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A pilot looks at 60

August 13, 2014/in Having fun, Personal stories/by studentpltnews

Mother, Mother Ocean I have heard your call. Wanted to sail upon your waters Since I was three feet tall. These words were penned by Jimmy Buffett 40 years ago in a song entitled “A Pirate Looks at 40” telling how a young boy longed for a life on the sea. I grew up […]

Giving Back to Aviation

August 4, 2014/in Having fun, Personal stories/by studentpltnews

You may know Sean D. Tucker as one of the best air show pilots in the business, but did you also know that he is the current Young Eagles Chairman? Sean has held this title since AirVenture 2013 when he took over from Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles. Only a few people have held this title over the years and Sean is as hard working as they come.

A pilot looks at 60

August 13, 2014/in Having fun, Personal stories/by studentpltnews

Giving Back to Aviation

August 4, 2014/in Having fun, Personal stories/by studentpltnews

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A pilot looks at 60

August 13, 2014/in Having fun, Personal stories/by studentpltnews

Mother, Mother Ocean

I have heard your call.

Wanted to sail upon your waters

Since I was three feet tall.

These words were penned by Jimmy Buffett 40 years ago in a song entitled “A Pirate Looks at 40” telling how a young boy longed for a life on the sea. I grew up in land-locked Fleming County, Kentucky. There was no local harbor with ships taking cargo and passengers to stir a young boy’s imagination, but there was the sky above. Out in the hay and tobacco fields where I grew up I would stare at each passing airplane from the time I first heard it, until it would disappear in the distance. For each one I wondered where they came from, where they were going, and what adventure awaited them over the horizon. I dutifully watched Sky King use his Cessna 310 named the Songbird every Saturday on TV battling the bad guys from his Flying Crown Ranch in Arizona. Like Sky, I was raised on (and still live on) a farm, but I was born to fly.

Sunday was the 30^th anniversary of my 30^th birthday. I soloed Cherokee 5568F in 1975 so I have spent nearly 2/3 of my 60 years flying little airplanes. I have flown in (or over) 47 of the 50 states including a memorable flight in a rented Cessna 172 over the Kilauea Volcano in 2005.

My bride of 30 years and I have made several trips to the islands of the Bahamas. We embarked on our “Millennium Tour” in 2000 where we started by flying to Memphis spending time listening to the Blues on Beale Street before moving on to San Antonio to see the Alamo. We flew N44647 up over Oklahoma and stopped for fuel in Oakley, Kansas where the taxiway to the FBO takes you through a John Deere dealership. We continued on up to Rapid City, South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore where, even though it was June, we were greeted on the ramp by line personnel wearing insulated coveralls. We had brought only summer clothing so we shivered in the 45 degree weather visiting with George, Thomas, Teddy and Abe.

From there we went to Mitchell, South Dakota and saw the Corn Palace (yes it is a place) and its crop art murals. After visiting friends in Rochester, MN, our next leg took us to Meigs Field in Chicago to visit the museums just a short walk away. This was three years before Chicago Mayor Richard Dailey committed the largest act of vandalism in our nation’s history by ordering the city’s bulldozers, on a Sunday night, to destroy the airport’s runway. I have not spent one dollar in Chicago since that night even though I often have to fly to O’Hare airport (KORD) to transfer flights on the airlines. I am sure the city misses my business.

The log books are filled with visits to large airports with acres of concrete to numerous grass strips and their acres of well – acres. I have learned many lessons in the physics of flight. I’ve gotten lucky more than a few times and discovered good judgment comes from experience but that experience, more often than not, comes from bad judgment. I have learned the most valuable things in a pilot’s bag of tricks are airspeed and altitude, while take offs are optional, landings are mandatory and if you think you might need fuel – you probably do. Bob Hoover tells us all to fly the airplane as far into the accident as possible and you might be surprised how well things work out. Benny Mallory taught me that if I had 70% of my takeoff speed half way down a grass runway I would likely clear the fence posts at the end. If I did not? I should probably use that last half of the runway for stopping.

I now know the only place you have to be is where you are and that no matter where you are stranded you will likely find a friendly pilot, who has been stranded themselves and needed a friendly pilot; and that I should be that friendly pilot when I find a stranded pilot. I have learned to make funnels from old oil containers and to ALWAYS double check the master switch before walking away from an airplane. I now understand when flying into a busy, non-towered airport yielding the right of way may make more sense than taking it. And just because the FBO is supposed to be open at 4PM on a Sunday afternoon, it is best to call ahead and confirm.

Your goal may be to fly for the airlines. You want to get in the left seat of something with a hand full of throttles and fly that blazingly fast aluminum tube full of strangers to their destinations and if so, I doubt you will find much useful in my flying experiences. But if you are a kid – in the middle of a field – looking up – wondering where that little airplane is going – where have its passengers been and what adventure awaits them – just know that one day you can be that pilot. Your pilot’s license is worth the considerable time, effort and money it takes to earn. Mine is.

Giving Back to Aviation

August 4, 2014/in Having fun, Personal stories/by studentpltnews

Working at Sporty’s Academy occasionally affords some opportunities that I probably wouldn’t otherwise see. Last week at AirVenture 2014 in Oshkosh, I was afforded one of those opportunities. Thanks to the generosity of Sporty’s founder, Hal Shevers, I had the chance to spend some time with another generous aviator, world-renowned aerobatic pilot, Sean D. Tucker.

…… –Sean D. Tucker & Young Eagle (EAA/Team Oracle photo)

You may know Sean as one of the best air show pilots in the business, but did you also know that he is the current Young Eagles Chairman? Sean has held this title since AirVenture 2013 when he took over from Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles. Only a few people have held this title over the years and Sean is as hard working as they come.

In an August 1^st, 2013, article on EAA’s AirVenture news website, Mr. Tucker was quoted as having this to say about his role as chairman: “I will be the voice, but it’s the men and women who volunteer their time that really make this program so successful,” he says. “I want to honor them; they are the unsung heroes.”

According to the Young Eagles website, more than 1.8 million kids have enjoyed a free flight with one of these volunteer pilots since the program was introduced in 1992. Over the last 5 years Young Eagles have also received the added benefit of free online access to Sporty’s Learn to Fly course. This is the same Learn to Fly course that adult students will pay $199.99 to prepare them for the knowledge, oral, and practical exams. Nearly 27,000 Young Eagles have taken advantage of this benefit meaning that Sporty’s Pilot Shop has given away over $5 million in free courses to youth in the program.

If you are a pilot and you would like to volunteer to fly Young Eagles, contact your local EAA chapter or find out more at YoungEagles.org. Young Eagles is a great way to give back to the aviation community and perhaps ignite the passion for aviation in a young person in your community.

Speaking of community and igniting passion, Sean uses the Young Eagles program as a stepping stone to further experiences in his own community. Sean’s passion for the Young Eagles program and the youth of his community are obvious when you talk to him. In fact, Sean even has a Cessna 152 to allow the underserved and at-risk youth in his community to gain experience up to their first solo flight. He tells me that the kids must first take a Young Eagles flight and gain access to the Sporty’s Learn to Fly course. Sean then tells the kids, “do your homework” because they aren’t allow to fly in his program until they get that done. Sean likes the fact that the Sporty’s course gives the kids and this program a structure to follow. “It’s not like reinventing the wheel, because you guys have already invented it.”

Sean was telling me about his program as we climbed out to the north of Oshkosh in the Oracle Extra 300L for an aerobatic lesson. Remember that generosity that I spoke of in the beginning of this article? It started with Sean donating an aerobatic flight to the Young Eagles auction. Sporty’s founder, Hal Shevers, placed the winning bid at the auction. Hal loves to fly and is very passionate about giving to the future of aviation but he prefers to keep the sky over his head when flying. Hal asked if I would like to go for a flight with Sean and I jumped at the chance. The generosity of these two aviation legends and the volunteer Young Eagle pilots that they help support should be an inspiration to us all! Thank you one and all!