FLYING LESSONS

FLYING LESSONS: Let me start with a little background. When we werep kids, our Uncle Carl, would sometimes fly up from Petaluma, California. One time he took us up, Richard, Phillip and myself. We landed in Boise, Dad met us and we rode home with him. Later on, I would fly home from SFO to Boise on United. The best salad I ever had was Langostine, yummy! In summer of 1965, I moved to Petaluma, CA to live my cousin Carl and his wife, Robin for a few months. As soon as I turned 18, I got a job at Fairchild Semiconductor. My first roommate was Ella Sue. Uncle Carl offered free flying lessons and we only had to pay for the gas. Swell! One time Mom and Dad were visiting and were there at Petalma Sky Ranch when I landed. They have Brownie film of me getting out of the plane and bumping my head. Sue and I had so much fun. I learned how to come out of a stall, bank, turn, take off and land. Most important walk around the plane inspecting anything loose etc. I soloed and have about 40 hours in the log Uncle Carl gave to me. One time Sue and I took off for lessons. By the time we got home, the pot of eggs which I had left to boil, had exploded and turned to kitchen black with smoke. The smell was nearly as disgusting and the rendering plant that used to be located just south of Petaluma. We opened the doors and windows and started scrubbing. We were very careful to make sure nothing was being cooked after that. One time, we met a young pilot about the time we were finished. He asked us if we would like a ride in his plane. OK! I got to ride in the front seat coming back. The panel in front had way more than the altimeter and fuel gage on the 1947 Aeronca. I was looking everything over exclaiming with delight! There were lots of toggle switches and so many dials. I finally pointed out something that looked vaguely familiar and asked, “What is this?” He looked at me a little funny and finally replied, “Um, it's a clock.”