Wolfy
Well-Known Member
Hi, my name is Travis. I've been reading JC for a few weeks and thought I'd introduce. I always thought just a name wasn't enough so here's my story written for you.
My first flight was six years ago last month. I was twelve years old. There is a small airport called Sonoma Skypark only a quarter mile from my old home. There was an open house airport day in June, and my father took us there. All the money went to some cause I can’t remember. They had flights over Sonoma for next to nothing, maybe ten dollars for an adult and even less for a kid. My sister and I both went up, and I still remember it. I was sitting in the right back seat and waved to my dad as we pulled off the ground. They had a silent auction for airplane rides. My dad put in a low bid for a biplane ride, $80. It came out that we won, I was going to go up in a 1929 Fleet with Ron Price. They told us we should also come back the next day. It was Young Eagles and they were going to have free flights for kids.
We went out again the next day. I flew in a Cessna 182 with Harry Andrews. I still have the certificate, I have all of them. I went flying in twelve Young Eagle flights over the next two years. After a few, they let me fly. Then, I started getting mini lessons in that time. I remember doing a standard rate 360 in an Ercoupe. It was easier for me to fly since I didn’t have to reach the rudder pedals. I kept it right at 3 degrees and came out at the exact same altitude. I remember he told me the standard was give or take 100 ft., but I did it perfectly. I was as proud of that as almost anything I’ve done.
A few weeks later I went up with Ron in the Fleet. I remember thinking what a great plane it was, even though it scared me. He offered to do loops, but I couldn’t handle it. A few years earlier I had a hard time getting pushed on the swings too high. It was still a spectacular time. After the flight, Ron and the other owner of the Fleet took off in to the sunset to have dinner by San Francisco. These were my idols, flying through the air, off to do what they please.
I took one lesson and really enjoyed it, but didn’t continue. I can’t remember why. My family was very supportive, especially my father. I can only imagine it was because some of the problems I was having as kid, which were because of the problems we were having as a family. Either way, flying took the back burner.
I left middle school and went on to a private school in San Rafael called Marin Academy. I came to hate it and ended up switching mid year. I finished up through a home schooling program, then switched to the local public high school. I didn’t like that either, and came to the decision high school wasn’t for me. I got my California High School Proficiency at the end of Sophomore year at 15. I had decided I wanted to be a mechanic.
In the fall I went to Wyotech, a mechanic trade school in Wyoming. I was the youngest student they ever had and was extremely isolated. They only had room in night classes, they ended at 1:40 AM. I was a kid from California by myself in winter in Wyoming, only up during the night. It made me crazy. I left there after a month to come home.
I kicked around in Sonoma for a few months, not doing much. I still wanted to work as a mechanic. When I was getting an exhaust pipe made for my car, I asked the shop owner if he needed any help. He didn’t really, and I didn’t know how to weld anyway. I asked him if he knew anybody that did. He heard Will at Will’s Garage might need somebody, I went to Will and he had a few days of yard work I could do. A few days of yard work turned in to a job of detailing cars and cleaning the floor. That turned in to oil changes and services, then electronic diagnostics. I knew the EFI and OBD-II stuff better than anybody, actually. It was from that I learned the importance of networking. I was there for nine months and decided I needed a change.
I made plans to go to a language school in Spain, followed by Wilderness EMT school in Yosemite. A few months before I left I fell in love with a girl named Jasmine. I went to Spain for 3 months, and when I got home, she was still waiting for me just like I waited for her. Four days later I went to Yosemite. I was the youngest student in that class as well, but 18 and ready for it. I got my certificate and an A in the class.
When I came home I thought I should work as an EMT. Hiring was slow in the area, so I got a job as a valet at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. There were a few very good things about that job. First, the money. $100 in cash tips for an 8 hour shift plus minimum wage. Second, I was getting paid to run and drive expensive cars.
Four months went by then I got a call from Piner‘s Ambulance. I took their written test and passed, then was called back for a practical. It would be a few weeks away. I studied and practiced, I wanted to be as prepared as possible. I failed, I saw that I had low marks in strength, which killed me. I was training for the California Powerlifting Championships, I knew strength was not a problem for me. I’m just small and don’t look strong. I thought I’d move on to find an ambulance job somewhere else.
One day Jasmine and I were in my apartment and she said some day she’d like to get her pilot’s license. I lit up. It was something I had forgotten and was in the back of my mind. We went to the airport and met Andy Smith, one of the luckier things that’s happened to me. He painted the glamorous life of a pilot, flying across the country or down to South America to be greeted by everyone who saw N as the first letter of your call sign. I bought it all, ate it up.
I went to the airport every free day I had. I met pilots, bummed rides and just let myself be known. When I met the manager he was a familiar face, Ron Price. A week later Andy was going to stop working at the airport to work at his old job. There was a position available as airport attendant. I took it for two days a week, and asked to go to part time at the Fairmont. They said fine, you can do part time.
It wasn’t fine. They scheduled me four or five days a week for two months. That came to one day off every few weeks. I made a lot of money, but got burnt out. Worst of all, I had no time to fly. I had taken the airport job thinking it would give time to fly, but it didn’t work out. I left the hotel and started working three days a week at the airport.
Let me describe what I do at Sonoma Skypark. During the spring I spent most days mowing the grass strip and the field with the tractor. Others we would fill in the cracks on the runway. What makes the job great is it’s always something different. I’ve learned to operate a back hoe, fork lift, front loader and tractor. Every Saturday we cook hamburgers. You get along well with people when you make them good food. After making a few hundred hamburgers I’ve got that down now too. Some of the days there’s just nothing to do but watch the airport. I’m encouraged to stay in the office and study for me license. It’s okay if I close up an hour early to get a lesson in. Today was Young Eagles, and I taught the fifteen minute ground school to a few groups of kids. Harry Andrews was out there with his 182. After it was done, I went flying with Andy in a 172 with Jasmine in the back seat
That’s where I am now. I'll be 19 next month. I work three days a week, and the others I fly, study or pick up extra work. I’m doing the cross country stage in my PPL and have passed the written. My plan is to earn my ratings and use them towards a degree. I’ve looked at the UVSC online courses for credit and Sky Walk in Sacramento and California Airways in Hayward for flight training. I think I’d do better in a full time flight school, not extremely accelerated like ATP. Any questions?
My first flight was six years ago last month. I was twelve years old. There is a small airport called Sonoma Skypark only a quarter mile from my old home. There was an open house airport day in June, and my father took us there. All the money went to some cause I can’t remember. They had flights over Sonoma for next to nothing, maybe ten dollars for an adult and even less for a kid. My sister and I both went up, and I still remember it. I was sitting in the right back seat and waved to my dad as we pulled off the ground. They had a silent auction for airplane rides. My dad put in a low bid for a biplane ride, $80. It came out that we won, I was going to go up in a 1929 Fleet with Ron Price. They told us we should also come back the next day. It was Young Eagles and they were going to have free flights for kids.
We went out again the next day. I flew in a Cessna 182 with Harry Andrews. I still have the certificate, I have all of them. I went flying in twelve Young Eagle flights over the next two years. After a few, they let me fly. Then, I started getting mini lessons in that time. I remember doing a standard rate 360 in an Ercoupe. It was easier for me to fly since I didn’t have to reach the rudder pedals. I kept it right at 3 degrees and came out at the exact same altitude. I remember he told me the standard was give or take 100 ft., but I did it perfectly. I was as proud of that as almost anything I’ve done.
A few weeks later I went up with Ron in the Fleet. I remember thinking what a great plane it was, even though it scared me. He offered to do loops, but I couldn’t handle it. A few years earlier I had a hard time getting pushed on the swings too high. It was still a spectacular time. After the flight, Ron and the other owner of the Fleet took off in to the sunset to have dinner by San Francisco. These were my idols, flying through the air, off to do what they please.
I took one lesson and really enjoyed it, but didn’t continue. I can’t remember why. My family was very supportive, especially my father. I can only imagine it was because some of the problems I was having as kid, which were because of the problems we were having as a family. Either way, flying took the back burner.
I left middle school and went on to a private school in San Rafael called Marin Academy. I came to hate it and ended up switching mid year. I finished up through a home schooling program, then switched to the local public high school. I didn’t like that either, and came to the decision high school wasn’t for me. I got my California High School Proficiency at the end of Sophomore year at 15. I had decided I wanted to be a mechanic.
In the fall I went to Wyotech, a mechanic trade school in Wyoming. I was the youngest student they ever had and was extremely isolated. They only had room in night classes, they ended at 1:40 AM. I was a kid from California by myself in winter in Wyoming, only up during the night. It made me crazy. I left there after a month to come home.
I kicked around in Sonoma for a few months, not doing much. I still wanted to work as a mechanic. When I was getting an exhaust pipe made for my car, I asked the shop owner if he needed any help. He didn’t really, and I didn’t know how to weld anyway. I asked him if he knew anybody that did. He heard Will at Will’s Garage might need somebody, I went to Will and he had a few days of yard work I could do. A few days of yard work turned in to a job of detailing cars and cleaning the floor. That turned in to oil changes and services, then electronic diagnostics. I knew the EFI and OBD-II stuff better than anybody, actually. It was from that I learned the importance of networking. I was there for nine months and decided I needed a change.
I made plans to go to a language school in Spain, followed by Wilderness EMT school in Yosemite. A few months before I left I fell in love with a girl named Jasmine. I went to Spain for 3 months, and when I got home, she was still waiting for me just like I waited for her. Four days later I went to Yosemite. I was the youngest student in that class as well, but 18 and ready for it. I got my certificate and an A in the class.
When I came home I thought I should work as an EMT. Hiring was slow in the area, so I got a job as a valet at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. There were a few very good things about that job. First, the money. $100 in cash tips for an 8 hour shift plus minimum wage. Second, I was getting paid to run and drive expensive cars.
Four months went by then I got a call from Piner‘s Ambulance. I took their written test and passed, then was called back for a practical. It would be a few weeks away. I studied and practiced, I wanted to be as prepared as possible. I failed, I saw that I had low marks in strength, which killed me. I was training for the California Powerlifting Championships, I knew strength was not a problem for me. I’m just small and don’t look strong. I thought I’d move on to find an ambulance job somewhere else.
One day Jasmine and I were in my apartment and she said some day she’d like to get her pilot’s license. I lit up. It was something I had forgotten and was in the back of my mind. We went to the airport and met Andy Smith, one of the luckier things that’s happened to me. He painted the glamorous life of a pilot, flying across the country or down to South America to be greeted by everyone who saw N as the first letter of your call sign. I bought it all, ate it up.
I went to the airport every free day I had. I met pilots, bummed rides and just let myself be known. When I met the manager he was a familiar face, Ron Price. A week later Andy was going to stop working at the airport to work at his old job. There was a position available as airport attendant. I took it for two days a week, and asked to go to part time at the Fairmont. They said fine, you can do part time.
It wasn’t fine. They scheduled me four or five days a week for two months. That came to one day off every few weeks. I made a lot of money, but got burnt out. Worst of all, I had no time to fly. I had taken the airport job thinking it would give time to fly, but it didn’t work out. I left the hotel and started working three days a week at the airport.
Let me describe what I do at Sonoma Skypark. During the spring I spent most days mowing the grass strip and the field with the tractor. Others we would fill in the cracks on the runway. What makes the job great is it’s always something different. I’ve learned to operate a back hoe, fork lift, front loader and tractor. Every Saturday we cook hamburgers. You get along well with people when you make them good food. After making a few hundred hamburgers I’ve got that down now too. Some of the days there’s just nothing to do but watch the airport. I’m encouraged to stay in the office and study for me license. It’s okay if I close up an hour early to get a lesson in. Today was Young Eagles, and I taught the fifteen minute ground school to a few groups of kids. Harry Andrews was out there with his 182. After it was done, I went flying with Andy in a 172 with Jasmine in the back seat
That’s where I am now. I'll be 19 next month. I work three days a week, and the others I fly, study or pick up extra work. I’m doing the cross country stage in my PPL and have passed the written. My plan is to earn my ratings and use them towards a degree. I’ve looked at the UVSC online courses for credit and Sky Walk in Sacramento and California Airways in Hayward for flight training. I think I’d do better in a full time flight school, not extremely accelerated like ATP. Any questions?
