Monthly Archives: March 2009

The Reign of the Beechcraft Baron

Posted on March 24, 2009 by deditor

Nineteen sixty one was a great year. I was working as a producer/director for an ABC TV station and flying a CAP L-16 on search missions in the New England mountains, driving to the airport in my nine-passenger Land Rover, complete with roof- mounted camera platforms. Continue reading →

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How did you get into flying? Who was most inspirational/influential in you receiving your certificate?

Posted on March 18, 2009 by deditor
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A True Story from the Outer Limits The Revenge of the Parachutists

Posted on March 18, 2009 by deditor

In the 1960s I was part of a small group of pilots who formed what we called the Yankee Air Force, similar to the then Confederate Air Force. We all lived in the Western Massachusetts area and kept our fleet at Pilgrim, North Hatfield and Turners Falls Airports. The Texas boys had big bucks and lots of airplanes; we had no bucks and only a few aircraft. We did have three Texans and one SNJ-6; that one was mine. We had a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat, two PT-17s and a B-25 that were owned by the club members. It was our B-25 that had a notorious history. Continue reading →

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Getting the Most for Your Flying Dollar

Posted on March 18, 2009 by deditor

We live very close to the traffic pattern at Apple Valley Airport in Southern California. Yesterday was absolutely perfect for flying. Brother Dick and I were on a adjacent dry lake within sight of the airport. The 75-degree weather had beckoned us and our cameras to photograph desert wild flowers. We have lived here for the past 35 years. But, something was missing. No airplanes, no students in their Cessna 172s or Piper Warriors, doing touch-and-goes, no homebuilts flying, not even an ultralight’s two-stroke engine buzzing away to break the silence. Continue reading →

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With everyone cutting back on expenditures, what are you unique ways are you cutting back to continue to fly or have you decided flying isn’t in the budget?

Posted on March 11, 2009 by deditor
Posted in On Final | 1 Comment