Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 19
FIVE QUESTIONS
BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER
BILL HILL
GLIDER INSTRUCTOR TRAINS SPACESHIP PILOTS
SAILPLANE INSTRUCTOR BILL HILL IS TESTIMONY TO THE FACT THAT LIFE-AND FLYING-
presents many opportunities. No matter what career he was in (air traffic control, air
ambulance, SkyWest captain and check airman), he always had an additional part-time job
flying. Teaching was at the top of the list, followed by crop dusting, banner towing, freight
dogging, airborne traffic reporter, glider tow pilot, and test pilot. After 57 years, in nearly as
many makes and models, and 21,000 flight hours, he now instructs the spaceship pilots of Virgin Galactic in a TST-14 jet glider at the Albuquerque Soaring Club in Moriarty, New Mexico.
Started in aviation? My father was a World War II fighter pilot who flew P-51s in China
during the last years of the war. So, I guess that's what got me started. With six hours dual
under my belt, I went to the airport in Frederick, Maryland, on a windy July 13, 1962-yes, it
was a Friday-to see if I could talk my instructor into letting me solo. My father had told me
it wouldn't happen because of the wind. Well, it did, and my dad was there to watch it.
Favorite airplane? My favorite airplane is the Embraer EMB-120 in which I logged over
5,000 hours while flying for SkyWest Airlines. My second favorite is the Lear 31 in which I
sat in the right seat, answered the phone, and jerked the landing gear. My favorite sailplane
would be my Discus-2B, which is parked in my hangar at the Moriarty Airport and in which
I have over 3,000 hours.
Biggest challenge? After spending 26 years in air traffic control and a year or so as an
air ambulance pilot, I finally got my airline job. One of my biggest challenges was getting
through ground school at SkyWest as a 52-year-old new hire.
Advice to students? Develop good habits, be as professional as you can at the onset, and use
your checklist.
MIKE FIZER
Why fly gliders? If the rating is all you are after, you will improve your stick and rudder skills
as well as becoming better at energy management. If
you fly a sailplane on long cross-country flights, you will come to
appreciate the atmosphere as a means
of propulsion
rather than
just a means of
convenience.
AOPA.ORG/FT 19
http://www.AOPA.ORG/FT
Flight Training - March/April 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - March/April 2020
Contents
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Intro
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover1
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover2
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Contents
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 2
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 3
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 4
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 5
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 6
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 7
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 8
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 9
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 10
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 11
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 12
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 13
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Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 15
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 16
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 17
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 18
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 19
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 20
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Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover3
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover4
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