Jay Honeck
Touchdown! Greaser!
I know it's not a big deal to you professional pilots, but today was a milestone, of sorts -- a new logbook.
This is #4, for me, and I've paid for every minute of time that is proudly recorded in those first three volumes. Each worn and tattered tome acts as the recorded diary of my family's life, and they rank as some of my proudest possessions.
This last one, #3, was larger than my first two, and lasted 8 years and 3 months. The first entry was August 24, 2003, for a flight to Clinton, Iowa to have our (now somewhat worn) new leather seats installed in Atlas, our trusty Piper Pathfinder.
My son, now a grown man of 21 (and a certificated pilot himself), was not yet able to reach the rudder pedals on that flight. This feat (sorry!) was first recorded just a few weeks later, on September 7th, 2003.
It was literally a red-letter day, according to my logbook.
And so it went, for the next 646 hours -- each hour carefully condensed down to just two or three sentences that said so little, and so much. Close calls with weather were mentioned, bad landings documented, mechanical failures recorded. Here are a few:
December 17, 2003 The 100th anniversary of powered flight. "6 airports before lunch -- Mary got 6 more after lunch!" That was a good day.
Not all of them were good, though.
April 14, 2004 "3 days stuck in Nashville, TN, under a cut-off low spinning ice. Wild approach -- too close!"
Funny thing is, all I remember is the fantastic time we had in Nashville -- a place we weren't even supposed to be. (We were trying to get to Sun N Fun from Iowa.) I have no recollection of the scary approach.
June 29, 2004 At Gaston's resort with my son -- four days I will never forget. "Low vis and ceilings. An amazing approach to land."
September 15, 2004 We flew to Reno for the Air Races. "To Reno at sunset" is all the book says -- but what an understatement. That was all I had energy to write, at the end of 7.5 stressful hours in the saddle. We got the last available parking spot on the ramp, which was a darned good thing. I have NO idea what we would have done had they said "We are full."
There were flights to graduations. Flights to funerals. Flights to weddings. Flights to 8 different Oshkosh Airventure conventions, three Sun N Funs, and countless other fly-ins.
March 18, 2005 We lost the #2 cylinder on takeoff from Titusville, Florida, coming home from Sun N Fun, and had to immediately return and land. I pulled all 12 plugs, cleaned, reinstalled -- and off we went.
So many fun times. July 12, 2005 I flew from Mackinac Island back to St. Ignace, where we were staying. "9 minutes, chock to chock." That 9-minute flight wasn't just fun -- it saved us $200/night in hotel costs, by staying on the mainland.
Blakesburg for the Antique Aircraft Association. Galesburg for the Stearman Fly-in. Grand Glaize for the Cherokee fly-ins. The list goes on, and on, and on.
There were tragedies, too. April 19, 2006. We flew over a devastated Iowa City, after a tornado swept through town. "Tornado damage in a swath from Hartwig Dodge (just blocks from our hotel) to Iowa Avenue."
And there were technological breakthroughs documented in this logbook:
August 3rd, 2006. On a flight back from Algona, MN I noted "Weather depiction in the cockpit on Garmin 496 is AMAZING."
And right after that, we flew to my 30 year high school class reunion in Racine, WI. Sorta doubt I'll ever make another one...
There were flights in everything from a Lockheed Constellation to a Blandik glider. Our beloved little Ercoupe came...and went, with just 24.1 hours logged before we sold her. You just don't take long flights in a 'Coupe.
September 20, 2006 "240 knots in Harry's Swearingen SX-300 air racer!" You twitch in that thing, and you went up 500 feet. Or down.
The Howard DGA flight was amazing, as was aerobatics in the Super Decathlon. Flying an Aztec across the U.S. was challenging, and I still remember laughing out loud after landing a King Air 90, because it was so easy to grease her on....
And there was the time we blew out our oil cooler in Missouri, and found that my A&P had a serviceable unit on the shelf, back in Iowa City. I bought a friend a bunch of gas that day to fly it down -- and that oil cooler is still in Atlas to this day.
March 13, 2007 "Flight into First Flight Airport at Kill Devil Hills. Fantastic to see where it all began."
June 13, 2008 I wrote "Evacuate for Flood of '08". The devastation was incredible, and we had to get our plane out of danger. Amazingly, the water stopped just a few feet from our hotel -- but not till after we sand-bagged the whole place.
Camping with my son on Washington Island. All those flights into Oshkosh, at the head of a Flight of four, five, six, or nine, depending on the year. Flying to Dulles International, to appear at the Udver-Hazy Air & Space Museum. And, of course, the first time I flew back to Iowa from visiting this island. In the space for remarks, next to "Mustang Beach Airport" I neatly printed "Want to live HERE".
And now we do.
So many great flights, some with people who are no longer with us. Mary's mom and aunt, loving sisters, laughed all the way back to Wisconsin, pointing out things far below. Both are gone, now, as are several other friends and relatives.
There was that flight on August 15, 2008, one of many, where we were low and slow over the Mighty Mississippi in the 'Coupe with the top down, arm outside, feeling the wind and sun, and loving every minute.
These logs are so much more than just flights. They are the story of my life, and I would run back into a burning building to save them...
Does anyone else treat their logs like sacred scrolls?
This is #4, for me, and I've paid for every minute of time that is proudly recorded in those first three volumes. Each worn and tattered tome acts as the recorded diary of my family's life, and they rank as some of my proudest possessions.
This last one, #3, was larger than my first two, and lasted 8 years and 3 months. The first entry was August 24, 2003, for a flight to Clinton, Iowa to have our (now somewhat worn) new leather seats installed in Atlas, our trusty Piper Pathfinder.
My son, now a grown man of 21 (and a certificated pilot himself), was not yet able to reach the rudder pedals on that flight. This feat (sorry!) was first recorded just a few weeks later, on September 7th, 2003.
It was literally a red-letter day, according to my logbook.
And so it went, for the next 646 hours -- each hour carefully condensed down to just two or three sentences that said so little, and so much. Close calls with weather were mentioned, bad landings documented, mechanical failures recorded. Here are a few:
December 17, 2003 The 100th anniversary of powered flight. "6 airports before lunch -- Mary got 6 more after lunch!" That was a good day.
Not all of them were good, though.
April 14, 2004 "3 days stuck in Nashville, TN, under a cut-off low spinning ice. Wild approach -- too close!"
Funny thing is, all I remember is the fantastic time we had in Nashville -- a place we weren't even supposed to be. (We were trying to get to Sun N Fun from Iowa.) I have no recollection of the scary approach.
June 29, 2004 At Gaston's resort with my son -- four days I will never forget. "Low vis and ceilings. An amazing approach to land."
September 15, 2004 We flew to Reno for the Air Races. "To Reno at sunset" is all the book says -- but what an understatement. That was all I had energy to write, at the end of 7.5 stressful hours in the saddle. We got the last available parking spot on the ramp, which was a darned good thing. I have NO idea what we would have done had they said "We are full."
There were flights to graduations. Flights to funerals. Flights to weddings. Flights to 8 different Oshkosh Airventure conventions, three Sun N Funs, and countless other fly-ins.
March 18, 2005 We lost the #2 cylinder on takeoff from Titusville, Florida, coming home from Sun N Fun, and had to immediately return and land. I pulled all 12 plugs, cleaned, reinstalled -- and off we went.
So many fun times. July 12, 2005 I flew from Mackinac Island back to St. Ignace, where we were staying. "9 minutes, chock to chock." That 9-minute flight wasn't just fun -- it saved us $200/night in hotel costs, by staying on the mainland.
Blakesburg for the Antique Aircraft Association. Galesburg for the Stearman Fly-in. Grand Glaize for the Cherokee fly-ins. The list goes on, and on, and on.
There were tragedies, too. April 19, 2006. We flew over a devastated Iowa City, after a tornado swept through town. "Tornado damage in a swath from Hartwig Dodge (just blocks from our hotel) to Iowa Avenue."
And there were technological breakthroughs documented in this logbook:
August 3rd, 2006. On a flight back from Algona, MN I noted "Weather depiction in the cockpit on Garmin 496 is AMAZING."
And right after that, we flew to my 30 year high school class reunion in Racine, WI. Sorta doubt I'll ever make another one...
There were flights in everything from a Lockheed Constellation to a Blandik glider. Our beloved little Ercoupe came...and went, with just 24.1 hours logged before we sold her. You just don't take long flights in a 'Coupe.
September 20, 2006 "240 knots in Harry's Swearingen SX-300 air racer!" You twitch in that thing, and you went up 500 feet. Or down.
The Howard DGA flight was amazing, as was aerobatics in the Super Decathlon. Flying an Aztec across the U.S. was challenging, and I still remember laughing out loud after landing a King Air 90, because it was so easy to grease her on....
And there was the time we blew out our oil cooler in Missouri, and found that my A&P had a serviceable unit on the shelf, back in Iowa City. I bought a friend a bunch of gas that day to fly it down -- and that oil cooler is still in Atlas to this day.
March 13, 2007 "Flight into First Flight Airport at Kill Devil Hills. Fantastic to see where it all began."
June 13, 2008 I wrote "Evacuate for Flood of '08". The devastation was incredible, and we had to get our plane out of danger. Amazingly, the water stopped just a few feet from our hotel -- but not till after we sand-bagged the whole place.
Camping with my son on Washington Island. All those flights into Oshkosh, at the head of a Flight of four, five, six, or nine, depending on the year. Flying to Dulles International, to appear at the Udver-Hazy Air & Space Museum. And, of course, the first time I flew back to Iowa from visiting this island. In the space for remarks, next to "Mustang Beach Airport" I neatly printed "Want to live HERE".
And now we do.
So many great flights, some with people who are no longer with us. Mary's mom and aunt, loving sisters, laughed all the way back to Wisconsin, pointing out things far below. Both are gone, now, as are several other friends and relatives.
There was that flight on August 15, 2008, one of many, where we were low and slow over the Mighty Mississippi in the 'Coupe with the top down, arm outside, feeling the wind and sun, and loving every minute.
These logs are so much more than just flights. They are the story of my life, and I would run back into a burning building to save them...
Does anyone else treat their logs like sacred scrolls?
Last edited:
