Learning to fly is still one of the greatest adventures, even in this modern high-tech digital era. And the first solo is for most pilots the most memorable flight. I was so euphoric when my instructor climbed out of the Aeronca 7AC and told me to take it once around the pattern that I forgot […]
When I earned my private ticket in 1960, jet aircraft were still rather rare, even in the San Fernando Valley. My home field, Whiteman Air Park in Pacoima, California, was near Van Nuys and Lockheed airports, both of which were busy commercial fields. The local landing and departing traffic was mainly at piston-engine airspeeds, which […]
This is an old story, but it’s one I still think about often. In January 1960, I found myself in the right seat of an 85 hp Luscombe 8F on top of a thick layer of smog blanketing the infamous Los Angeles basin, the setting sun perilously close to the western horizon. The pilot, my […]
