Wind in the Sails: Lent 2018 -- Gratitude Diary, Day 12

I'm grateful for that time I got to take flying lessons, and soloed.

When I was a child growing up in Tulsa we moved to our long-term home in 1964. The house was about 1.5 miles south and just a touch east of the end of the general aviation runway at Tulsa International Airport. We were about 1.5 south and .5 mile west of the commercial runway 18/36. All those planes coming and going over my head caught my attention. Some of them really caught my attention.

McDonnell/Douglas, North American Aviation and American Airlines all had big bases at the airport. The B-47's and B-52's would rattle the windows of the house and the earth would shake when they took off.

My Uncle David was a flight instructor when we moved to the house on Latimer Pl. At the age of 5 he took me to the airport and loaded me into a Cessna 150 and we flew from Tulsa International to Riverside Airport (now Jones airport) which was on the west bank of the Arkansas River about 12 miles to the south of TUL. It was an absolute thrill and I was hooked.

I didn't really get a chance to fly until the mid 1990's, but I took that chance when it came. I started out at Bluegrass Airport, but soon transitioned to a school at Capital City Airport in Frankfort, KY. One day when my instructor and I were pattern flying he told me to land the place and pull up to the terminal. When I did he hopped out and said, "now take it around, do three takeoffs and landings." It was my solo flight. I took off to the east and as I lifted off the capital of the Commonwealth of KY was just to my north. Three times I went around. Three times I landed and twice I took off. Successful solo. And the thrill was everything I had thought it would be.

Dallas was born in 1997. Kelly's mom passed away in 1998. My flying took a backseat and I never completed my Private Pilot license. I have about 48 hours in a Cessna 150, 152 and 172, and a Piper Archer II. I am so grateful for that time flying. It was truly a dream come true.