Aviation Memories

~ posted by Ben

When I was about 5 years old, my father got his private pilot’s license. A lot of Dads spend their time with their sons hunting, fishing, or doing projects in the garage. And although those are all great hobbies, as a kid I always thought my dad had the best hobby of all! J I loved going up with him in his Cessna 172. I got to know a lot about how a small plane runs, takeoff procedures, and plane maintenance.

I had the pleasure of getting to know the men in Dad’s flying club: Mr. Richard, Mr. Bert, Mr. Ken, and later Dr. James. I also got to know Dad’s flying instructor, Mr. Decker, an aerobatics flyer in the local annual air show. Speaking of the annual airshow, that’s another thing my sister and I accompanied Dad to. Although it was small, it was still a lot of fun! Dad also took me to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo several times and to the US Air Force Museum in Dayton OH.

Of all the Aviation activities I experienced, nothing beat simply flying with Dad. I remember when I was 6 or 7, we were flying along, when all of a sudden he let go of the controls, looked at me, and said “she’s your plane.” I quickly grabbed the controls and flew with butterflies in my stomach until he took over! J I used to enjoy it when my dad would do “ups and downs” in the plane. When the plane goes steeply down, you get a floating sensation in your stomach and even begin to float off your seat slightly. Then when you pull back up, you feel like a 200-pound man is sitting in your lap.

As a little kid I begged my dad to do ups and downs, and would laugh in enjoyment when he would! Then all of a sudden, for reasons I myself never knew, I developed a distaste for that. I don’t know if it was a bad dream or what, but from then on I would wail for my Dad to stop the “ups and downs.” But I still enjoyed flying with him.

Here in Texas, my dad has yet to join a flying club. But when he does, I will look forward to more memories made in the sky with my favorite Dad!