Kyle O Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 A local pilot who shops at my store brings in aerial photos from time to time, and I always ask him, "When you gonna take me up?" After 3 years of this, He looks out the window at the sky and says, "Can you meet me at the airport in 20 minutes." We went by and looked at some timber he wanted to see then flew a few circles over my house so I could wave at my wife and 7 year old. My boy got a kick out of it, but not as much as I did! I hope I get to go up again soon. The Veronica Champ is her name. BTW, I don't fly commercially, but flying around texting on a cell phone with a snubby in my pocket felt pretty funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downlow411 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 As a kid at 17 in Ear Falls Ontario we board the float plane for a fly in fishing spot. The pilot says have you ever flown before I say yeah from Iowa to Florida and California. he looks at me and says commercial I of course say Yes. Then he smiles and said that ain't flyin this is, hang on. One of the best experiences in my life the real flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1b Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Hell yes! I have three passions outside of the family: Shooting, Flying, and Diving. There ain't a lot of scuba in PA, so my first priority was to find a few ranges. Check! And then I found a flying club. Cool thing about this club. So many pilots are destination oriented that they lose a little of the "Hey, I'm flying" gig. This club is grass roots. It isn't sexy, but it's full of old guys that just like to pull the wheels off the ground. I couldn't ask for a group more in line with what I look for. As soon as the family gets out here I'm joining. It's gonna be a blast. And plane rental is CHEAP compared to what I'm used to!!! Glad you got to get up in the air. It is THE experience. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1b Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 (edited) Here's me on the approach flying a little Cessna 152. 1st pciture is of me landing runway 36. KVBT - Bentonville AR. 2nd picture of me looking like a dumbass - but still having fun! Technically this picture was "first" in that it happened before the other. On the first picture we were getting close. I was simply focused on getting the plane safely and smoothly on the ground. Jack Edited May 6, 2009 by j1b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironb Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Hey, that's great. Now go take some lessons, get your solo done, and go for a check ride. The solo is probably the scariest part. No instructor sitting next to you for the first time. What a rush!!! Was that your first time in a tail dragger? Did you guys do any steep turns, stalls, or spins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 First time in a plane "that small". I flew in some 4 seaters about 16 years ago when I was active C.A.P., but this was WAY more fun! We took a steep turn all of the sudden, He looked back and said we were dodging a buzzard. I saw it go by. I wouldn't have thought about dodging anything in an airplane! The windows stayed open, we circled several neighborhoods in our small town, tight little spirals. I was overjoyed. I even had a dream about flying in it last night. One day, I could see me doing this type of thing. It has always been a fantasy of mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickRak2000 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 A local pilot who shops at my store brings in aerial photos from time to time, and I always ask him, "When you gonna take me up?"After 3 years of this, He looks out the window at the sky and says, "Can you meet me at the airport in 20 minutes." We went by and looked at some timber he wanted to see then flew a few circles over my house so I could wave at my wife and 7 year old. My boy got a kick out of it, but not as much as I did! I hope I get to go up again soon. The Veronica Champ is her name. BTW, I don't fly commercially, but flying around texting on a cell phone with a snubby in my pocket felt pretty funny. It's actually an Aeronca Champ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I took lessons and got my license in the mid-80s. The price of rental and avgas put an end to my flying in the early 90's. There is nothing like being up there, by yourself, going where YOU want to go. dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 A local pilot who shops at my store brings in aerial photos from time to time, and I always ask him, "When you gonna take me up?"After 3 years of this, He looks out the window at the sky and says, "Can you meet me at the airport in 20 minutes." We went by and looked at some timber he wanted to see then flew a few circles over my house so I could wave at my wife and 7 year old. My boy got a kick out of it, but not as much as I did! I hope I get to go up again soon. The Veronica Champ is her name. BTW, I don't fly commercially, but flying around texting on a cell phone with a snubby in my pocket felt pretty funny. It's actually an Aeronca Champ. We were looking at the pinup girl, and I asked what her name was, and I swore thats what he said, but I might have misunderstood. That has never happened before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3quartertime Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I've worked in aircraft maintenance for most of the last 25 years. Just a few years here and there to get the grind out of my system then back at it... Moved into management in 05 so the only real contact I have with the planes is every once in awhile I'll release one to go make money again, but that's usually done by a hangar supervisor or lead. When I was an avionics lead I would go on test flights pretty often. That's fun! I could still go if I wanted to, but I let the younger guys get some time in... Like most work cultures there are a group of us that have been around the scene for a number of years and we talk about the newer crop coming up. Newer people tend to be real excited about working on and being around aircraft. It can be a fun job. Troubleshooting a complex system, driving them from the hangar to the terminal,,,etc. But my group have been around it long enough that it's more of a job than anything. We have a term for the new people that are still wide eyed around the planes. We call it 'aircraft sickness'... Aircraft Sickness happens when you are so crazy about being around airplanes that you would pay someone to stand next to one. Seriously I've known 50 year old's that would pay me to take them to my work and sit in the flight deck!!! lol... That said, one of the guys that works in my department is an avid pilot. He has a grass strip on his property and for the last year or so has been trying to lure me out there to go flying. Lately I've been thinking about it. ARRRGHHH... AIRCRAFT SICKNESS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrflyer Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Nice man. I fly for a living but was just talking to a buddy of mine the other day about how itd been a while since we just went flying to go have fun or gone a bbq run. I've been saving up to start doing some aerobatic competitions and hopefully this will be the year! One of my favorite things about flying is introducing people to the fun they could have in small airplanes...glad you enjoyed it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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