akep*@*ems.com
, Portland
, Oregon
, United States
Posted on
2020-02-13 19:31:52
“I don’t have an interesting story, so here is my grandfathers:
My grandfather was a USMC radio operator on a carrier during the Vietnam War. A shortage of pilots on his carrier lead to his friends letting him take the stick on occasion, and eventually he worked his way onto mission rosters as a pilot. Everyone looked the other way until he earned a combat medal and the general pinning it on him asked why he wasn’t wearing his wings. “Sir, I never earned them, sir!” He left the carrier with the general, escorted by some MPs and came back with shiny new wings on his shirt just 3 weeks later. (Think about this: his FIRST time taking off AND landing ANY airplane was in an F4 on a moving aircraft carrier!). He went on to become a flight instructor for the F14s, and retired from the military to work for McDonald Douglas (responsible for the MD11 training program).
Political ramblings:
I recently completed my first solo flight in Cessna 152, I am an avid paramotor pilot and the idea of having my scratch built foamboard airplane comply with MORE restrictive regulation than either of those two aircraft is absolutely outrageous. It truly defies logic. If I, a 300lb man, can strap a 75lb motor to my back and fly thousands of feet into the air with zero training required and no remote identification how can anyone find it reasonable to require both of those things to fly a 0.5lb piece of foam and paper 400′ above an empty field?
Sentimental garbage:
Thank you for everything you do, I have really enjoyed watching your videos and building your models with my daughter.”