About the time I graduated from kindergarten, my Uncle Leland returned from his enlistment in the newly created United States Air Force. Hanging out and making model airplanes with him ignited a passion that would burn in my heart for the rest of my years. About a decade later in Air Force ROTC I had my first flight – in the back seat of a four-place single-engine airplane. We hadn’t even cleared the runway when I was hooked. In these posts, I’ll share some of the highlights of the next sixty plus years of learning, flying and teaching in numerous planes.
The Red Baron
1988 The next step In the preceding two years, I had logged more than 300 hours flying my Mooney all over the country, in all kinds of weather, over all kinds of terrain, and into airports small and gigantic. I was itching to get back into the kind of experience I had in the Baron. And I ...Read moreMy Own Personal Airline
1989 Requirements My dream was to use the Red Baron as my own personal airline. Airlines have an extraordinary safety record – and it’s no accident. They pay meticulous attention to the quality of both their equipment and their personnel. Go left? OK with caution.Go right? Don’t even think about it! Equipment: The Turbo Baron had not only ...Read moreFly-By-Knight
1990 Flying at a new level If the world headquarters of my personal airline was our home on Knight Street, the natural name had to be Fly By Knight – with a fleet of one Red Baron. By this time, I had attained a degree of mastery, and the stories were more about the trips. Here are ...Read moreWinter 1991
LifeLine Pilots Emergency Mission The phone next to my head snapped me out of deep winter slumber. It was 1:30 AM. The temperature outside was 17 degrees below zero. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?! Lifeline Pilots calling. “A boy and his parents need to be in Minneapolis STAT for a kidney transplant. Will you take the mission?” Kidney transplant “Of course,” ...Read moreFall 1991
Plane trouble Thursday morning Marie and I headed to Palwaukee for what promised to be a wonderful week: Dinner with a friend and advertiser in Danville, Kentucky; a three-day conference at a luxury resort in Naples, Florida with newsstand magazine wholesalers from all over the country; and on the way home a visit with another friend ...Read more