robertsailor
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2011
- Messages
- 287
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Yesterday my Son and I went for our first Father and Son
airplane ride in the Acrosport in over 20 years.
My Son was raised with aviation having had his first
airplane ride when he was 6 weeks old. By the time he was 10 or 11 he had
thousands of hours as a passenger and was able to fly straight and level and do
turns. At 15 he was a capable pilot and when allowed he soloed on his 16
birthday. On his 17 birthday he was for that moment the youngest pilot in Canada
having passed all his flying while still 16. Transport Canada
had a little ceremony for him when they issued his license. He was a capable
basic aerobatic pilot when he was 16 and flew all the âsportsmanâ maneuvers in
the family Citabria. He continued building time on the Citabria for a year or
so and then for a variety of reasons the flying was put on hold. He had not
flown in a light plane since and now at age 42, even though Dad had this new machine sitting
in the hangar, he had for several weeks not even gone out to look at it.
I guess when he was a slim 160 lb. young man he remembered
how tight the little biplanes were back then and now at 220 I think he didnât
want to face the concept that he may not even be able to get into it.
Finally a couple of days ago I called him and suggested
we go for a ride on Saturday, great weather and all. He shared with me his anxiety
but said lets give it a go.
It was a tight fit but he did manage to get in and buckled
up. He told me the first 5 minutes his brain was doing some good mind games but
once we were climbing out he started to relax.
And now the real beautiful partâ¦.
âOKâ Darren you have control! Over 20 years without touching
the controls and he does a perfect steep turn. Dad this little bugger
sure goes where its pointed..I love the controls! Rolling into turns both left
and right with no hesitation between them followed with a wing over its just
amazing how his muscle memory was so imprinted.
I really complimented him on how well he was flying and how
coordinated his stick and rudder work was. He said, Dad ever since you bought
this plane Iâve been flying in my mind, Iâve spent hours doing all the maneuvers
and there was a part of me that believed I could still do them.
Yesterday was a special day for me because even though all
those years have gone by it was as if for those moments I was back in time and
my 14 year old Son was sitting in the front seat of our Stearman showing his
Dad that he could indeed fly and fly well.
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Yesterday my Son and I went for our first Father and Son
airplane ride in the Acrosport in over 20 years.
My Son was raised with aviation having had his first
airplane ride when he was 6 weeks old. By the time he was 10 or 11 he had
thousands of hours as a passenger and was able to fly straight and level and do
turns. At 15 he was a capable pilot and when allowed he soloed on his 16
birthday. On his 17 birthday he was for that moment the youngest pilot in Canada
having passed all his flying while still 16. Transport Canada
had a little ceremony for him when they issued his license. He was a capable
basic aerobatic pilot when he was 16 and flew all the âsportsmanâ maneuvers in
the family Citabria. He continued building time on the Citabria for a year or
so and then for a variety of reasons the flying was put on hold. He had not
flown in a light plane since and now at age 42, even though Dad had this new machine sitting
in the hangar, he had for several weeks not even gone out to look at it.
I guess when he was a slim 160 lb. young man he remembered
how tight the little biplanes were back then and now at 220 I think he didnât
want to face the concept that he may not even be able to get into it.
Finally a couple of days ago I called him and suggested
we go for a ride on Saturday, great weather and all. He shared with me his anxiety
but said lets give it a go.
It was a tight fit but he did manage to get in and buckled
up. He told me the first 5 minutes his brain was doing some good mind games but
once we were climbing out he started to relax.
And now the real beautiful partâ¦.
âOKâ Darren you have control! Over 20 years without touching
the controls and he does a perfect steep turn. Dad this little bugger
sure goes where its pointed..I love the controls! Rolling into turns both left
and right with no hesitation between them followed with a wing over its just
amazing how his muscle memory was so imprinted.
I really complimented him on how well he was flying and how
coordinated his stick and rudder work was. He said, Dad ever since you bought
this plane Iâve been flying in my mind, Iâve spent hours doing all the maneuvers
and there was a part of me that believed I could still do them.
Yesterday was a special day for me because even though all
those years have gone by it was as if for those moments I was back in time and
my 14 year old Son was sitting in the front seat of our Stearman showing his
Dad that he could indeed fly and fly well.
