Pilot flying across country lands in Imperial

IMPERIAL, Calif. – Pilot and filmmaker David Grabowski made a stop at the imperial county airport this morning. He and his crew are on a 40-day journey across the country and capturing it all on film in a documentary called “Tilt Shift”.

David will fly in a weight shift trike that he helped build, while his crew follows on land. His inspiration comes from Aviator Cal Rodgers and the flight he took in 1911. Rodgers had 17 crashes during his flight, one of them where he had to make an emergency landing in Imperial, California, bringing David to the same location.

“We’re a week in, we’ve been delayed a couple of times because of weather. Had some really weird weather come through here recently. If you model your flight after Cal Rodgers you expect some engine difficulty and things like that, I actually did have my engine die on me at 1000 feet. Had to come make an emergency landing in a field…what kept Cal going is the same thing that is keeping me going, it’s just kind of refusing to quit until you have no option left,” said Grabowski.

Grabowski’s adventure began the same day as Cal Rodgers took flight on September 17th. He and his crew plan to visit over 80 airports, 12 states, and travel 4,000 miles in 40 days. His next stop is in Dateland, Arizona where he plans to arrive on Saturday.

To follow David on his journey and get live updates on his status, you can visit www.tiltshiftmovie.com