AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024 - 12

LETTERS
Living Intentionally
Stories that hit home for
our readers
Wow! Natalie Bingham Hoover's article ( " Living
Intentionally, " September 2024 AOPA Pilot)
really hit home for me. I've struggled with fear
my whole life, and after experiencing some
really bad landings recently, it shook my confidence
to the point that I was ready to give up,
wondering if I had what it took to fly safely and
skillfully. I watched some helpful YouTube videos
and studied my pilots' operating handbook,
so after a lot of soul-searching and prayer, I
decided to give it another try. Thankfully, I
nailed four good, smooth landings. I'm glad I
decided to push past my fears and " get back on
the horse. " Natalie said in her article: " I made
a conscious choice years ago to refuse to live a
life dominated by fear...maybe about the time I
started flying airplanes. Some things in life are
worth the risk. " I heartily agree.
Ken Ballenger
Tucson, Arizona
Another Empty Kitchen
I read Catherine Cavagnaro's article ( " Another
Empty Kitchen, " September 2024 AOPA Pilot) on
visiting Frank Lovell with her family. I am 77 and
spent many years flight instructing after school
and weekends when I was a schoolteacher, counselor,
and administrator passing on my passion
for aviation and still raising a family. I still instruct
a few students, mainly in tailwheel aircraft. My
most frequent students have been new owners of
Beavers and AirCams on wheels as well as floats.
I taught a popular ground school course through
Merced College after long days at school, and I
also taught my son to fly in a J-3. He became a
captain for a flagship cargo air carrier. I sincerely
hope Catherine's passion for aviation passes
down through her family. Most of all I appreciate
the multitasking and sacrifices she has made
being a parent, teacher, and instructor.
Eric Gourley
Eastsound, Washington
Brilliant or Cruel?
I received the October issue of AOPA Pilot today
and just read Kollin Stagnito's column " Brilliant
or Cruel? " with great interest. I cannot refrain
from comment. Let me simply cut to the chase
12
AOPA PILOT / December 2024
and say: " Brilliant! " ...and in no way " cruel. "
How could your son learning basic stick-andrudder
flying skills in a taildragger possibly be
construed as " cruel? " Quite the opposite-and
good for you and for Tony that he is apparently
thriving, as did hundreds of thousands of pilots
who learned in tailwheel aircraft. I hope Tony
appreciates the rare opportunity he has to learn
to fly the " right " way.
To Tony: You go, young man! Enjoy. Be safe,
and don't forget to tell your dad thank you for
the wonderful gift of learning to fly in the best
possible way.
Steve Wood
Whitewater, Colorado
I thoroughly enjoyed Kollin Stagnito's article
regarding his son learning to fly his Cessna 140.
To his point, I don't think it was cruel, and I do
think it borders on brilliant. It was the best use
of your available resource. Why rent an airplane
when you already have a perfectly suitable one
at your disposal?
I learned to drive at 15 in a '64 Ford that had
no power anything, a steering wheel the size of a
bicycle tire, and three on the tree. It was not cruel;
it was what I had available. As soon as I earned
my driver's license, I was off to the local airport
to take flying lessons. Later in my flying escapades,
I received my tailwheel endorsement in
an Aeronca Champ with an O-200. It was a great
learning experience and improved my skillset for
landing my Cessna 150. I believe the myth of tailwheel
aircraft being harder to land than tricycle
gear is just that, a myth. It is not harder, it is simply
Although I have been
a member since 1978,
this is only the third
time I've actually
written to AOPA Pilot
magazine. I just wanted
to share that Sarah
Deener's article in
the September 2024
issue, " The Wright
Stuff, " was a 10, and
I should mention that
us old Swedes very
rarely, if ever, give a 10
on anything! Anyhow,
I read the magazine
cover to cover every
month, and her article
was excellently
written, researched,
intriguing, creative,
and most enjoyable.
Richard Benson
Bend, Oregon
FLYING LIFE
Living intentionally
Some things in life are worth the risk
BY NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
OUR FAVORITE FAMILY VACATION SPOT is Apalachicola, Florida.
My youngest daughter talks about it all year. " I miss Apalach, " she
says at random, when picking up her toys or coloring or petting
the dog. It's a special place on the Forgotten Coast of Florida, with
beautiful, nearly empty beaches, shells as big as your hand, and
dolphins that come to play in the boat wake as you motor out to the
islands. We spend a couple of weeks there every summer, and that
free and easy beach feeling feeds our souls something necessary for
survival in the otherwise go-go-go lifestyle we typically lead. This
year, though, the day before our arrival, there were two separate
shark attacks about 50 miles up the coast. Concerned friends
messaged from home, " Did you hear? Better stay out of the water! "
While I appreciate their concern, we got in the water anyway.
I didn't let the kids swim all the way out to the sandbar this time,
and we made sure to play away from where a couple of people
were fishing, but we were going to have our ocean time. Water in
the nose, sand in the hair (and various other parts unmentionable),
sunburned, paddleboarding ocean time. I made a conscious choice
years ago to refuse to live a life dominated by fear...maybe about the
time I started flying airplanes.
I made a conscious choice years ago to refuse to live
a life dominated by fear....Pilots have to make that
decision again and again every time we get in the air.
Pilots have to make that decision again and again every time
we get in the air. It is a daily exercise in living intentionally. If you
fly long enough, you will have lost friends to airplane accidents,
maybe even friends whose piloting skills and safety practices you
admired. And then there are the stories: the engine that quits on
climbout, the cabin fire, the bird strike. The list goes on and on of
completely unforseeable events, and even the most stubborn of us
start to question our it-won't-happen-to-me decision making. Oh,
we've all heard the statistics. You are more likely to die from cancer
or a car accident than you are by shark attack or airplane crash. But
tell that to a pilot and see if that stat makes him feel one bit less
anxious as he loads up his entire family in the airplane.
I was recently giving an instrument checkride in a Cessna 172
at my local airport when I heard a slight change in the engine noise.
22
AOPA PILOT / September 2024
My applicant didn't seem to notice anything different, continuing
to load the GPS. Was it just in my head, I wondered? But I took
my noise-canceling headset off one ear anyway just to listen for a
second. I didn't hear anything unusual, nor did the gauges indicate
a problem, so we just kept on, business as usual, completing that
approach, then going back for the last one. We were at 2,000 feet
agl and 5 or so miles away from the airport when the engine made
a new sort of vibration, one that got the attention of my applicant
if his wide eyes were any indication. I took the controls and made
a beeline for the airport, letting ATC know we were heading back
for possible engine failure. The applicant tried to read the checklist
in an airplane that was shaking more and more aggressively as
we neared the airport. When we got within gliding distance of
the runway, still at 2,000 feet, I pulled the power to idle, put in a
forward slip, and landed on the runway without incident.
Days later, the mechanic sent me a picture of our cracked
cylinder. It was just a thin crack, no more than a couple of inches
long. How could something so seemingly insignificant be the thing
that could possibly have kept me from getting home safely to my
family? For the next several days, I continued to hear what a friend
called the " automatic rough, " whenever I was in the air. It's the
same thing that happens when you're alone in a dark house after
watching a scary movie. Every shadow and creak causes your heart
rate to spike with an am-I-in-danger rhythm.
Here's the conclusion we all have to make peace with as we
choose how to live out our days. We can hole up in our safe spaces
and imagine that we and our loved ones are safe from every danger.
And to an extent we may be reducing some level of risk. But at
what cost? Some things just make life worth living. I have no idea
what it is for you, although if you're reading this column, I could
venture a pretty good guess. For me, feeling the pull of the ocean
waves and the wind underneath my wings make me feel a part
of something vast and sacred. In the immortal words of Eleanor
Roosevelt: " The purpose
of life is to live it, to taste
experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and
without fear for newer
and richer experience. "
myaviation101.com
NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
began flying in 2004. After
corporate and airline work, she
now serves as an FAA-designated
examiner and chief instructor of a
flight school in Mississippi.
http://www.myaviation101.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024
