If you were looking for Flying Pirate for purchase of Superman shirts, click here

"Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned forever skyward,
for you have been there and there you long to return." -- Leonardo da Vinci

LA's Flying Lessons and Superman Shirt Parade

Please be patient, there are a lot of photos and they will take a moment to load.....



June 28, 1999. One day after Ross Perot's (and mine) birthday. Just before my first real lesson with James. Previously, I had taken a lovely discovery flight with a Scots history professor who also taught flight. A delightful fellow, but his accent was so thick I could hardly understand him. And me lapsing into aaarrgh piratespeak was unavoidable. First thing he wanted to do with me on my first flight in a small plane was turn off the engine so I could see how safe it was ! Almost lost me to GA, right there! I repeat, AARRRGH!



Later that day, after flight, that was amazing, stupendous, phenomenal!.


It was about 100 degrees out on July 6, 1999, when I went for my second lesson. As soon as we got into the air, my stomach did unhappy, rude things and we came right back down. I was embarassed, James was very kind.
Needless to say, there was no picture that day.

Shortly thereafter, the JFK Jr. accident spooked me for a while.  My friends and family were harrassing me sorrowfully about the flying. I almost lost my nerve. Around then, I discovered the AvSig forum
on Compuserve, where all of the members were very supportive and understanding.
They all basically had the same message, get up and do it! Make the time!

"If you don't get in that plane you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and
for the rest of your life."--Rick Blaine, Casablanca

So, on November 11, 1999, having acquired Jimmy Buffett's autograph in and  affixed way too many stickers to the inside and outside of my logbook, I went back for Lesson 3 with Kevin, as James was not available. It was a very
hot day. All my makeup dripped off.
Sorry, Mom.
We did preflight (atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed),
taxi, pattern and normal landing.

         "We have no effective screening methods to make sure pilots are sane." -- Dr. Herbert Haynes, FAA

    November 15, 1999, lesson 4. With Kevin. Conditions: 72 and sunny. Preflight, taxi, takeoff, pattern, normal landings.

"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground, and miss".-- Douglas Adams, 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'

November 17, 1999. Lesson 5.  72 and sunny. Preflight, taxi, takeoff, normal and crosswind landings.






November 22, 1999. Lesson 6. We are here. 72 and sunny outside
The  El Monte PanGalactic Aerodrome and Bake Shop.
Normal landings, pattern entry and departure.

November 26, 1999. Lesson 7.  72 and sunny. Normal landings, pattern, slips.


"What can you conceive more silly and extravagant than to suppose a man racking his brains, and studying night and day how to fly?"-- William Law, 1728

November 29, 1999. Lesson 8.  72 and sunny. Normal landings, pattern, slips.

"Flying might not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price".-- Amelia Earhart

This is Kommander Kevin, my CFI. Still 72 and sunny. Semper Fi, babay!
Do pilots really buy Ray Ban sunglasses, or do they just grow in permanently over their eyes after a couple of years?
And his watch is amazingly...small.

Decmber 2, 1999. Lesson 9. Conditions: 72 and sunny. Communications, normal and crosswind landings.

"What scares me the most about flying is the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride drive through Los Angeles to the airport"
--L.A. Carpenter

December 6, 1999. Lesson 10.  72 and sunny. Normal landings.

"She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot" -- Mark Twain

December 16, 1999. Lesson 11. Conditions: 72 and sunny, but higher up. Normal landings, communications, climbs, climbing turns, descents, descending turns.

"Sometimes I even amaze myself."-- Han Solo, Empire Strikes Back

Kevin. Very serious. Prefers 76 and sunny.

December 20, 1999. Lesson 12. Holiday season, so I broke out the pearls.
Conditions 72 and sunny. Normal landings.

Later that minute. Oil level within established parameters. Let's fly!


OOPS, forgot to take a picture!
December 23, 1999. Lesson 13. Kevin. Normal takeoff and landings, communications, pattern.




December 27, 1999. Lesson 14. With Kevin. Still 72 and sunny. A good hair day.
Normal take off and landing, flight at various airspeeds and configurations.

"It is not necessarily impossible for human beings to fly, but it so
happens that God didn't give them the knowledge of how to do it. It
follows therefore, that anyone who claims he can fly must have sought the
aid of the devil. To attempt to fly is therefore sinful."
--- Roger Bacon



December 30, 1999. Lesson 15. 72 and sunny. With James.
Pilotage to POM, landing, takeoffs, airspeed control via pitch, slow flight demo.

What a great way to end the year! However, within three hours, the Millennium Bug struck and I was down with the flu for ten days, missing scheduled lessons on January  3, 6, 10.

"Flying an aeroplane with only a single propeller to keep you in the air. Can you imagine that?"
— Captain Jean Luc Picard, Starfleet





January 13, 2000. Lesson 16. With James. Got Fuel? Left pattern departure, straight-in arrival, slow steady flight with no flaps, turning climbs, turning descents.........72 and sunny


James, CFI, CFII, MEI, A&P, FE, ABCDEFG...a man of many letters. 

"So, tell me,son, do you like movies with gladiators?" -- Captain Over, Airplane





January 18, 2000. Lesson 17. With Kevin. Crosswind takeoffs and landings.Crosswind techniques.

"We are shaped and fashioned by where we have flown." -Goethe


January 20, 2000. Lesson 18. James wore different Ray Bans.  Takeoffs and landings, pattern work, radio comm.

"Buttons .. check. Dials .. check. Switches .. check. Little colored lights . . check" - Calvin, of 'Cavin and Hobbes.'

January 24, 2000, lesson cancelled.  It...............rained......



January 27, 2000. Lesson 19, James. 10 degree flap takeoffs and regular landings.

"I fly because it frees my mind from the tyranny of petty things" - A. de St. Exupery


January 29, 2000. Lesson  20, Kevin, normal landings.

"While every adventurer may not be a pilot, every pilot is an adventurer" -Unknown



February 1, 2000. Lesson 21, Kevin, normal and crosswind takeoff and landing.



February 3, 2000. Lesson 22, wth Kevin. Originally scheduled with James, but he got a real job flying bank documents, and will only teach on weekends now. Normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings.


February 5, 2000, lesson cancelled. It .....RAINED......again.

February 7 & 10, 2000 cancelled because Kevin was not working all week and couldn't pick up James' schedule....

February 11, 2000 lesson cancelled because Kevin got a real job, flying sightseers over the Grand Canyon in a Twin Otter. Good for him, hope the tourists have fun, but now I have no weekday instructor.

February 13, 2000, lesson with James cancelled due to RAIN!!! What is this weather stuff? This is in direct conflict with Southern California's covenant with the Supreme Aviator!



February 17, 2000. With Bryon. 72 and sunny. Go-rounds, crosswind takeoffs and landings.

And this is Bryon! New weekday instructor. Very young. No sunglasses. Maybe they just haven't grown in yet.

February 19. 2000. With James. Area navigation to Pomona via pilotage; takeoffs and landings at POC.
Do you like my hat?






February 24, 2000. With Bryon. Straight & level with turns; constant airspeed climb with turns.



February 26, 2000. With James. Sunny, 72. Area navigation via pilotage, we went to Long Beach; and left crosswind takeoffs and landings

"The best navigators are not quite sure where they're going until they get there.....
And then they're still not sure."
- Frank Bama



February 28, 2000. With Bryon. Go arounds; crosswind takeoffs and landings.

"A superior pilot uses his superior knowledge to avoid those situations which require the use of his superior skills"
-Frank Borman

Scheduled lessons on March 2, 4, 6, 2000, were rained out, I missed March 9,11, 13 because,
delicate Southern California blossom that I am, rain = sick La..



March 16, 2000. With Bryon. Go rounds, TPA entry and departure, high drag descents.
And, no, high drag does not mean the boy airplane wears lingerie.

"To be a pilot, I have to have absolute faith in the reality of flight, although I can never see, feel, hear watch or otherwise judge with my eyes what lifts me from the ground" -- Anthony "Buck" Rogers



March 23, 2000. With Bryon. Go rounds, turns around a point (lotsa fun, that), slow flight with turns, steep turns, pattern entry and departure. Bryon's sunglasses appear to have grown in.



March 26, 2000. With James. Area navigation to Fullerton. Takeoffs and landings, return to El Monte.

March 27, 2000. Oooh, two days in a row! With Bryon. Runups, taxiing, S-turns, low and high drag descents with turns, emergency in pattern, collision avoidance, slip to landing, aircraft systems,  planning and preparation, powerplants.



April 3, 2000. Bryon. Stalls at various attitude and power. Equipment malfunction emergency procedure. Approach with simulated engine failure. Slip to land. Windshear avoidance.



April 6, 2000. Bryon. Wake tubulance, taxiing. Flight at various airspeeds. Climbs and descents with turns. Equipment malfunction emergency procedures. ATP entry and departure.



April 10, 2000. Bryon. Planning and preparation, flight at various airspeeds, takeoffs and landings.

MORE WEATHER!!! THIS STINKS!!!!

April 21, 2000. Bryon. Takeoffs and landings.



April 22, 2000. James. Pattern work.

April 24, 2000. All Bryon from now on. James will be no more.
Covered all of 61.87 (b) (c) (d)



April 27, 2000. Bryon. Ready to solo? We both think so! Decent hair day, not too hot..eyelashes came out well..
But then the wind came up....

May 1, 2000. Bryon.  Maybe today? I even came in two hours earlier to avoid the bumpy air.
Nope, "my" airplane was in for it's 100 hour and the substitute airplane has REALLY stiff controls.
Too hot, too much exertion for this old self, we came in after half hour up.

May 2, 2000. Night. Dark. Ooooooooh. Aaaaaaah.
"Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?" -- The Joker


May 4, 2000. Today for sure....but the clouds never lifted to pattern altitude.



May 8, 2000. Okay, it'll be today for sure. Great weather, calm winds. Three circuits, three very nice landings.
Bryan was ready to get out and I said "Oh, let's go up one more time and I'll pretend you're not here"
So, of course, Mr. Wind and Ms. Shear arrived most uninvited, time to land for the day.



May 11, 2000. Today, I'm certain ! Winds calm, visibility 15, skies blue, couldn't ask for a better day.
Went out to the ramp to preflight, within nine minutes my hair windsock indicated winds were no longer calm.
NINE MINUTES! Atis reported wind at 12 with 20-25 gusts.
Wrestled the airplane up and decided that it was not the day, by the crosswind turn.
we took a sightseeing tour over downtown and Beverly Hills.
Practiced steep turns and slow flight. Tonight I will make a sacrifice to the weather gods.
Maybe two goats this time.




May 15, 2000. CROSSWIND takeoffs and landings, need I say more?
At 42 hours, I've run out of Superman shirts. ALOHA!




May 18, 2000. MORE CROSSWIND takeoffs and landings.

May 22, 2000. SOLO!!! PIC .5!


43.5 hours, 221 landings. Me, I flew an airplane all by myself!!

I found one last, unworn Superman shirt.
Went in at 9am to avoid the nasty crosswinds that have been plaguing me
during my noon lessons. Today the wind was  at 8  straight down my runway.
Thank you, wind gods. I am not a morning person and had to wake at 7:30 to
make it on time. I recognize one 7:30 per day and that's not the one. Not
enough coffee and looking a lot less...put together...than one should be
when venturing public.

I knew today would be the day.

Linda, the owner of my flight school gave me a small gold box which contained a
necklace made of colorful little metal airplanes  that had been given to her on the
day of her first solo. She said I looked like hell, so she knew
today would be the day.

Bryon and I did three beautiful laps around the pattern. No wind, no
turbulence, no traffic. He said he knew today would be the day.(He also
commented on the really bad hair.)

We pulled over to the runup area, shut down and he got out. I locked the
door behind him, and just about stopped breathing! Calmed myself by
recalling that I could do this easily.

I went through the checklist, taxied to the hold short and told the tower
"Cessna 54678 holding short of runway one niner for right closed traffic
and my instructor has left the building. Skybound alone for the first time.
Please be gentle with me".

They were wonderful.

A pretty routine, clean takeoff until, looking to the right on crosswind, I
noticed Bryon was not in the plane. I don't think I've ever been so scared
as at that moment. But it was an excellent thrilled scared, because I knew
it was all right, reminding myself that I knew how to do this. Had a little
trouble speaking and breathing at the same time, but I was flying the
airplane by myself, and nicely. How cool is that!!! Everything fell into
place perfectly for the landing, feet kissing the numbers so gently I
almost didn't realize I was down.  Tower as well as several other voices
(airborne, I assume) called congratulations and compliments.

Taxied back and did two more circuits, sang "Strange Bird" to myself during
one, both with stunningly flawless landings, thank you. (The thicker pillow
really helps in the flare.) I picked up Bryon and we went home and secured
the airplane. By this time my face was hurting from smiling so much.

I levitated from the ramp to the FBO, where my grin preceded me and a great
cheer went up from the crowd. Long shears appeared from nowhere and the
back of my shirt was cut off, providing welcome airflow to my soppy self.

I haven't been able to stop doing the touchdown dance and yelling "woo-woo"
since.

Hee Hee Hee.


Created from the back of my shirt by the delightful and talented Shana Frank!

Flying alone! Nothing gives such a sense of mastery over time over mechanism, mastery indeed over space, time, and life itself, as this.    - Cecil Day Lewis

More to come, pictures are always in the camera!

Check back often for updates on my continuing aviating 

adventures and deeds of derring-do!