Gave an old timer a ride today

Ed Haywood

Ed Haywood

En-Route
Joined
Jul 12, 2020
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Tampa FL
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Big Ed
I was hanging out at the airfield today, looking for something to do, when a family wandered up to my hangar. Older British guy in his 80's, his daughter, and her college aged sons.

The older guy asked for Sherman, a CFI who he used to fly with years ago. He lost his medical a few years ago, and was looking for someone to take him and his grandson up for a quick flight. Unfortunately Sherman retired last year. In his 90's!

Our airfield is alongside a busy road, so we get a lot of walk-ins. I usually direct them to the flight school, but nobody was around, probably because crosswinds were 20G25. We were chatting about planes and looking at my Decathlon. He saw my G meter and said "haven't seen one of those since my Gloster Meteor back in squadron".

Wait, I said, you were an RAF pilot? Yes, he said, back in the 60's. At that point I insisted that he fly with me.

I took his grandson up for a few laps, then took him up. We did some steep turns, pulling about 3G at 80 degree bank, then dropped down to 100 AGL and skimmed the farm fields for a while. Then we came back and banged out a few landings in a honking 20kt crosswind. He loved every minute of it.

Made my day.
 
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Weather was bad here today, but I spent an hour updating student records and then sat in the lobby talking to my bosses.

They recalled a former employee, a weather observer back when the local flight service station had them, that they worked with years ago. They were young and regarded him as just an old airport guy. Much later, they learned he had been a pilot in the SR-71. When they asked him why he never told them about it, his reply was "nobody cares about that old stuff."

A couple years ago, I was working the line when I wasn't instructing, and as I fueled an MU-2, up on the ladder, I told the young copilot that I liked the look of the MU-2 because it kind of reminded me of the C-130s when I was in the Air Force. You know, high-wing, turboprop.

"Oh, did you work on C-130s?" he said.

"Yeah, I worked on them from the left seat."

You never know what that geezer did back when he was young.
 
I teach teenagers to fly motorless aircraft. They can solo at 14, but need to be 16 to fly with a motor.

The fact that I am nearing the 1/2 century mark peaks their interest. Maybe we should listen to this old guy. Then they ask what I have flown, that really gets their attention.
 
Always enjoy giving rides.to people who appreciate the experience.
 
Gilbert Buettner said:
You never know what that geezer did back when he was young.
Click to expand...
I was thinking that after meeting Mr Raymond Butters many years ago. Fascinating life he lived:

scaaonline.com

Raymond Butters - South Carolina Aviation Association

2006 Ray Butters’ experience in aviation, which began when he was a 12-year-old in Detroit, spans 75 years. Butters retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years, holding all ranks from “Buck” private in the Army Air Corps to U.S. Air Force Major. He served as a combat pilot in WWII, Korea and with […]
scaaonline.com scaaonline.com
 
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