John Wayne Jones
Filing Flight Plan
- Joined
- May 9, 2017
- Messages
- 29
- Display Name
Display name:
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I hope this is a proper area for introductions, it isn't obvious- at least to my tired old brain- where to post them.
My name is John Wayne Jones (Really, and I was named before the Duke was a superstar). I was born in west Texas on our family cattle ranch too many years ago. We owned 240,000 acres, which is a great place for a kid to grow up.
I learned to fly- as my siblings had- in our family Champ. We had 4 runways on the ranch, and owned a Champ and a Travel Air twin. I soloed at 9 years old, and was only allowed to fly over the boundaries of our ranch- same rules my sibs had had before me. Of course, I NEVER broke those rules.
It was great having a fighter pilot father- he expected us to push the boundaries.
I earned my private at 17, on my birthday, my commercial at 18 a day late because of weather, and my CFI/CFII/MEI less than a month after my Commercial ride. I was trying to beat my brother James, who had set a family record...I missed by two days.
I entered Air Force OTS at 20 years of age, with a degree in evolutionary biology from UT, a commercial pilot's license, and 5 bizjet type ratings as well as a DC-3 type rating. Type rides are flown to ATP standards, so I had passed 6 ATP checkrides but could not earn my ATP yet due to age restrictions.
My entire family is/was into aviation, military and civilian. My father and uncle both flew in WWII and Korea with the Air corps and Air Force, my father remained in the service and flew in Vietnam as well. (My uncle passed) Many of my relatives work for various airlines today.
I have three brothers and a sister, we are all pilots, and all but my oldest brother and my sister served as pilots in the military. One brother was a lrrp ranger and a helicopter pilot in VN, another flew A-6's off of carriers, and the last, which would be me, the baby of the family, was too young for VN but flew in the USAF for 10 years, first as a faip in tweets and talons, (36 mos), and later as an F-15C pilot and instructor, most of my time with the 65th AGRS at Nellis. (RIP 65th)
I spent time flying the bush in Alaska, I flew for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia, I flew relief missions in south and central America, and finally settled down to a career with a major US carrier. I recently retired to a small ranch we bought in south Texas, about an hour and a half from San Antonio. I still own a T-6 and an 8KCAB, and do some flight instruction, mostly tailwheel and aerobatic, as well as some work for the CAF in pilot training. I also fly relief for a local company with a Citation V, and train their new helicopter pilots in the two Bell 505's they operate.
So other than that, I'm married, with 3 grown children, two of whom are in college still and one who has graduated. All have left home. I own a hotrod shop, specializing in 1000hp restomods and performance mods to supercars and hypercars, we work primarily on Lambos, Paganis, Lotus, and Porsches, in that realm. I collect guns and cars, which sounds like a recipe for a drive-by, but it is innocent. My wife and I breed German Shepherds for service animals. We have 3 males and 7 females, who are all family.
So that's me. Howdy, Y'all- hope to get to know you all!
My name is John Wayne Jones (Really, and I was named before the Duke was a superstar). I was born in west Texas on our family cattle ranch too many years ago. We owned 240,000 acres, which is a great place for a kid to grow up.
I learned to fly- as my siblings had- in our family Champ. We had 4 runways on the ranch, and owned a Champ and a Travel Air twin. I soloed at 9 years old, and was only allowed to fly over the boundaries of our ranch- same rules my sibs had had before me. Of course, I NEVER broke those rules.
It was great having a fighter pilot father- he expected us to push the boundaries.I earned my private at 17, on my birthday, my commercial at 18 a day late because of weather, and my CFI/CFII/MEI less than a month after my Commercial ride. I was trying to beat my brother James, who had set a family record...I missed by two days.
I entered Air Force OTS at 20 years of age, with a degree in evolutionary biology from UT, a commercial pilot's license, and 5 bizjet type ratings as well as a DC-3 type rating. Type rides are flown to ATP standards, so I had passed 6 ATP checkrides but could not earn my ATP yet due to age restrictions.
My entire family is/was into aviation, military and civilian. My father and uncle both flew in WWII and Korea with the Air corps and Air Force, my father remained in the service and flew in Vietnam as well. (My uncle passed) Many of my relatives work for various airlines today.
I have three brothers and a sister, we are all pilots, and all but my oldest brother and my sister served as pilots in the military. One brother was a lrrp ranger and a helicopter pilot in VN, another flew A-6's off of carriers, and the last, which would be me, the baby of the family, was too young for VN but flew in the USAF for 10 years, first as a faip in tweets and talons, (36 mos), and later as an F-15C pilot and instructor, most of my time with the 65th AGRS at Nellis. (RIP 65th)
I spent time flying the bush in Alaska, I flew for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia, I flew relief missions in south and central America, and finally settled down to a career with a major US carrier. I recently retired to a small ranch we bought in south Texas, about an hour and a half from San Antonio. I still own a T-6 and an 8KCAB, and do some flight instruction, mostly tailwheel and aerobatic, as well as some work for the CAF in pilot training. I also fly relief for a local company with a Citation V, and train their new helicopter pilots in the two Bell 505's they operate.
So other than that, I'm married, with 3 grown children, two of whom are in college still and one who has graduated. All have left home. I own a hotrod shop, specializing in 1000hp restomods and performance mods to supercars and hypercars, we work primarily on Lambos, Paganis, Lotus, and Porsches, in that realm. I collect guns and cars, which sounds like a recipe for a drive-by, but it is innocent.
My wife and I breed German Shepherds for service animals. We have 3 males and 7 females, who are all family.So that's me. Howdy, Y'all- hope to get to know you all!
