History
Ever since I was old enough to recognize what an airplane was, I have always been in love with flying. According to Mom, it all started when I took my first commercial flight from our home in Hawaii to visit relatives in California. She tells me that after that moment, I was always preoccupied with visions of flying.
I took my first small airplane ride at around 8 or 9 years of age, when my dad convinced a co-worker of his who was a private pilot, to take me up in a rented Cessna 172. I remember that day like it was yesterday as we flew around on a cool fall day just north of Denver. I experienced my second small airplane ride when I was around 12 years old and a member of the Civil Air Patrol. This time I got to put my hands on the controls, which was a very big thrill!
It wasn't until I enlisted in the United States Navy that I pursued my passion to become a pilot. While stationed at NAS Moffett Field, I enrolled in flight school at the Navy Flying Club in March of 1988, just after returning from a tour of duty in Misawa, Japan. My instructor, Curt Leatherwood, was an active Air Force Reserve pilot and many of my check pilots were active duty military either from the Navy or the NASA Ames Research Center, which was part of our base of operations. Seven months later, on October 1988, I passed my written and oral exams. A few days later, I took my check ride with an FAA examiner and became a certified Private Pilot.
It's been over 20 years now that I have been a certified pilot and, up until September 11th, 2001, I have enjoyed the pleasure of piloting an aircraft. I've flown to numerous air shows and have had the pleasure of flying many types of aircraft, including military jets and bi-planes. I had aspirations of becoming a professional pilot, flying as an instructor, then for either a corporation or an airline, but the instability of the industry forced me to make a change in my career choice. After 9/11, new regulations and restrictions as well as the ever rising cost of fuel, insurance, and aircraft rental rates have reduced my flying to just a memory. I still manage to get into a cockpit now and then with friends who own their own aircraft, but those times are few and far between. Perhaps some day, when I am retired and need something to do to keep me active, I will once again take to the skies.
- Private Pilot - Single Engine Land
- Instrument
