09.27.07
From back in the day…
I just realized I wrote a blog several weeks ago, but never posted it. I wrote this in the Dallas airport while waiting for my flight to Seattle when I was traveling from Lincoln, Nebraska back to Walla Walla. I didn’t have internet at the time, then I got busy flying my plane across the country, and the blog somehow got shuffled in to the depths of my computer.
So, here you go–a blog that should be dated August 15, 2007:
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I’ve had a busy life lately. I signed off a student for his private pilot checkride, graduated from college, went to the Hillsboro Airshow in Portland, and drove my truck halfway across the country–all in a matter of about five days.
My student, Jim, who went for his checkride, has an interesting story associated with him. I first found him at the start of the summer, on a Saturday morning at my home airport. I’d just taken my plane out for a spin and was tying it down when Jim wandered over to say hello. He wanted to check out the “new” plane on the field.
As I showed him around my bird, I couldn’t help but think of how familiar he seemed. Finally I just asked him. “Jim, it seems like I know you from somewhere. Have we met before? Maybe flown together a long time ago or something?”
“Yeah, of course we have. You were the instructor who gave me my first intro flight two years ago. I’ll never forget that flight–we hit wake turbulence as we were coming in to land and had to go around.”
Suddenly it all came back to me! I remembered the flight more than I remembered Jim. It was the first, only, and hopefully last time that wake turbulence really scared me. We got rolled about 45 degrees to the left as we were about fifty feet off the ground. At the time, I played it cool though and apparently it didn’t scare Jim too badly, since he was still flying.
After talking for a few more minutes, Jim asked me if I was still teaching. He needed an instructor to finish his private pilot training with. Over the past two years since I’d seen him he had become part owner in a 1969 Cessna 150 and bounced around between freelance instructors while trying to earn his private pilot certificate. He needed an instructor to finish off the last bit of his training.
Everything fit together perfectly for me to work with him, so that’s what we did. After flying with him for 8 or 10 hours and doing some oral exam prep, I signed him off for a checkride. I sat in on his oral (all three hours of it!) and must say, I was impressed. He did really well. Then I anxiously waited on the ground during his flight (all two hours of it!). When it was all said and done, Jim got his license.
Here we are after flying home, Jim’s first hour as a private pilot and I as his first passenger. No more debriefs to give, logbooks to sign, or checks to write after flying!
And here is his 150 that he trained in. He repainted the plane himself:
I have no doubt he has many safe, happy years of flying ahead of him. He has solid judgement and I don’t worry in the least bit about him flying around by himself. It’s really cool for me to see his progress over the years, going from his first time at the controls, to owning his own plane, to getting signed off for his checkride. Aviation is a small world…hopefully I’ll run in to him in the future.
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Now, as for the Hillsboro Airshow in Portland, all I can say is, “Wow!”
I’ve hung around a lot of general aviation airshows before (mainly Oshkosh) but the Hillsboro show is different. They focused a lot more heavily on military demos, especially jets. We saw a pair of F-15s, an A-10, a KC-135, some older MiGs, and an F-117 all do routines. Plus, best of all, the Blue Angels performed. It was my first time seeing them and their act alone was worth the $20 admission price.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like watching civilians perform, but it’s sort of comparing apples to oranges to compare Oshkosh to Hillsboro. There’s nothing like seeing an F-15 roar by the crowd, fifty feet off the ground and in full afterburner, or watching the Blue Angels fly by in their signature diamond formation with only 18″ to spare between planes. I don’t care how talented Sean Tucker or Greg Poe are at performing civilian aerobatic routines…it’s still hard to beat the raw power of military aircraft.
Beyond the entertainment, I’m glad the show went for so long. Acts were in the air non-stop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. I had a lot of fun to hanging out all day with friends, soaking in the atmosphere, and eating good food.
So that’s what my pictures are about here. Anybody can take pictures of planes flying around. But pictures of me having a good time, that’s what this blog is all about…
Here I am, giving my friend an explanation of something I’m sure required demonstration:
(To be read in a Homer Simpson voice) Hmmmm…airshow food…
What will my next blog be about? Flying my 140 across the country again. This time I’m moving it from Walla Walla, Washington, to Lincoln, Nebraska. I’ll be leaving bright and early tomorrow. Thanks for reading!