How I learned to fly a Cessna 172

[OldAirmail]

My first real, five day a week, job was at a private airport. This was back in the summer of 1967. I was 16.

One day, the owners son, who didn't like me, told me to taxi a rental 172 to it's tiedown spot and clean it up.

Until then I'd never sat in one, other than to clean it. Certainly I'd never sat in one with a running engine.

I confirmed that he wanted ME to do it, and after he walked away, I got in to do my best. Maybe he did like me after all?


The 172 rental had just been brought back and was still warm.

Ignition switch - Got it. Just like a car, you have to turn it on.
Steering wheel - Just like a car, right? But why could you push it in and out
Gas pedal - ? Those things on the floor? No, they moved the thing in the back. The "gas pedal" can't be a switch. There were two knobs sticking out of the "dashboard", so I turned the nearer, black, knob. Well, it would turn AND move in & out. Turning it one way and it would stay locked in that position. Pulled/pushed for gas? Maybe?


Turned the key. IT WORKED!
The black knob? That was the gas pedal. But I made sure that I didn't lock it by turning the knob.
I had no idea where the brakes were. But if I didn't give it too much gas, it'd coast to a stop. I was ok with that.
I gave it just a little gas until it started to move forward.
Hay! Those things on the floor that seesawed back and forth would steer the plane! The steering wheel helped a little.
Pushing/pulling the steering wheel did nothing. I had thought that it might make it go forward and reverse
After the plane jerked to a stop or two, I figured out that the seesaw thingies' on the floor were also the brakes!

OK! I'd figured out how to "fly" a real plane!

To shorten the story, I taxied it to the tiedown spot, and did what I had to do. It was only years later that it occurred to me that the owners son wanted to get me fired.


All this just to say that this is why I like light aircraft.

Unfortunately, there was no way that I could have paid for ground school, never mind paying for flight time.

[papituwall]

Nice story!
I'm curious about what has been of the moron owner's son life, really a stupid and risky way of attempting to fire an employee...

[OldAirmail]

Nice story!
I'm curious about what has been of the moron owner's son life, really a stupid and risky way of attempting to fire an employee...

Although he was 2 grades above me, we were both went to the same school. His last year in school he decided to pick a fight with my. By that time, I'd had almost two years of varsity wrestling.

He was bigger, but I had him pinned to the ground with both of my thumbs pressing into his carotid arteries. When he started to glaze over I got off him. I never had a problem with him after that.

I'm really a nice guy, but I never fought "fair".


But perhaps this might illustrate his nature better;

This was a very small airport, about 45 miles outside of NYC. Probably not more than 50 or 60 GA planes were permanently kept there. We had three or four 172s and two or three 182s for rent, plus the owner would occasionally rent his Mooney. He also had a Bonanza, but I don't think that he rented it.

There was one mechanics hanger with room for two planes, and another three plane hanger that was rented out.

We had two, maybe three part time flight instructors. They seemed to take turns being there. Usually on the weekends, but on the weekdays by appointment.


One day at the end of summer, he was filling up a small tanker truck from a large tank, when he was told that one of the instructors had some free time. Did he want to go up?

Some time after they took off, I was told that the airport manager wanted him. I found the small tanker overflowing and nobody around.

I wasn't going near the avgas but told the manager about the problem.

I didn't see the guy until I went back to school.

[BLIFLS]

Hi OldAirmail,

I have been visiting these forums for many years and even posted a few times.
Recently I've wanted to post a response to different posts of yours but I couldn't remember my account password and the email I used years ago is no longer active.
Tonight I decided to create a new account to reply to this post.

My first flight was "borrowing" a Piper Cub from a 747 captain who was flying to Europe.
One day he said if I thought I was man enough, at 14, to fly solo with only 10 hours of training I was welcome to fly his plane.
I was working at a very small, high elevation airfield with about 20 planes based there, and taking what lessons I could from a gruff old Marine fighter pilot, who wasn't a CFI I found out later.
He had a Cessna Turbo 210 and that's the first airplane I flew, with him present of course.

So one afternoon after school I went out to the Cub and did several trips around the pattern. I wasn't scared at all, and that's because I was young and too stupid to be scared.

All that said, I want to invite you to the Bellingham airport some weekend to fly.
Send me a PM and I'll give you my contact info.
Finally, several years ago I was out at the Concrete airport taking hundreds of pictures for Orbx to use in creating their 3W5 add-on.
I took all the pictures of Anacortes, Orcas, and a bunch of Skagit for John at Orbx.
(There was another photographer doing Skagit as well and I'm not sure how many of my pictures were used but taking them was a lot of fun)

Maybe someday I'll regale everyone with the nighttime IMC flight I didn't take when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up while at the approach end of the runway.

[OldAirmail]

...

All that said, I want to invite you to the Bellingham airport some weekend to fly.

...

PM sent, Thank you.

[pete]

That was an incredibly dumb thing for the guy to ask you.

If the engine had been shut down properly :

- The engine would not start by turning the ignition key
- You would need to turn on fuel to right or left tank
- Battery master switch would need to be turned on
- Mixture would be on cut off and engine would not start

2nd - even with the above all on - the risk of crashing the aircraft into another aircraft or even a person by over powering the throttle and without knowing where the brakes were would be VERY high and have catastrophic results.

At very best this would have been some seriously slack flying outfit and most likely the guy set you up. Unbelievable.

[OldAirmail]

IF....

Lord, there are a lot of IFs when dealing with people.


This was a rental plane, and people would bring them up near the office to turn them in. The other kid, John D, would usually look them over and taxi them to the tiedown.

From that point it was my job to tie it down & clean it up, inside and out.


Two of the most stupid things that I saw while there (aside from walking away from filling a fuel truck);

1) A 172 rental was brought in, and John D took it to the tiedown. He didn't, but I did, notice that the blue wingtip cap & green light was smashed from hitting something. When I went to the office to tell them about it the renter was still there. The manager asked if anything had happened, and the guy, pilot, said no.

Another pilot came in and said that the guy with the rental had hit his plane IN FLIGHT!

We went outside and guess what? There was a blue streak and slightly dented metal on that guys aircraft.


2) It wasn't all that busy an airport, so I'd watch the airplanes land. Remember that Mooney? One day a doctor who had rented it was bringing it in.

It got lower. And lower. And lower. I was wondering WHEN was he going to put the landing gear down. Dumb kid.

It wasn't a real crash, which surprised me a lot. The plane just skidded off the runway and onto the grass, turning a bit sidewards at the end.

The doctor, afterwards, said that he though the plane was getting close to the ground!


I've never looked at pilots with awe afterwards.