OK, Keith ... you've asked me to do this
several times, so I apologize for not
answering you sooner.
Like
most people who fly, I wanted to do it all
of my life. I built stick and tissue
airplanes at a very early age ... I can
remember building in the fifth grade, maybe
earlier. The first book I remember reading
in grade school, kindergarten or first
grade, was "Pilot Small and his Little
Airplane." (And some 70 years later, I
looked it up on Amazon.com and bought a
copy!)
My parents bought my brother and me an
already-built "gas" model when I was about
in the seventh grade. It was a very well
built Scientific Mercury, approximately. 6'
span. The airframe was good, the engine was
horrible. It was a Sky Chief, cast iron,
with the points out in the open where they
could get nice and greasy. My dad was a
Saint ... so many times he'd drive me out to
Benson Park and wait patiently while I
flipped the prop on that Sky Chief.
When I was in the eight grade (1944-'45)
I'd ride my bike down to what is now Eppley
and sweep out hangars and shine PT-19's.
I'd do the same thing on Saturday mornings.
At Noon on Saturday, I'd get one dollar and
a ride in a J-3. This was at a time when
there weren't too many people, let alone
kids, who had actually been in a "real
airplane."
I was one of those "airport bum" kids. I'd
hang around the old Clear Ridge airport
(72nd and Crown Point, where Sorensen Plaza
is now) and wear my best "please give me a
ride, Mister" look. Oddly enough, they
sometimes did give me a ride. This couldn't
happen today, because pilots would be afraid
of being sued. But in the 1940's, no one
thought about suing people.
I didn't get around to taking flying
lessons until I was chartering quite a bit
while working in television news. Returning
to Omaha one night, the pilot let me handle
the controls. I was hooked. And because I
still had some GI bill remaining that could
be applied to flying lessons, I started
right away. My log books say I soloed
Cessna 140 #77047 on June 6, 1957.
That first solo was definitely not routine. In
1957, Air Force B-47's from Lincoln quite
regularly made GCA approaches to Omaha. When
this happened, it was normal for the tower to
say something like "attention all aircraft
operating in the vicinity of Omaha Municipal
Airport. Air Force Baker 47 now in procedure
turn northwest of the field enroute to low
altitude simulated approach. Be alert to
observe this aircraft."
On my solo day, there had been no such
announcement (at least neither my instructor nor
I heard one.) So, after the instructor got out
of the 140 and turned me loose, I took off. |
I was still over the runway when the tower
said "Cessna 047, make immediate 360 to the
left. B-47 now approaching the runway from
the North." That got my attention, so I
made an immediate turn ... too immediate and
too tight as it turns out ... because about
the time I was ready to complete the 360,
there was this beautiful bomber heading
directly at me. The tower screamed "another
360," and I turned even faster than I did
the first time.
I completed the second 360 and made my
first solo landing. The instructor ran up,
opened the door, said "go around two more
times." Then he slammed the door and walked
away so I had no choice but to make two more
landings, shaking knees and all.
I finally bought my own airplane, a 1966
Cessna 172 G Model, in 1971. When I went
out to the airport to pick it up, I had
never flown an airplane with a nose wheel,
which is just the opposite experience of
most pilots because most have never flown a
tail dragger. Ownership of 3650Lima was a
partnership thing with Joe Patrick, a
sportscaster friend. When Joe sold his
share, I got another partner and kept that
same wonderful airplane for 33 years. We
paid $7,000 for it in 1971 and sold it for
$42,000 in 2004. Those numbers sound good,
but to anyone who's ever had to pay hangar
rent, get annual inspections, pay for major
overhauls, etc., I would not recommend
aircraft ownership as an investment!
I did finally get an instrument rating in
1989, and in the process, became fascinated
with the ADF and NDB approaches. To the
amazement of my instructor and the flight
test examiner, I aced the NDB approach part
of the test. But I was really into that
(now totally obsolete!) instrument, so much
that I actually wrote a little book, "A
guide to understanding ADF navigation and
NDB instrument approaches." AOPA
Pilot magazine gave it a very favorable
review, which I treasured because it
appeared right next to a review of "Ernest
K. Gann's Flying Circus." Those two works
are nowhere comparable, but I did like the
thought that we were mentioned on the same
page.
I miss flying and owning an airplane.
Unless you can use an airplane for business,
ownership makes zero sense financially. But
it was a great feeling to know that it was
just sitting there in a hangar, waiting for
you to wake it up, pat it on its nose and
go bore holes in the sky.
This is probably more than you asked for
Keith, but there ... I've finally answered
your request.
Galen Lillethorup
|
Metro
Area RC Flying 
