My dad was torn when he moved to Florida about whether to get a plane or a
boat with his retirement $$$.  He got a boat and built a house in Punta
Gorda on the Intercoastal (boat goes right in the back end of the garage).
He's only two miles from the Charlotte county airport, though, and he
belongs to the local flying club.  He mostly flies to scout out places to go
fishing.  He also participates in the "young eagles" program where pilots
take middle-school aged kids for plane rides.  He's a kid himself, so he
takes great pleasure in taking the kids up and then "buzzing" their houses
while Mom and Dad look on.  He tried it with "special needs" kids (autism,
etc.), but he said that the noise and unexpected motion was too much for
many of them--even with Mom or Dad along.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bobby Greer [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 10:10 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: I finally got to that 150


I don't know what prop jocks call it, but it is damned rough flying, even
in jets sometimes on beautiful sunny days. You are right about Florida. I
saw a TV
show about some small town down there built around an airport and all the
streets were taxi-ways.

Bobby


>Yeah, it was meant for my brother who is interested in a plane he saw
>advertised in Ohio.  At least it wasn't REAL personal.  As far as the 150
in
>Texas, you probably had to deal with density altitude and a lot of
thermals.
>Don't have to worry too much here.  Biggest problem in Ohio is clouds.  My
>dad can fly in sunny FLA almost every day!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Bobby Greer [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 10:02 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: I finally got to that 150
>
>
>Hey Kyle,
>
>        I think you meant this for someonelse? I was up in a 150 once over
>the
>Balcones Fault in Texas. Rough as hell. Also, near Bergstrom AFB, I had to
>watch out for B-52's, since if you get caught behind one you were dead
meat!
>
>Bobby
>
>
>>Tony,
>>
>>I finally got around to flying that Cessna you were interested in, so I
>>obviously passed my medical.  Flight doc tagged me on "no night flight"
>>because of the monocular vision.  I knew it would be a matter of time,
>>anyway, but it's weird having an IFR ticket that you can only use during
>the
>>day. ;>).  Not that I fly much anymore, anyway.  Since Laura quit teaching
>I
>>can't justify spending the $$$$.  I get enough hours in to keep current,
>but
>>that's about it.  I'm going to check into one of those PC-based simulators
>>that you can use to log time for certification.  I guess you just fly and
>>then download the data to a zip drive--it has all the parameters just like
>>the black box FDRs on the commercial aircraft.
>>
>>About that 150...I dunno, man, it doesn't seem like much plane for the
>>price.  It's been 200 hrs SMOH on that little Continental.  Cranked fine,
>>stayed up at 2200 rpm on both mags during runup.  Oil seemed a bit gummy,
>>but no major leaks.  Found a mouse's nest in one of the cabin heater
>>vents--only after I ran cabin heat for a while...fortunately before
>takeoff!
>>The smell of the dead beasties cooking would have been enough to make me
>>squawk 7700 and put the sucker down on the freeway.  Got that taken care
>of,
>>but you'd have to get a detail shop to run an ozone generator in the cabin
>>for a bit.
>>
>>Dad's caught a red-eye up from Florida beucause he wanted to fly it with
me
>>(think he really just wanted to see the grandkids).  Said,  "Why don't we
>>buzz your house, since Laura's home?  You know, just like 'Flying
>>Leathernecks'!"  Criminy!  What a jarhead, eh?  The old man's been out of
>>the Corps since '69, but he still does the Marine Routine. Ha!  Anyway, he
>>did some stalls and MCA stuff and said it felt "mushy" for a 150.  I
>thought
>>so too.  Crank in 20 degrees flaps, cut the go juice and most of those old
>>Cessnas will just hang there.  This one wanted to roll off on the left
wing
>>pretty badly.  I tried one at 5000' AGL with no flaps and just about put
it
>>in a flat spin.  Dad's yelling at me the whole time, "Where'd you learn to
>>fly? where'd you learn to fly?"  Once I recovered and I got my heart rate
>>down below 200, I wanted to say, "You, Dad.  You taught me, remember?"
I'm
>>glad I kept my mouth shut, because I'm pretty sure he knew he hurt my
>>feelings.  He kept complimenting my crappy flying the rest of the
>afternoon.
>>:>)  It's a good thing private aircraft don't have cockpit voice
recorders,
>>because if I'd stuck that plane in the ground they'd have heard a lot of
>>references to God and Jesus, that's for sure!  ;>)  Dad was laughing at me
>>later because he said I'd plead with God for a while, then I'd cuss Him.
I
>>don't know why Dad didn't  pull me out of that--guess he just wanted to
see
>>if I'd mess my pants!  ;>).  Thought I'd made him mad because he didn't
say
>>anything for a long time, then he said, "This dog won't hunt.  There's
>>something goofy about this plane."  I think you'll be okay as long as you
>>keep your airspeed up.  Just pray that little Connie doesn't quit on you
>>when you're rotating, because you WILL fall off on that left wing right
>now.
>>
>>The paint's done up in standard OSU scarlet & gray  (will they let you
land
>>this thing in Ann Arbor?..ha!).  Paint's in good shape, tires are
thin-ish,
>>the windows are scratched up pretty bad, so they'll need to be polished
>out.
>>It has the same Bendix radio stack that Dad's old Skywagon had--one comm,
>>one nav, and a transponder.  They're not much newer than the plane, so I'd
>>have them checked out.  Everything seemed to work ok, though.
>>
>>Tony, I would not even consider this aircraft for IFR certification.  For
>>one thing, you'd have as much wrapped up in decent avionics as you would
in
>>the plane itself.  For another, it just feels funny.  I think it would be
>>fine for daytime VFR, but I would not want to shoot an ILS approach in
that
>>plane in IMC or even marginal VFR weather.  You'll have to judge for
>>yourself, but Dad and I came to a consensus that it just wouldn't be worth
>>it.  I would consider a good GPS, though.  Dad brought his Garmin from his
>>boat and he'd plugged all the data in beforehand for all his favorite
grass
>>strips around Columbus (like Jim Wilson's, et al).  Anyway, instead of
>doing
>>touch and goes at the same airport, we'd just fly from strip to strip
>>without stopping the plane.  It would be great for you if you're planning
>to
>>do much flying in the UP.
>>
>>Dad caught another red-eye out for Tampa last night, so we tied down at
CMH
>>instead of OSU.  I'll get somebody from work today to take me over to Port
>>Columbus after work and then I'll fly it back over to Don Scott and have
>>Laura pick me up there.
>>
>>Anyway, we flew out of OSU around noon, flew to MRT so Grandpa could buzz
>>the house and wave the wings at "those grandbabies", headed for Jim's and
>>then did some cross-countries so Dad could check the NDB and NAV against
>his
>>GPS.  Had dinner in Marion.  About that time, I started getting antsy to
>get
>>back to CMH.  I told Dad, "Listen, I lost my medical for night flying and
I
>>don't want to lose my whole ticket."  He said, "Well, from now on I'll
just
>>be pilot-in-command" (which is what I think he wanted anyway, but was too
>>gracious to say).  He also said that we needed to be out after dark
because
>>there was something he wanted to show me.  So we started to toward
Columbus
>>around 1930, cruising at 3500' MSL and the whole eastern sky lit up with
>the
>>Leonid showers.  Man, it was incredible!  It reminded me of the CNN video
>>the night we bombed Baghdad in '91, except that the lights were headed
down
>>instead of up.  Tonight is supposed to be even better--up to 6000/min
>>between 2100 and 0000.  Dad said it reminded him of a firefight they had
>>north of Hue.  That was weird because you know he never talks about that
>>stuff.
>>
>>So we get to Columbus approach, and even though Dad is technically PIC,
I'm
>>left seat and he's trying to see how many NBD/VORs he can pick up on his
>>handheld.  I tell Dad that I am really not comfortable landing this thing
>at
>>night, in traffic, so he takes the yoke and asks me to get clearance.
What
>>happened next was classic!  Went something like this:
>>
>>Me:  "Approach, this is Cessna 150 November-two-three-eight-three-echo,
>>requesting clearance.  I have ATIS zebra"
>>
>>Approach:  "83 echo, squawk 283"
>>Approach:  "Cessna 83 echo, you're third in the box.  I'll put you in
>behind
>>Southwest 330 for runway 28 left.  He's that 737 on your 2 o'clock.
>>
>>Me:  "Ah...roger, approach.  I have a visual."
>>
>>(Dad's ears perk up at the mention of the '37.  He looks over at me and
>sees
>>the sweat on my forehead and asks, "Did he say he was going to put you
>>behind that SWA bird?  Hell, you can't put a 150 this close in behind an
>>aircraft that big!")
>>
>>Approach:  "83 echo, can you pick up the airspeed a bit?  I've got a Lear
>45
>>on your 6 that needs 140 knots."
>>
>>Dad to me: (unrepeatable)
>>
>>Dad to Approach:  "Approach, 83 echo.  Request terminate clearance or
clear
>>for 28 right.  This is a 150, I couldn't get 140 knots with a 60 knot
>>tailwind!"
>>
>>Approach:  "83 echo.  Say again and squawk ident.  This is not the same
>>individual I was speaking with prior.  You were not cleared to land."
>>
>>Dad: "Approach, 83 echo.  This is pilot-in-command.  You were speaking
with
>>my right seat.  If we follow that southwest 37 I'm pretty sure I'm going
to
>>have problems with wake turbulence.  If I don't get out of this pattern
>>right now I'm going to have a learjet enema."
>>
>>Approach: "83 echo...ah...ok...turn right, heading 120, climb 3000.  We'll
>>see about getting you in the pattern for 28 right."
>>
>>We landed on 28R and I fully expected the taxiway people to ask us to
>report
>>to Flight Services, but nobody said boo.  I asked Dad about it later and
he
>>said he always reserves the right to opt out of the assignment.  I guess
>>it's just my "controller as god" mentality.  He said that if a controller
>>puts you in a tough spot and you stick it, it's YOUR arse in the casket,
>not
>>his.  That's why I don't fly class B airspace.  To damn much heavy metal
in
>>the air for me!  ;>)
>>
>>Anyway, I'd be happy to go over and show you the plane if you want to come
>>down (after the Michigan/OSU game ;>)  ).  If I were you, though, I'd pass
>>on this one and just rent until spring.
>>
>>BTW--Dad and I went pheasant hunting Saturday at the WMA.  I got lost in a
>>sorghum field (of course).  I tell you what, I'm getting gimpier by the
>day.
>>I could only hunt about a half an hour before the pain got too bad and I
>had
>>to stop.  I felt bad because Dad had so been looking forward to us getting
>>out (just like old times, he said).  He was so incredibly gracious.  I
>>noticed that he kept glancing at me limping and he said, "Those
grandbabies
>>wore my ass out.  How's about we just pack it in?"  Now I knew this was a
>>crock because he'd just done one of those geezer marathons two weeks ago
>and
>>Mom was bragging about how well he'd done.  Guess he just wanted to help
me
>>save face.  How I hate this wretched old body  ;>).
>>
>>The tears really flowed when he left Laura and the kids, and then again
>when
>>I left him at the gate.  I know he loves Florida, but I still get so damn
>>mad at him sometimes for moving away.
>>
>>Well, let me know what you want to do about that airplane.  See if you can
>>get your club plane in the next couple weeks and fly down.
>>
>>Are you going to Florida for Christmas?  We'd like to, but I can't scrape
>>the jack together for plane fare for everyone--and I'm sure not gonna
drive
>>24 hours down I-75 with every other goober east of the Mississippi.
>>
>>Take care.  Give Cheryl and the girls a big kiss and a hug for me.
>>
>>I love you and I miss you (even if Mom does like you better).
>>
>>-Kyle