Frogs97
Pre-takeoff checklist
As I've looked at people in the aviation community, I've seen that there are pilots that enjoy to fly, and there are pilots that are defined by being pilots. My father in law was the latter. Flew B-52s his entire AF career and then for various airlines ... 12,000+ hours. He wasn't Clif, the pilot, he was The Pilot named Clif. I owe him a great deal because he was the one that first made me realize that my love for aviation could actually be more than admiring from the ground, and I am so thankful.
Back in Nov 2002, he was in an orthopedic office getting cortisone injections and suffered a heart attack. He was in a coma for a couple of weeks, then passed away. During those two weeks we found out my wife was pregnant with our first son. It was very surreal because of what we were going through with her father, and frankly,we were taking measures to prevent that. Clearly God had other plans for us at that time (and, as usual, He was right). The kid has loved aviation for every one of his 12 years on this earth, and we often look at him to see his grandfather show up (for better and for worse).
Last night I was looking through his logbook, noticed the early years of flying in the Cherokee 140, and thought it would be a great continuation of the story to find that plane and try and get it for my son to learn and fly in. The internet is a pretty amazing thing, and in pretty short order I was able to piece the story of the plane together. Sadly, someone wrapped it around a few trees back in 2013 in Missouri. The pilot tried to leave a grass strip that was too tall. He got up in ground effect, but settled back down without enough room to stop. I called the salvage yard and the guy remembered the plane and accident very vividly. Apparently there wasn't much left of the plane, but nobody was hurt, so that's good.
The plane's story is over, but the kid's aviation story is just beginning. I love reading those stories where guys still have and fly the plane that their father or grandfather had. I'm still hoping to buy my first plane and want to make tons of aviation memories with the whole family. Maybe he'll be one of those guys that gets the plane and can pass it on down. Maybe he'll get to fly the F35 that his uncle is helping to design. Hell, maybe he'll get to fly the B-52, because there's still plenty of planned life for those monsters, too! Who knows? It's a pretty crazy ride we're on, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
(wistfully dreaming on a Friday morning)
Back in Nov 2002, he was in an orthopedic office getting cortisone injections and suffered a heart attack. He was in a coma for a couple of weeks, then passed away. During those two weeks we found out my wife was pregnant with our first son. It was very surreal because of what we were going through with her father, and frankly,we were taking measures to prevent that. Clearly God had other plans for us at that time (and, as usual, He was right). The kid has loved aviation for every one of his 12 years on this earth, and we often look at him to see his grandfather show up (for better and for worse).
Last night I was looking through his logbook, noticed the early years of flying in the Cherokee 140, and thought it would be a great continuation of the story to find that plane and try and get it for my son to learn and fly in. The internet is a pretty amazing thing, and in pretty short order I was able to piece the story of the plane together. Sadly, someone wrapped it around a few trees back in 2013 in Missouri. The pilot tried to leave a grass strip that was too tall. He got up in ground effect, but settled back down without enough room to stop. I called the salvage yard and the guy remembered the plane and accident very vividly. Apparently there wasn't much left of the plane, but nobody was hurt, so that's good.
The plane's story is over, but the kid's aviation story is just beginning. I love reading those stories where guys still have and fly the plane that their father or grandfather had. I'm still hoping to buy my first plane and want to make tons of aviation memories with the whole family. Maybe he'll be one of those guys that gets the plane and can pass it on down. Maybe he'll get to fly the F35 that his uncle is helping to design. Hell, maybe he'll get to fly the B-52, because there's still plenty of planned life for those monsters, too! Who knows? It's a pretty crazy ride we're on, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
(wistfully dreaming on a Friday morning)
