|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
I learned to fly long before some (many) in the Air Facts community were born, but I love to read your stories about flying and aircraft and wanted to share my story as well.
I decided to take flying lessons in my early 20s because my father had secretly arranged for me to be taken on a flight in his company’s Cessna 182 while I was home from school.
I am an 87-year-old woman who started taking flying lessons when I was in my early 20s. I decided to take flying lessons because my father (who flew a WACO prior to my birth) had secretly arranged for me to be taken on a flight in his company’s Cessna 182 while I was home from school visiting Houston, Texas. I was terrified. The company pilot had me sit in the left seat and of course, had me try my hand at the controls. He was in the right seat. My mom and dad were in the rear seats. If my grip on the controls had been transposed to a person, the person would never have survived. I did my best to hold that 182 up in the air using my grip on the controls. My decision at that time was that I would learn to fly because nothing should be able to scare me like that. Then it was necessary to figure out how to pay for it—another scary thought.
I started lessons a year or so after that flight. I had completed my Master’s degree as a student at UCLA and I was filling in as an instructor for a year for a faculty member on sabbatical from Pomona College. So I had a little more money than I had/would have when back at UCLA. I learned in a Cessna 150 at a small airport in Pomona, California and got my license there. I did tell my folks and ultimately, when I had my license, they were my first passengers in a Cessna 172. By that time, I was back at UCLA.
We flew out of Santa Monica, California with my mother saying, “John, does this girl know what she is doing?,” while gripping the seat so tightly that her knuckles were white. I had anticipated her stress response and had a male friend, who was still a student pilot, sitting in the right front seat to try and ward off her fears. She liked him and I thought would be reassured by his presence. And in case you are wondering, while although I had my license, I was still scared when in the air.
The first Powder Puff Derby we flew in the Comanche departed from Bakersfield, California.
I continued to fly and, at the same time, completed my doctoral degree at UCLA. Santa Monica was a busy airport with several women, in addition to me, flying out of there. One of them needed a copilot/navigator to go with her on a Powder Puff Derby in her Comanche. I was delighted to be asked. The first Powder Puff Derby we flew departed from Bakersfield, California. The rules were that the flying could only take place in daylight, under VFR conditions, and no special help from anyone. The beginning of the event was fine. Bakersfield is pretty flat and it is easy to see where you are going; however, as we went on, we did have some weather to contend with (under not over) and when we were close to the end point of the race, we started to have a problem with the engine of the Comanche.
We decided to make a landing at Allegheny County Airport and given the rules of the event, we kept telling the tower that we were NOT declaring an emergency. We landed very hot! Bless the mechanics at that airport, they managed somehow to give us a new jug and we finished the race, not quite in the last position, but before time ran out. We flew two more Powder Puffs in the next two years. One, again, in the Comanche and one in a Cessna 182. My recollection is that we ended somewhere in the middle of the pack for each of these.
It was shortly after these events that I moved from California to Wisconsin where I was offered a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I decided that I wanted to continue to do something with airplanes and so took lessons toward a commercial license. This time I was being taught by an “old time” instructor at Truax, the local airport. That initial instructor (who shall remain nameless) never met a rule that he thought wasn’t there for the breaking. And so I was introduced to all sorts of interesting experiences that had not been a part of my training for a private license, including lots of aereobatics. We tried them all in the training Cessnas that were typically used for standard instruction. There were times when I felt I spent more time inverted than upright. And somehow, none of this really reduced my being scared by very much, buy I knew (sort of) what to do in the event of a crisis in an airplane.
I ordered a Decathalon and set it up so it could be scheduled for aerobatic instruction out at Truax.
As peculiar as it may seem, I also thought that maybe I should have a plane of my own, and I was getting a salary so I could pay for it. Bellanca’s were built not too far from Madison, so I ordered a Decathalon (101AL) and set it up so it could be scheduled for aerobatic instruction out at Truax. And of course, I would still use it for my training for my commercial ticket. I continued flying with the aforementioned instructor until he (literally) took off to dust crops.
There was another (quite handsome) young instructor that I sought out for instruction. He never indicated that he might be interested in me. Ours was a definite student/instructor relationship. A short while later, I heard from others at the airport, that his grandmother had died and she had lived in Minnesota. I thought the least I could do was offer him the airplane to get to her funeral. It would carry him and one other person. That wasn’t much, but it could help. The result of making that offer was that I discovered he was not married, nor in a committed relationship. I have now been married to him for over fifty years.
But back to flying…I continued to fly and received my commercial license in due course. My husband had obtained all sorts of licenses (single, multiengine land and sea, instructor, instrument instructor) benefitting from the GI Bill after serving as a mechanic in the Air Force for several years. However, he did not learn to fly until he was back home from serving in Germany which would have been several years before I met him. When the Decathalon arrived, he provided dual aerobatic instruction in it and we formed a very small air charter business wherein he served as the PIC of a light twin which we leased locally. I was chief cook and bottle washer and kept the books.
Shortly before we were married, he decided that he was called to be a chaplain. This was something he had thought about for quite a while, but classes started in September and the seminary was in Minneapolis, so he was off to Minnesota. An opportunity arose for us to sell the Decathalon to my former instructor, who was home from crop dusting and had a young son who loved aerobatics, so that is what we did.
We bought a Beech Bonanza to reduce the time it took to go from Madison to the Twin Cities. We had also gotten Aku, a young female Siberian Husky, who we tethered to the back seats so that she could get her head forward to be close to us, but could not come any closer. She was a good sized girl. She rode through several weather situations nuzzled up to the back of my husband’s head. I was jealous, because if I had been able to nuzzle him, it might have reduced my fear as well.
We might still have that Bonanza except for a wind storm that wrecked it at an airport where we were having some radio work done. A Bonanza lying on its back with its wheels up in the air has got to be one of the saddest things one could ever see! We didn’t replace it. And I was unable to maintain my flying for want of an airplane and for want of the money to rent an airplane or pay for air time. I have flown nationally and internationally on commercial airplanes many times, and the interesting fact is, I’m still scared when flying.
- I’m still scared of flying - September 18, 2024
What a great story! Thanks for sharing.
Reading through it reminded me of the character of “Izzy” in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes played by Jessica Tandy. Between the beginning and ending of the story was a multitude of adventures cherished for their affirmation of a life well lived!
What a kind comment. I loved “Fried Green Tomatoes” when I saw it many years ago. Thank you for thinking of me with the connection. I appreciate it.
That is a super great story and the cropduster instructor that you had so much reminds me of a good friend that I flew with for many years? Maybe the same person who knows.
Well, he got around quite a bit. So it well could be the same man. Last I heard he was someplace in South America still dusting crops and, if I recall correctly, he was a year or so older than I am. Amazing if he still has a license. I don’t know what happened to the Bellanca. I hope they didn’t dump it somewhere; it was a beauty.
My friend is still at it. He is 81 now I believe? I had a great career Ag fying for many years. I Still have my license and credentials, But been away from it for so long. And Nowadays, I can’t afford the rent and I can’t afford to buy. It’s astronomical how expensive airplanes are to buy and maintain. Again it was a great story and I loved the read.
I certainly am with you on the expense of flying these days. When I stop to think about it, I’m really sorry that we ended up with our sad shaped Bonanza. I think my husband has a few regrets about it as well. I am, however, anticipating my 90th birthday. If I’m still kicking on that date, I plan to make a parachute jump. I always said that I would ride my plane down if there were problems. But I’ve changed my mind and am hopeful that I will be able to sky dive into my 90th anniversary. I have never jumped, but what do I have to lose? Seems like a good end, if I can work everything out. Keep a happy thought.
Many years ago when the world and I were young, I became very afraid of flying perhaps because I had small children and I was needed to raise them. My husband wanted me to take flying lessons because he had received his pilots license and wanted me to go with him. I tried, but was way too nervous. Did you know that your toes can actually curl around the brake pedals? My shoulders hurt from holding up the airplane with my hands Gripping tightly on the yoke.
I would still get on a commercial plane only because I love to travel to see places, but I didn’t like the flight part portion. One time we travel to Hawaii and while there, my husband and two friends wanted us all to go on a helicopter tour of Kauai. I swallowed my fear and went. It was magical and amazing and spectacularly beautiful. I didn’t think anymore about learning to fly, however.
Some years later, I was at a local airport Hanscom Field, Bedford MA. I don’t know what brought me into the helicopter flight school. Something in me opened my mouth and asked if they could a person with an abject fear of flying and teach her how to fly. The instructor said sure. There it was. It was, the most difficult, the most challenging thing I’d ever attempted. This gave me the understanding that I could overcome fear and gain a sense of personal strength. One thing that truly helped overcome the fear was knowledge of how an aircraft stays in the air and how to control the aircraft. It did take about 150 hours and a commercial rating before I felt truly comfortable in the helicopter.. By then I owned a Robinson R22 helicopter and had my own business taking up aerial photographers. Who knew that taking a sightseeing flight in a helicopter would lead to a 25 year career as a business owner and helicopter pilot. What the fear of flying did give me, though was a healthy respect for the aircraft and for checking in with myself to decide if weather and other considerations meant I should fly that day or not. Now I’m long retired and not flying but I have these wonderful memories of flights taken.
Bravo for you! My sense is that we could stand close to one another and have a good sense of what the other person might be considering about flying or about an aircraft. I have only a few hours in a helicopter and think your company must have been wonderful, with people wanting to fly with you because of your safety-ness.. Retirement after a history like yours must make those children you were loving and caring for very proud of their mother.
Thank you Dee for sharing your story. I’ve met many people who have a fear of flying until they take their first flight in a small airplane and discover, once in the air, the fear is replaced by the awesomeness of looking out the window at the landscape below. My husband became a pilot when he was 60 after a Christmas present from me of 10 flying lessons hooked him. He is a member, and now president, of a worldwide association of pilots who are still flying at age 80 and over…the UFOs (United Flying Octogenarians). 1800 members currently. If you are 75 and still flying, you can join as a member of the Auxillary Wing (AW) until you reach age 80 and can be a UFO. The aviation stories being told by these pilots are amazing, many of them being military veterans. Check out the website https://www.ufopilots.org/
I wish I could pass a physical so that I might fly and perhaps join his group. Unfortunately, I would not be able to pass a physical now, so I can only envy those who can and ask them to make one trip around their local field for me and enjoy every minute of it.
Dee
Your transition to flying in Wisconsin and pursuing a commercial license with an “old time” instructor sounds intriguing, especially with the aerobatics training. It must have been a thrilling experience, even if it was a bit scary at times @slope run
You are so right. It was truly thrilling and so instructive of notions I had as well as lots of different behaviors. I learned so much from the whole process, and I value it more as I grow older. I do wish that I could fly now, but as I’ve said, there is no way I could pass a physical. So I do some vicarious flying by reading Air Facts and other online sources.
Thank you for your response. It is so gratifying to have people actually read what I’ve written and respond to me from their perspective.
What a lovely article Dee! It is so wonderful to hear the full story of how you two met and all of your amazing stories flying long before I was born. You have always inspired me as a true pioneering female and always will. I can’t wait to hear how skydiving is for your 90th. Miss you. Hugs. -Your niece, Krista
Hi, Krista-
Thanks so much for taking the time to read the article. I only wish I were still physically fit to fly. They don’t even like me, in my shape, on commercial flights. I still have the old approach-avoidance feelings going on. You’d think by now that would have gone away. I would truly love to fly in a light plane once more before I bite the dust. Maybe that will happen on my 90th big sky jump.
Hugs
Dee
I relish the level of detail about who you flew with in each kind of plane, and the underlying plot, that facing your fears led you to meet the love of your life. You are a trailblazer in how you thoroughly seek what interests you. Be thinking of what kind of cake you want to blow out the candles on when you turn ninety! Thank you for sharing your love of flying and your love for the people who matter in your life.