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Spook, I think the neatest thing about Lee is that he took you for a ride in his plane. His willingness to share his joy of flying is encouraging to all of us. Hopefully the Young Eagles program will continue this trend. Thanks for sharing the flight and you observations with us. I, for one, am a bit envious of your flight :-) Ken Doyle Springfield, Mo Alon N5477E ----- Original Message ----- From: Georgia Trehey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 11:01 PM Subject: [COUPERS] WARNING:OFF TOPIC- Lee & his T-6 > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > Hello again, > > About 1 week ago, I wrote about my ride in a beautiful T-6. I want to > make some additional comments regarding the plane's owner, Lee. > > Lee is a retired WWII Navy pilot who lives in Fortuna, a town about 20 > miles south of Eureka, CA. Rohnerville > > http://www.edelmans.com/album/flying_photos/march_2000/rhonerville_runway. ht ml > > is the small airport where his plane is hangered. > > Lee doesn't talk much when he's in the air or at least not to me. About > the only thing he said to me was, "Now don't be looking at the > instruments. Look at the horizon." It's fine with me that he wasn't > chatty. I like the idea of being silent, of being one with the plane and > the sky. > > However, Lee had plenty to say when he was on the ground. He has strongly > held beliefs about planes and how people should learn to fly. I do not > have the experience or the knowledge to agree or disagree with him. > Besides, I am as interested in learning from him and hearing his flying > tales as I am in riding in his plane. > > I pass some of his thoughts along to you: > > -Student pilots should be taught on tail draggers. > > -Tricycle gear planes are easy to fly. One doesn't really know how to fly > until s/he can fly a tail dragger. > > -Ercoupes bore him. There's nothing much to do. (Don't be offended > folks. Consider what he's been through and done in his life.) > > -He calls Cessnas powered gliders. > > -All students should have to do stall AND SPIN practice. > > -Because the landing gear are so close together, the T-6 is, using Lee's > word, "squirrelly" on the ground. > > I think Lee has a reputation among the local pilots as being somewhat of a > maverick. Andres, my CFI takes issue with certain flying practices of > Lee's. Andres wouldn't come right out and say it, but I think he was a > little concerned about me riding with Lee. Andres is an excellent > instructor and he practices and teaches us safety, logic, precision, > consistancy, discipline, organization, etc. I can understand why a pilot > who's a bit, well, unruly, would make him nervous. On the other hand, Lee > is 83, has been flying for 50-60 years and is still doing it. I don't > think I need to state the obvious. > > From what I can tell from looking at Lee and talking to him, he is in > excellent health- trim, fit, and strong. And if it's true that mental > functions decline with age, Lee must have been some kind of an Einstein > when he was younger. > > Two things Lee said made a particularly strong impression on me. I asked > him to tell me his favorite plane of all the ones he flew. He said that > he has flown 27 different planes and he loved them all. They all had their > good and bad points. > > I wish I had written an exact quote but I didn't so I'll have to > paraphrase. Lee said that he had fallen in love with airplanes when he > was six years old. All he really ever wanted to do was fly and he feels > the same way today. Any activity that can capture and hold a person's > love and interest for 77 years has to have a lot going for it. > > But then, we all know that, don't we? :-) > > > Spook > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ___________________________________________________________ > T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 > Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics > __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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