Early in 1974, my wife, Dorothy, and I had just moved from our home in Massachusetts to Appleton, Wisconsin, for my new consulting job. Since serving in the Air Force during the Korean War, I have had a lifelong interest in flying, so I was excited to realize I would be only a short drive to the location of the upcoming 22nd Oshkosh Air Show, which was to start on August 2. For many, arriving at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is a rite of passage, attending what becomes, for one week, the busiest airport in the world. We had a week we’d never forget.
As we drove back home, I said to Dot, “It must be great to learn how to fly.” Dot said, “Why don’t you try it?” To which I replied, “No, I can’t. It would cost too much and take too much time.” So, there I was, two days later at Appleton International Airport (KATW) in the pilot’s seat of a vintage Cessna 150, clutching my student pilot certificate and taking my first flying lesson. In December, with my consulting work finished, we moved back to Massachusetts. After we resettled, I continued my flying lessons at Marlboro Airport (9B1). With its 1,659-foot runway bookended by extremely tall pine trees, there couldn’t be a better place to practice landings and takeoffs. I finally earned my private pilot certificate on May 14, 1975. After we got home, Dot and I held a proper champagne celebration. Then we had a serious discussion about flying, and I promised her that the one thing I would never do was buy an airplane.
