Hi all ~ want to just say a sincere thank you to Zane for letting me invade here and to you all who read and responded to my "pilot mind" questions. If you don't mind, I may be back with more in a while ... but I've realized that there is a wealth of information to be found for me here in just taking the time to read through old topics and different forums; so in between my writing time ... I plan to do that for a while instead of bugging you

And because I was doing just that for a while this morning, and read the thread about Peter's "adventure" that Rob Hunter posted... I came across this:

"He's a guy who likes to go places that nobody else can get to," Hamilton said. "He flies into these little tiny backwoods places that aren't even landing strips, just flat spots in the ground. What happened is he landed hard and flipped the plane over. He couldn't fly out, obviously." i don't know where Sue Lindsay from the Rocky Mountain News is getting her info, neither my wife or i spoke with any media. And this statement is so false every time i read it, it gets me more annoyed. I have never landed off airport before!! I have thought about it and read lots about it and asked questions on this site about it but never commited to land on flat spots on the ground.

I now i feel bad because all the media is incorrect about what happened and the land dwellers roll there eyes at GA. "

I'd like you all to know something ~ as a writer? This kind of thing makes me angry. There is no excuse for it except laziness. This reporter showed an appalling lack of integrity.

One of the reasons I'm here bugging you guys; deliberately taking the time to dig into the authentic details and attitudes of the people I aspire to write about ... is because I want to write good stories that tell the "truth". I want you as aviators to read my book and go, "yeah ... she gets it" ~ and I want the land dwellers to quit rolling their eyes at GA ... and start opening them up in wide admiration for the pilots out there that live all of this and do what they love, in a way that deserves in my mind ~ nothing but admiration.

Thanks again ~ and allow me one more *plug* for an obviously worthwhile event?

Sparky Imeson and Rob Hunter of Prepared Pilot Mountain Flying and Survival Seminar ~ May 17th 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Petaluma, CA 069. Great BBQ lunch to be offered by some veterans of the grill; good people; and most importantly -- information from two experts that could save your life.

[email protected] E-mail me and reserve a seat ... great area ~ big American Graffiti car show in town the 16th and 17th too if you happen to like classic hot rods; make a weekend of it.

Blue Skies ~ and thanks again for "humoring" me guys....

Look forward to reading from you again

Not land dwellers, it's earth pigs

I want the land dwellers to quit rolling their eyes at GA ... and start opening them up in wide admiration for the pilots out there that live all of this and do what they love

Flywriter,

I been following your other lines of questioning and have a few thoughts germinating - I see where you're going with your questions and appreciate it, but there's something in the formulation I couldn't put my finger on. I think the excerpt above solidified it for me, namely the notion that non-fliers would/should regard fliers with admiration. I don't know that anything anyone here does is deserving of admiration; it would be more accurate to say (and I'm going out on a limb here in speaking for this cadre of enthusiasts) that if anything we hope to cause inspiration.

I got involved in aviation on a whim in college. I didn't wait that long because of lack of desire (I spent countless hours in my parents' basement while growing up crafting all manner of flying models), but, rather, for lack of opportunity and lack of the belief that it was really something I could do. Nothing ventured nothing gained, right? Fast forward some years - now I'm a military flier by vocation and a GA flier by choice, and when I tell people about the path I have pursued I hope merely that my experiences move flying - personally or professionally - to the realm of the possible for them. It's not some hair brained thing reserved for an elite few, but rather a very real opportunity to challenge yourself and develop parts of yourself that might otherwise lay dormant.

As an example - my parents, who are both well into their sixties, are both taking flying lessons and have both soloed! Something that neither one of them ever thought they could or would do, but now that they have they've found a degree of fulfillment that has materially enrichened both of their lives. It wasn't admiration that got them there - it was inspiration and the awareness of a possibility... Surely most everyone here has given a first ride to someone and seen the same magic when they got their hands on the controls.

Enough rambling, time to go flying,
Cheers, Vick

I heartily endorse Vick's comments. When you challenge yourself, especially as a pilot, you learn responsibility for your actions. That carries over into how you live your life. You are simply less inclined to expect something for free that you could do yourself. That makes for a better person and for a better society!

I want to inspire as many people as I can to take up aviation.

Vick? Skystrider?

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you ....

First ... I used the word "admiration" in that sentence because of the way the original quote about eyes went ... "I want the land dwellers to quit rolling their eyes at GA and start opening them up in wide admiration for the pilots out there that live all of this and do what they love"

If I'd put "inspiration" in there? It wouldn't have worked (picky writer syndrome!)

BUT ... the reason why I'm thanking you for the comments you took the time to make in response to this?

The working title of my book (& I trust you guys; cuz I've been told not to "give away the store" when I write on these forums....) is?

"Winged Inspiration"

I have come to/do ~ admire the pilots I've interviewed. I can't not ... their "inspirational" stories ask that of me genuinely by the time I am through learning about them and the various paths their common passion for flying has taken them down.

But Vick ~ as you touched on ... that's why I want to accomplish my goal of making this book appeal to the general public - as well as aviators - I sincerely believe that the traits that make a human being a *good* pilot - are also traits that can be applied to many aspects of life. I also think ... to have the pilots I write about inspire others to look at GA and flying in a more positive light ... would be a VERY good thing. This will not be a book of "biographies" on all these different aviators ... it will be a series of hopefully engaging and yes, inspirational - true-life *stories* about each of them. One of the toughest jobs I have? Is narrowing down to just ONE main story theme with each of them.

If this book makes good? I might have to write another one with all the material I can't use this time

And Skystrider ... after reading what I just wrote? You will probably understand why I SO resonated with your comment: "When you challenge yourself, especially as a pilot, you learn responsibility for your actions. That carries over into how you live your life. You are simply less inclined to expect something for free that you could do yourself. That makes for a better person and for a better society!"

Couldn't agree with you more.

Really has been a pleasure "talking" with you guys and getting your thoughts. This morning you made me smile; talk about affirmation and encouragment for what I'm trying to do.

I'm grateful......

Nothing against Flywriter but I only read the short posts. Short attention span thing. Probably my fault. You can judge for yourself when I see you in Peteluma.

Tim

qmdv wrote:Nothing against Flywriter but I only read the short posts. Short attention span thing. Probably my fault. You can judge for yourself when I see you in Peteluma.

Tim

I don't take it as a diss Tim ... as for my own long-windedness, more than a few friends cross their eyes at my e-mails; hazard of being a writer and typing probably waaaay too fast for my own good (Although ~ I am the first one they come to when they want a really good complaint letter written )

I'm having a bit of trouble combining a "backcountry pilot" with "short attention span" in my mind however ~ so I'm gonna figure you're just being polite and not saying right out that some of my posts were boring

OK...used up the smiley allotment again for one day (& hope THIS ~ wasn't too long for you!)

All kidding aside ~ look forward to meeting you in Petaluma.....

a64pilot wrote:Not land dwellers, it's earth pigs

Meant to comment on this, this morning.

Visions of the book review: "A break-out literary masterpiece that extols the joys of being a pilot that not only will appeal to the aviation community, but also skeptical earth pigs everywhere......"

Now doesn't that sound like something that would be in a N.Y. Times bestseller book review?

soaringhiggy wrote:Look forward to reading from you again

Thank you!

(possibly my shortest post ever ~ but sincere )

Earth pigs is what Army aviation calls the rest of the Army. I'm sure they had names for us too.

Flywriter, I am looking forward to reading your finished product. I feel we really need to get our message out about GA and what kind of guys and gals we really are. We need to get more young people involved in GA. I have to make a presentation tomorrow at Baker City at the OPA meeting. (Oregon Pilots Association). The president called and wants me to tell them all of the things that I am doing to help promote GA. I hope I can convince them that they need to share their love for flying with others, both young and old.
I hope I can do this , so wish me luck and I will try to let you know how it turns out. Bob

Sounds like a good title for a book.. I thought another great eyecatcher title is,,,, "Motorcity Maule is Missing" But then that would be a different story but it would have a happy ending.. [/i]

A64, I'm sure you didn't mean anything bad with your comment but I never heard the ground guys called anything worse than snuffy, after 24 years in the Army, I will never forget what a good sight birds inbound were when I was a snuffy. The last 16 years that I flew, I never forgot my job was to cover and support the ground guys. As a side note , my son would knock you on your pompass ass if you called any of his guys ground pigs, he's over seas now as a LT.

I'll vouch for A64 on this one and I'm sure he'll agree - it's a friendly rivalry, nothing to get upset about. In the Marine Corps we simply called them grunts and they called us pilots. All kidding aside I never lost sight of the fact that if it weren't for the support those guys needed I'd be out of a job - CAS was our bread and butter. And when I did a ground tour in Afghanistan with the grunts we got some superb support from Apaches, so they clearly understood their role.

I ditto the support for A64!
In 1965-68 I was Airborne infantry and then a door gunner on a Huey in the RVN. We had all kinds of names for each other. The 82 nd , AA = All American but the Screaming eagles called us Almost Airborne and we in kind called them puking buzzards. We called the infantry, grunts. The grunts used to refer to helicopter crews as crispy critters in a flying flash bulb because the JP4 was highly combustible, well you get the idea. But they were always happy to see us when we brought them back to base camp or resupplied them and in a big hurry to get on board the flashbulb.
Navy=Swabby, Marines= Jar Heads, all non jumpers are LEGS ! and said with derogatory intent. : Earth Pig is nice compared to what we called the Rear in the gear @$%&*%$! Trust me they are terms of endearment! It is a " can you top this kind of rivilary" you can't repeat what we called politicians!

eddie wrote:A64, I'm sure you didn't mean anything bad with your comment but I never heard the ground guys called anything worse than snuffy, after 24 years in the Army, I will never forget what a good sight birds inbound were when I was a snuffy. The last 16 years that I flew, I never forgot my job was to cover and support the ground guys. As a side note , my son would knock you on your pompass ass if you called any of his guys ground pigs, he's over seas now as a LT.

If I ran into your LT son in the O club, I'm sure he would have some sort of reason as to why he didn't go to flight school, they always did. On the other hand, I never heard an aviator explaining why they didn't go to tanker school, or infantry etc. There's nothing wrong with being an earth pig, I guess. Of course it only takes a GT score of 110 to be a LT, but you don't get into flight school as a Warrant Officer with less than 120, and you don't get guns unless you graduate in the top of your class. I don't make the rules, it's just the way things are, or were. Of course the O6's weren't too happy when they found out that a CW3 made more money than they did with $850 a month flight pay and a $12,000 a year bonus as an Apache driver factored in.
Seriously, I am / was Air Cav. nobody is closer to the ground units than the Cav. I would / did risk it all for them and never broke station if one of them was in trouble, never, because I knew they wouldn't either if I was. But I'd still call em earth pig (Sir!) in the O club, and I ain't taking my Stetson off either
What would you call someone that lived in and rooted around in the mud? The SF guy's were called snake eaters, they didn't seem to mind.

Eddie,
It really is all in the nature of good fun. I joined the Army as a Pvt. It took five years for me to get into flight school as a Sgt. I don't think I'm special, but the game is us aviators are supposed too. Gun guy's really have a good repoire with the ground, especially Armor as we used to be in that branch.
Make sure your kid knows he's only a Lieutentant, and his purpose in life is to take care of his troops and to come home to Momma. I wish him luck. I fear we are wasting a lot of good people over there and hope some sort of resolution can be found, but fear that SWA is a "tar baby"

Sorry, I surender

Inspiration for flying:
Some of you probably belong to the EEA and may fly Young Eagles.
I am the Young Eagle coordinator for Chapter 608 and have flown almost 100 young Eagles. We have pilots in our chapter who have flown almost 300.
A lot of kids just want the ride and may have flown before and it may or may not be a "Big Deal".
Every once in a while there is the kid who is really scared to get in the plane and it takes a lot of coaxing from myself and the parent to get the kid strapped in. The look on their face when you crank up the engine is "What am I in for"! Explaining everything going on as I taxi, do a runup, and take off makes you wonder if they hear a word you say because they just look straight ahead and don't say a word. Finally once in the air they eventually start to look out and their eyes start to get big and their mouth drops open. Eventually you can get them to talk a little bit about what they see and how they feel. The ride usually lasts from 20 to 30 minuntes. When you get them back on the ground and the parents walk up, the kid''s eyes are big, the kid's jumping up and down, the kids blabbering to their parents about the ride and they are ready to get back in the plane and do it all over again.

To me that's inspiration!