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!

Airport Excursion

As I mentioned yesterday, we had the opportunity to go on a little field trip Wednesday morning. The company my Dad works for has their buildings situated on an old air force base. For a private pilot, it was just about a dream come true to be able to work right next to an airport. J He stays pretty current on what’s going on there, small as it is today.

He found out about a WWII airplane fly-in being held at their airport this past week. We decided that it’d be neat to go and see the planes, as they were offering up-close tours.

So Wednesday morning we all headed out the door early. We actually were going to the doctor’s office first, as I’ve battled a sinus infection all week. Once we finished there, we headed to the airport.

There were a fair number of people there, including kids, which surprised me a bit being a school day, but maybe they’re homeschooled like us. J We paid the admission fee, and then headed out to see the planes.

At the airport that day, they had a B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-24 Liberator. Both of these planes were bombers during WWII. I was pretty disappointed to find out that the P-51 Mustang had left already. We know a veteran who flew those as well as P-38’s during WWII. He was actually bombed down over Italy while flying a P-38 and was a POW for several years. His survival was miraculous, as he had shrapnel embedded in his head following the crash, and no medical help as a POW. When he returned to the States, he was told that he’d never marry due to his injuries. He became the father of 5 children, and the grandfather to many more. J

We started off by going through the B-17. Josiah was especially intrigued by the plane, because one of his favorite movie trilogies is “The Last Chance Detectives.” It’s about a group of Christian kids who have their own detective agency, and their headquarters is located in an old B-17.

Photo Credit: Betsy.

We believe that the 3 swastikas painted on the side indicate how many German planes this B-17 bombed down. It had 140 yellow bombs painted on the side. Usually these indicate how many missions the plane flew, but it may also indicate how many bombs it dropped. Either way, this plane did a lot in its day!

I was amazed at how cramped it was inside. I am only 5’6” and I was ducking and hitting my head quite a bit. I can’t quite imagine what it was like for full-sized men to work in there on bombing raids.

Underneath the B-17 is a small round gunner’s compartment. Unfortunately, if the planes had to make an emergency landing (on the belly of the plane), the man inside usually was crushed. The men who flew these planes were extremely brave, as this plane was known as a bit of death-trap because it was fairly slow.

Then we went and toured the B-24 Liberator, named the Witchcraft. This plane was a behemoth with a huge bomb bay. An interesting thing about this plane was that the gunner situated in the back of the plane had no access to the pilot and co-pilot due to the bomb bay in between them. So if you were in the back, you were stuck.

Photo Credit: Betsy.

There were several military jeeps on display. The gentleman who restored this jeep told us a lot about it. It was used in Italy during the war, and he found it at a junk yard. It took him a year to restore it. He has done a beautiful job, and it was fascinating to hear about how sturdy they were built. (Side note: Seeing these types of Jeeps always makes me think of the movie “White Christmas” because of the opening scene.)

Photo Credit: Betsy.

Unfortunately Daddy couldn’t make it for the tour because he had meetings up until 11:30 that morning. The planes were due to fly out at noon. He decided to come over and join us to watch them take off, as it’s not often that you can see planes of this era fly. What we didn’t account for was the near hour of pre-flight time! Thankfully the weather was nice, so we didn’t mind sitting around for awhile. It was interesting to watch them walk the propellers and load up the people who had paid for a ride.

Once they got all four props going, it got LOUD. I cannot imagine 20 or 30 of these planes all starting up at once during the days of the war. It would have been a sight—and a sound—to behold!

The B-17 letting off exhaust as it started its engines.

We watched them finally take off around 1:00 p.m. Since it was getting late, we went out for a quick lunch with Dad. He took us down the road to a little coffee shop that also has burgers and subs.

 

The burgers were great! They serve them on Texas toast. I of course had to have mine with all the fixings. J

We were all glad that we had the opportunity to go to the airport and learn a little more WWII history. I love airplanes and flying! Excursions like this make me think more and more about getting a private pilot’s license . . .

 

Preview

This past Wednesday, we had the opportunity to go on a little field trip. It seems with our family that where there are airplanes, we will find them! J I guess a lot of us are a little flight-crazy. J

I will post more about our adventure tomorrow, but does anyone want to take a guess at what type of plane we’re standing in front of? Or at least where it was used and what era it came from? Leave us a comment!

Saying Goodbye to Dad's Airplane

Before we arrived at the going-away party (thrown for us by some dear friends), we had stopped at several airports to post fliers. These fliers were advertising the sale of my Dad’s ¼ share of a Cessna 172. He has been part of this flying club for several years now. But since we’re moving to Texas, he obviously won’t be using the plane that is housed up in mid-Michigan!

 

We are quite sad to sell the plane, because as Ben said, “We were raised in this plane!” J Many happy hours have been spent in Dad’s plane exploring all over Michigan. On our way home from the going-away party, we stopped by the airport to drop off Dad’s keys and to see the plane one last time.

 

It was getting rather late, and Mr. and Miss Comic-Relief made another appearance. J These two can get pretty ridiculous when they share seats at the back of the van!

Daddy took pictures of each of us kids in front of his plane to put in some special airplane frames he has at home. Notice the murals on the hanger wall of WWII planes in action.

Josiah’s picture.

Ben.

Rubia and Roma.

Me.

All of us kids.

Daddy was rather emotional about the whole thing. J Just kidding, he’s faking in the above picture!

Daddy and Mommy.

After saying goodbye to the plane, we stopped at Wendy’s on the way home. We kids got Frosty’s (the LAST thing some of them needed J) and then we headed home. We were sad to say goodbye to our friends and the airplane, but we’re excited to see what new friends—and yes, what new airplane—God has for us in Texas!

 

"Hazardous Journeys" 2012 Mountain Rendezvous

~ posted by Ben

Day 1

 

Over Labor Day weekend my father and I went to the 2012 “Hazardous Journeys Mountain Rendezvous” Father/Son retreat hosted by Vision Forum. The event took place at the Crooked Creek Ranch, a Young Life Christian camp in the Colorado Rockies. We decided, since this was our first time in Colorado, that we would take a day at the beginning and one at the end to do some touring.

 

Flying into Denver, “the mile-high city!”

Our rental car. I know…it is a pink Ford.

We left on Wednesday the 29^th and flew to Minneapolis where we caught a connecting flight to Denver. That day we had a wonderful time at the “Wings over the Rockies” air and space museum; it was really cool!



The sign in front of the museum.

The backside of the B-52 bomber outside the building.

The F4 Phantom, flown frequently in Vietnam.

“This is your captain speaking!”

“First class officer, Benjamin!”

A monument to Colorado native, Apollo astronaut, and former Colorado congressman, Jonathan “Jack” Swigert.

We then began the drive down to Georgetown Colorado where we would spend the night. Along the way, we drove past Red Rocks Park and amphitheater. We took a quick detour off our route to walk around.

 

A beautiful clearing and Red Rocks Park.

My Dad has never looked so small! J

No matter where I am, I always try to get my daily work-out in! J

A distant view of the Red Rocks amphitheater. We could not get too close because they were preparing for a concert.

We then drove to a small town in the mountains called, “Georgetown.” We had the BEST Pizza Ever at a famous restaurant, “Beau Joes.”

 

The delicious appetizer we had.

The best Pizza in the US! (assuming you like deep dish)

We then drove to our Motel where we had a great night’s sleep. Tomorrow we head for the conference!!

 

To be continued. . .

 

Vacation Day 1: Traveling to Florida

On Friday, I gave you a few hints on where our family went on vacation this month. The answer is. . . . we went on a cruise! My Grandparents wanted to go on an extended family cruise to celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary this past month. It was a really special time together as a family.

Since it would take a really loooooooong time to summarize the trip, I decided that the easiest thing to do would be to break it down by day. This way, you can “come along with us” on our trip via photos and descriptions. J

(4/14/12) Saturday

To start our vacation on the right foot, we had a large, clean-out-the-fridge-of-any-perishables breakfast!

Mikey was ecstatic that he got to spend the week in the kennel. When we drive him to the kennel, he is all over us until we get there!

We’re finally on our way to Florida! After two years of planning, we are really excited about this trip. In this photo, we are on the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the Detroit Airport.

Photo Credit: Mark.

We had a few glitches going through security at the airport, but nothing major. We were quite early for our flight, so we had time to eat lunch at Quiznos.

Ben and Rubia waiting to board our flight.

Unfortunately, our flight left 45 minutes late. A pilot (passenger) was late on the flight, and he needed to catch our flight to Atlanta so that he could fly a plane out of Atlanta (hopefully that wasn’t too confusing.)

While we were waiting, the Captain invited the younger kids to go and see the cockpit! It was definitely a highlight for them, since that type of experience is rare in our post-911 society.

Photo Credit: Mark.

The flight from Detroit to Atlanta was a bit turbulent. Our ears were popping and hurting very badly on the descent. And that’s saying a lot considering we have a pilot in the family and go flying frequently! After a difficult landing, and pain in his ears, Josiah was very upset to find out that we had another flight to go through.

Photo Credit: Mark.

He perked up a bit when we ordered pizza for dinner. J We had about 35 minutes before our flight from Atlanta took off, so we had a short break. Thankfully, this flight took off on time.

I loved watching the clouds and scenery pass outside my window! I especially enjoyed going over the Everglades in Florida!

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on time and claimed all our bags. Getting a ride to the hotel was quite an adventure. J

We were under the impression that the hotel we were staying at had an on-going shuttle from the airport to the hotel. But we couldn’t find it anywhere! So we called the hotel, and they said the shuttle would be there in about 10 minutes. We were supposed to keep our eyes open for the van. We were watching, and all of a sudden, the van sped right past us! The kids took off running with suitcases and backpacks in tow to flag him down. They went to the other end of the terminal as he drove away.

We called the driver again and tried to explain where we were standing. We walked back to where we had been, and who goes speeding by again? The driver from the hotel! We were rather frustrated, but thankfully Ben—who was lagging behind the rest of us—heard our shouts and was able to flag the driver down.

We finally made it to the hotel around 9:00 p.m. We enjoyed exploring the colorful lobby while Dad checked us in.

Photo Credit: Roma.

We went upstairs to say hello to my Grandparents and my Uncle’s family (who had arrived in Florida several hours earlier than we had.) After our little reunion, we decided to go get some more dinner since most of us were quite hungry.

We ended up at a little restaurant called “Dough Boy’s.” It was an Italian cafe within walking distance of the hotel. We ordered several appetizers to split as a family, including an amazing antipasto salad, BBQ chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, and garlic rolls. It was all really good!

I’m sorry the picture is blurry, but this is what our hotel looked like.

After our late dinner, we went back to the hotel to shower up and get ready for bed. There weren’t enough beds for everyone in our room, so I slept on the sofa bed in my Grandparents room. I didn’t make it to bed until midnight! It was a long day, but we were really looking forward to boarding the ship the next morning!

To be continued. . .

Flying with Dad

(Posted by Rubia)

My Daddy loves airplanes. He loves to fly the Cessna that he shares with his flying club. He hadn’t been flying in a long time, so a few weeks ago he went up to the airport to get some practice. Then last week, he decided to go back and take a flying exam.

At the last minute, Mom asked me if I wanted to go with Dad. I hadn’t been flying with him in a long time, so without hesitation, I agreed. And Daddy said I could go!

But on the way there, he warned me that he would need to do some scary things as part of the test. He knew that I didn’t really like it when he would fly up and down, and up and down. It didn’t make my stomach feel good. He also warned me about the blindfolding test, which I will explain later.

I got all that out of my mind as we talked and talked on the way to the airport. Finally we arrived, and Dad parked the car in front of his hangar. He said that it wouldn’t be just us flying, but a friend of his, Mr. D, was going to lead him through his test. I didn’t mind—I actually felt relieved that Daddy wasn’t going to do the test alone.

I pushed the green button that opened the door of the hangar. Dad checked the plane over and pushed it out. Then we walked across the parking lot to the main building, so that we could use the restroom before taking off.

Outside the building were two men sitting at a picnic table. Dad said that one of them was a pilot in an air show! He had brought his little dog, Brady, with him, who I fell in love with right away! I cuddled with the dog until Daddy’s instructor arrived.

About 10 minutes later, I was in the back seat of Dad’s plane, putting on headsets, and making sure my seatbelt was fastened tight. Mr. D, Dad’s instructor, didn’t notice me until he climbed into the seat next to Daddy.

“Is she going to be okay with all this?” He looked at Dad.

“I think she’ll do fine,” he replied.

I felt a little nervous once again as the plane sped faster and faster down the runway.

“It really isn’t so bad,” I convinced myself the whole time. “It’s just like a regular flight. Just have fun.”

Even so, I kept praying. I thought it was almost silly that I was so nervous…but I prayed anyway.

As the plane rose higher in the sky, I gazed out the window. I kept looking out, until I couldn’t see Brady, the little dog, anymore.

Now it was time to start the test. For my sake, Daddy began with slow flight. In this test, he had to fly as slow as he possibly could. But not too slow, or the plane would stall.

I remembered a comforting verse in the Bible, about how not one sparrow falls without God knowing it. I felt better. This was relaxing.

But then when Mr. D. would say, “Nose down,” I knew that my stomach was about to drop. “Nose down” meant that Daddy had to point the front of the plane (the nose) downward toward earth. And then the instructor would say, “Nose up” and the front of the plane would tilt a little upward. I didn’t want to do this. I let out two hollers, so they stopped.

After all that, Daddy did the blindfolding test. No, he didn’t really have to fly blindfolded, but he wore some special glasses, and he wasn’t supposed to look out the window; just downward at his instruments.

I wasn’t scared anymore. So I took a few photos, and enjoyed the flight. As I looked out the window at all the tiny buildings and farms, I was reminded of how small we really are, and how BIG God is!

My ears were popping, so I kept chewing and chewing my gum. We flew for about an hour, and then it was time for Daddy to finish his test. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to handle the rest of it, because now he had to fly up-and-down and side-to-side.

“Dad,” I said through my headset. “I have to go to the bathroom!”

“How bad?”

“Pretty bad!”

“Oh, come on,” coaxed Mr. D. “Flying is fun! You can handle the rest of the test.”

“I think we’ll just fly her back to the hangar anyway,” said Dad to Mr. D.

I wondered if he was talking about me, the plane, or both. I hoped he meant me!

“She can wait in the office while I finish this.”

Now I knew he was talking about me. J

But just then, both men saw what had happened to the airspeed indicator.

“Huh? It says zero!” said Dad.

“A bug must have gotten in there,” said Mr. D. “We’ll just fly your daughter back to the airport, then figure out what happened.”

Well, it ended up that they never took the plane back up, because when we were landing, the indicator said 120. It was definitely acting weird.

By the time we got back to the hangar, it was dark. Dad left a note to let everyone else in his club know NOT to take the plane up. Then we drove home.

The good news is, we’re safe, and a mechanic can fix the plane soon. I really had fun flying, even though I’m not much for the “up-and-down” kind of flying. But I like to be with Dad! I hope to fly again soon, after the plane is fixed!

Father-Daughter Date

(Posted by Roma)

In another blogpost, I had talked about having a fun date with just Mommy and me. Well this time I get to share about my date with Dad! J

I was getting ready for bed, when my Dad told me he could take me somewhere tomorrow, and just hearing that made me get all excited! J I had been telling him how much I would love to fly in his airplane again, (he’s a private pilot,) so he said he would take me up. The next day we ate breakfast, and got ready to go.

It was a bit of a long drive getting there, but we finally made it. Going up in the air was amazing! We both agree that the view is our favorite part! I also love when we start picking up speed on the runway and then take off, and look behind us to see the ground get smaller.

Then it was time for lunch. We had planned to land the airplane, and then walk about a mile to a restaurant. But when we landed, we noticed that there were so many other airplanes there! My Dad said it was unusually crowded. When we got out of the airplane, a man told us they were having an “airplane party” type thing, that my Dad and I were not aware of. He also told us that the restaurant we were going to go to was closed. But the airplane manager welcomed us in, and told us we were welcome to eat lunch there. So we were able to get a free lunch! J

Later, we stopped at an airport for a break, and I told my Dad they had a vending machine here with candy, so I thought we could get a snack. But when we arrived, a man told us not many people came to that airport, so he took the vending machine away. But then he told us he had all the candy in his car—along with his dog, Otis—and he let us pick candy bars from back there! J And he didn’t even let my Dad pay. So we had a free snack too. How nice of him! We both picked Kit Kats (one of my favorites.)

Later on, we went back to the airport and headed for home. We had such a good time, and I love flying in my Dad’s airplane! J But most of all, I love spending time with him. J

Daddy and me.

My Dad’s airplane

Me in Daddy’s airplane

Over the clouds.

Just imagine skydiving!

Some of the airplanes at the airplane party my Dad and I ran into.

Inside the building my Dad and I got our free lunch.

In case you’re wondering, this animal is dead! J