Temporary slowdown

At first, we couldn’t get it to make a sound, and then we heard a scratchy version of Elvis’s Blue Hawaii. (We’re from Memphis, so we give The King his due.) Finally, we got the right setting and the first clear notes washed over us. It was pure magic...for about 20 minutes until we had to flip the record over to hear the other seven songs on the album. It was a far cry from “Hey Alexa! Play my favorite songs.” And when I’ve just gotten home from a long day at work, and I have three kids literally running around the house, and my hands are in a bowl of ground beef to get the cheeseburgers ready for the grill, being able to yell for Alexa is a luxury for which I am grateful.

But in those moments where there’s a slowdown, and we put on a Jim Croce record and get a real taste of our country’s cultural history and one man’s lyrical genius as we hold his record jacket in our hands, well, that’s something our instant-gratification modern world just can’t match.

Old airplanes have the power to do that for us, too.

I did my tailwheel endorsement with a local designated examiner friend, Dr. Morris Ray, in his 1943 Stearman. First, we did a thorough ground lesson on the finer points of tailwheel flying, and how to manage the fact that I wouldn’t actually be able to see straight ahead on the ground. Then, because it is precious and must be coddled, the Stearman rests in a back corner of the hangar, so Doc had to move several airplanes out of the way. Next, there was the whole open-air cockpit issue of needing to find hats, jackets, and other gear.

When it was time to get her cranked, Doc explained how old radial engines can drip oil down into the lower cylinders if the airplane sits for a bit. So, he had to go through his process of hand pulling the propeller slowly through a rotation to ensure we wouldn’t cause any damage during the start sequence.

In short, she’s what we would call a high-maintenance gal. But when we took off and I felt the wind pass through my outstretched hand, time seemed to slow down, and I experienced that temporary magic that sometimes happens when flying—where the rest of the world falls away, and it’s just you and the airplane.

When I asked Doc why he didn’t spend his money on something newer or faster, he replied, “I don’t want new and nice and easy.” Then he told me about the fun he has flying formation into Oshkosh in his T–6 Texan and the camaraderie he’s felt over the years with other warbird owners. In short, Doc loves an old airplane, and as someone who has benefitted from his generous gift of flight time and instruction through the years, I am grateful.

Brian Flax, another FAA DPE friend and retired airline pilot, flies a 1951 Cessna Bird Dog out of our local Olive Branch, Mississippi, airport. Brian first fell in love with Bird Dogs as a kid watching them perform at airshows and now considers himself lucky to have owned a Bird Dog for 27 years. Finding knowledgeable mechanics to help maintain it was an early challenge and parts have been difficult to find, considering that out of the original 3,400 Bird Dogs produced, only 300 are still flying today.

But, he says, he’s hardly had a day of regret in all those years because the airplane never fails to put a smile on his face. When I asked about what it’s like to deal with the older technology, he just laughs. “It’s been worth every second to get to connect with the early roots of aviation. People forget that you don’t need a glass cockpit, and that there was life before nose gear!”

Why does it all matter anyway? The effort and time and money? Brian’s last thought is what makes that record player and old airplanes (and the people who fly them) so valuable. We may not all be music aficionados or aviation history buffs, but we’re human. And there’s something life giving about connecting to a simpler, not necessarily easier, time.

It’s also good for us to remember that the current state of things is not the way it always was, nor the way it will be in the future. The only thing that turns out to be constant is change.
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