As long as I can remember, I have loved airplanes and flying. I earned my private pilot's license in 1988. I rent Cessna 172's whenever I can afford a few hours of flight. At sixty bucks an hour, that's not nearly often enough. I hope to purchase a kit aircraft to build, but I haven't yet settled upon the type that will be the best fit to my needs, desires, budget, and skills.
Here I am with a 172, N3564E, at a stopover at the Tappahannock airport.
I enjoy other types of flying as well. Anything but the commercial airlines (you may as well go Greyhound.) I recently tried soaring at the Tidewater Soaring Soceity's Garner Field in Isle of Wight County, VA. Great fun! Its so beautiful to glide along with no engine droning. The sixty degree banks were a little disconcerting at first, but these birds handle it with applomb.
Ready for the tow. Thumbs up, let's go!
Sorry, I didn't take the camera along for the flight (must add that to my checklist). But I did get these shots of my daughter at the end of her flight. Soar about, fly the pattern, approach, flare, and land precisely... all with no engine. Yeah, I could get used to this!
A couple of years back, I flew with Don Wolf in his beautiful Seawind 3000. This magnificent aircraft is a high-performance retractable-gear amphibian. Don and his son spent several years building this aircraft from a kit. It has a large and comfortable 4-seat cabin and it cruises at 180mph. It handles beautifully -- very stable in cruise. We took off from the Newport News/Williamsburg Airport (PHF) for a short flight over to Wakefield for a fly-out breakfast at the Virginia Diner planned by EAA Chapter 156. We took off from runway 7 and made a right 180-degree turnout over the Kiln Creek area. It only took about 12 minutes to get to Wakefield (AKQ). After breakfast, we flew by Bill Savedge's field, Melville, and flew an approach but did not land. From there, we flew east until over Smithfield, then then turned north to cross the James River and land back at PHF. There's no better way to spend a morning.
Looking south, then southwest over Kiln Creek Blvd. and runway 7 that we had just left at PHF. This is when I ran out of film (note: add "carry plenty of film" to my check list, too).
Here are some other aerial photos that my son Alan snapped while flying with me.
This is the facility where I worked before I transfered to Charlotte: Philip Morris' Machinery Technology Center in Newport News.
This is my former neighborhood in the Denbigh area of Newport News. The street running horizontally along the bottom is Anchorage Drive. My house is on the left of the street corner at bottom-center. The larger street running from lower right to upper center is Lucas Creek Road West. The street running horizontally across the top is Denbigh Blvd., and Denbigh High School is the large building at top right.
Here I am with the family posing with a beautiful WW2 vintage Stearman at Hampton Roads Airport (PVG) What a difference a few years make... Alan is nearly as tall as me now!
EAA Chapter 156 (Newport News, Va.)
Experimental Aircraft Association