If you never flew XC using a Superhomer with a couple of crystals in your shirt pocket for the transmitter you are a wet nosed pup....
If you never flew XC using a Mobile gas station road map for locating the names on the water towers you haven't even hatched yet - man oh man, there are a lot of small towns no one ever heard of in the back country of Oklahoma and Texas...
Ahh yes, the days of the Flying Red Horse... I had hair in those days and the girls behind the counter at the pharmacy soda counter giggled when I ostentatiously peered down their blouses as they bent over to scoop ice cream... We both enjoyed it...
You know you’re an old pilot when …
– You remember when “upgrading avionics” meant trading in the radio with “whistle-stop” tuning for a complete “1-1/2″ system.
– … when sectional charts were only printed on one side*;
– … when VORs were called "omnis" and had voice identification;
– … when aeronautical chart symbols included airway beacons, drive-in movies and mooring masts.
– You have ever had to circumnavigate around a Military Climb Corridor.
– You know what “one for the run and five for the hive” meant.
– You have drained green or purple avgas from the sump.
*Pretty soon we may be waxing nostalgic about when sectional charts were printed at all, rather than being electronically displayed.
My first lesson was days before 9/11.
I was surprised recently to look in my first logbook and discover that my first lesson was on the day Lee Harvey Oswald was shot.
I may be old, but I sure don't feel it. And you know what? Flying has a LOT to do with that. Every new airplane type I fly, and there have been a lot of them lately, makes me feel younger. If this keeps going, I may start getting acne.
Very well said, Lance, and I agree totally. I'm grateful for every minute.
It's been a very good ride.
Amen!
