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The name of the site says a whole bunch, dud'n'it? Tony Learns to Fly.
That's DONE! (As of 2/26/2004)
That's DONE! (As of 6/14/2007) Who am I?
I'm an addict. I love to fly! Why am I doing this? Well, there are many facets to this question, thus many answers. The first answer is: DUH! It's FLYING! Ok. That's said. I've had a fascination with aviation for as long as I can remember, and this fascination has manifested itself in many ways. My father has a cousin who is (was?) a private pilot. Dad once had an opportunity to fly with this man in a small plane when we were out at my grandfather's farm in Weatherford, OK. I had the wonderful opportunity to go with / up with him. I was probably no older than 6 or 7 at the time; I really don't remember. But that was my first time up in a plane with fewer than 20 seats. Truth be known, it was probably one of the first flights I'd EVER been on. I think this sparked my interest. Throughout my youth, I spent a significant amount of my free time building war-bird models. The SR71, U2, FB111, F4 Phantom, F15, and P-51 were among my collection, with more than a few that are long gone and forgotten Into adulthood, I took a job that required a lot of travel. To date, I've logged probably more than a quarter-million miles on jet aircraft, across more than 100 flights. Yes, I know that's a small number to many travelers, but enough that it peaks my interest every time I drive to an airport. I remember deplaning from a Southwest Airlines flight from Houston to Dallas one summer evening in 1996. The pilot and copilot were walking up the jetway in front of me. I caught up with them and asked a question about how the approach to Love Field was made. The pilot actually dropped everything he was carrying (onto a table), dug out his approach plates, and showed me everything there was to a NORMAL approach, then highlighted everything that was made different due to the foul weather. The following week I bought myself a copy of SubLOGIC's "ATP," a flight simulation program that was very instrument-oriented. I also travelled to several airports to buy books of approach procedures. I can't tell you how much time I spent playing that game. A while ago, I caught a few amazing TV shows.
I have watched all of these shows with utter fascination and rapt attention. I was so jealous of these individuals who took for granted the presence in their bodies of something that the lack of which would commit me to the ground: They have a healthy set of islet cells. "Huh?" you say? I am an Insulin Dependent Diabetic. Have been since the year after I got married; back in late 1995. When I read that Diabetes Mellitus was a disqualifier, I figured, "Well, that's it for me!" OR SO I THOUGHT!!! I chanced across an article about a pilot who had qualified for a waiver from the FAA and thought, "if he can do it, so can I!" Isn't Google a wonderful thing?! See, the FAA's web site doesn't make it easy at all to find out that there's an exception to the disqualification. So, even though the rule was enacted in 1996, it took me over six years to learn of it! And, within weeks of learning of the special issuance processes, including several hours on the phone with a very helpful and patient Aviation Medical Examiner (AME), I decided to embark on the process of finally learning to fly.
The picture to the left is my dream plane for the time being; a US-Built Europa-XS. I want one! It'll be a decade or so, but one can dream! Anyway, enough of the introductory stuff. On to the LOG. WWW.TONYLEARNSTOFLY.NET |
My name is Tony. I've lived in the Dallas, TX area since 1993.