’s an overcast just above us, and we’re […]

** Click here to see the photo gallery** The first sign that I’ve left modern civilization-and whatever thin veneer of order might accompany it-appears as I try to exit baggage claim and customs at the international airport in N’Djamena, Chad. I walk through the customs doorway into the terminal lobby and suddenly find myself in […]

It’s the calmness with which they tell the tales that’s most striking. “One time I flew unconscious for an hour and a half. I lost my oxygen from shrapnel and passed out. I came to out of gas, with the engine dead, and in a spin.” “When I got shot down the second time, I […]

Clich here to view the Desert Caravan photo gallery The tiny desert strip of Julud is receding below the Caravan’s wheels, and I’m beginning to breathe a little easier. With its 2,000-foot elevation, a rough and almost indiscernible dirt runway that changes heading more than 10 degrees in its 750-meter length, a tall ridgeline close […]

The sun is not up yet in Afton, Wyoming, and the last I checked, the temperature was reading 10 degrees. Fahrenheit. I pull on two layers of long underwear, ski pants, turtleneck, a wool sweater, two pairs of socks and the Sorel boots and huge down parka-remnants from my old Minnesota days-that I dragged out […]

The week was not going well. My landlord had accidentally cut down my flowering plum tree. Huge roadblocks had sprung up in three separate work projects. I’d had to shell out $550 to get my car fixed. And I’d been inundated by a swarm of termites coming through my bathroom walls. So it was with […]

There’s a crosswind. A stiff one. Yuck. I sigh and do a conscious file-sort through the very dusty bins in the back of my brain. Let’s see. Slip to the left and land left-wheel first, being careful not to overreact on these super-light controls, be ready to add a little power if it bounces, and […]

There was an op-ed piece in the New York Times not too long ago that bemoaned the advent of GPS technology for cars, because it was going to spoil all the fun of wandering around and getting lost on road trips. The man should have talked to me. I could have assured him with great […]

The 90°F June sun is beating down on me, and beads of sweat are running down the sides of my face as I strain to pull my Cheetah back up the taxiway. What was I thinking, buying an airplane that was so flippin’ heavy? I stop for a break, wiping the sweat out of my […]