Half Century of Flight Has Included Some Altitude and Ground Speed

Pilot career experiences both fast and slow, and high and low.

Dick Karl

Wednesday, October 09, 2024 at 09:03 AM ET

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Edited By: tccjeremy

Time led to a succession of airplanes, each a little faster than its predecessor. [Courtesy: Dick Karl]

Key Takeaways:

The author recounts a lifelong aviation journey, starting with a 1967 Beechcraft Musketeer and progressively upgrading to faster and more capable piston and turbine-powered aircraft.
He highlights the evolution of his flying experience, from dealing with headwinds in slower planes to enjoying the speed, reliability, and high-altitude performance of personal jets like the Beechcraft Premier 1.
The pinnacle of his high-speed, high-altitude experiences was a memorable passenger flight on the Concorde from New York to London, which included a unique cockpit visit and reaching over 56,000 feet.

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In 1972 while I was stationed at Fort Knox, I purchased a 1967 Beechcraft Musketeer at auction. The battery was dead, and I had no idea about the condition of the airplane, its engine, or avionics.

Charged up and inspected (a post-buy I guess you could call it), I enjoyed flying this airplane for five years. I cruised at 110 knots and I got to fly fast eastbound and slow westbound. One flight from Chicago’s Meigs Field to St. Louis took over three hours at an average ground speed of 78 knots. At some point traffic on the interstate below appeared to outrun us.