A “for sale” flyer has been hanging on the bulletin board at the Sedona Airport terminal for the past year.
On it, there’s a photo of Ted Grussing, 82, standing with a huge grin in front of a slender motor glider — a plane that can sail indefinitely on rising air currents, but has a motor so it can also take off under its own power.
Currently, Grussing’s is the only gilder based at Sedona Airport.
Grussing has been an avid flyer — of both gliders and non-gliders — since earning his pilot’s license at age 59, but he’s been an avid photographer for much longer — since receiving a Kodak “baby brownie” camera at age 8.
For the last 12 years, Grussing has used his motor glider as an “aerial tripod” for taking pictures of Arizona’s land and weather — preferably together and in dramatic combination.
Grussing’s aerial landscape photos often have something extra going on in addition to the land — rainbows, shadows, clouds or smoke.
Gliders have unique attributes that are advantageous for photography. They can fly slowly, and they can closely hug ridges while riding “ridge lift” — an updraft of air created when air currents are forced upward by rising ground. Also, the wing in Grussing’s motorglider is behind the cockpit, out of the way of photos.
The distinctiveness of the glider as a photo platform seems to come through in Grussing’s images. They’re often of familiar places, such as Cathedral Rock or the San Francisco Peaks, but from a view that feels novel somehow — different, even from other aerial photos.
Arizona Highways has published Grussing’s images. Grussing recalled how prints of his work have even been featured at the state capitol thanks to the magazine’s photo editor, Jeff Kida.
During the 2015 Slide Fire, Grussing captured images of the smoke produced by the blaze. Having seen smoke snaking through canyons and settling in low-lying areas year after year, smoke has become a special interest for Grussing, who worries about its health impacts, even in small amounts.
An image Grussing captured of the now-closed Navajo Generating Station outside of Page, which appears to capture a river of hazy emission heading toward the Grand Canyon, was published by the Grand Canyon Trust, among other Grussing photos.
While Grussing is accepting offers for the motor glider, he still flies the 730-pound, Czech-made aircraft multiple times per week.
“I’m flying just as much as I ever have,” he said. “Flying is an integral part of my life, and photography is an integral part of my life.”
After talking with Grussing, it’s clear that he loves being in the air. So why sell?
“I’m still at the peak of my flying skills, and I want to quit while I’m still there,” he said. “There’s other things I want to do and spend time on.”
“You quit things when you’re ahead,” he added.
One of the things he is shifting his focus to is wildlife photography. Lately he has been spending more time around water especially and capturing birds and other wildlife at dramatic moments, like the moment of take off or the moment of grasping a fish.
So while he will be flying less in the future — whenever he actually sells the motor glider — Grussing plans to have an active schedule.
“Slowing down for me would be getting six-and-a-half hours of sleep,” he said.
In March Grussing will be participating in a closed presentation and roundtable discussion about wildfire and controlled burn smoke impacts with Forest Service personnel at the Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University.
“Soaring pilots have a pretty good idea of the atmosphere,” he said.
On March 13 at 4 p.m. Grussing will lead a presentation and discussion of his photography at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, which will include a mix of aerial and wildlife photography and a category he calls “unleashed,” which are creative composites. The event is open to the public for $10.
