Meanwhile, poor Sarah was home worrying about me, and the weather, which appeared particularly nasty. Texas is where we learned the phrase “tornado watch.” In fact, when we left Texas to finish flight school in Fort Rucker, Alabama she said she would never live in Texas again. At the time, I was too worried about dying in a helicopter crash or failing the next phase and “washing out” to give her the attention she deserved. We were newlyweds, and she forgave me- I think. After a few weeks, the pressure eased, and we met some nice people; Buck and Mimi Lovelace, who also had a Porsche. Theirs was new, but heavier body style, and with the old engine. Both their fathers were generals, and we enjoyed their company. She was a Christian Scientist,
…show more content…
While there, we visited a Porsche dealership and saw a used 911. The beautiful blue automobile was just a year old with about 15,000 miles. Joe’s description was understated! I thought it seemed reasonably priced and was a great driving car; a joy to have before I would be risking my life in Vietnam next year. I traded in the 356 for the 911. The monthly payment was $149 versus $89, but my flight pay was $200, and Per Diem was $16 a day. Further, we had finished paying off Sarah’s student loan so we could afford it. It was a great car to drive, but after a couple months I found out there were considerable maintenance requirements- much more than the 356. First, Porsche designed the carburetors with an overflow gas bowl which, in theory, would keep a perfect gas level, but in practice didn’t. Spark plugs would load up with carbon every 3,000 miles and needed cleaning or replacing. I became good at changing them. After a while, I figured how to set the carburetors leaner so they wouldn’t carbon up as much. However, the increased combustion temperature would extract the lead out of the burned gas and deposit it on the spark plugs. They still never made it past 5,000 until I figured out to use Amoco unleaded …show more content…
I had always received “A” rides, but instrument training would “wash out” many people. There were 4 or 5 students assigned to each instructor, and only one student would ride with the instructor a day. Each day the instructor would say; “okay, I’m riding with you today. Each day he would choose someone else and he kept leaving me out. I began to wonder what was happening, but the rest of the students had flown three times each and I hadn’t flown at all. We went out, and he treated me as if I had flown three times, expecting me to be up to speed. I wasn’t, and when we got back, he gave me a pink slip. I asked him: “don’t you get a familiarization flight”? He said; “you haven’t had any flights?” I told him no, and he replied; “If you’re lying, I’ll get you thrown out of flight school.” I said; “okay”. He checked and the next day he came back all apologetic. He was embarrassed and the rest of the time I received “A” rides from him.
Flight school was just about over, and we were preparing for graduation, the most dangerous day in flight school. Every class that graduated formed up a gigantic formation flight and flew right over the center of the post. It would be difficult for very experienced pilots to safely fly 200 aircraft 5’ of each other. For students who have just graduated, it’s an accident just waiting to
While there, we visited a Porsche dealership and saw a used 911. The beautiful blue automobile was just a year old with about 15,000 miles. Joe’s description was understated! I thought it seemed reasonably priced and was a great driving car; a joy to have before I would be risking my life in Vietnam next year. I traded in the 356 for the 911. The monthly payment was $149 versus $89, but my flight pay was $200, and Per Diem was $16 a day. Further, we had finished paying off Sarah’s student loan so we could afford it. It was a great car to drive, but after a couple months I found out there were considerable maintenance requirements- much more than the 356. First, Porsche designed the carburetors with an overflow gas bowl which, in theory, would keep a perfect gas level, but in practice didn’t. Spark plugs would load up with carbon every 3,000 miles and needed cleaning or replacing. I became good at changing them. After a while, I figured how to set the carburetors leaner so they wouldn’t carbon up as much. However, the increased combustion temperature would extract the lead out of the burned gas and deposit it on the spark plugs. They still never made it past 5,000 until I figured out to use Amoco unleaded …show more content…
I had always received “A” rides, but instrument training would “wash out” many people. There were 4 or 5 students assigned to each instructor, and only one student would ride with the instructor a day. Each day the instructor would say; “okay, I’m riding with you today. Each day he would choose someone else and he kept leaving me out. I began to wonder what was happening, but the rest of the students had flown three times each and I hadn’t flown at all. We went out, and he treated me as if I had flown three times, expecting me to be up to speed. I wasn’t, and when we got back, he gave me a pink slip. I asked him: “don’t you get a familiarization flight”? He said; “you haven’t had any flights?” I told him no, and he replied; “If you’re lying, I’ll get you thrown out of flight school.” I said; “okay”. He checked and the next day he came back all apologetic. He was embarrassed and the rest of the time I received “A” rides from him.
Flight school was just about over, and we were preparing for graduation, the most dangerous day in flight school. Every class that graduated formed up a gigantic formation flight and flew right over the center of the post. It would be difficult for very experienced pilots to safely fly 200 aircraft 5’ of each other. For students who have just graduated, it’s an accident just waiting to