My first of three single-engine airplanes.
While living in San Luis Obispo in 1979, working for Craig Vetter, I got my pilot’s license. I bought a Cessna 150 and owned it for several years. My flight instructor and I bought a Citabria to rent out. Citabria is airbatic spelled backward. It is a tailwheel plane and was really fun to fly. It was designed for fancy flying, but that wasn’t my interest. It was popular and was rented out a lot.
Another friend ran a flying service, and I bought him a plane to lease out. Both served as a nice tax write-off. Owning three planes served to keep me employed by necessity. Finally, reality set in that my leisure time was more important than these toys. By 1988 I had sold them.
It was my pleasure to fly the 150 over halfway across the USA on two occasions. My Fort Bidwell property had a long gravel strip only 1/2 mile from my house. I would land, walk home and use the spare car that I always kept.
In the year 2016, I was privileged to fly in two modern aircraft. Both were computers with wings attached. Both had parachutes built in. One was made in the USA, and the other was Czech-made. Both were very impressive aircraft.
I was a mediocre pilot.
Updated 30 March 2023