What was your most rewarding flying experience?

AdamZ

AdamZ

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Adam Zucker
So what was your most rewarding flying experience? Thre are no rules here. It can be different for each poster. Perhaps it was your first Angel flight or making it through a difficult IMC flight and approach. Dealing with an inflight emergency or urgency. First IMC w/o a CFII, Or just crack navigating on an uneventful flight. So lets hear about it
 
Adam:

Last flight with my Dad along!

I've posted it before. Dad and I used to take an annual trip from San Diego (where he lived) to Las Vegas. He really looked forward to it each year. An Army group also had an annual reunion there, and we timed it so I could attend that while Dad mostly hit the slot machines. Dad had applied to go to Army flight school back in WWII and almost got in; at the last minute, they pulled him out because he was 1/4 inch too short. As it turned out, his peers got pulled out also because of the Battle of the Bulge.

Anyway, we had a great time the last year we went. Dad's health was going down hill, but he got himself up for this last trip. We flew up from San Diego in the P-Baron and Dad had a great time. Approach took us over the approach end of McCarran and up the Las Vegas Strip to VGT. Dad got a great view.

We gambled, ate, gambled, etc. for three days, then, went home. Weather was perfect and Dad flew a little. When we landed, Dad had a minute of lucidity where he was obviously feeling great; he asked me if I thought he could get his pilot's license.

Of course!, I said. You wouldn't have any problem with the reading and procedures, it would just take you a few months (of course, I knew in the back of my mind, Dad could never handle the physical part of it; his health was just getting too bad.

Dad just stood there beaming and thinking about it for a bit; then, we went home.

I lost Dad a few months later.

Pic attached of Dad and I in my Bo. We went several years in it before I got the Barron.

Best trip ever.

Best,

Dave
 

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That would have to be my flight home after my CFI checkride. With setback after setback, I was beginning to think it would never happen. This is on top of my not flying for nineteen years then completing a 709 ride, an instrument rating and commercial certificate. Suddenly, I had a reason to smile! Or, was that a grin? :D
 
Off the top, I think the most rewarding was my comm long cross. So much happened on that flight it would fill a book. And I did it, I really did it!
 
I think the most rewarding for myself has to be my long XC for Comm. Next is probably my first passenger that had never been in any type of airplane. I even had that one published in EAA's magazine!
 
I think my wife's first helicopter flight. She hates airplanes. Doesn't matter if it's a bug smasher or a B777, she hates it.

She started getting into this a few months before we took delivery of the R44. Her ears perked up when she heard we were getting air conditioning. They perked up more when she heard we were having the ship wired for Bose headsets.

After Mark Boyer from Pocono Air (the Robbie dealer) and I ferried the ship back from LA, he flew it up to his place for an inspection. A friend then flew me up there to bring the ship back.

My wife wanted to make a flight the day after I brought the R44 back. What she wanted to do was a little sight seeing over horse farm country, then to see Longwood Gardens and Winterthur from the air.

The day we went, she grabbed my handheld GPS that I use for hiking, then climbed on board. I gave her a running explanation of my checklist so she would know what was going on -- mag check, sprag clutch, governor on taking over at 80%, low RPM horn check, gauges in the green, no warning lights, RPM in the green.

I lifted off between the hangars and I could tell she was immediately intrigued. We taxied out to the taxiway and then onto the runway at midfield for takeoff. I had explained the takeoff and how a normal takeoff would result in a very nose low attitude until we got up to about 60 KIAS. I hung a left over Rt. 202 and followed it to Westtown, where we followed Rt. 962 to the area around Unionville to see the horse farms, then south to Rt. 1 for Longwood Gardens. When we spotted it, I slowed the ship down to around 60 KIAS and we did a number of orbits at about 500 AGL. She kept saying how great the visibility was and how much she could see.

We then flew north to Rt 52 and prepared to follow it to the old Du Pont estate of Winterthur. In the meantime, I called Wilmington tower since I was going to be close to their airspace. We found Winterthur ok and did some low orbits around it. Again she was bubbling about the view.

We then decided to bop out to Chester County for lunch, so I told Wilmington I was leaving his area and we went to 40N. AS I recalled there was a crosswind so I did a perpendicular approach to the runway and landed directly on the ramp. My wife thought this was really great not to need no stinkin' runway!

After lunch we followed Rt. 30 back to Brandywine and made an uneventful touchdown in front of the hangar.

What made this flight so memorable is that it turned my wife into a rotorhead! Since then, we've flown a lot together, taken friends on flights with us, and generally had a good time!
 
I think it was this flight www.youtube.com/skybobb - His last wish an airplane ride. I took Francis Hoopes for his last airplane ride. Francis was in a nursing home, he had a severe stroke and was wheel chair bound. He had flown a tripacer in his younger years. This was a wish foundation type ride. I flew 300 miles one way to take Francis for this 25 minute ride. We flew from Troutdale, OR. to Cascade Locks, where we made a landing and flew bck to TTD. I let Francis use his good left hand on the controls and fly my airplane. I also have a video of the landing at cascade Locks on another video at the same place. This was a great memorable experience for me and one I will never forget. Bob :yes:
 
Shortly after I got my Arrow my CFI called and asked me if I would fly a 5 year old girl to Cincinnati for a liver transplant. How could anyone say no. It wasn't the best of days, cold and overcast but my CFI was riding right seat so we put the little girl and her grandmother in the back and off we went. It was the first time in any kind of airplane for both of them, fortunately the ride was smooth. Before we took off I handed the little girl a stuffed Taz that my wife put in the back of the plane. She was still clutching the animal as she got into the taxi. The surgery went well and she continues to thrive today.
Ron
 
I got the crappy 1am phone call for a air ambulance flight. I kicked the cat and walked out the door. Got the lear all preflighted and blessings from all the gods that said the trip would be doable.

Then the ambulance showed up with a very young native indian girl. As they were loading her up we had a chance to talk. She asked if I was a good pilot and if I would keep her safe and alive to get a new heart. I chocked and said yes. I took off my wings and let her hold on to them for good luck. So, we fired up and and headed up for the moon. Ten minutes out from the arriving airport she coded. We declared a medial emergency and shagged it to the airport. I watched the ambulance come running down the road as we turned final. Last time I saw her she was still in trouble and was shuttled off into the ambulance. Kids were the hardest for me because you never got to know if they had a chance at a good life or not. Older people you knew, at least they had some sort of experiences in the past.

I am no longer doing that line of work. However, I got a video in the mail last year. Her parents tracked me down. They had taped her after the surgery and every shot, she had my wings...
 
I can't beat any of these stories, and I've had a lot of great flights lately, but I guess my all-time favorite is still my only "epic" X-C, from New Jersey to New Orleans, all on my oddy-nocky in a solid club 172 back in 2000 when I had about half the hours I do now. I'd never flown a leg more than 2 or so hours before; it was interesting.
The whole trip went almost exactly as planned, and it was never boring, even beating headwinds at 7500 when it seems like you're not moving at all. One new panorama after another, and some great little airports visited, like Smith Mountain Lake and Hendersonville. Got my first grown-up weather challenge on that trip, slept in an open t-hangar next to a Fly Baby one night, and learned more about flying and being PIC on that trip than I'd learned prior.
I remember being damned tired as I got back to familiar skies on the way home... very relieved, actually, that it was almost over. But after I buttoned up the plane and turned in the keys at the clubhouse it dawned on me what I had just accomplished... I''ll never forget that feeling. A pretty selfish feeling, I guess, but I earned it and then some, struggling through those impoverished-student-pilot days.
 
AdamZ said:
So what was your most rewarding flying experience? Thre are no rules here. It can be different for each poster. Perhaps it was your first Angel flight or making it through a difficult IMC flight and approach. Dealing with an inflight emergency or urgency. First IMC w/o a CFII, Or just crack navigating on an uneventful flight. So lets hear about it
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Flying water non stop from Pompano to Homestead for three days before they allowed us in as adjusters after Hurricane Andrew. It was kinda a mini volunteer GA version of the Berlin Airlift. They pulled out our extra seats and kept filling us with fuel and water jugs for as long as we would fly.
 
Wow... It's hard to pick just one. Maybe I just haven't had "that one" flight yet.

First flights with Mom (city tour), Dad (to 68C for a chili fly-in) are definitely up there.

First flights for the many folks that I've given first flights to were great, though I have to say some of the best were a couple of my trainees - Both low-income, never been on a plane before - And both called home after their respective flights and told each and every one of their four (each) children "Daddy flew on a plane!" :)

One of my favorites was the flight that best showed the utility of GA, a flight to LEX with another pilot and one pax. I was going to a banquet as was our pax, but he had to be at a meeting beforehand and wanted to be back by 12:30 the next day for his son's hockey game. Had he driven or taken the airlines, he'd have needed to wake up at 3 AM and certainly wouldn't have been in any condition to speak and socialize at the banquet - As it was, we met at the airport at 8:30 AM, had a smooth, CAVU (50+ mile vis) flight, got down there in time for the meeting, had a great time at the banquet - He sat one table over from me and spent the entire dinner raving about what a great flight we had - And we got him back to MSN in time for his son's game, something the airlines could not have accomplished. Best of all, I logged 8.8 hours for a cost of $16.79/hr. Can't beat that.

Finally - Every really long cross country I've done, because each one is a learning experience. :yes:
 
Excellent story Dave.

Henning is right, it's hard to pick just one.

I'm with Kate though: Soloing out my first Able Flight student was tops.

Others off the top of my head:

My first loop in a Stearman at 14.(got the acro bug and never got over it)

My first solo formation ride in a T-37 ( I don't think I stopped whooping and hollering the entire time!!)

Getting the gas from a late tanker over the eastern Med in the middle of the night on the way back from Iraq. The whole crew had food poisoning, we were at bingo fuel and the pucker factor was off the chart.

Getting cleared direct to the FAF at SFO and speed our discretion immediately after take off from ORD because we had transplant organs onboard. This airline stuff really is kind of cool!!

Flying the third airliner into Cancun with a bunch of supplies after the hurricane had torn it up. The people we took out were the happiest bunch of pax I've ever had.
 
AdamZ said:
So what was your most rewarding flying experience? Thre are no rules here. It can be different for each poster.
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Adam, this is a great thread. Thanks for starting it! :yes:

Earthroamer said:
Then the ambulance showed up with a very young native indian girl. As they were loading her up we had a chance to talk........However, I got a video in the mail last year. Her parents tracked me down. They had taped her after the surgery and every shot, she had my wings...
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Wow, that was a wonderful story! Gave me goose bumps!

Like Kent said, there are so many it's hard to pick just one. 'Rewarding' to me is what I can do for other people with/in my airplane. Sometimes it's making someone fall in love with some aspect of flying. So many Young Eagle flights come to mind.

This particular flight was the hardest to decide to do, and probably the one that I was the most glad that I did:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1004
 
Wow mine are'n t nearly as cool as some of the other one's you have posetd....

My best flight so far had to be taking the 182 up to Hayward for a mountain bike race a couple of years ago. I had received my IFR ticket that january, and had made some light IFR, and had kept current, but I had never really flown a "real" IFR flight. the WX turned out to be pretty nice. A solid stratus layer from around 1000' to 8000' with the freezing layer above that. So off I launched into the scud.

After about half an hour in the soup I finally popped out on top, and what a beautiful sight to be on top of the clouds in the bright sun. The only bad part was that the wx in Hayward kept getting lower, but at least my alternates were still plenty good. By the time I got close the wx at HYR had "improved" to 800' and 3. Good enough for the GPS approach. I still remember the feeling of accomplishment (and relief) when I saw the city lights, and approach lights come into view right where they were supposed to be at 300' over minimums.

After landing and tying down it was a little erie. There was not a soul at the airport, as they must have closed that day early. So there I was all by myself at a fog shouded airport in the middle of the north woods (think the final scene in casablanca without all the people).

All in all great flight, and a good MTB race.

Pete

P.S. a close second would be my first long solo flight in the 2-33 this past summer.
 
vontresc said:
Wow mine are'n t nearly as cool as some of the other one's you have posetd....
.
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Thats ok and thats the point, its whats rewarding to you. All of these stories are fantastic. So I guess I am now changing the name of this thread to "WHAT ARE YOUR MOST REWARDING FLYING EXPERIENCES" plural. Keep em comming. I'll post mine in a bit.
 
Let me add one more. It's from a previous life (back when I flew on active duty in the Army). I was in an air cav unit at the end of the Vietnam war. After the cease fire was put in place, we were disarmed (although we could carry a side arm for self protection).

About three weeks after the cease fire went into affect, our unit was chosen to fly out and pick up POWs being released by the North Vietnamese. I didn't personally fly the mission, as we were grounded based on time in country (those with the most time were grounded first as they didn't want someone killed in the last few days of the war that only had a couple days left in country.) But, the guys I ordinarily flew with every day, flew out and picked up several POWs. They flew into an LZ that was ringed with fully armed bad guys and tension was high as just a few weeks earlier, we had been shooting at each other.

They brought the POWs back to an area in Ben Hoa where they were immediately given medical care. One of the POWs was a guy in an A-4 that had been shot down a couple months before. We were in the air and heard is Mayday call. We saw his parachute, but couldn't get to where he landed in time to save him. He went into a pretty bad area and we immediately began receiving heavy ground fire as we approached that area. We were told to return to base and we did.

It was great to hear, he was one of the POWs our unit extracted.

Best,

Dave
 
Well, my active flying didn't last long enough after getting the PPL to have many "rewarding experiences" however, on my long xcntry as a student, I landed at VLD (2nd stop) withing 2 minutes of my planned ETA, and took on the exact amount of fuel that I had planned. That was very rewarding to me.
 
The first few minutes of my first solo flight in my Pitts. What a rush. My heart was in my throat the whole time and I was giggling a giddy, nervous laugh. I looked out at those stubby wings and thought it was a miracle the thing actually flew. And then looking out the front -- not blocked by a person's head for the first time -- and STILL not being able to see worth a hoot. And then the sickening realization that now I have to LAND the darn thing solo as well!!!
 
I think I'd have to pick my first vacation flight with my wife and daughter. We flew from LOM to PVC, IFR. It was a beautiful day we were in an Archer III, and everything just clicked. I did get some minor time IMC in clouds over Rhode Island. It was like they said on the A Team " I love it when a plan comes together" Everything just worked so well. My family loved the flight and I felt like a million bucks when my wheels squeaked on 25. I had dreamed of flying there for many years. Flying over the Cape and Islands in Mass is beautiful. We got somewhere in 2.5 hours that usually took us an 8 hour drive. I still recall flying off FREDO Intersection south of Boston and seeing the arm of the cape and the tip where I was headed lying 18 nm out across the bay. It was just an awesome feeeling.
 
This Katrina relief flight is up there pretty high on my list of very rewarding flights.

The next most rewarding was my F-111A transition final check ride. I figured I knew all about flying when I moved from the F-4 to the F-111, I didn't approach this very much more complex airplane with the appropriate beginner's mind.

I had a lot of trouble making the adjustment from the F-4 to the F-111, and I even got totally lost one or two rides prior to the check. That's pretty bad for a navigator.

Perhaps that experience of getting lost jarred something loose in my brain, because on the final check ride I flew the most perfect flight I've ever flown, before or since. The checkride was designed to be as complex as possible for the student navigator.

The examiner did not have a single comment or correction in the debrief for me. I hit the time on target within ten seconds. We alternated nuke and conventional on the bombing range, every bomb was qualifying.

The examiner was gobsmacked. My squadron commander was gobsmacked. Most of all, I was gobsmacked.

That was my last ride in the bomber model F-111, after that I went in the far more interesting EF-111, in which my inner geek achieved self-actualization.
 
my 1st flight with the whole family in my 340

When I bought it, I had the usual requirement from the insurance company to attend an initial session at FlightSafety, followed by 40 hours with a mentor pilot, and an additional 10 hours solo.

It was the longest period of time my kids have ever gone without flying with me since they were born, and they were very anxious/excited to go up with dad in a “real airplane” as they saw it.

With less than 2 hours to go before I could take my family up, I made a two-hour round-trip with a fuel stop one morning before a planned trip to Colorado with all of us.

I arrived back at home base about 30 min. ahead of schedule of our intended departure time, and as the line guys were fueling up the airplane, I asked them if this one time (and only one time) would they put out the red carpet at the air stair door for them.

They felt like real VIPs:D
 
AdamZ said:
So what was your most rewarding flying experience? Thre are no rules here. It can be different for each poster. Perhaps it was your first Angel flight or making it through a difficult IMC flight and approach. Dealing with an inflight emergency or urgency. First IMC w/o a CFII, Or just crack navigating on an uneventful flight. So lets hear about it
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Albuquerque to Kansas to pick up my 7 year old daughter, then down the east coast of Mexico, across to Puebla and Acapulco and then up the west coast back to Albuquerque ............. in a Tri-Pacer.
 
Earthroamer said:
I got the crappy 1am phone call for a air ambulance flight. I kicked the cat and walked out the door. Got the lear all preflighted and blessings from all the gods that said the trip would be doable.

Then the ambulance showed up with a very young native indian girl. As they were loading her up we had a chance to talk. She asked if I was a good pilot and if I would keep her safe and alive to get a new heart. I chocked and said yes. I took off my wings and let her hold on to them for good luck. So, we fired up and and headed up for the moon. Ten minutes out from the arriving airport she coded. We declared a medial emergency and shagged it to the airport. I watched the ambulance come running down the road as we turned final. Last time I saw her she was still in trouble and was shuttled off into the ambulance. Kids were the hardest for me because you never got to know if they had a chance at a good life or not. Older people you knew, at least they had some sort of experiences in the past.

I am no longer doing that line of work. However, I got a video in the mail last year. Her parents tracked me down. They had taped her after the surgery and every shot, she had my wings...
Click to expand...

Wow


RT Screen Designs
www.rtscreendesigns.com
 
Oh man...I have had so many...

The flight Ed mentions above we did on 2009...
Flying my mother for the first time...
Flying my Aunt Marion to bury my uncle in Arlington...
Flying Ronnie Coleman and his two sons about three weeks before cancer took Ronnie...
Flying my buddy Cliff Crabtree on his last flight...Cliff was known for building a plane in his back yard that never flew...
Flying for 600NMish (RDU to Portland Maine) and never seeing the ground from 400AGL on takeoff until short final...
Hudson River Corridor in both directions with just over 100 hours
Sandy Eggo to Fayetteville NC via Grand Canyon Glen Canyon and Monument Valley
St. Pete Florida to Fayetteville NC in two hours...245kts +/- GS
 
Taking Dad flying in the helicopter with the doors off.
Making a couple of wingsuit basejumps back in 2000.
Every good soaring flight gives that happy glow.
 
Many many over the years, but the first one that popped into my head was my first cutter landing in Alaska as part of my "local familiarization" check ride at CGAS Kodiak. It was a kinda sporty day with a steep 6-10 ft ground swell and rain and gusty wind, (or typical spring weather in other words), and I was working with a 210ft cutter, a class which has the smallest flight deck in the service. Landing on a moving vessel is a game which has no peers in the helicopter world, (IMHO). You have to deal with the forward motion of the vessel, the pitching and rolling of the vessel, and the turbulence created by the relative wind and vessel speed off the superstructure playing over the flight deck. After two practice approaches where I hit the hold position off the stern and then positioned over the deck following the LSO' s signals, ( you don't watch anything but the two paddles and fly the helo accordingly), I managed to plonk right into the grid of 4X4s which kept you from rolling off the deck with and firm but not too heavy drop. My AC for the ride was the station CO, a Captain (O-6) who had probably forgotten more about flying helicopters than I knew. I dumped the collective but kept the RPMs at full load and waited for the signal that we were tied down and secure. The Captain scribbled on his kneeboard and grunted. "Well I guess you might work out after all. That was a 4 oh landing" I didn't realize until that moment I was holding my breath!!
 
With less than 100 hours, I took my wife, pregnant with our first child for a $100 hamburger run to French Lick IN. On the way back, I had an engine failure while cruising up the Ohio River before turning to FFO. Turned out it ate a valve although all I knew was the engine was shaking so bad I thought it was going to depart the airplane at anything above idle.

After running thru all the procedures, saw CVG, turned the airplane toward the airport, called the tower, flew a no power straight in approach, made a squeaker of a landing, limped to the FBO and called my brother to pick us up.

Figure I had some good training and never got overly concerned about flying and emergencies after that. Always kept that experience in mind before every flight to be prepared for anything the airplane might try to do to me regardless of my planning and precautions. ;)

Close second was trapping aboard and launch from the Enterprise in an F-14.

Cheers
 
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One of my best was when I flew a long cross country in my twin.delivered my arrow to Texas and flew back to mass in my beech Travelair.made several stops on the way back was a great experience.
 
X3 Skier said:
With less than 100 hours, I took my wife, pregnant with our first child for a $100 hamburger run to French Lick IN. On the way back, I had an engine failure while cruising up the Ohio River before turning to FFO. Turned out it ate a valve although all I knew was the engine was shaking so bad I thought it was going to depart the airplane at anything above idle.

After running thru all the procedures, saw CVG, turned the airplane toward the airport, called the tower, flew a no power straight in approach, made a squeaker of a landing, limped to the FBO and called my brother to pick us up.

Figure I had some good training and never got overly concerned about flying and emergencies after that. Always kept that experience in mind before every flight to be prepared for anything the airplane might try to do to me regardless of my planning and precautions. ;)

Close second was trapping aboard and launch from the Enterprise in an F-14.

Cheers
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They will shake after losing compression on a cylinder. I lost a cylinder due to valve at low level over WV scud running under a solid deck of ice. By the time I got on the ground the #2 cylinder rocker cover had beat a hole through the composite cowl.
 
Probably my first near-midair. I was a low-time student, but I handled it about as close to perfectly as could be done. That's probably because I didn't have time to think about it.

-Rich
 
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