Fifty years ago today my dad had his first solo. It was in a Piper Cherokee 140, N5539U, at the Marion, Indiana airport (KMZZ).
My dad had 8 hours and 45 minutes of flying experience when he soloed. Ernie Boucher was his instructor. It was a Friday evening just before sundown. I was watching from just outside the small airport office building. I remember my knees were really shaking....I can only imagine how nervous he must have been.
The next day Dad and I left for this fly-in Dad had heard about up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in the family VW Beatle. We got to Oshkosh late in the afternoon...the first year the fly-in was ever held there. We luckily found a room for the night due to a last minute cancellation......otherwise we were told there were no rooms available for 100 miles. We were up early the next morning looking at airplanes before hitting the road home after lunch. Our goal was to fly to Oshkosh the next year in our own airplane.
A few months prior to solo, probably after Dad's second or third lesson, he bought an Aeronca Chief that needed to be recovered. He had a mechanic in Alexandria, IN do the work. We re-did the interior and then in the fall did a lot of the reassembly, under the mechanic's oversight. Dad's first flight in the restored Aeronca with Ernie was on October 29, 1970. Between engine issues (we needed a top overhaul) and weather, it would be April 30, 1971 before Dad would solo in the Chief with 8.5 hours in it and 19 hours of total flying experience. He had a lot of ground to cover to get his license in time for Oshkosh.
We added instruments, a nav/comm radio, strobe lights for night flying, and a wind generator for electrical power to the Chief along the way so Dad could use the Chief for all the required training as well as use it for the FAA test. On July 29, 1971 he flew the Chief to Anderson, IN for the FAA test. Louie Darlington was the examiner. Dad had 66 hours of flying experience when he took the test and passed. I was his first passenger later that day.
Two days later, on the first anniversary of his solo, we flew to Oshkosh in the Chief. Dream fulfilled! The Aeronca eventually won "Best Chief" award at Oshkosh in 1973.
Dad flew the Aeronca about 275 hours before selling it and buying a Stinson Voyager following Oshkosh 1973. He wanted something a little faster and bigger. The Stinson was recently covered, but we did the interior and re-assembly. He flew the Stinson about 170 hours before selling it and getting a Cessna 150 in the fall of 1982. His last entry in his logbook is April 16, 1990. He had about 560 hours total flying time in 20 years. After that he flew R/C airplanes to satisfy his flying desire.
So, other than history, why is this important? I was 13 that summer he first soloed. I was already an airplane nut, so you can only imagine how much this stoked the fire in me. Maybe he knew that would happen? We both learned a lot about airplanes and restoration by working on both the Aeronca and the Stinson. We also had a lot of great adventures going to Oshkosh and also just going for evening cruises around the local area. I logged about 40 hours in the Aeronca, including first solo, and about 300 hours in the Stinson.
The work on the airplanes and flights we made are memories I will always cherish. Would I have become an Aero Engineer and eventually restore my own airplanes without this nudge? Probably, but it was still a neat father/son bonding experience. Thanks Dad! I still often feel your presence.
The night we pulled the Aeronca home to our garage.
I am on the right next to my dad. My brother Brian is
by the tire. Rodney, our neighbor, is at the prop.
My dad with the Aeronca shortly after completion
Oshkosh...probably 1972
Our Stinson at Oshkosh in 1975
