AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2021 - 14

LETTERS
Thrill of the find
Flying and detecting
are dual passions
I EN JOYED JUL IE Summers Walker's article on
flying and metal detecting ( " Thrill of the Find, "
October 2021 AOPA Pilot), since my wife and
I do both. We know a lot of pilots and a number
of detectorists but it's rare we hear about
those who do both. I've been flying for about 52
years and been detecting for almost that long.
My wife has had her license for about 17 years
and has been detecting with me about 35 years.
We have our own airport in north-central
Oklahoma (Fairmont Field, 1OK) and own four
airplanes-Kitfox, Cessna 177, Cessna 182, and
a SubSonex jet. We've detected across many
states in addition to the Caribbean, Mexico,
England, and Russia. One room in our house is
basically a museum, with displays of our finds.
Ken Hollrah / AOPA 555382
Enid, Oklahoma
Legal But Not Safe
I enjoyed Barry Schiff's article ( " Proficient Pilot:
Legal But Not Safe, " October 2021 AOPA Pilot)
as his is the first I read. In my 5,000 hours, have
I done unsafe things within FAR 91.3? Probably.
What resonates in my head over these years
from my instructor, Chuck Mushruss, is his
counsel: " You are responsible for the safety of
this flight and for the persons herein, " citing
91.3. It impressed upon me that the preparation,
comfort, and safety of your passengers are paramount.
Fly for those you carry and make them
want to fly again.
C.J. D'Antonio / AOPA 516266
Parker, Arizona
Waypoints
Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know
how much I enjoyed Thomas B. Haines' article
in the October issue ( " Waypoints: The Air
Camper Experience " ).
I first got my pilot certificate in the early
1980s and although my flying days have been
silent over the past couple of decades due to
building a family and the challenging financing
of flying; I have never lost the love of flying.
Recently, a forced sale of our six-decade
family summer home on Nantucket (where I got
my pilot's license) allowed me to purchase a nice
14
AOPA PILOT / December 2021
THE THRILL OF THE FIND
Combining fl ying adventures and treasure hunting
BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE
64
AOPA PILOT / October 2021
AOPA PILOT / October 2021
65
travel trailer. I have been out eight times this
summer and truly enjoy being able to explore
northern New England and New York.
Haines' article has sparked an interest in
visiting Oshkosh for my very first time in 2022!
Maybe my visit to Oshkosh will be the kick-inthe-pants
boost to get me back in the left seat.
Robert Farley / AOPA 749958
Pembroke, New Hampshire
I'm glad Thomas B. Haines finally got to experience
the real spirt of Oshkosh. My first EAA
convention experience was at Rockford in 1969.
On my way home from college in Cahokia,
Illinois, to Warren, Pennsylvania, I went out of
my way to see what EAA was all about. I didn't
have a tent so slept in my sleeping bag under the
front bumper of my Mustang so hopefully no
one would run over me in the dark. For many
years we drove or flew in and camped with the
growing family.
In 1996 I became the Socata TBM pilot
for Hartzell Propeller. Now I got paid to go to
Oshkosh and a hotel. Time and again I would
leave the hotel room empty and camp with the
airplane on the grounds or at the seaplane base.
There is a deeper spirt at Oshkosh and that is the
life of the quiet early mornings and evenings on
the flight line and in the campgrounds.
On a brisk, quiet early morning there is nothing
like going to the food vender just north of
airshow square and having hot, fried, rolled-insugar
donuts (so hot you can hardly pick them
up). Or getting out of your tent and going to
Theater in the Woods in the middle of the night
because heavy weather is coming and under the
theater is a safer place.
I just stumbled upon
" The Thrill of the
Find " and love it! I'm a
pilot and run a metal
detecting blog (one of
my many hobbies.)
This is a unique way to
combine two amazing
passions into one
adventure, I'm so glad
Julie Summers Walker
wrote that story.
Mike Fesko / AOPA 806131
Merrimack, New Hampshire
metaldetectoruniverse.com
http://www.metaldetectoruniverse.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2021

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