Atticus Finch
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,718
- Location
- Coastal North Carolina, USA
Jackie and I are in the slow process of transforming my parents' home into a place for us to one day retire. Everytime we go there, we discover something that jerks me out of today, and makes me a kid again...at least for a short while. Friday, we were cleaning out a cabinet, and she found a shoebox of old family photos. Among them were some photos that I took of my Dad's flying club.
Dad's hobby was flight instruction. He taught for free, and many of the folks he taught to fly were his friends. He owned an old hanger at the edge of Beaufort Airport and rented space to his friends...who I called the members of his his "flying club". I guess they were, in a very informal way.
In those days, Beaufort Airport was an underused, uncontrolled airfield that had been deeded by the USMC to Beaufort after WWII. There was very little regulation and we flew where and how we wanted with oversight from no one. Looking back, it my have been the very last days of the golden age of civilian aviation.
These photos were taken on a cold February or March day in 1977. I believe that I took most of them.
This is Lane. He was an officer in the Coast Guard and was one of Dad's best friends. I think his G-1 was issued to him by the USCG and he probably shouldn't have been wearing it out of uniform. But he did. Often.
This is Darlene. She graduated from high school with me and was married to her high school sweetheart who was fixing up this little Cessna 140. It was turned out to be a beautiful little plane. We all like really liked Darlene and Robert. Especially Darlene.
This stern looking guy is my father...and Darlene. Of course.
This is my father flying his 1956 Cessna 172 over Shackleford Banks. I took this photo from my plane as he flew by me.
I'm pretty sure I took this photo too, but I can't remember who it is. Harkers' Island is in the background.
This long-haired kid is me, standing beside my 1943 J-3. I soloed in this plane. Dad helped me buy it so that I could learn to fly in a taildragger...as had he during WWII. He believed that pilots should learn to fly in the minimum amount of airplane possible. That way, the future pilot learned to actually fly and not "drive" a plane. Damn, I miss him and his good sense.
AF
Dad's hobby was flight instruction. He taught for free, and many of the folks he taught to fly were his friends. He owned an old hanger at the edge of Beaufort Airport and rented space to his friends...who I called the members of his his "flying club". I guess they were, in a very informal way.
In those days, Beaufort Airport was an underused, uncontrolled airfield that had been deeded by the USMC to Beaufort after WWII. There was very little regulation and we flew where and how we wanted with oversight from no one. Looking back, it my have been the very last days of the golden age of civilian aviation.
These photos were taken on a cold February or March day in 1977. I believe that I took most of them.
This is Lane. He was an officer in the Coast Guard and was one of Dad's best friends. I think his G-1 was issued to him by the USCG and he probably shouldn't have been wearing it out of uniform. But he did. Often.
This is Darlene. She graduated from high school with me and was married to her high school sweetheart who was fixing up this little Cessna 140. It was turned out to be a beautiful little plane. We all like really liked Darlene and Robert. Especially Darlene.
This stern looking guy is my father...and Darlene. Of course.
This is my father flying his 1956 Cessna 172 over Shackleford Banks. I took this photo from my plane as he flew by me.
I'm pretty sure I took this photo too, but I can't remember who it is. Harkers' Island is in the background.
This long-haired kid is me, standing beside my 1943 J-3. I soloed in this plane. Dad helped me buy it so that I could learn to fly in a taildragger...as had he during WWII. He believed that pilots should learn to fly in the minimum amount of airplane possible. That way, the future pilot learned to actually fly and not "drive" a plane. Damn, I miss him and his good sense.
AF
