I loved flying and everything about it. I particularly liked small aircraft because you really "feel" the flight which is exactly why most non-pilots do not like small planes.
This is a Piper Tomahawk and was great fun to fly. I mostly flew Cessnas and Pipers but the low wing Pipers were my favorite.
This is me with Tim. I took his son Mike (my nephew) for his first ride. 
This is Tim with Mike getting ready for a first flight.
This is me and "Red". He was one of my brothers friends and needed a quick flight to Chicago. My brother didn't have his license at that time. 
One of my favorite single engines!
More Piper.
This is another clip from the following video of final approach at Andreau Airport in Houston. This is the airport I flew out of for years while living in Houston. It was right off Westheimer and close to my home in the Galleria.
On Final at Andreau.
This was a weekend trip to San Antonio just to hang out and relax.
This is a clip from the video linked below of a weekend trip to Florida from Houston. I used to love "everything" about flying including navigation, instruments, radios. Anything!
This is an underground missile silo I used to fly over in the old days when I was working on my cross country navigation. Those days are gone.
As mentioned earlier, I can't stand commercial airline travel including first class which of course isn't really first class any longer. However, there was one commercial flight that was clearly fun and memorable. I was waiting for a Swissair flight as part of a connection from Cairo to Geneva. I had an opportunity to visit with the captain and co-pilot before the flight and since this was my first flight on the new Airbus A310, I had some questions and of course they were kind enough to provide some technical details. Of course by this time they knew I was a pilot and who I was working for so I mentioned that I just happened to have a pocket U.S. Airport Directory in my bag and would like to give it to them for the time they spent with me. Although it was a relatively insignificant gift, they seemed to really appreciate it. They asked where I was seated and I explained I was in A1 and they said "we can visit later".
After we had taken off, the flight attendant came over and said the captain would like to talk to you. He asked if I would like to fly upfront in the jump seat with them for the rest of the flight and of course the answer to that was obvious. He said go back and get your bag, you can store it up here and get off with us when we land. I went back to my seat, collected my carry on and headed for the flight deck. Of course the flight attendant stopped me and asked where I was going with my bag. I explained that the captain had invited me to fly upfront with them. She said, "Oh no, you can't do that!" I said, you need to talk to the captain since he is driving the bus. She said wait here and shortly returned and said "this way sir". So for the rest of the flight I got to sit on the jump seat between and behind the pilots and experience the flight first hand. They explained that the aircraft was capable of doing the approach and completely landing by itself but their policy was to take control shortly before touchdown in the event of any unforeseen events.
These two photos were taken from my jump seat position just before we turned on final approach which of course was done all automatically by the aircraft. This was my only enjoyable commercial flight.
Hangar Stories
A Great Practical Joke
A Great Practical Joke
Flying can be great fun if you are creative. We knew this guy who was a bit of a wise ass, so when he learned that I flew a mutual friend on a trip, he got a little jealous. I explained that I was getting ready to go for a quick cross country and if he wasn't too "afraid", he was welcome to come. I had been wanting to practice my "stall spin recovery" procedure so I thought this might be a good opportunity. Of course he had no idea what was coming. After we cleared the airport area and got over the river, I gradually started pulling the nose up and reducing power until the plane started shaking and fell over into dive and spin. So after a few nose down rotations, adding some power and pulling up with some “Gs”, I recovered and explained to him that I thought we should return to the airport so I could have the engine checked out and he could check his shorts. All pilots know this is a standard simple procedure that you practice and is perfectly safe if done right. Of course he didn't know that!
Mob Flying
I can still remember my first flight. I was about 7 or so and my uncle and flown his plane down to visit and wanted to take me for my first plane ride. I learned later that it wasn't his plane and we were not even sure he had a license. I remember it was a small two seat and I couldn't see out the front because of the seatbelt. Of course he said just take it off and stand up in the seat. Of course he never had me put it back on again even for landing. My uncle always seemed to be very cool and special. He always lived large, gave me cash, wore expensive cloths and jewelry drove the best car available and was totally groomed and manicured. He was a big muscular guy who looked like a movie star. He always treated me like a prince and made me feel special. My uncle was on my mothers side of the family and was her older brother. I recall one time we went to visit him in Kansas City and as little kids do, I was investigating his house because he had a lot of cool stuff. I recall going into his bedroom and seeing a pistol in a shoulder holster hanging on the inside of his bedroom door. It wasn't until I went to work for the highway patrol which was my first job out of the Marine Corps that I accidently ran across his file. I was shocked to see his prison mug shot and the description that he was doing time because of his association with organized crime in Kansas City, and his "strong arm" approach to "dispute resolution". I was always told he worked for a labor union. I never told my parents or anyone else about what I had learned. I found it ironic that 30 years later, I would be assigned to an organized crime task force as a state investigator working on the Kansas City mob. Of course, by then he had long since retired and passed away of “natural causes”. The guy was cool!
Flying Brothers
I was glad when my brother later got his pilots license and we used to enjoy flying together including taking a trip from Houston to Destin Florida to visit my sister and her family. We would share the expenses and alternate flying and shooting video. The following YouTube Video is from one of those trips:
I love flying! If it goes fast, gets off the ground and I get to be at the controls, I'm up for it. I have flown a lot of different type aircraft including a 1941 Stearman Biplane which was used as a trainer for WWII. In fact, my aerobatic instructor was a salty old Navy pilot who used to train Navy and Marine pilots for the war. One of my favorite type aircraft is a sailplane.
Flying commercially, even 1st class has deteriorated to the point of being little more than a N.Y. taxi ride. In the past, I had the opportunity to fly as a guest on private jets. Even in my early career as a young man I had the use of my employers corporate King Air which was very nice since I was typically the only passenger. Their corporate pilot and I were friends because of my interest in flying and I had the option of sitting in back preparing for my meeting or sitting up front with him. That was a great company and although they were in several states, they did not have an international operation which was my career objective.
Ever since I saw Steve McQueen in the Thomas Crown Affair, I knew I had to do that. Of course I have enjoyed skydiving, paragliding, parasailing, ballooning as well and have included the following links to other sections on this blog to include photos and videos of those activities:
More photos being edited and in process of posting!
