Flying Ace

It all goes back to childhood memories. Grown men buying sailboats, old-timer cars, and old biplanes. Guided and inspired by adventure books they read when they were boys. My preferred literature was definitely exploration, with pirates a close second. Well-read was a book about an uncle with many cousins. He owned several DC-3s and traveled through Africa taking his kin for rides. Rich adventure… and of course I saw myself as the pilot. My first actual flight was as a passenger in a DC-3, fourth class. I believe it was the late 1950s. My Dad dropped me off at the Dakota’s foldout stairs, made sure it took off, and then boarded a Constellation to New York. I overlooked the wing of the DC-3 during flight and remember praying the rivets would hold till London.