The Love for Aviation

[Guest glnflwrs]

Todd, I was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1952. My dad had been the supervising tool and die machinist at Boeing Military Division at McConnell AFB, in Wichita since 1949. He oversaw all of the design and fabrication of every tool, die, jig, test stand, and template used to make the B-47's and B-52's. When I was about three he started taking me to the "open house" that Boeing threw every year for the employee's families. My earliest memories of my life are of climbing around in a half built Buff and some Air Force colonel playing chase through the crew tunnel and cockpit with me while my dad watched. I rode in a helicopter at one open house one year when I was about five. It had no doors, just the open bubble and I wanted to get as close to the opening as I could to see out and down at the world below. My dad couldn't believe that I wasn't scared and when we landed he talked his way into another flight with him in the middle and me at he opening. What a blast! In 1961 the last B-52 rolled off the line and my dad was transfered to the commercial division. We moved to California where he was the quality control representitive for Boeing to all the vendors in Southern California. He drove from plant to plant inspecting and approving tires, windshields, landing gear struts, thrust reverser doors, flap actuator motors, fuel tank liners, passenger seats, and everything else you can imagine, first for the 727, then the 737, and then the 747. I went with him a lot in the summers and when he flew to Seattle I went, too. Needless to say I grew up loving airplanes of any kind. I followed the X plane and space programs as if I was a test pilot myself, and that was what I wanted to be. I joined the Air Force the day after I recieved my draft notice in 1970 and became an aircraft electrician working on MAC planes like C-141's, C-130's, C-118's, and T-39's (Rockwell Sabreliners). While at Norton AFB, I enrolled in flight school and completed all the flight and grund training to qualify for a Commercial/Instrument rating. I only tested for the single engine land license though because I couldn't afford the cost of time in a complex twin to keep the Com/Inst current. I still fly about once a month and I live within 1/4 mile of and directly under the final leg of Hesperia Municipal Airport near Victorville, Ca. I can't imagine my life without aviation. I collect aircraft images, reference books, and build lots of display models. There are over 300 model planes hanging from the cieling of my house. My wife is a good Joe when it comes to letting me put another plane up. Anyway, I sleep, eat, breathe, and daydream aviation. Could I be more caught up in it? Yeah, if I had more money I could. If God would have wanted man to fly He would have given him more money. Glad to see I'm not alone in my obsession.Glenn Flowers

[Deaf Pilot 1]

"Anyway, I sleep, eat, breathe, and daydream aviation. Could I be more caught up in it? Yeah, if I had more money I could. If God would have wanted man to fly He would have given him more money."Amen...Victorville? I've been there a few times... My parents are major Roy Rogers fans/ memorbilia collectors, so they go to Victorville once in a while to visit the museum there. If you go there, you will find my name on one of the lifetime member plaques. Who knows... maybe someday we can meet and talk aviation. Even though we have a large age difference, theres no difference in the way we love aviation. :)

[Guest tallpilot]

My "Love for Aviation" (more of an addiction):-) started when I was about 7 years old in Buffalo,NY and has continued for 60 years. My family would drive out to the airport on Sundays to watch the P-40's and C-46's that were built there being test flown before being sent off to war.I attended a vocational high school and studied to become an aviation mechanic. After graduation I enlisted in the Air Force and served as a crew chief on F-84F, T-33 and U-2 aircraft and earned my private pilot license in the military aero clubs. I then worked for Douglas Aircraft on the DC-8 and DC-9 assembly lines before accepting a civil service job as a Crew Chief and Flight Mechanic on HU-16's in an Air Force Reserve Rescue Squadron at March AFB. During this time I earned my commercial, instrument and multi-engine ratings.At 30 years old and with 500 Hrs I was fortunate to be hired by an airline as a ground school instructor and given a pilot seniority number. During a 30 year career with the airlines (retired in 1996), I flew the DC-3, Convair 340/440/580, DC-9, DC-10 and my last flight before retirement was on the 757.I currently own and fly a Beach Baron B55 (a repaint of Big Red is available in the library) and have the Pro Pilot and FS2002 sims on my computer. To keep the tradition going, my son is a pilot with a major airline.Happy flying and simming,Ed Weber a.k.a tallpilot