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Lessons Learned

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  Many years ago, I was fresh out of college with an education degree from the University of Texas which meant I had a head full of disjointed information and little practical experience. In short, I had a lot of lessons to learn. Not finding a teaching job right away, I accepted a position managing the retail sales floor of a busy lumber yard and construction supply company in this rural area of Central Texas. Our customers were a mix of home builders, ranchers, tradespeople, and homeowners who kept our sales staff busy offering advice, filling orders and arranging deliveries. I was a bit full of myself, given that I now had an office, several employees, and a regular paycheck. So, I set about fixing some of the business practices that to me, seemed haphazard and unprofessional. For example, the sales staff would regularly allow customers to charge their purchases on an informal basis by recording the sale on a paper ticket, then holding onto the paperwork until the customer retur
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Sound & Fury

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    “What the hell was that?” I asked. Several years ago, we were climbing out of 8000 feet in my V35B Bonanza returning from a vacation trip to South Texas when there was a loud bang from the rear of the aircraft. A quick look at the panel showed nothing amiss and there was no change to the flight characteristics. I kept waiting for any further indications of problems while my wife, Judy investigated. She quickly solved the mystery when she discovered the ruptured bag of potato chips that had suffered an explosive decompression as the ambient air pressure decreased with altitude. As you might imagine, it took a bit for my heartrate to return to normal. This was not my first encounter with unexpected noises. We tend to associate particular sights with memorable aviation events, but to me, the sounds that accompany these are often richer and more deeply rooted in the recollection. Many years ago, I had landed a job as a Part 135 charter pilot flying a Piper Commanche from our sm
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Flying Into Danger

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  All pilots who have flown very much in dangerous weather, have heard that small voice that begins as a whisper of unease, more felt than heard, scratching softly at our consciousness, becoming ever more urgent. What began as a routine flight along a line of active weather has now become a bruised sky filled with cumulous building faster than we can climb, still sunlit along the summits, shot through with blue-white lightning and trailing skirts of rain, promising destruction if we choose to intrude. Like stepping through a curtain, light becomes darkness as we enter a canyon of storm clouds, cutting off any avenue of escape. Thunder close enough to hear, the smell of ozone and fear. Seemingly only moments before, the sky had been clear, the path certain and the ride benign. Out of nowhere we find ourselves victims of fate beyond our control.   A few years ago, a simple earache that refused to heal leads to a discussion with the doctor that includes words like radiation and chem
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The Kindness of Strangers

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  Lifting off from the Medford, Oregon airport, heading for Bellingham, Washington on the next leg of my journey to Southeast Alaska, I retracted the gear on the Cessna 182 Amphibious floatplane. After the usual “monkey motion” of the retraction sequence, I noticed that only three of the four wheels were showing in the “UP” position as indicated by blue lights on the panel. The left front nosewheel remained down, with its respective green light glowing brightly. Not knowing what might be causing this, I tried recycling the system. Once again, the green light confirmed the same problem. Okay, time for a change of plans. I contacted my buddy Michael via text as I flew north, who researched possible floatplane repair facilities along my route. He called the folks at Northwest Seaplane Maintenance in Renton, Washington who quickly agreed to meet me that afternoon. I notified ATC of the change in destination and planned the route into the Renton area. The 3.5-hour flight was beautiful and u
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Reflections in the Sky

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As the floats of the Super Cub kissed the sand along the small peninsula, I watched the gaggle of small children moving our way. Some were scrambling to reach us while others timidly held onto Mom or Dad’s hand as they walked slowly in our direction, unsure if it was okay to approach. Tim and I had spent the morning training in his beautiful yellow Super Cub on Wipline 2100 amphib floats, practicing various maneuvers and performing a plethora of takeoffs and landings along the Highland Lakes in the Texas Hill Country. We had not seen each other for several years and had sort of lost touch a bit as friends sometimes do. Life gets in the way, you know. Then Tim gave me a call to see if I would be interested in doing some training in a Super Cub on floats. Not just any Super Cub, however. Along with his friend Jim, Tim had recently purchased the immaculate AOPA Sweepstakes airplane that had been restored by Roger and Darrin Meggers at Baker Air Service in Baker, Montana. We began at the R
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Lessons from LeCaye

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  In February 2010, an earthquake imploded the city of Port au Prince, Haiti, killing nearly 300,000 and injuring more than a million. The devastation washed many of the wounded and homeless into the countryside where they flooded surrounding communities, overwhelming existing facilities and spawning new cases of old diseases including dysentery and cholera. As I watched the early reporting it was clear that massive aid would be required and, as it was with Katrina, much of it would be targeted at the epicenter leaving the other towns and villages to make the best of it. Knowing there would be a need for volunteers to help move critical supplies into remote regions by light aircraft and strangely and strongly compelled to apply what skills and equipment I could offer, I broached the subject with my wife. “I’d like to go, but it will be challenging.” “Will it be dangerous?” she asked, already knowing. “Possibly so, and expensive, probably very expensive.” “How will we afford i
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I Declare....

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  I DECLARE….. “November 46 Romeo are you declaring an emergency?” asks the Abilene Tower controller. Juan, new owner of the Diamond DA-40, looks at me from the left seat, eyes bulging, clearly uncertain how to respond. “What should I tell him?” We had begun a training flight on the ramp in San Antonio earlier this morning, intending to make a “round robin” flight around the middle of Texas to complete the insurance requirements and to familiarize Juan with both the airplane and the new Garmin G-1000 panel. In his mid 30’s, Juan is a medical doctor and fairly low-time private pilot. He is whip smart and serious about training. He purchased the airplane to allow him to travel to outlying hospitals for shifts in the Emergency Room.   With his wife riding in the back seat, we had flown to Midland, then on to Abilene. By the time we arrived in the Abilene area, the sun had disappeared, and the lights of the city sparkled in the clear winter air. Juan’s approach and landing had been fla
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