Aviation has been a hobby for me since I first learned to fly in a Cessna 150 in 1970. Later earning a commercial ticket and an instrument rating made flying not only fun but practical. After moving away from the Philadelphia area to Connecticut in 1981, flying became less practical for a number of reasons and the Cessna 172 was sold. (See “I really prefer having an engine!”). In the last few years I have gotten a renewed interest in aviation.
An Indian Summer motorcycle ride up the Hudson to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome showed us a “living” museum of antique aviation. They have one of the largest collections of early aeroplanes in the world, many of which regularly take to the air in all their glory during weekend air shows. The Aerodrome features airplanes, cars, motorcycles, tractors and memorabilia from 1900-1935. The days of early aviation come to life with the roar of rotary engines and a World War I dogfight. The most amazing part of the day was watching world-renowned pilot, Stan Segalla, The Flying Farmer, performed things that seemed impossible. At the end of his Piper Cub feats he shut off the engine, did some fancy turns and landed in the center of the runway. Mr. Segalla is 82 years old.
There are many ways to follow what is going on in general aviation. America’s 20,000 airports are a great place watch airplanes in action — community airports are also a catalyst for economic growth. A good place to keep an eye on what is going on in general aviation is the AOPA. I attended their annual expo in Hartford, Connecticut last week and saw many exciting new aircraft and attended a seminar about the emerging very light jets. The VLJ’s will surely have a major impact on the economics of air transportation. There are pictures from Rhinebeck and the AOPA Expo in the photo gallery.
- I really prefer having an engine
- patrickWeb photo gallery – Aviation
