I’d always wanted to learn to fly. After all, it was in my blood. My dad and mother had many dates in his Piper J-3 Cub. He would land in the hayfields of her father’s farm to pick her up. When the corn was short he landed in the cornfield between the rows. According to their story, he had to sell his Cub to buy a new washer and dryer to clean my diapers. He always regretted that decision, but I’m sure my mother would argue the point. My uncle George sold Pipers at the time, along with Minneapolis-Moline and Massey-Harris farm equipment. I have some of his old Piper parts books and paperwork. Recently, I found a bill of sale from Piper to my uncle for a Piper Super Cruiser that he sold to a local farmer for $2,725.69 on January 14, 1947.
A Student’s First Flight to a Towered Airport Nearly Goes Terribly Wrong
Key Takeaways:
- A student pilot's night flight to a major airport became critically dangerous after their plane's battery was jump-started, unknowingly disabling its electrical systems, including lights and radio.
- While waiting on a major runway, their small, invisible, and incommunicado aircraft caused an arriving Boeing 707 to execute an emergency go-around to prevent a collision.
- The harrowing near-miss dramatically underscored the vital importance of fully functional electrical systems for aircraft visibility and communication with air traffic control.
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