Pilot at 63

I can identify with Herb Hutchison in his article “Musings: Pilot at 63” (April 2025 AOPA Pilot). I, too, became a pilot much too late in life. Getting my pilot’s certificate was a rather long and somewhat convoluted process, but here is a synopsis.

It seems like I always wanted to fly. I would read pilot magazines and collect information packages on various homebuilt aircraft. But getting married, going to work, and raising a family precluded any hopes of flying. The notion gradually, finally, left my mind. I had been retired several years when I had an epiphany that I finally had the time to learn to fly. After doing some research, visiting nearby airports, and meeting with prospective CFIs, I took my first flying lesson in 2015 at age 67. I was granted my recreational pilot certificate in June 2016 at age 68.

Wayne Willmore
Chatham, Illinois

There is No Excuse

A follow-up to Kenneth Best’s letter in June 2025 AOPA Pilot concerning “There is No Excuse” (January 2025 AOPA Pilot) and fuel bladders: I owned a Cessna 182 with bladders in Alaska back in the 1980s that was stored outside. I began to notice that I didn’t seem to be using much fuel until I landed, then the fuel gauges would drop dramatically. Once, when I knew I was skosh on fuel, I saw the gauges creep back up toward full. I had no landing alternatives. I knew something was amiss and began to get uncomfortable even though I had planned for sufficient fuel. I had no way to monitor it since I knew the gauges were incorrect. Upon landing, the telltale signs of suction at the fuel caps and the fact I filled one tank within one gallon of capacity told me I had used almost everything I had. That gave me a wake-up call. Sure enough, a blocked vent and loose bladder nearly did me in.

Heed the warnings. Wintertime flying has a few more safety precautions. Ice in a vent can be deadly!

Jimmy Walton
Grapevine, Texas

It Feels Like Home

Niki Britton’s article “It Feels Like Home” (May 2025 AOPA Pilot) is a great article about this quaint restaurant at Chino Airport (CNO). On a flying vacation out west from Ohio in 2003, I stopped at this historic airport. I parked my Cessna 172 Skyhawk at the Flying Tigers FBO and walked to the famous Planes of Fame Museum on the field. Next, I walked to Flo’s for lunch, and it was everything her article described—I am glad I stopped in. Finally, I walked to the Yanks Air Museum on the north end of the airport—another remarkable and worthy museum (they were kind enough to shuttle this 70-plus guy 1.3 miles back to my airplane).

If fellow pilots fly into CNO, I encourage them to take in both museums on other sides of a lunch stop at Flo’s.

Rick Hunt
Columbus, Ohio

Combating Human Error

The insidious mental mistakes that Ben Berman described in the “Combating Human Error” (March 2025 AOPA Pilot) are among my greatest concerns in flying. His tips have applications not only in flying, but in daily life.

I’m wondering whether the practice of illeism could also be helpful. Illeism is the practice of talking about oneself in the third person rather than in the first person. Some studies show that when trying to make a difficult decision, speaking about ourselves in the third person can give us the ability to make a more rational and less emotional decision. It gives us the chance to become the “cognitive psychologist comfortably seated in a coffee shop” mentioned in the article.

My first application of this was when contemplating climbing on the roof of my two-story house to hang Christmas lights from the gutter. I asked myself, “What would other people say if they heard that I fell off the roof while doing this?” I concluded that very few people would have responded with much compassion. So, I let someone else handle it. I also find this approach helpful when contemplating launching into weather that could get me into trouble.

Jeff Ackerman
Greensboro, North Carolina

Racing the Airlines

Kollin Stagnito’s article, “On Course: Racing the Airlines” (May 2025 AOPA Pilot) reminded me of a similar situation I had several years ago.

I had a choice between a two-hour flight in my Cessna 172 or a six-hour drive to attend a family function over the weekend. I also had a firm commitment requiring me to be home on Monday. The weather flying to the event on Friday was ideal. However, the weather for my planned departure on Sunday was for temperatures in the teens in the wake of a cold front passage on Saturday, with accompanying light snow with little accumulation. Otherwise, the weather for the return trip was forecast to be severe clear under the influence of an arctic air mass.

I did my due diligence (I thought) by calling the FBO. Although there was no hangar space available, they confirmed they had engine preheat capability. I assumed I could just brush any snow off the airplane and get preheated, so I elected to fly instead of drive. When I arrived at the airport on Sunday morning, I discovered that the precipitation on Saturday initially was rain, which then turned to snow. This left nodules of ice frozen to the airframe and covered by snow. I spent an hour trying to remove this mixture of ice and snow by myself to no avail. The temperatures were forecast to be well below freezing for the next several days, so waiting for warmer conditions was not an option. Well, the FBO maintained aircraft deice equipment (Type 1 fluid) in support of regional airline operations. I really did have to be home that evening and they were willing, so I had them deice the airplane.

That may have been the one and only time they were asked to deice a Skyhawk. Even though it was much smaller than a regional jet, the service was still hideously expensive. They did give me the engine preheat on the house though! In retrospect, it would have been a lot cheaper to drive, but I wouldn’t have a “war story” to tell. Most important, I was able to complete the flight safely.

Dave McClurkin
Norman, Oklahoma

Errata

“The Goodyear Blimp” (June 2025 AOPA Pilot) incorrectly states that the ballonets of the blimps contain helium. The ballonets hold the air, and the space around them—the envelope—is filled with helium. Additionally, we incorrectly stated there were three ballonets. Pilgrim had one ballonet, all others have two.

In the article “Oak Harbor, Washington” (June 2025 AOPA Pilot), the length of the runway was mistakenly reported at 6,000 feet long. The runway at DeLaurentis Airport is 3,265 feet long. It was recently widened to 60 feet. AOPA Pilot regrets the errors.

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