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When did you start flying?

At what age did you start logging time towards your first pilot license?

  • < 16 (Will pump gas for stick time!)

    Votes: 100 16.1%

  • 16 - 20 (Dating? When there's flying to be done?!)

    Votes: 156 25.1%

  • 21 - 30 (Living on pizza, soda...and Avgas!)

    Votes: 181 29.1%

  • 31 - 40 (First mortgage or first airplane....let's see...)

    Votes: 103 16.6%

  • 41 - 50 (Kids College Fund or airplanes...Hmmmm)

    Votes: 53 8.5%

  • 51 - 60 (I've waited long enough!)

    Votes: 25 4.0%

  • 61 - 70 ("You better find something to do if you retire!!")

    Votes: 3 0.5%

  • > 70 (Congratulations!!)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    621
The usual stuff...until 1991.

Good thread, and it sounds familiar.

Age 11 (1958) control line models.

Age 31 (1978) Radio Control models.

Age 35 (1982) Right seat in a Comanche B flying the pattern with an old friend. He was surprised that I knew how to set up the cross-wind landing. I was flying a 1/6 RC scale model of his Comanche. Both the model and the full-size airplane had similar trim changes when the landing gear goes down.

Age 44 (1991) My first flight in a 172 in the LEFT seat with the instructor aboard. I showed him the photo of my RC Comanche. He did the pre-flight and ran the engine. I taxied out at Lantana, Florida on runway 9 and flew away with him to a practice area. I did coordinated turns both left and right while holding altitude. He was shocked. I had also been practicing on my flight simulator program. It took me about 6 hours of dual time to find the the runway with the wheels (gracefully). It was October 1991.

Passed my check ride in March 1993 after changing jobs, etc. The day I got laid off from the job, I went to the airport to fly with my instructor. Not a bad way to end the day.

My RV-9A project began in October 2002 and flew June 9, 2005. I finished the airplane when I was again without a job. I had money in the bank, and time to fly around the country during the summer of 2005. It is all in my web site -- building, flying, just having a good time.

The paint job on my RV-9A is adapted from the 1966 Piper Comanche B that my friend flew in Kentucky. The tail emblem is modified as a mix of the original Comanche emblem and the Delta Airlines emblem shape in the 70's & 80's.

DSCM0209A.JPG


The tail art on this side is influenced by my love of all things "Star Trek" of course. Ask me about it sometime.

DSCM0208A.JPG
 
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It started by watching Whirlybirds on TV as a kid, then forcing my parents to drive me to the LA Airways heliport (LAX to Disneyland) in our town to watch. Always wanted to be a helicopter pilot but could only afford to fly RC helicopters. After marriage I figured I could fly the real thing for almost what I was spending on RC and a friend talked me into taking fixed-wing ground school with him. Received my ASEL private in 1989, instrument ticket in 1991. Never owned, only rent and hope to build an RV-12 someday.
 
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At age 10 my father would have me on his lap so I could fly the Lockheed Loadstar he flew for an oil company. I started flying lessons at 14, soloed at 16, commercial, multi-engine and instrument shortly after turning 18. For the next 2 years I went through the Glendale College A&P program. Started in corporate aviation at 21 as an A&P Copilot. After ten years an ATP, FE and 5 type ratings I got on with AirCal which later became American Airlines. Four more type ratings and I am ready to down size and can’t wait to get to squashing rivets but the canopy thing and all the glass work does give pause. Not much of that stuff around in the late 60’s.:(

I have to thank all the builders that have it together enough to put their work up on the web, an incredible wealth of information and I continue to wonder, where in the world do you find the time?:eek:
 
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My mom got me an introductory flight lesson when I was 14. That's all it took, I very quickly put all the R/C stuff up for sale and would ride my bike to the airport after school to take flying lessons. I soloed at 16, before I even knew how to drive a car.

Here's me after my first solo flight June 29, 1988. No laughing! :)
about_builder_002.jpg
 
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Late bloomer

Great thread, Paul! (Do you ever do any bad ones?!)
I was born a poor, white chile in Minneapolis. I never expected to fly even on a commercial plane much less pilot my own. About 13 years ago my job moved into the UAV realm(maintenance) which exposed me to several former military pilot types including some instructors. Turns out there was a C172 for rent at the local airport for cheap so I took an intro flight lesson with one and I was hooked. This was in Sept of 2000 and after 4 months and 13 hours that plane became unavailable. I weighed all the options and the cheapest way to continue was to buy my own. I found a nice '59 straight-tail, soloed in it, finished my training, did my check-ride in it, and have rolled up almost 850 hours in it. (Still have it although it's for sale). Started my -7A a few months after I got my PPL and am currently working on the last 90%(finishing). BTW, I was 46 when I took that first lesson. Only regret I have is waiting that long.
 
Been excited about aeroplanes all my life - Brother was a pilot in the Air Force and I built and flew models through early teens.

Fortunate to get a scholarship that gave me 30 hours flying at 17 yrs old from the RAF.

Finished school, I wanted to go to college, my Dad said join the Air Force.............

I applied and was accepted but it was all too soon and they wanted me for too long - until I was 38 !

So that ddn't happen.

Got a job in the motor trade and settled down, flew lots and lots of skydivers and found an older bird with a good job and a brand new BMW so we got married. 23 years later something must have worked !

Anyhow, by 1988 the local airline was hiring, my hours were OK so I quit my job and sat all my exams.

Heck, I was flying a Shorts 360 !

They went bust after a year - went into Engineering for a year doing quality management, then a charter airline was looking for 757 rated pilots.

Found out how, where and how much and did my own 757 rating.

Got a job with them in 1992.

Jet command in 1996 on Airbus, still with them on A330 flying East and West.

Meanwhile, bought a Vagabond in 1995 and since have had,

C120, Champ, C175, Zlin 526F, Citabria, Champ, Christen Eagle, Citabria and am currently building an RV7 with my Bro.

It's been a blast :D
 
Children with degrees, no more children cars to purchase, seemingly some spare $ to accompany a 30 year desire to fly. Started with university flying club. We missed a month of flying because of 9-11. Now with retirement there is plenty of time/resources to fly the RV6A. I am not sure that age is much of a barrier to flying outside of the medical.

Doyce Graham
N567RV purchased/flying
 
All my life

I was the breakout kid in my family. No one else had interest in those "puddlejumpers", but I did. Took my dates to the airport in Hartford, CT to show off the FBO's C150 fleet. PPL at 17 and immediately joined the flying club where the C150 was $7/hour wet.

Skip forward a few years and you saw me at Embry Riddle, getting my A&P and Commercial, Multi, and Instrument ratings. At 230 hours I started flying Twin Otters for a commuter operation, again in Connecticut. You hardly ever see that, but I started with the company as an A&P (2 weeks on first shift, 2 weeks on third, and back and forth). Apparently the Owner/Prez liked me and granted my wish. A few years later I got my ATP and Citation type rating and flew for a large wood company. Great times.

Still in aviation (Tech Rep for an aerospace engine company) and wanted to stay in the air, so I built "Casey" over 7 1/2 years. Loving life.
 
On the water

I did my pirvate on floats at Wilderness Wings in Ely Mn 1979.a few times boats would pull up along side and would want to race during the takeoff run.:cool: Check ride was in late October on Rainy lake, icicles were on all the float rigging, ceiling 1500 ft wind at 30kts from 300 degrees, 28F. but it was just another day in the bush,
It was more than learning to fly it was an adventure.
 
Another Late Bloomer...

I've always loved to fly and my wife still can't get over the fact that I can tell her what the make & model of a plane as it flys overhead....a little thing my brothers and I did as kids. I had the opportunity to fly into the Grand Canyon about 6 years ago. We went by helicopter and had lunch on a flat area about halfway down the canyon. Then we zipped down the Vegas strip.....I was hooked! I began lessons right after that and finished in 9 months. I passed my check-ride on February 8, 2003 (43 years old). I started to build Juliette Whiskey in July of 2006......
 
When I was 2, my dad took me for a ride in a J3 Cub. When I was 4 my parents divorced (no more rides). When I was 10 my room was filled with model planes. When I was 13 I flew those "planes on a control string". When I was 23 I got married (still am). When I was 44 I got into Remote control electric planes. When I was 54 I studied and passed the FAA Knowledge test. I'm now 55 and I soloed last friday, (October 12, 2007).

Thanks, Everyone.
 
early

Dad got his license before I was born....Dad and 8 other guys bought a fixed gear fixed pitch cardinal when I was born.... I could'nt see over the dash growing up so he would bring phonebooks and tip the wing over six flags so I could tell him where Charlie Brown Airport was from there... I rember my first helicopter ride too... a fair with a yellow bell 47... Got my ticket at 22 I think.... now I'm private rotor and commercial fixed.... As an IA, that is how I afford an airplane.... Dad was always into RC... that helped alot. Dad worked alot so I mostly only saw him on the weekends.. so at 7:30 sat morning I would wake him up so we could make the 9:30 pilots breakfast 10 min down the road... then usually flying happened right after breakfast... that made my week! I finally mowed enough lawns to pay for my license and the rest is history....
Best
Brian Wallis
(update to old entry... comm fixed wing and CFI rotor)
 
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My dad was a private pilot and planted the seeds of desire early. Started logging time in gliders in 1982, and did some badge and competition flying over the next several years. Decided to get my power ticket in 1994, haven't done much glider flying since then.
 
Late to the party

In my youth, my brothers and I built a lot of model airplanes, including many balsa wood and tissue, rubber band powered airplanes, scratch-built from plans my father had used in his childhood in the 1930's (like the Albatross with a 5' wing span). What memories those are, of the three of us sitting in the attic or basement poring over those yellowed plans from the 30's, buying flat sheets of balsa, and tracing & cutting the parts. :D

So, I was always interested, but I didn't begin my lessons until I was 48, in '98. I owned my own company and my CFO wanted to take lessons so I said to him one day "If we don't do it now we never will". We bought a 1965 Skyhawk for the company and took lessons in it.

By January of 1999 we were both PPL. Oh, the fun! Every flight was an adventure. I used that plane to fly all over the counry VFR. Based in Kansas City, we flew to Las Vegas, Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Denver, on business (& fun). After a year and a half I said we needed a faster plane so we got a 1992 Commander 114B and flew it VFR all over the country again to even more places. It was STC'd for five seats so I was able to fly my wife and three daughters also. Now as the family matures I fly alone more and more. So, I have now graduated to an RV-6A which I love, and still use for business travel, still VFR.

That's it in a nutshell. :cool:
 
[/B] started flying @ 14 took my private check ride on my 16th birthday, man what aday that was!!!!! after 42 years of flying and flying for the airlines and all the other ratings nothing can really match that day when I was 16!

RV7 N849PC wiring instrument panel.:D:D
 
Flying Memories

My folks told me that when I was about 4 years old, I looked up and saw a V-tailed airplane and said, "That's a Beechcraft Banana." Dad was always interested in airplanes and flying machines. After he died, we found a term paper he wrote during his one year of college. It was written in 1935 about the history and future of airships. This was two years before the Hindenburg disaster.

He told me my first airplane ride was when I was about 3 years old. My brother and I were strapped into the back of an Aeronca and at altitude the pilot banked over so I could see out the window. I don't remember it.

My dad flew control line models and then the old escapement type radio control airplanes (circa. 1960). He had a beautiful C-170 model that crashed more than it flew. (Push the button once for right rudder and twice for left rudder...maybe! Throttle? None...it was wide open until no more fuel and then it was dead stick with rudder only...push the button once for right and twice for left...maybe!) He finally painted it all yellow so we could find it in the fields (or forests) easier.

I also flew control line models, but rather sporadically, what with model cars and a Whizzer motorbike and then a Cushman Eagle motor scooter to occupy my time. Ah, those were the days!

This year, while cleaning out my dad's shop, I found the old Rat Racer CL airplane I built at age 14. That thing has a solid balsa wing with enough balsa to build about 5 smaller models!

Dad finally decided to take flying lessons at age 59. He ended up buying the C-150 that he soloed in and finished his PPL at age 60. We were real proud of him. Because of him, I was able to get about 30 hours as a student in the C-150 (I soloed in the same airplane at age 32). He later bought a C-172 and continued flying even after two heart valve surgeries until age 84. He passed away last year at age 89. And I inherited his C-172. It's gonna be a real big decision (heart vs. head) to have to sell the C-172 when I get ready to buy engine and avionics for the RV-7 project. I wish I could have completed the RV-7 and given him a ride in it before he died.

Carpe Diem!

Don

P.S. to Paul...thanks for initiating this thread!
 
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In 1966 a friend and myself was visiting my brother at Longmont CO. We spent a lot of time at the airport there and must have gone a little nuts as we went together and bought a 1960 Comanche 250 for $8800.00 including one year insurance. (at this same time we turned down a P51 that was doing airshows weekly for the low price of $10,000.00. :mad:. We put it on lease to the FBO and gave him a persent for renting it out. That went real well untill he figured out he might as well own a plane like it and rent out his own.:( I did not fly at this time and before we lost the good deal renting out the 250 we ( my friend and myself) bought from this FBO a 1959 150 and brought it back to NE and started a flying school. We put an add in the Denver Post for an instructor and hired a young man out of Denver. It is while we were running the school that I started flying and haven't stopped yet. ( about 14 aircraft later);)
That is 41 very good years. I figure I'v got about 18 to 20 years left.:p
 
I logged my first time in 1979, 1993 and again in 2002 but ran out of money every time. I've soloed an Archer, Warrior (I know, same thing), C-150 and a Piper Tomahawk but still no license because I've started and stopped so many times! I'm so ashamed, LOL!
But thankfully, I finally have enough money dedicated so that I can finish and I'll start (again) soon at Frederick Maryland (FDK).
 
I got my SEL PPL during the summer that I turned 19. I had saved the funds and just got the idea one day to head out to Bulverde airport (north of San Antonio) and see how one would go about getting into flying. Ran across the local flight school (Russ Parmenter) and had my check ride less than three months later.
 
The first entry in my first pilot log book was on February 25, 1957. I was 15 years old. The airplane was Cessna 140 N2552N. Some other kid had the line boy job at our airport. I earned my private license with earnings from a newspaper route. There were few jobs for kids in those days. Money was tight, but I got it done.
 
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First log book entry on August 1, 2005 - 53 years old! :mad: Dream since childhood. Never enough money till now. Still, it's been more than two years but I'm finally finishing up my solo work with more than 60 hours. The first 22 were done in a two-week "crash" program at a local FBO. First soloed there in a Diamond Katana DA-20. Now flying a PA28-140/160. Can't stand those 10,000' Class C runways -- takes too long to get to their end in the Cherokee. Need an RV7A bad. Just moved to an airpark. Hope to get started on the RV soon. Money again! :D
 
I was always interested in airplanes, but I really have no idea where the interest came from. No one in my family flew, or was interested in airplanes. I grew up in Wilmington, Ohio near a small Air Force facility called Clinton County Air Force Base. There was lots of activity when I was growing up in the 50's and 60's. Mostly C-119 Flying Boxcars, and later KC-97 tankers. Air force reserve units did training at the base during the summer, so there were lots of planes flying over our house. They would frequently have large groups of C-119's dropping paratroopers. Pretty interesting stuff for a kid.
I joined the Civil Air Patrol as a teenager in High School, and spent a lot of time at the CCAFB. My first airplane ride was in a C-119 when I was 14.
The Civil Air patrol started a flying club which I joined. Between my freshmen and sophomore years of college I worked all day at a summer job, and flew every available evening to finish my private ticket in a little less than three months. The flying club had two Piper Colts that rented for $5.00 an hour wet, and the instructor charged $6.00 an hour. I've got a bunch of hours flying those two Colts N4814Z and N5071Z all over the country. My first flight to Oshkosh was in 1971 in one of the Colts.
I'm 56 now and have been actively flying for 36 years, some years a lot of hours, some years not many. I'm semi-retired so I'm looking forward to completing my RV-9A, and becoming fully retired. My wife is also a pilot and we would like to fly our RV all over the country.
 
From about the time I knew what an airplane was, I knew I was going to fly them one day. I got a few rides through the years, but until I started working in high school I couldn't afford lessons. Finally started just before my senior year at 16, finished up the next summer (June 16, 2002 to be exact). Had about a year or so gap before my dad's -6 got finished and I could start learning to fly it... but it took another year before I could get enough time at once to get the tailwheel signoff.

My long-term plans include some form of homebuilt (preferably a -7 or -8), but we'll see what my bank account says about that in a few years.
 
Aviation books and models (still have the books) were the realities of my childhood dreams. As soon as I could drive, went down to the airport looking for a job. Got one, sweeping the hangar floor and washing the school C-150s and 172s. At $1.75/hr to start it took awhile with most of my paycheck every week going on my account at the flight school. It took two years, but on 4/7/73 I had a PPL. I was 18.
 
I flagged for cropdusters when I was a teenager. Caught the flying bug while diving into the sagebrush.
PPL in 1978.
Commercial and Instrument in the 90's.
 
Great topic

I grew up about a half mile from the end of RWY 29 at KAKR, Akron, Ohio Municipal. RWY 24 (now 25) was the long main runway, and corporate jets would dip down to skim telephone poles just down the street. I ALWAYS wanted to fly and design airplanes.

When I was 14 a friend of my dad gave me a ride in his Ercoupe. The combination of light wing loading, Ohio's turbulent summer afternoon thermals, and my excitement resulted in my puking all over the cockpit before the flight was over. That was memorable!

A year or so later, when I was 15, the same friend of my dad introduced me to the FBO operator who was looking for a hangar rat. Her name was Ruby Mensching, one of the original 99s, and as tough a daughter-of-a-bitch as you'd ever meet. But she was a sucker for a kid who wanted to fly.

Ruby paid $1.50 an hour in 1969 to lay on a creeper armed with MEK and shop rags to clean Cherokees, Commanches, Bellancas, Aztecs and Cessnas. I'd also wash and wax the planes of doctors and small business owners, tow and stow them in the hangar, and run errands to the flightline. Because I was under 18 I couldn't get the better paying job of fueler.

By working two days a week while in high school, every other week I'd have made enough money so I could ride my bike to the airport and take 1 hour of dual wet instruction in a C-140B. I soloed shortly after turning 16, and still didn't have a driver's license. One of best apects of soloing is that the cost was halved, no more instructor, and I could afford to fly every week and really build time! I even calculated how I could spend more clock time in the air (not Hobbs time) by throttling back to best L/D.

One day, one of the pilots called me over, heard how I wanted to be a naval aviator (free planes and fuel) and aerodynamics engineer and said, "Hey kid, take off your glasses and read that sign!"

I took off my glasses, and said, "What sign?"

I'm so nearsighted that without my glasses I can't even read the instruments from more than 8" away. The math, science, grades and SAT I had cold, but the %^&* eyesight did me in.

Needless to say I didn't pursue a career as a pilot. But I love to fly: powered, hang gliders, paragliders, etc.

Now I live about a mile off the departure end of RWY 31 at KOAK. My RV-7A is just a set of Van's plans on my desk, sharing space with a (yet another) new technology business plan that's taking up all my time. This tme I won't let the venture capitalists put a clause in our funding term sheet that prevents me from flying.
 
Started in gliders with the Air Cadets and went solo at 16. Air Squadron at university (last time I flew pistons!) and then 12 years flying F4s in the RAF. Now almost 20 years with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong - total time over 13000 hours.

You know how women get into their 30s and the "biological clock" starts ticking and they MUST have a baby? Well, last year I had a similar thing with an aeroplane (and 50s rather than 30s!). Now building a -10 for my retirement - if that nice Mr Gordon Brown will allow such frivolities in the UK by then!

Doubt that I would embark on such a career these days - totally different environment. But it hasn't been a bad life so far............
 
I started flying when I was 6 years old, in my mind. I started flying for real in 1978 at the ripe old age of 37
 
Begine All Over at 35

I checked the age group of over 30, under 40, but I didn't include, or count, the first four lessons that I took at Peter O Knight airport in Tampa. I was a mere 20 year old airman living on about $75 a month in 1967. I managed to take a few lessons in a brand new Cherokee 140 right before I got orders to leave for Japan.
Fifteen years later while on a field trip for General Dynamics, I began taking glider lessons in Boulder City, Nevada.
Another fifteen years later while on a field trip for Lockheed Martin, I began taking my single engine lessons at Fox Field in Lancaster, CA.
I thank GD and Lockheed for paying for my glider lessons and my single engine land rating (I ate a lot of cheap meals and used my per diem for the lessons!). :)
 
soloed on 16th

I lived 1/4 mile from an old time airport owned and run by an old time pilot( learned in the 20's) By the time I was 13 I was flying everthing on the field except the first MU-2 imported into this country. First official solo on 16th birthday. We had a big snow the night before so I spent the whole day digging out the plane and getting the runway plowed. Finally got soloed at 5pm just before dark. ( I haven't met many kids that would do that today)

p.s. I went to the DMV to get my drivers license but they said come back tomorrow "the roads were too bad" so I soloed before I had my drivers license.

That same scruffy bowry boy kid is now a widebody captain at a major airline and that old time pilot has "flown west" and so have most of the true old time airports. We didn't need Young Eagles program back then,....thank goodness we have it now.
 
I took my first lesson pretty much the first day I started gainful employment after college (which took way too long). Prior to that I spent years drooling over the airport fence painfully aware of how light my wallet was. It's still light except for the weight of my flying ticket (which sees to it that it stays that way).;)
 
Bevo Howard??

Any of you old timers remember Bevo Howard? He was an airshow pilot of the 50's from the Carolinas'. My father arranged an airplane ride with him when I was around 4 or 5 yrs. old. I went kickin' and screamin' with my mom and older brother. I can still remember looking over the edge of the side window down at the little cars and houses.....the rest is history...

My first homebuilt airplane project was some left over construction boards that I took from a scrap pile, and constructed an airplane(of sorts) out of 2x8s and plywood and spent many hours in my machine in the backyard flying all over the world....hey, I was about 8 years old. .....now I do it for real!

I got my private license in October, 1972...and have never looked back!!
 
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I took lessons right after I got my first "real" job after vet school, at 23. Since I worked emergency, I'd have a week-on, week-off schedule, which was great for taking lessons. 9/11 happened right before I was going to solo, and then Michigan's winter set in, so I ended up getting my license about 2 weeks before I left that job and started my residency.
 
Look Ma, no radios.

My neighbor and sometimes buddy was a sail boat racer in Highschool and I was his crew. One day he popped over to my yard and said "Hey, You wanna go fly with me in an airplane?" I was 14 he was 16. The ink was still wet on his private pilot license. I hesitated about 3 seconds and said hey sure lets go. It crossed my mind that I better tell my Mom where I was going but before I could follow up on the thought we were speeding along 7th Ave in Miami, Fla heading for a little grass strip known as "Sunny South Airport". We walked up to this little yellow J3 Cub and Ronnie climbs in the back seat and says for me to get in the front. We bounced a couple of times down the grass runway heading east and suddenly were crossing 7th ave climbing out over the neat rows of houses, streets and powerlines. It was very much like in a dream. We turned souteast and headed for MacArthur causeway going to the beach just like we did when we rode our bikes to the beach. As we crossed over biscayne bay and flew over Al Capones 1930's mansion he yells at me to take the stick. I gingerly grabbed it in my right hand and suddenly I felt this weird surge of excitement run from the top of my head down to my feet as I placed them on the rudders. I pushed and pulled a bit as Ronnie hollerd at me from the back seat telling me what to do. I was wallowing around left to right up and down so bad he took the stick back from me and burst out laughing. That was my first flying lesson, I was Ronnies first passenger.

We flew up and down Miami beach checking out the beach bunnies and looking down on all the Hotels along Collins Ave. I worked weekends delivering milk to all these same Hotels and restaurants and it was strange to look down and see the same driveways where my boss parked the truck like looking at a map. Two teenage kids, 14 and 16 turned loose unsupervised and flying free like birds over paradise. I wonder if that could be possible in todays world?
 
It took a year, 3 instructors, many 20 mile trips to the

airport and about $10.000 in 1997-8.
I have a friend that told me about gliders and we were visiting airports a couple times before I took the plunge and sign-up with an aeroclub for PPL.
A year later flying with SX-ALY (that's the registration of the C-152 i flew), i pass my check ride.
Later i was renting Warriors, C-172 to small trips to Greek islands, until i moved to US Dayton, Cincinnati area in 2003.
I flew just 2 times the last six years here in the US.:mad:

Thanos
 
Fun times back then

Soloed Sept.13, 1972. I had the privilege to learn form an Alaska bush pilot. He was also the test pilot for Ted Smith of Aerostar fame. Dick Paget was quite a pilot. Flew out of Van Nuys airport. $15.00/hour included the wet C-150 and the instructor. Times have changed.

Don
 
Low and Slow

Soloed in 1957 at age 17, North Biluxi Airport, Mississippi. Instructor: Art Homer, former potato farmer from Idaho. Apparently, back in those days, running a flight school was easier than growing potatoes. Experienced first forced landing (actual not practice) while receiving dual in an Aeronca Champ. We were practicing glides and had reached a point where Art directed me to start climbing. He was hard of hearing, so converstaions were usually one-way. Unfortunately he couldn't hear me shouting that the throttle wasn't doing it's RPM thing, which somewhat delayed our forced landing strategy. Southern Mississippi is relatively flat, nevertheless, the airplane was out of commission beyond my PCS date from Keesler AFB. Fortunately Art had a fleet of Champs. Three to be exact, so the same day he got me up in another one (his idea of therapy) and I soloed soon after. Got Private Pilot in 1961, etc. etc.
 
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30 to 40

Late bloomer, got PPL at about 37 yrs. Wanted to fly from an early age, 3 or 4. Started ultralights in 1980. taught my self to fly in a Weedhopper. and an Easy Riser.

Models since I can remember 4 or 5 yrs. Tissue and rubber bands. U control and then RCs. Dreamed of flying my own creation while building models in my teens.

No way to justify flying, just do it. I bought a C172 in 1984 got PPL and sold it and got another 172, and then a Bonanza, and a Cherokee Six.
Earned Comerical, Inst, Multi engine land, aeroplane before 40 yrs. Have about 3800 hours so far, will move past 4000 this spring or summer.

Started my first RV6 in 1995, first flight Oct 1996. Just taxied it untill I was confident enough to go. My dad was a WWII pilot and planted the flying bug in me.

Wish I would have started flying younger. 62yrs now,.,.,.. I fly every chance I get. I have a home built Super Cub, 'Shooter' a 180 hp bush plane, fly to Idaho in the summer. The 'Borrowed Horse' is an RV8 180 hp, carb, VFR, Tru Track Digiflight II.

The Borrowed Horse got a little brother a few months back, a RV4! more later....
 
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I started my training in August of 1955 and had my first solo after 8 hours dual in December 1955 (money was short). I finally got my PPL in July 1956. My instructor was from the old school for sure as his certifice number was 3720 and he had many stories to tell. After about 15 hours of flight time, two of my friends and I bought an Aeronca 7AC for $225.00 each. Wish I could buy one for that now days. Hope to start building a 12 after the first of the year. During the build will have to get a lot of refresher training since I have not done any flying since 1972.
 
15

I started with line control when I was 8, RC when I was 9, and full scale when I was 15. I soloed a day after my 16th birthday (too windy on my b-day) and got my ppl at 17. I worked as a line guy at the local airport while I was in high school. I was 2 weeks away from starting school at Embry Riddle when I got cold feet and decided to hedge my bets and get a degree in engineering instead. Ive only flown about 15 hourse since then, but soon that will change. I still remember the first time I saw an RV-3. Some guy called me down to his hangar for fuel, out came this ultra compact little airplane that looked like it was going fast just sitting there. My first thought was "what an insanely small airplane" followed by "you buit it?!?". Fast forward 6 years and Im almost finished building my own.
 
When I was 4 I was flapping my arms thinking 'Well if the birds can do it...'. Then later when I was 15, my dad's friend from AK offered to pay for a couple of flying lessons for me. I loved it of course. He said he would pay for a lesson for each A I got on my report card. Well I didn't get many of those in high school, and report cards came out only once per 6 weeks. The airport was within walking distance from my high school. So I converted money from my grocery sacker job into flying lessons. While I was in high school, and taking flying lessons, I remember taking a good look at pictures of the Bleriot from 1909 and thinking that 75 years later it shouldn't be too hard to build.

I ran out of money for the lessons, then got back into it in college, solo'd, ran out of money, got current again in college, ran out of money. Then decided to wait until I could afford to finish it.

19 years later, or a year and a half ago, I restarted my lessons and had my PPL in 4 months. Now, my dream is to own my own plane, and the plan that gives the most bang for the buck is to build an RV-8. At the moment, I'm at the toolbox practice kit stage :D
 
Late in life

My father and my uncle were both fighter pilots in the second world war, but, as a young man, I always thought flight lessons were impossibly expensive and out of reach. Then, I got my first real job out of law school, started taking lessons in 1981, and soloed in 1982. Right about that time, I got engaged and got a job with a big time law firm, and my money and my time were fully committed. Airplanes came to a screeching halt for me.

Fast forward to 2004. I'm separated, getting a divorce and trying to think of what to do with my life, and it came to me. Take flying lessons again! What a country! For the first time in my life, I have both the money and the time to do it right, and I got my PPL on Memorial Day, 2004, just before turning 52. I have bought and sold a Cherokee 140, bought and am trying to sell a 1956 Bonanza, and am halfway through my RV8, with 90% to go. I'm working on my instrument rating and tailwheel endorsement, and am going to school at Tarrant County College to get my A&P.

I got a late start, but it sure is fun!
 
My soaring dream

I was besotted by the concept of flight for as long as I can remember. As a child I would have dreams at night of running along and simply leaping into the air....and just gliding along weightlessly above the ground. It was my all time favourite dream. But as I got older the dream happenened less frequently and then eventually with time and age it disappeared altogether. I miss that soaring dream.

I had my first flying lesson on May 19, 1964 at the age of 16. At that time you could not get a car licence in my State until age 18 (but you could hold a pilot's licence at 16....go figure).

My first lesson was in a brand spanking new Cessna 150 with only 50 hours on the clock. I suspect that there are not a lot of active pilots left who have flown a new "square tail" Cessna 150. As soon as I sat in the pilot's seat and looked at all the instruments I thought to myself: "I'm home".

Believe it or not my first instructor was a woman, Elizabeth Steenson. She wore jodhpurs and struck me as a very commanding and heroic figure...a kind of Emelia Earhart. At the time I thought she was quite old but in looking back she was probably in her early thirties.

I started building my RV7A 5 years ago. It will be the first and last aircraft that I will build. My plan is to construct it to the best of my abilities.

An interesting and quite hypnotic thread.
 
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JDBoston;163115 Anyone have a flying RV-9A in the New England area they would be willing to show off?? Wait said:
We could probably help you out on that sometime!!!
Jack
EWB
Click to expand...
 
Started Early

At age 14 I got my first flight in a family friends Cherokee 140. By the time I was 16 I had already soloed. I could legally fly before I could drive. Worked for my dad making $35 a week and it cost $25 an hour to rent a Piper Colt. When I graduated HS at 18 (1969) I was already on a delayed enlistment program to go to Warrant Officer flight school for helicopters. I came home from a year in Vietnam with over 800 hours in country and they wouldn't sell me a beer at LAX because I was under 21. Continued flying helicopters for a living all over ****'s half acre till 1998 and I had had enough. Now I fly for fun. Hoping to get my single and multi engine seaplane rating and FW CFI so I can teach my grand kids how to fly my 9A. Because when the time comes and I assume room temperature I want them to have the plane.
 
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