The Veternarian In That “Flying Machine”
By Bob Steiner
Living just South of the Airpark in East Edgewood for the last eleven years I have become accustomed to aircraft coming and going from the park’s landing strip. I have also gotten used to people asking me if I, too, had seen some of the weird aircraft that fly in this area. At times I almost had the impression that some of the pilots were trying to land on the roof of my double-wide. While most of the aircraft are of the small fixed wing single engine variety and belong to park residents, now and then military “Black Hawk” helicopters from Kirtland Air Base descend and pass slowly over the strip at low altitude, as if they were studying the site for future landings.
Recently, even the odd-looking Air Force “Osprey” has been venturing into our air space. This is an aircraft that has wings which enable it to fly like a fixed wing airplane but also has two large helicopter rotors which allow it to take off and land like a helicopter. Having spent some years with military aviation units, courtesy of the U.S. Army, I thought that I had seen about everything that could fly. Then some three years ago a really weird “machine” made its presence known.
Many mornings or late afternoons when there was only a slight wind over Edgewood, my attention (as well as that of many other local residents) began to be drawn skyward by the sound of a small engine, much quieter than the engines of the larger craft that normally fly here. While the motor sound may be hardly noticable, if you took the time to look up, you would see a very unorthodox flying machine. 
Outwardly, it appears to be a very large parachute on to which hangs a protective “roll bar cage” containing a seat for the pilot . Attached to the back of the cage is a pusher motor with a large fan propeller blade. Strangely, the craft leaves the casual observer to almost believe that he is looking at Louisiana swamp airboat being lifted by a parachute.The craft has the capability to take off and land on a very short runway. It could land in almost anyone’s back yard here in Edgewood. While the speed of the device is relatively slow (20 to 25 mph, very dependent on the wind), weather permitting, it can fly up to 10,000 ft high. Perhaps one of its most important features though, is the fact that it uses a large red and white parachute commonly called a paraglider wing. Thus, if for any reason the motor did fail, he could easily and safely land. By the way, this craft is identified as a “powered paraglider”.
The owner and pilot of this flying machine is my neighbor, Bryan Bowker, the compentent veternarian and trauma surgeon who runs Edgewood Animal Clinic. While he is known in the community for the high quality of medical care his clinic provides (he even gets referrals from out of state!), few people are aware that his medical background started when he was a highly trained medic with the U.S. Army. While he flies for the pleasure of flying , he is also quite adept at doing aerial to ground photography. The next time you take your pet in to his clinic for a check up or annual shots, if you ask him , he might even agree to take a picture of your house from the air. If you and the kids would like to see this special aicraft up close, I suggest stopping by the clinic on a slow day and I know he would be happy to let you look at it.
So now you know. It’s not a bird! It’s not a plane! It’s the veternarian, Bryan Bowker!
2 Responses “The Veternarian In That “Flying Machine””
Photos would be nice to add to a very nice human interest story.
Looks great with the added photo. thanks for adding it. I figured you were holding something back on your audience.