My Flying History

I've had airplane fever for as long as I can remember. My first plane was the Cox U-Control blue and yellow PT-19 trainer. Then my Dad built me a jet black "Lil Wizard" which was a fantastic U-control ship. Here I am in the early 70's at the Flying Circus in Bealeton, Virginia. They are still there but regretfully don't fly the Fokker Triplane anymore.

 
When I was 18 I got a job washing planes for the Moffett Field Naval Air Station flying club. After a few months of that I decided, without much thought, really, to take flying lessons. Somehow I managed to get it done over the summer. Here I am taxiing back from my first flight as a licensed private pilot. My mother was my first passenger.
After exercising my new private pilot's license for three flights in the Cessna 150, I spent a little time -- 20 years --  in the U.S. Navy. I was a Naval Flight Officer and flew in the P-3 Orion, hunting Soviet submarines. 
Between raising a family and moving every two or three years I didn't have much opportunity to fly.  Instead, I built and flew radio-control planes to get my flying fix.  I started this Stearman my senior year in college: 1981.  I finally finished and flew it ten years later.
Late in my Navy career, I moved to Annapolis, Maryland and worked at the U.S. Naval Academy. With a normal schedule for the first time in my life and the help of my brother-in-law, Bruce, I got back into flying. Bruce called me one day and said, "Come over and look at our new airplane!"  It was a Kolb UltraStar and was the first plane I flew significantly after my 20 year hiatus. We had a lot of fun in the "flying lawnchair".
Bruce also introduced me to soaring. I learned to soar in this Schleicher Ka-4 Rhonlerche that we bought, restored and flew.  It is a German-built, two seat trainer, made of steel tube frame, wood wing spars and ribs, and covered with fabric.
Bruce had restored this beautiful Corben Junior Ace and was nice enough to let me fly it. I had to take taildragger training first; took me a little while to get the hang of it but it was worth it. After the UltraStar, the Junior Ace seemed like a big plane to me. 
Bruce and I bought a 1970 Citabria 7GCBC "fixer upper". We made her airworthy, flew her for a year, and then did a total restoration that took two and a half years. Now we are having fun flying her all over the place.
This is Bruce's Schleicher Ka-6. It's a single-seat, 30 to 1, very sweet flying ship. It was one of the highest performance wood gliders, before they shifted to fiberglass. After flying the low performance Ka-4, the Ka-6 flew like it had an engine!
I took five hours of aerobatic instruction in this Decathlon. Wow! It was a lot of fun and really improved my pilot skills. I'm really glad I did it. Adam Cope is a great instructor.
While Bruce and I were restoring the Citabria, we bought this Corben Baby Ace at Sun 'N Fun.  I got to know the plane by flying it from Miami to Baltimore on a three day cross-country.  We had a lot of fun flying this plane around the Chesapeake Bay.  Unfortunately the introduction of the Washington D.C. Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) forced us to move the Baby Ace outside the ADIZ -- no radio or transponder -- and we don't fly her much anymore.
Now I am building an RV-7. Hopefully someday I'll be flying an RV-7 like the one below!
I bought Bruce's Schleicher Ka-8 and it is one sweet-flying glider.  It flies as well as the Ka-6 but is a lot more roomy and comfortable.  After all these years, I finally have a glider of my own.