Number of landings = number of takeoffs

From the time I was a small boy I wanted to fly. Somewhere in a box there is a letter I wrote to my Mom in 2nd or 3rd grade telling her that I'd be late getting home because I would be flying... I signed it (something like) "Chief Pilot Sgt O'hare". I drew a stamp on the envelope and dropped it in the mail box. The mailman delivered it! My Mom saved it and gave it to Rose...Rose had it framed. It's one of a thousand things still in boxes.

The Navy provided me a job in electronics and in part, a job working on BIG flight simulators and radar simulators. The flight simulators came in a 53 ft trailer. My work as a "Training Devicesman" included this big power hungry monsters, so we learned about them in school, and worked on them "in the fleet". All that to say, I flew a lot in the Navy...but it was only in flight trainers. The first ride in a small plane was a real eye opening experience. There was a real world out there with a horizon and everything...WOW!!!

Looking around small airports for something economical to learn to fly was a challange. The nice looking sky-hot rods were expensive, and since my flying lessons were going to be funded from my 2nd part time job, I had to go for economy! The picture is an Aeronca Champ. I accumulated 35 actual flying hours in one of these 740 pound marvels. It had a handle next to the tail assembly. Grab ahold of the handle and you could walk this airplane backwards anywhere. It didn't have a starter...or a battery...or a radio. But, those things didn't help you fly either, they were just "extra's".... You turned the magnetos on, pushed the throttle forward just a bit, grabbed ahold of the prop and gave it a spin. Oh what a joy! It would start and then you jumped out of its way, got inside and the sky was yours!!

7.5 hours of instructor time, and I solo'd. What a rush!! Get the extra weight out of the back seat of the champ and it flew like a balloon!

The next week I solo'd again. This time I had an engine failure at 300 ft taking off. I made it back to the airports cross-wind 1650 ft gravel runway and found a new way to stop an airplane on the ground...I flipped it over on it's back. It stopped.... and....I didn't fly again until that afternoon. A friend of mine bought an identical plane (Aeronca Champ), and we ferried it back from Elgin Illinois to Lombard where I had the accident that morning. I learned 3 things that day that are important to every pilot:

1. Keep the pointy end going forward.

2. Keep flying the plane until the last piece stops moving.

3. A good landing is one you walk away from...A Great landing is one you walk away from and can use the same airplane again...right away!!