55 YEARS HAVE FLOWN BY!

I did not think I would write another column, but this is a good way to close things out. I have been flying for 55 years in one form or another. That time has finally come to an end. My Dad died when I was really young. My Mother sold the house a couple of years later and we moved into a high rise condo in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. My sisters met a friend whose Father was the third Chairman of Delta Airlines, Charlie Dolson. Charlie had two daughters and took me under his wing since he did not have any sons. When I was 15 I was introduced to flying in a Cessna 172. I flew with him when able until I went off to College. At that time I was more interested in playing sports at Auburn and was not doing any flying. My junior year I suffered a knee injury that required major surgery. I had several friends that we all decided to join the Air Force after graduation and then fly for the airlines. At that time Delta was only hiring ex military. I had a low lottery number in the very first lottery and was drafted right after graduation. I went to take the "cattle car physical" that almost all passed and enlisted in the Air Force. Everything was fine until I took the flight physical, and the Airforce had my records on my knee surgery. I was washed out of the service right then. They did not want to pay me a disability pension if my knee failed again. All my plans were dissolved in a minute. I had to come up with another plan of action which would not lead to me ever becoming an Airline Pilot. Things turned out pretty well for me, and I had a great career. Part of that career was obtaining jobs for my friends that were through with their Air Force commitment, jobs flying for Delta. I represented these pilots for years up to them taking early retirement with Delta before they went bankrupt. The difference being they could take up to $1.2M early buy out or lose their pension. Most took the early buyout and retired. The retirement age back then was 6o and most of the Pilots were 58. To this day they thank me for the advise as the government pension plan took over the Delta plan at bankruptcy and those pilots that did not take the buyout lost a lot of money. I decided to fly for personal use and did that certificated for 31 years flying gliders and piston airplanes. I also have 10 hours in the Citation Jet 525 with a CFII friend. All good things must come to an end. My body is just not holding up enough to continue flying safely. I had owned my 1954 V Tail Bonanza for 20 years. It was in pristine shape. I did an AOPA V Ref price and placed it on my FaceBook group in Planes for Sale. I placed the ad on Saturday and had a firm sale on Sunday. I can not complain as we had some wonderful trips in the Bonanza from the Baja to Vancouver and Victoria. I had flown all over the Western US. My wife and I planned a trip to New Orleans, Auburn and Atlanta. Two weeks before departure my wife became ill and was in the hospital for over 2 months. We are thankful it happened before we left on our trip. It is time for a new adventure in our life, and we are going to join a sailing club in San Diego using 22 foot sailboats. I will see this summer if I can handle this. No complaints as life has been very good to me. Have some fantastic memories of our trips and only had two problems over 31 years of ownership. The first was when I was based at Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX). I had sold my Cherokee 180 and was delivering it to El Paso (ELP). The carburetor failed after take off. I had enough power to turn back and land safely. Taxied into FBO and they rebuilt it that day. I delivered the plane the next day. I had an electric prop bracket break landing at Henderson (HND). Left the plane at the FBO after determining the problem and flew home on the Airlines. Picked the plane up a couple of weeks later. That was it for 31, or 55, years of flying. I was proud of my volunteer work for Aviation. I served as the ASN for AOPA at DVT and SDL. My best volunteer work was for Challenge Air, flying mentally and physically challenged children and their families. This is something I will never forget. I also participated in 4 Master Plans at 3 different Airports and was the Chairman of two different Aviation Commissions. I worked for ABC in Phoenix being their Aviation Expert. Finally I was head of the Aviation Committee for the Super Bowl. I have been very lucky and looking forward to the life I have left in front of me that will bring new adventures. So when I start up my car I yell CLEAR, and driving onto the freeway ramps keep the white lines in the center.