A life-long Desire to become a Pilot is back on the table in 2018
If you saw my post about the 50th anniversary of Meridian Elementary School, you met my Principal, Teacher and Mentor, A.J. Hyatt Jr.
In 1968 Mr. Hyatt was a 32 year old Elementary School Principal with a passion for aviation.
He was a private pilot and flight instructor. He owned a Piper J3 Cub airplane and would occasionally fly to school and land on the football field.
My father was a Private Pilot and I had had an interest in flying ever since I was old enough to talk about it with him. Mr. Hyatt recognized that interest in two of his students, myself and Johnny Jackson. I purchased my log book and Mr. Hyatt took me for my first ride in his Piper Cub. Over the next couple of years, I took some lessons from Mr. Hyatt in a Cessna 150 that we rented from John Leal, the Principal at nearby Winship Elementary School, also a pilot.
At that time my aspirations were to become a pilot and or an airplane mechanic.
I started high school in 1969. My trajectory of becoming a pilot got derailed by football, girls and working. Between football and working after school for my Dad, my focus changed to owning and operation heavy equipment and maybe becoming a heavy equipment mechanic.
In the mid-1970's, I went to work for Silverado Construction in Yuba City, CA as an equipment operator. The owners of the company had an airplane and had hired a pilot who also worked on our crew when he was not flying. His name was Earl Field. Earl was a commercial multi-engine pilot as well as an instructor. We would rent planes on the weekends and travel to local destinations to impress our girlfriends. While doing so, I was logging instruction hours with Earl. I got married in 1978 and we rented a plane to travel to and from our wedding in Sacramento and on to our honeymoon destination.
Two kids followed my marriage and learning to fly was completely off the table for the next 30 odd years.
I often kid that I was the poster boy for adult ADD. My brain often just goes off and does it's own thing for hours at a time. I remember times where I would drive hours to a job and not remember anything from the drive. I was smart enough to know that I could not do that in an airplane. When I did think about getting back into flying, I was met with the realization that I had a problem with focus. My wayward brain did give me some advantages in business, and I did pretty well financially for many years. I always knew I could not concentrate on one thing long enough to be a safe pilot. This husband and dad needed to keep his feet firmly on the ground!
Over time, my business became less demanding and through practice, I was more able to focus on the task at hand. But, I began to experience the symptoms of Cardiac Artery Disease in about 2006. I had a minor heart attack and had surgery to install a stint in one of my arteries. Any thought of resuming my flying lessons died here because I was convinced I could not get a medical.
Over the next years, I was diagnosed with a "stable pattern of angina". That means chest pain and ultimately some major fireworks in my heart when the angina becomes "unstable". Absolutely not going to get a medical with that problem. The angina became "unstable" in October of 2017 and I had a 4-way coronary artery bypass. The angina is completely gone and I have felt very good since the surgery.
In May of 2018, while attending the 50th Anniversary of Meridian School, I found myself in the presence of the man that started all the thinking of flying 50 years ago. Mr. Hyatt and I have talked several times and I have come to the conclusion that I may be able to get a class 3 medical certificate now. I have contacted an Aerospace Doctor in Yuba City, Dr. Harry Wander and had a preliminary discussion about a medical certificate. I have supplied him with information about my surgery and my condition. My expectation is that he will contact me and let me know if it is even possible to take a flight physical examination and get a medical certificate.
In the mean time, I am being very optimistic and beginning my flight training again. I have bought a new log book and completed my first hour lesson in a Cessna 172 G with Mr. Hyatt and have more scheduled.
At least for right now, I am again living the life-long dream of becoming a pilot.
Clear Prop!
More to Come!