My Instructor

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I ran across a link to this thread when I was restoring one of the tech threads and though it was good enough to warrant preserving, and now the old link can continue to work.

-JC

Flynlow » Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:36 pm

This is a story I wrote a few years ago. I don't think I've shared it here, but if so, sorry! I may or may not have had a tear in my eye reading it again today!

I grew up flying, taking my first flight at 3 weeks old (much to my Mother's chagrin!!). I loved everything from the smell of AvGas, to pulling the plane out of the hanger, to hearing the gyros wind down after we were done. As a little boy, I would be so excited when it was time to go fly, and would cry when told the plane was down for maintenance or the weather was bad. Even as a child, flying would remove everything else from my mind. There was nothing to worry about except enjoying the flight.

When I was old enough, I paid for my license up-front and completed the lessons as quickly as the weather and my instructor's schedule permitted. Within a year of having my license, I had taken all of my friends up. For most of them, it was their first flight. I still love giving those first rides to this day!

After a while, I got bored with putting around in a Cessna that was as old as I was. I didn't have the budget to really go anywhere, so the longest journey I took was about 100 miles away to an airshow with some friends.

One day, I went for a ride with my instructor and as we were putting the plane away, I saw it. A beautiful Decathlon taxied by with it's nose in the air. It seemed to be saying it was better than the 152s and Tomahawks being abused by students that day and I couldn't have agreed more. I mentioned to my instructor that I wanted to fly that plane. He couldn't have picked three worse words to utter: "That's Chuck's plane."

Chuck White was a very well known instructor at the airport. I had the chance to meet him when getting my license. He was the pilot who gave me my second stage check. Now by the time you get to this stage check, you pretty much know how to fly a plane. Hell, I'd grown up in a Cessna. I was the best pilot that ever set foot in a Cessna! At least I thought I was until Chuck stepped into it! By the end of the flight, I didn't like Chuck and was pretty sure I would never fly again. He didn't like anything I did. He picked on my rudder usage, my navigation skills, my ability to use a chart... well, you name it and I was bad at it. I was devastated. Over the next few weeks, my instructor built my confidence again and once again I was worthy of wearing the scarf and goggles. I passed both written and flying portions of my test with flying colors..

So now, I'm back to my great desire to fly that Decathlon. I wanted it more than anything I'd ever wanted before. I needed my tailwheel endorsement and then Chuck would rent it out to me. I had to suck up my pride and go talk to him. He told me he kept current parachutes in it and with a little training I could fly aerobatics! There was no turning back now, he had me.

I showed up for my first lesson and sure enough, there was the Grinch waiting for me. He was as grumpy as ever, but not only was I taught to respect my elders, but he had the keys (okay, starter button) to my new style of flying, so I held my tongue. He started showing me how to taxi and I was soon convinced that something was wrong with the plane as it wouldn't go in a straight line. He gruffly told me that I didn't have to S-turn it, it wasn't a Pitts! The Decathlon is a tandem plane, so I was in the front, with him sitting behind me, so he couldn't see my facial expressions! I'm sure that was a good thing. He sure wasn't my favorite person.

I knew that getting your tailwheel endorsement usually takes between 5 and 10 hours. After the first hour of him pecking me in the back of the head (really!), and asking if I'd left my right foot at home, I was sure I'd never make it. I wasn't willing to admit defeat though, and I kept showing up for lessons. I made it through three lessons of one hour each and on the fourth day we took off and made a few passes through the pattern. We didn't have much fuel, so it would be a short lesson of only touch-n-goes. After a few circuits, he told me to land and get fuel, so I pulled up the pumps and filled it to the standard halfway point we kept it at. I was ready to go, but he just stood there. He told me to go fly... I had 2.5 hours of training and he cut me free. He said I was ready. I couldn't have been more scared or excited at that moment. As I flew by and looked down at him, I realized our relationship had just changed.

Chuck was the same age as my Grandfather and I was amazed at his flying skills. He'd spent most of his life in a plane. He was one of those instructors you really learned from and rarely find. Chuck and I became closer over the years. He had emphysema and though he still had his medical (he couldn't teach primary students), he usually didn't feel like pulling the plane out or fueling it. I would go get it ready for him and without a word he would climb in and go fly. I would be waiting when he got back to put it away. I would sneak into the hangar to wash it and treated it as my own. He greatly appreciated it and told me so often.

One time after a rough biennial where he again criticized my skills with a chart, he said something that I'll never forget. He said I was one of the best pilots he'd ever known. He said he couldn't find anything to correct me on when flying. I wasn't very good with a chart, but I was a natural when it came to flying. From him, this meant the world to me.

Once he let a guy borrow his plane to go get something from a remote airport. When the guy landed, he started bouncing and somehow blew out the tailwheel. Chuck called me and asked if I would go get his plane. The pilot who blew it out would take me to it. He said he couldn't breathe and didn't trust anyone else. I went to his hanger, picked up the spare tailwheel and we were off. Again, this was a huge compliment to me.

I flew that plane for many years. I did learn aerobatics in it and I was proud to fly it anywhere. Even though it was a 1973, it was in perfect shape. When he called me to tell me he had to sell it, my heart sank. His health wasn't getting any better and he didn't want his wife to be stuck with it when he was gone.

On April 10th of 2009, I lost my Grandfather. I was very close to him and I was out of town for awhile. I was completely out of touch as I tried to make sense of his loss. A couple of weeks after I got back, I found out that Chuck died on the same day as my Grandfather. For all of the many students he shared his passion of aviation with, for all of the the lives he touched, I couldn't believe how simple his obituary was: WHITE, Charles Edmond, 80, retired aviator and instructor, of Austin died April 10. Survived by wife Patricia. No services planned. Arrangements by Neptune Society. This doesn't begin to describe the contributions he made to many of us.

Chuck, I miss you buddy. Thank you for all you taught me. I still hear your words of wisdom when flying. Sometimes I still feel your finger tapping the back of my head! You taught me skills that have no doubt saved my life. I will never forget you. Happy flying up there where the winds are always calm and there are no thermals and you can breathe in the sweet air. I wish every pilot could have a mentor like you.
Last edited by Flynlow on Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:56 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Jack Fleetwood
1946 Cessna 140
http://flynlow.blogspot.com/
Round Rock, TX

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5095 » Wed Apr 24, 2013 8:47 pm

Jack,
That is a great story. I very much enjoyed reading it. I can tell you there are many like Chuck around. Seems that's the way they came back then. Mine was named Bob with more than 40,000 hours retired Navy. Shot down over Vietnam hid and found his way back to friendly lines for 17 days. Survived 9 airplane crashes. The stories go on and on. He passed away last year.
Thanks for your story.

Carl
NC2488N

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ed blevins » Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:26 pm

Jack: Great story....It does bring a tear to your eyes as I was reminded of a dear friend that taught me more about flying than any flight instructor I ever had, My first flight with Zip Franklin was one I will never forget and I still enjoy telling about. I was a CFI that really knew how to fly (or so I thought) and Zip gave me a STOL demonstration in a 1956 Cessna 182. I was a by the numbers kind of pilot and never realized it until I was flying with a WW2 veteran that was a "seat of the pants" aviator that had taught himself how to fly. When that short flight was over, I knew I was in the presence of an unbelievable pilot that had forgotten more about flying a plane than I would ever know. He died in 1991, but the lessons he gave me are still fresh in my memory......I still miss Zip and Jimmy very much.

N90084 1946 C-140
Metalized Wings
Lyc.0-290 (135hp)

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Ecooper » Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:52 am

Jack, great story. I enjoyed reading about Chuck! Your story touched me and obviously others. It makes one stop to consider the Chucks in all of our lives. Whether in aviation or something else. Life is short. It goes by so fast. And sadly, when gone, it is forever! Thanks for sharing!

Ed Cooper
C-140
Austin, Texas

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Flynlow » Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:46 am

Thanks for the nice comments. I think everyone should jump in and tell their own stories here.

I was lucky enough to have two Uncles in aviation, so I grew up around it. I had mentors everywhere I looked! I can still smell my Great Uncle's pipe when I think about sitting around the round fireplace at the Perry Lefors Airport in Pampa, TX.

Chuck grew on me. He was a grump sometimes, but God help you if you messed with one of his friends.

He moved from one school to another and moved the Decathlon as well. I went to the new school to get the key to the hangar, and the guy at the desk asked if I'd been checked out in the plane. I laughed and said I guess so I'd flown it for hundreds of hours. He said no, I needed to be checked out by one of the instructors at this school. I told him I wasn't saying I had hundreds of hours in a Decathlon, I was saying I had hundreds of hours in THIS Decathlon. He said he didn't care, I needed to go up with an instructor. I was in a hurry, trying to get to an airshow. I raised my voice and asked why I neeed to be checked out in an airplane I flew last week? I couldn't believe this. Then I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Chuck had been in an office behind me and came out quicker than I'd ever seen him move. He went up to the desk, slammed his hands down, and told the guy that I could not only fly the Decathlon, I could fly any blankety blank airplane they had! He told him not to ever treat me like that again!

I actually felt a little bad for the guy! I never had a problem getting a plane again though!

Jack Fleetwood
1946 Cessna 140
http://flynlow.blogspot.com/
Round Rock, TX

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txaviator » Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:49 am

Great story, Jack.

And in full disclosure: when you were taxiing off in my 140 after you bought it, here I was thinking: "I wonder if this fella really does have the tailwheel experience he says he does"? Hahaha! You should have sent me this story before you came to pick up the plane. My heart rate could have remained MUCH more calm

Good story, my friend! And keep the awesome photos coming too.

Gary Robertson
Arlington, TX

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a1949cessna » Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:09 am

Nice story Jack. Like you say, most of us have memories and people in our past flying that make interesting shares.

I submitted an article in the association newletter a few years ago. It was about my plane and how I came about it and my journey to learning how to fly it. In that I told of my "instructor". He wasn't actually an instructor, but he taught me more than any instructor I had before or since.

He was a WWII Marine fighter pilot and test pilot after the war. At the time I was working for him as a flagger and mixer for his crop dusting operation. I had just acquired the 140 to build time for that commercial airline job I knew I was going to secure. I had never flown the 140, but had mastered how to keep it straight while taxiing. We ended up going for my first flight in the 140 together. Needless to say, my ego suffered a severe blow that day as he berated me like only a Marine can do. Afterward he took pity on my and "taught me to fly".

Sadly, like many of that era, he passed away about the same timeframe as Chuck. They were from the greatest generation and they will be missed by many, but there are stories to be told and will be for generations.

I think I attached the newsletter if anyone is interested in the article. Not sure until I post, but if it doesn't attach it is the April/May 2008 newsletter.

Ron

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Flynlow » Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:49 am

LOL, I was wondering myself! I'd never flown a 140 and was a little surprised by the flex in the gear.

Great story, Jack.

And in full disclosure: when you were taxiing off in my 140 after you bought it, here I was thinking: "I wonder if this fella really does have the tailwheel experience he says he does"? Hahaha! You should have sent me this story before you came to pick up the plane. My heart rate could have remained MUCH more calm

Good story, my friend! And keep the awesome photos coming too.

Nice pic! It probalby won't see a frozen lake landing while I own it! Not around here anyway!

Have your ever seen your plane on a frozen lake / runway? This was sent to me by the previous owner, the day before he ferried it down to Texas from Minnesota! Your plane is sitting in the middle of Miles Lac Lake, Minnesota.

Jack Fleetwood
1946 Cessna 140
http://flynlow.blogspot.com/
Round Rock, TX

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Flynlow » Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:53 am

Thanks Ron. I'm not really an instructor either, but I've helped a couple of guys learn to fly. It's nice that you got to spend time flying with him.

They are a generation that is fading away, but at least we got to know them. Maybe we'll be those guys for the next generation of kids.

Nice story Jack. Like you say, most of us have memories and people in our past flying that make interesting shares.

I submitted an article in the association newletter a few years ago. It was about my plane and how I came about it and my journey to learning how to fly it. In that I told of my "instructor". He wasn't actually an instructor, but he taught me more than any instructor I had before or since.

He was a WWII Marine fighter pilot and test pilot after the war. At the time I was working for him as a flagger and mixer for his crop dusting operation. I had just acquired the 140 to build time for that commercial airline job I knew I was going to secure. I had never flown the 140, but had mastered how to keep it straight while taxiing. We ended up going for my first flight in the 140 together. Needless to say, my ego suffered a severe blow that day as he berated me like only a Marine can do. Afterward he took pity on my and "taught me to fly".

Sadly, like many of that era, he passed away about the same timeframe as Chuck. They were from the greatest generation and they will be missed by many, but there are stories to be told and will be for generations.

I think I attached the newsletter if anyone is interested in the article. Not sure until I post, but if it doesn't attach it is the April/May 2008 newsletter.

Jack Fleetwood
1946 Cessna 140
http://flynlow.blogspot.com/
Round Rock, TX

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MokuleleMike » Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:49 pm

Wonderful story, Jack!

Chuck certainly wasn't one of the new breed of "politically correct cookie cutter 141 school automotons" that's for sure! The world is a better place for people like Chuck and what an impression they make on all of us.

After I got out of the Navy in 1973, I started my 8 years of engineering night school and during my second year, my physics professor - who was a tough, grouchy old bird (gee, maybe 50!) started in on his potential vs kinetic energy session.

He walks into class, grabs up a lab weight, climbs up on top of a desk, holds the weight over his head and with a cigarette in his mouth calls out....

"THIS is POTENTIAL" energy".

Then, he let's the weight fall to the floor which broke several floor tiles....

"And THAT is KINETIC energy".

Lesson learned forever

Thanks for posting your story.

Regards,
Mike Pastore, CFIA
FAASTeam Member
NC2635N 'Toto' - The All American Aeroplane