Hello! My name is Ray Haas, and I’m the guy behind this Blog.
For all my life, I have been interested in flying. Airplanes, spaceships, pilots, piloting… all of it. I have a special interest in WWII aviation, particularly the first part; most specifically, the Battle of Britain and shortly thereafter. I have the idea to remake the movie "Battle of Britain," and in 1990 (the 50th anniversary of the Battle), I started doing research in earnest.
Of course I was aware of the poem, "High Flight." When I was young, growing up in the Los Angeles area, I remember seeing the television sign-off film that showed an F-104 Starfighter taking off while beautiful music played and this great voice recited the poem. Every time, when he said, "Put out my hand and touched the face of God," I put out my hand and touched the setting sun shown on the television.
So, in my research on the Battle of Britain, I thought I’d get more information on the poem, "High Flight." Well, that little tangent took over my life. Since that time in 1990, I have found out an amazing amount about that 14-line poem. Since I’ve always had an interest in movies, I thought I’d put together a biographical film about the poem’s author, John Gillespie Magee, Jr. A couple of years ago I thought: What if I made a feature film about Magee? Wouldn’t it reach more people? And so it was that I’ve spent the past couple of years working on a feature film screenplay.
Which brings me to the present day. I have a script that is about 75% polished, 100% real soon now. I am ready to make the movie. I guess I’m waiting for… what? The right combination of talent, money, luck, and all the elements necessary to launch a feature film. The elements will come together, of this I am certain.
So… come along on the ride, if you’d like. It is my intention to keep this Blog going, even during production. If you want to know that dreams CAN come true…. follow.
High Flight Productions' Weblog 
Dear Ray,
I have just found your blog on the Internet by happy accident, and like you, I am inspired by ‘High Flight’ – so much so that I have made a documentary charting my journey to Lincolnshire (to find his resting place), meeting a centenarian who worked on Spitfire design in the 1930s with Reginald Mitchell, flying a Spitfire simulator, and finally flying in (and taking the controls of) a two-seater Spitfire flying out of Biggin Hill in Kent.
I am English and live in the UK, but some weeks ago I was in St Louis Missouri (where I lived some years ago), visited my favourite military collectibles shop, told them about my film, which was premiering four days later in the UK – and to my amazement they produced wartime articles of Dwayne Linton who, of course, was right behind Magee when the terrible accident occurred.
I have acquired the collection and it contains some fascinating material – especially in the Pilot’s Logbook. If you get this message, you can contact me on : noffin@aol.com and we can talk some more; it’s good to know that there others like you who share an eternal fascination for the man and his wonderful sonnet.
All the best,
John Wallace