The Pilot

I think I'll make this the last of my what-I-did-before-law-school series. There was the jewelry post, the scooter post, and now I'll write the pilot post. I'll skip the fishing post. *yawn*

As I said elsewhere I had a few months before school to indulge my hobbies so I decided to get my pilot license. There were four of us, about the same age and all of us just "had to get our license" within like a month or two. So we hooked up with this crazy eighteen year old aviation genius who was on his way to earning his jet rating. Crazy guy because, though he was bright and gifted, he was still, well, a crazy eighteen year old! It's to him, for example, that I owe one of my Vegas stories. He also had a penchant for accelerating 40 year old Cessna airframes down the runway under ground effect and yanking up on the yoke a couple hundred feet from the end. It brought back memories of my materials course and aluminum samples stretched to snapping in the tensile strength testing machine.

But I was talking about me. I had a friend who introduced me to the Aero Association of Caltech/JPL and I joined up. They had cheap rates, but you had to put up with controlling engineer types. When I wasn't flying I was hanging out at El Monte (EMT) airport, flying backseat, visiting folks in the hangers, listening to the radio, hanging out in the pilot's lounge and just being an airport bum. I eventually got my solo endorsement, starting flying myself around and all was right with the world. But then I scheduled my check ride with the FAA examiner a week before classes started. I got socked in by morning overcast and I had to drop everything and fly back east for school.

I was this close, but I never got my license. I definitely will, though, it's just a matter of putting in some more hours. I figure I was going to fly them anyway.

But here's my ultimate goal: I am going to build me a flying machine! The picture shows an F-1 and I'm pretty sure that's the one I'll build. It's a souped up variation of the RV-4, a popular mainstay in the homebuilt scene for decades. This F-1, however, is modified to accommodate the six cylinder Lycoming (the RV-4 uses the 4 cylinder Lycoming). As such it has a huge front end that gives it the sexy look to go along with the performance numbers. How does 230 mph cruise and 3500 fpm climb grab you? (and about 12 gallons per hour. ouch.)