Flight Training

It wasn’t exactly what I hadexpected. Let me explain. I am a 1,500 hour pilot with about half those hours in a V35A Bonanza Ihave owned for seven years. I fly about one hundred hours per year – a combination of VFRand (mostly) light IFR in our usually mild Central California climate. I have participatedin […]

The flight instructors handbook says that the more intense is theexperience, the better it is remembered. During one of my early lessons, my CFI allowed me to experience an intense moment which senta jolt of terror through my nervous system which has ingrained in mean important concept that I will never forget. During my preflight […]

I did not have a clue what I was in for. Young, naive, but with a thirst for the air that has yet to bequenched, I approached Mansfield Airport some 20 odd years ago andclimbed into what I thought was a small trainer airplane, theformidable Cessna 150. Then my instructor began the beguine. We climbed […]

I took my primary flight training in Cessna 150s. The 152 was justa new bird, the first one at Birds Nest just fresh from the factory,and unsold. It would be mine, but not until primary flight training{test of the landing gear trunion} was over on somebody else’sairframe. Leaseback aircraft are all old models, generally bustedup. […]

I was a terrified frequent flyer. Business forced me to travel,but it wasn’t pleasant. My fears were so strong that, at one point, Iwent to my boss’ home on Saturday to cancel a trip with him, closingthe conversation with, “So, that’s it. Fire me, demote me, but Iain’t gettin’ on another airplane.” “So,”you ask, “let […]

I was 47 when I did it for the second time one fall Saturdayafternoon in Cessna 152 N93114. My instructor flew with me the firstfew times around then got out and let me take it. I taxied back ontothe runway and took off, did three landings, taxied back to the parking area and got my […]

As a just retired Delta 767 Captain, I’ll have to admit thequestion, “How did you learn to fly?” has brought many smiles. Back in the mid 60’s, I was working as a country music DJ, playingthose love songs for the people of piedmont NC. There were many callsfor dedications. Some of the calls came from […]

A friend of mine at the YMCA did it. We always relieved the workout boredom by talking about airplanes and when I found out he had apilot’s license, I decided if he could do it, so could I. I went to the same airport and FBO he was flying out of and walkedinto a sort […]

My flight training began in the summer of 1964. I becamefascinated with aviation when a college friend took me for a ride ashis first passenger after recieving his ticket from the U of IllInstitute of Aviation. The private pilots course at U of Ill at thattime cost about $430. At the time that might as […]

In 1950 I was asked by Dean Bill Bender to take a sabbatical frommy studies at Harvard College. Various extracurricular activitiesseemed far more enticing than the books my family was paying bigbucks for me to study. During a term forcibly spent at home on the island of Martha’s Vineyard this wayward student took a courseHarvard […]