Owning an airplane, somehow, is far different from owning a car, a house or any other high-ticket item. For many owners, the airplane becomes part of the family. And so it was for me.
I found my Cessna 170 in the middle of Michigan and picked it up with my friend David. David had hundreds of hours in 170s. I had none. So David took the controls for the first takeoff from the little grass strip where the airplane had lived for the past four years, and we took off for Peoria, Illinois. It just so happens that the airport identifier at Peoria is PIA.
