10-18-2007, 06:53 PM
Quote:One Dad's story of why he owns his own plane. If you have kids or ever saw Star
Wars, you'll enjoy this.
I have read many posts on the web site from members and on MMAIL who are
thinking about owning their own aircraft and looking for ways to offset the
cost of ownership. I have heard many reasons for and against ownership. Why buy
an aircraft? It's cheaper to rent and you do not have all the hassle with
maintenance, fuel and insurance. Well, here is a little story that I think
explains it all as to why I own my own airplane.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning. No winds and the temperature was just
right. So instead of mowing the lawn like my wife had planned for me, I decided
to go to the airport and take the Sport out for a run. She yells back at
me, "WELL IF YOU GO, TAKE YOUR SON WITH YOU." So I ask my son. Want to go
flying with dad? In which he says Yea, Can I take my light saber?
You see, my 9 year son thinks he is a Jedi Knight and that our Sport is his
personal X-Wing fighter. He is only 4'5" and has to sit on a pillow in order to
see over the glare shield and he always carries his light saber just in case we
land on a strange planet in which there might be trouble or civil un-rest.
Always prepared this one is. So away we go.
We were straight and level at around 6,000ft and I let him take the controls of
the X-Wing to do some turns to the left and right. Joshua Approach called and
said there was traffic at our 2 o’clock 2 miles opposite direction and my son
said to me "Look over there dad, Tie fighter coming right at us". I told him to
steer clear of the Tie Fighter because our lasers were out for repair and we
were un-armed. No reason to provoke a fight.
So even though he is having a blast, I am starting to get a little bored and
thought, "Let's go do a practice approach on the ILS". So I called Joshua
Approach, requested the ILS 25 Approach to Palmdale Full Approach and off we
went. I maneuvered the X-Wing to the VOR and started the turn outbound to the
outer marker. Now my son is just really enjoying this. At the outer marker, the
blue light started to flash and you could hear the BEEP in the headset. My Son
jumps in and said "That Tie Fighter has locked on to us" I said "That's Right"
and I started my evasive maneuver on the procedure turn.
My Son is listening to the exchange between me and the controller and wants to
chime in on the conversion. I said to my son, "Just hang on; I will give you a
chance". I never should have said that because now he is all excited to talk on
the radio. As I start to turn inbound on the turn, the Approach control
said "Contact tower when established on the localizer". So I told my young
Padawan Learner "OK, when this needle gets here on the dial, push the radio
button and tell the tower that 93 Romeo is inbound on the localizer".
Now imagine this, I am giving basic instrument instruction to a 9 year old, I
cannot get adults to say this during training. So before I can give him
something simpler to say he keys the mike and says "REBEL BASE, THIS IS RED 5.
WE ARE STARTING OUR ATTACK RUN ON THE DEATH STAR".
Good God.
Now this post 9/11 and before I can key my mike and say anything, the tower
jumps on and says "RED 5, YOUR CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH TO THE DEATH STAR.
REPORT HITS AWAY"
Now I am waiting for the tower to add "And tell your dad to call this number"
But I hear nothing else. So we continue the approach. Now my son is in heaven.
This is real life stuff to him and he is doing everything I tell him to do as
far as tracking the needle. As we approach the outer marker inbound, the light
starts to flash and there is that tone again. "Dad, the Death Star has a lock
on us". Yes Son, you keep on the approach, I will worry about the guns.
Everything is going great and now we are approaching the middle marker. My son
has noticed the GPS has a red line with an airplane on it and it ends at the
Death Star. So he asks me "IS THAT A TARGETING COMPUTER DAD?" Well of course it
is, and it shows us where we are to the target. So now he hears Obewan tell him
to USE THE FORCE SCOTT and he turns the GPS OFF. Tells me he is OK and does not
need the targeting computer because he is using the FORCE.
Now the middle marker light flashes and the tone comes on. I apply full power
and the airplane,,,X-Wing,,, Starts a climb. I start the turn to the missed
approach path when my son keys the mike and says "HITS AWAY". The tower answers
back with "GOOD JOB RED 5, CONTACT REBEL APPROACH ON 126.1"
We go back to Mojave SPACEPORT, and I decide that the X-Wing needs a bath. So
out comes all the cleaning stuff and we spend the rest of the day washing and
waxing the turbo jets and laser pods.
So you see. This is why I own my own aircraft. You cannot beat this kind of
quality time with your kids. And there is no way you can put a price on that.
Jeff Bryant
Southwest Regional Director
Beech Aero Club
1975 X-Wing Fighter Model B-19
N6993R
Rebel parts... Imperial parts... All Made on Tatooine!!!
