EAA Sport Aviation - September 2009

I had planned on having two airplanes, and in preparation I had two hangars paid a year in advance. The STOL 175 Cessna was to be my camping backcountry airplane, and the Sonex was to be my fun, aerobatic plane. But always in the back of my mind, the Sonex was my ace in the hole for the day that would surely come, losing my medical. I just didn’t think it would arrive before I was 80.

And to think that prior to retirement, I
just used a plane to get from ranch to
ranch. I valued it about as much as my
pickup truck. Isn’t that terrible?

I can still fly when I want; it just has to be in visual conditions and in daytime. I can carry only one person, and time aloft is limited by fuel capacity. Still, it’s flying. And to think that prior to retirement, I just used a plane to get from ranch to ranch. I valued it about as much as my pickup truck. Isn’t that terrible?

During that time I never hung out at an airport (my plane was on a private strip), I never went to fly-ins, and I did not talk about airplanes almost nonstop as I do

now. I went to Oshkosh once in 1976 after converting a Cessna 170B to 180 hp with Horton edge cuffs to show it off, but not again in the next 30 years. But I can say this: I was proud of what my plane was capable of doing and enjoyed the envy that I could see in the eyes of other pilots. Heck, I loved being the top dog—my airplane could outperform any four-place airplane out there doing short takeoffs and landings.

A couple of years ago at a Townsend, Montana, Mountain Flying Clinic, I made that statement to a couple of Cessna 180 pilots in jest. After I performed my best effort taking off over a 50-foot obstacle, one of them told me, “After you left us, my buddy said, ‘That old fart doesn’t know what he’s talking about,’ but you just made a believer out of me.”

Now, Niner Seven Mike is in the hands of a person who will enjoy the envy of other pilots just as I did. It’s still right here in northwest Nebraska; I just hope that I can live without it. But, hey, my Six Niner Kilo will do its best to take my mind off those thoughts, and I do look forward to this new experience as a sport pilot.