Thanks for the compliments, all of you.
I had my ticket in the late '70s during my 3 years working at a local FBO (Tri-State Aero at KEVV) after a stint in USAF working the flightline on F-111s. Ironically, I had given a speech on the 111 in high school, using a model my father had built.
Back then, 100LL was less than a dollar, if I remember correctly. I visited TSA recently only to find 100 octane is now over $6. Also, back then, our ramp was always full of GA aircraft, and we had a flourishing flight school. Now the place looks like an abandoned airfield in Kansas - no flight school, no charters or rentals, hangars empty, only the occasional corporate jet.
I stopped flying after starting my newspaper career, a family, yada yada. I’ve often thought of going back, but my hearing has gotten worse and there are no flight schools nearby.
But my fascination with aviation - beginning in the days when my dad and I would sit at the end of the runway and watch the Connies take off - still soars.
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