February 11, 1973

If you blow the dust off my first logbook, that’s the date of the first entry. Thirty-six years ago my life took a turn, but it really started before that. Hold that thought, I’ll get back to it later.

Cheryl and I took a quick, impromptu trip to Branson this weekend. We both needed to decompress a little, and Silver Dollar City tends to be our “Spa” of choice. We just love getting into the Ozarks, taking our watches off, and leaving the cell phones behind. I usually like to share our trips, offer suggestions to others, or promote local businesses that impress me, but to tell you the truth; it was just the relaxing, kind of boring trip that we needed. On the way home however, we pass the Creve Coeur airport (1H0), and out on the ramp I saw at least six Cessna 195s. Of course, the coming storm notwithstanding, we had to go. The 195 is an aircraft from a bygone era. Introduced in 1947, with a big 300 horsepower Jacobs radial engine, and a 48” cabin width. (Just 1 inch wider than the Remos by the way) Radial engines sound different, smell different, and leak oil about as fast as you can pour it in, but man, are they cool. I snapped some pictures, and took in all of the sounds and smells, just getting lost in the nostalgia.

Here’s where this detour from the highway gets a little bizarre. Out in the back, way in the back, obviously away from the more restored classics and war birds, sits another classic in its own right, N5643A. 1956 was the year Cessna introduced the 172, and one of those first production models was N5643A. The first entry in my logbook, February 11, 1973, was in N5643A. I trained, and got my private pilot rating in 43A, and have flown ever since. I lost track of N43A years ago, but it started my lifelong love of aviation.Every day of my 26 year career in the FAA I talked to airplanes. My brother Dave, logged his first hour, and received his private pilot rating in 43A. Dave went on to the Air Force, flew A-10s and F-5s, and is now piloting B-767 and B-757s for Delta Airlines. I did say my life took a turn prior to 1973 however, and here's where I get back to where I started. My Dad bought N5643A in 1965 to earn his Private Pilot rating, and I’m sure he never imagined that this decision would impact his kids, and grand kids so much. My son began his flight training in 2002, and is currently an Air Traffic Controller in the Missouri Air National Guard. Dave’s kids are too young to have started training yet, but I bet they will. (They can already identify more airplanes than most pilots)

My point to all this rambling you ask? Take advantage of opportunities as they come. I took the opportunity today to admire some classic aircraft and found more than I bargained for. My Dad took the opportunity to learn to fly years ago, and affected at least two subsequent generations. I can’t imagine what I would have done if I didn’t take the opportunity to climb into 43A some 36 years ago, but I know it wouldn’t have been near as satisfying. Life is short, fly hard.

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Great Forest Park Balloon Race

Just a random update this week. The turn out from Thursday's LSA Wings program was much better than I had anticipated. I wrote a preview about it last week, and there were a lot of great questions asked, and answered. Hat's off to St. Charles Flying Service for hosting this event. There was quite a bit of interest in the Remos, and Light Sport Aviation in general.

Interest in the Remos, means more work for me, and I love it, but this weekend's work was the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. These guys really know how to put on a major show, and I've been fortunate enough to be a part of it for the past 15 years. My job? I'm the air traffic liaison to the race. Due to Forrest Park's proximity to Lambert International Airport, Busch Stadium, and Scott Air Force Base, some years the wind direction requires me to work harder than others. This year, the Cardinals were playing, and Scott was having their big airshow, and the wind was from an absolutely perfect direction to avoid any conflicts of an air traffic nature. Unfortunately, although the weather was practically perfect all day, rain moved into the area just before race time, and about half of the balloons opted not to go. The remaining still managed to WOW the crowd. This year was also the Energizer Bunny's 20th Birthday. Here's a Bunny quiz, to test your trivia knowledge.

1. The Statue of Liberty, Base to tip of torch stands 152' tall. How tall is the Energizer Bunny Balloon?

A. 106'
B. 126'
C. 146'
D. 166'

2. The Bunny's Ears are as tall as:

A. The wing span of a Remos GX.
B. George Washington's head on Mount Rushmore.
C. A fully grown Giraffe.

3. The double burner output for the Energizer Bunny Balloon is,

A. 300,000 BTU/Hour
B. 3,000,000 BTU/Hour
C. 30,000,000 BTU/Hour
D. 300,000,000 BTU/Hour

Here's the answers.

If you've had enough trivia, go here to play the Energizer Bunny Drummer Game.

Number eight

No matter your personal level of proficiency, all of us can become safer, more proficient pilots. It may come from instruction, flight reviews, or bad experiences, but one method of enhancing your proficiency, is the FAA's Wings program. Wings is a Pilot proficiency program sponsored by the FAA Safety Team. Although the main benefit of this program, is the added safety and professionalism, there is a very practical benefit to it's participants as well.

Strait from the FAA site: "Pilots participating in the WINGS - Pilot Proficiency Program to at least the Basic Phase need not accomplish the flight review requirements of 14 CFR part 61, if since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command, he or she has satisfactorily completed or currently holds the Basic or higher WINGS - Pilot Proficiency Program phase in an aircraft (reference 61.56(e)).

Pilots who participate in the program throughout each year so as to maintain at least the Basic phase will always have a current flight review as the date for your Basic phase and corresponding flight review will move as you continue your safety education by participation in accredited FAASTeam activities and courses. All WINGS - Pilot Proficiency Program activity and dates are conveniently tracked on FAASafety.gov."

I'll be participating in one of these upcoming programs, and would love to see a bunch of Remos enthusiast there. Since it's all about Light Sport Aviation, it's a natural. We'll be talking all aspects of light sports, so this would be a great time to get ALL of your questions answered. This is a fly-in event, so the number eight thing to do in your Remos is: Participate in an Wings event. Here's the important information.

"Light Sport: Then, Now & Tomorrow"

Topic Is Light Sport in your future?

Date and Time Thursday, September 17, 2009, starting at 6:30 pm

Speaker(s) Dave W. Pressy, Phil Dixon, SCFS Instructors & Mechanics

Brief Description Light Sport has opened up the skies to a new group of aviators and aircraft, but has generated many questions along the way. Join the experts at St. Charles Flying Service, Inc. for an in-depth look at the past, present and future of Sport Aviation. Get up-close and personal with LSA aircraft, plus learn about everything Light Sport from the experienced instructors, pilots & mechanics who train and fly in LSA’s every day

Select Number CE0327266

Location of Event

St. Charles Flying Service - 3SQ
3001 New Town Blvd.
Saint Charles, MO 63301

Hope to see you there. Jack

Biggest family news of the summer.

Gosh, has it really been three weeks since my last post? Well, you know what they say, "time flies when you're having fun." Well, we must be having lots of fun; I know we're staying busy. The Remos is flying so much we hardly have time to fuel it, and we've gotten several new Light Sport students just because of the Remos. Cheryl and I spent the weekend at Sam A. Baker state park down in southeast Missouri, and had a great time at her family reunion. In the last couple of weeks, we've celebrated my Dad's Birthday, took in the last couple of Muny Opera productions, and spent a day at the Missouri Botanical garden. We've just been enjoying the fabulous weather we've been experiencing.

Enough of the chit chat. The big news…….. Justin is home from Iraq. If you’re new to the blog, our youngest son, Justin, is an Air Traffic Controller for the Missouri Air National Guard, and he has been in Iraq all summer. That’s probably why Cheryl and I have tried to stay so busy. Justin was deployed to Kirkuk, Iraq and I wrote about him here, when he left. Hearing his stories, and seeing his pictures, I'm an even bigger fan. Of course, our grocery bill just doubled, (or tripled), we once again have a non-stop stream of twenty-something kids coming and going, and parking is at a premium. Nonetheless, we are so grateful for his safe return and appreciative of his service to our country. Please continue to pray for his friends still deployed, as well as all of our service men and women where ever they are.

God bless America.