Flying Thank You Tour!!
Hi all,
Well, you may or may not know that I passed
my pilot checkride 
(Sport Pilot Practical Test) and I am
thrilled, stunned and just a little bit at a loss for words on how to express
my feelings, so I typed them all out :-> This was a journey that started 10
years ago, in 2004, when Steve Johnson and I went to Alaska for a summer
vacation and while there, we did a flight-seeing tour around Denali in a 1961
de Havilland Otter. That trip was cool, not just because of the tour itself
which was awe inspiring, but I remember the pilot banking the wing over to
allow us to look a mile down from the top of Denali to the glacier below. I had
my nose pressed to the window in amazement at the scenery and that I could see
this from the plane while not falling out or crashing! Later that trip, on our
last excursion, we ended in Seward, where I truly fell in love with Alaska. We
decided to take one more flight-seeing tour, in this case over the large Kenai
Fjords and ice field. This trip flew out of the Seward airport and did a large
loop by first going out over Seward bay where there was a cruise ship in the
harbor, then over and across the Kenai fjords, over the ice cap, then back down
through the valley past salmon choked rivers, grizzly bears playing in hammocks
of ferns and then past Exit Glacier, Marathon Mountain and back to Seward. All in a comfortable 4-seat Cessna 172 (see video here).
During this trip I was so enamored with the
Kenai Fjords and how easy it was to see this from our small perch,
it occurred to me that perhaps I could do this. Perhaps I could fly. I mean,
why not? So, after we landed, I asked the pilot how he got the airplane there
and how did he become a pilot and so on. During the conversation he mentioned
he was a part time flight instructor and I asked where and he said Westminster,
Colorado. 20 minutes from my house!! Turns out though he was not going to be
instructing soon as he was still flying in Alaska but I resolved right then and
there that I would go to the Jefferson County Airport (called Jeffco then and now called Rocky Mountain Regional) and
start flying lessons! <Eureaka!
I found the pilot who inspired me, Jim Craig! Here is his website with the Seward/Kenai
Flight-Seeing Tours (http://www.sewardair.com/Home_Page.html)>
So when I got back to Colorado, I did my
Alta Vista search on the Internet (there was no Google then), and found a few
listings. I ended up picking Journey's Aviation where eventually I was paired up with my
first flight instructor, Lucas Bostyan and a Diamond
C-21 Eclipse (Katana) for an Introductory Flight. From there, as they say, the
rest is history. A long, long, 10 year history! I put about 100 hours on the
Katana, getting close to the Private Pilot Practical Test (checkride)
and even getting an article published in AOPA about my solo experience but for whatever reasons, work, family,
money, life, etc., I did not go through and finish and get my certificate.
However I still wanted to fly but felt like I needed to save money and do this
at a more leisurely pace. So while opining on my state I ran across, a now
Google search, of a type of plane set called Ultralights. Without going into
too much detail, there are a number of different types of ultralights from
small, single-seat airplanes you can fly without a license, to gliders,
parasails, para-motors, trikes and small two-seater airplanes that can be
either home-built or kit built.
This seemed like an inexpensive and simpler
option to propel my desire to fly but not worry about having to get the Private
Certificate right away. Again, after more research, I found the website of
Steven Moore (www.mooreairtime.com)
who instructed in something called a Weight-Shift Control Aircraft or better
known as a "Trike". Essentially a hang glider with either a single or
dual seat carriage attached below with a small engine and propeller pushing the
aircraft. After doing another Introduction Discovery Flight
with Steve, I was hooked! What a blast! Trikes are just really fun. You can see
over 20 different videos I have of flying in trikes by doing a YouTube search
for "wsnod1000". Although there are trikes that allow you
to fly without a license (Part 103), most trikes are a bit bigger and required
a new kind of license called a Sport Pilot. This is essentially the same type
of license as a Private but with greater restrictions for safety such as you
can only carry one passenger, can't fly at night, etc. Mostly this is low and
slow daytime flying that people do for fun rather than for business or long,
extended trips. And, a key for me is that you do not need, the typically
onerous medical certificate, just your driver's license. And for me, I have
Sleep Apnea, (now controlled with a BiPaP machine),
and the ability to get the required 3rd Class Medical is a very extensive,
albeit doable, requirement to demonstrate that my Sleep Apnea was under
control. Again, without going into greater detail, suffice to say that the
requirement was more than I thought I could manage, but with the Sport Pilot
Certificate I do not require the medical. So, there was my solution to keep
flying.
I began practicing with Steve and again got
close to the Sport Pilot Practical Test but again, reasons that are pointless
to name, it is just what I did and did NOT to do, I
did not finish getting my certificate. I had in the meantime bought two trikes on two different occasions and enjoyed immensely the
flying I did practicing including crashing one of the trikes slightly (tore the
wing and bent the wheel, but that's another story). However at this time I was
beginning to miss flying a "regular" 3-axis airplane and sold my last
trike and bought, from the hangar directly across from me, this beautiful small
single-seat airplane called a Capella, sold by Chuck Hess (Capella Sing-Sport).
Now unfortunately I could not fly her as I had to have the Sport Pilot
certificate to fly it since there would not be an instructor to ride with me
since it is a single seater. So again, one more
search on the Internet and after talking briefly with Chris Dillis
from Sky Raider's (now Aspen Flying) about flying one of their Light Sport
Aircraft, it turns out they had something comparable, called a Remos GX.
The Remos GX is bigger than my plane but is
essentially a two-seat airplane with a little bit bigger engine. I started
flying out at Erie Tri-County Airport with Dennis Moss but I had now created a
new future with my beautiful, blushing bride, Laura Snodgrass, and was now
moved up to Fort Collins. Unfortunately my Capella was located at Front Range
Airport (near Denver International Airport (DIA)) but I wanted to continue to
practice and Fort Collins/Loveland was the closest airport. So I started
instruction at Jack Taylor's The Flying School with Will Alsum
and also started renting a hangar with Dave Biesemeier. Now again, the planet
keeps turning and the universe keeps moving so time marched on while Will got a
job and moved on as instructor. I switched jobs to work more in Houston with my
company, traveling to Houston about every other week for a year and I also was
the proud renter of two hangars! You can see the critical mass occurring. :)
By now I had a new instructor, Art Hoag,
not only a fantastic instructor, to rival and perhaps best my first instructors
teachings (sorry Lucas!) but also a really very nice, young man and wonderful
human being who I call my friend. Art's patience, but insistence on getting me
finished, helped win the day by outlining a very clear, concise plan of what I
needed to do...and that is what I did. Now I should point out that at the same
time, I also see for myself that I became crystal clear on what I wanted to do
with this license. I can't really say for sure how all of the events occurred
and lined up and whether I truly manifested them or they were happy
happenstance but Laura and I have a small bit of land down in the San Luis Valley near Alamosa, CO and I did a
small book project there called Reading Is a Gift. Since then, I have had a desire to see
what else I could do to give back to that area. Along with this I have also
talked to Steve about the project I would like to do using trikes as a means to
excite young children and teens about aviation. Not only are trikes cool but
they are also much more affordable and portable. By showcasing and
demonstrating trikes at middle and high schools, this would be a way to
encourage young kids to fly. Soooooo, how about becoming a Sport Pilot Certified Flight Instructor
(CFI) for trikes (weight-shift control) and airplanes in the San Luis Valley
while also seeing how I can bring more aviation into the Southern Colorado
schools. I mean, why not?
And now I have finally passed my Sport
Pilot checkride (Thank You Jack Taylor!) and am a
certificated Sport Pilot. I can legally (and safely I might add) carry one
passenger for flight during the day. Want to come? :-) My next goals are to get
my certificate to fly trikes, endorsements to extend the range of my Sport
Pilot Certificate, a Repairman's Certificate so I can perform my own work on my
Capella and my Private Pilot License. Seems the FAA is finally looking into the
issues of the 3rd Class Medical for Private Pilots and most people believe
there will be a new ruling fairly shortly that would allow me to again, only
fly with a driver's license but with all of the privileges of a Private
Certificate (more than two passengers, night flight, etc.). And after that, my
CFI Certificate so that I can instruct. I am so excited and happy to see this
all so clearly. I wouldn't necessarily recommend getting these licenses over a
10 year period like I did but it was also a hell of a lot of fun!
Below are all of the people I would like to
thank for helping me get this certificate but I first of all want to say thank
you, Thank You to my beautiful wife for supporting me and encouraging me in
this everlasting endeavor! And although I may gush about it a bit, Art Hoag
really is a fine instructor. He will no doubt eventually be offered a job
flying for the major airlines and I will be a little sad to see him depart but
it is a testament to Jack Taylor's school that he has such fine instructors,
and I of course wish him the best. This guy is really just such a great, great
person. I'm just really glad I got to know him. Check out his rocketry page
here (http://ncrocketry.org/).
Mind blowing for me!
I also want to thank Steve Moore for his
great instruction in trikes. We have had so much fun together and also another
good friend. I'll be seeing more of him soon!
And of course I cannot forget my first flight
instructor (and true love, :->), Lucas Bostyan for
starting me on this path. Although I did not get to finish up with Lucas, his
instruction from the very beginning set a tone for my own flying that has
always impressed any instructors I have had work with me. He has also moved
onto the Majors and flies for Frontier. I owe you one more ride buddy.
Finally below are other folks, instructors
and encouragers who helped me along the way. Each of you gave me something that
has made me a better flyer! Here's to another 10 years of flying!
Jim Craig (the unknown pilot who inspired
me to fly!!; Thank you Jim!)
John Emery
Tracy (The Hammer) Spencer
Jason Buresh
Jack Taylor
Erica Ross
Will Alsum
Mike Briaglio
Ronda Davenport
Dennis Moss
Chris Dillis
Chuck Hess
James Johnson
Rhett Dooley
Tracy Tomlinson
Mark Treidel
Alan Fernandez
Todd Bernatsky
Steve Johnson
Carla Flores
Austin Snodgrass
Charles Snodgrass
Richard Patterson
© William F.
Snodgrass 2014