Okay, I confess. I am not a life long airplane fanatic. Actually, even though my father was in naval aviation, I thought submarines were pretty cool. My brother was more of an airplane guy than I growing up. But then the Vietnam War came along while I was in college. And my number was coming up. I walked into the student commons one day and there was this cool guy in a black suit with gold stripes on it, and a large set of gold wings set on a blue background as a table cloth. The rest is history, but having a different view of the world has always fascinated me. My first, second, and third ride in an airplane was going to and from Midway Island at Dad’s first duty station as an officer. My fourth was going to Pensacola, Florida to become a pilot.
Some folks looked at it as a job. To me, it was better than stick and ball games, chess, or poker. It was the ultimate four dimensional action game where I pitted my abstract reasoning and aircraft performance against the elements and against opponents in other airplanes or on the ground. Mind you, the ante was pretty high and there were no points for second place. But if I was not a competitive individual when I got into this game, I sure became one. Trying to be the best had a secondary benefit of increasing one’s odds of living through the experience.
I had some serious culture shock when I realized upon retirement that I would have to pay for my own gas. And that I would have to pay other people to do menial tasks on my airplane. I had taught every system on the aircraft that I flew in the military which were far more complex than these puddle jumpers and I was a pretty fine mechanic myself. But the aircraft I could afford was born about two years after I was, and in the cost of aircraft ownership the mortgage was not a high percentage of the total. The mechanics knew no shame in trying to hold one’s pride and joy for ransom. Hence, my gravitation toward experimental aircraft. I have owned certified aircraft, but the freedom to build it the way I want it and fix it myself has been the long distance reward in mind in wanting to construct an aircraft of my own.
My Last Ride
Cessna 9937E – Off Road Machine
Cessna 9937E was a 1979 C-172N. Most of its life was as a fish spotter in Alaska. Hence the large number of antennas on the roof for Marine radios, etc. The number of pavement landings it had prior to arriving at my door could probably be counted on one’s fingers and toes. Since it spent much of its life on gravel strips, it had been well equipped for the off road life. It had 8.50 mains, and Cessna 206 nose gear, more rugged with bigger tires. It had the struts used on float planes in the cockpit for extra strength and rigidity. And it had the rubber bumper strip on the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer to prevent rock damage. It also has a Penn Yan Aero conversion, replacing the troublesome H2AD 150 horsepower Lycoming with a 160HP D2J, which also gave it another 100 pounds payload capacity. It had full instrumentation for IFR flight including a backup vacuum system. It was a very capable and comfortable aircraft.
My Latest Ride
This one is a 1965 Cessna C-172F. Excellent paint, glass, interior. It has an O-300D engine with about 450 hours on it and the prop, it has Vortex Generators on the wings and tail. I have the wheel pants as well but since I am flying it off of a grass strip have not put those on. Working on some upgraded avionics to get it up to speed for IFR.