Mike was a perfect Groom to Maree's Blushing Bride. Eli gave away his one and only daughter and then spent the rest of the night partying with the new couple 'til near the break of dawn. At some time, well before dawn, Dahlia and l (the Maid of Honor and the Best Man) crashed. When we awoke, the rest of the wedding party were still asleep, as they were when we had finished breakfast, so we left notes and headed back to San Jose.
Mike and l worked together a few days later and he told me that he and Eli got along quite well; he said Eli didn't stop handing him money until everybody went their seperate ways. Eli was always a pretty generous guy; especially in matters involving Maree. It figures; Eli had a bunch of sons and at least one step-son. (Over here), but only one daughter.
l have to say that, what might have been a sad affair, Maree's wedding was quite the opposite. Some months later, at the expected time, Maree gave birth to a beautiful girl child that she and her second husband both
welcomed. in the next few years they, together added two more daughters to the family. The last time l checked, that family of five was happily-ever-after-
ing in northern ldaho.
When l reached my office Monday, l was greeted by my good friend John D.
His Flying School is just a couple of things short of being ready to open to the public. "We could start selling flying lessons right now" he said "and l think we can put the rest of it together in two or three weeks."
"l could be there by then, l guess but l'd have to give short notice"
"How much notice would you feel comfortable with?"
" lt would probably take a month to train my replacement, and before that, who knows how long to find him (Her).
Goldang!, l didn't want to leave MPT. But l wanted to get that Pilot's license!
And l wanted to flysome, every day
l kept thinking " There is no doubt that l am in the best possible job for a person with the kind and amount of experience and developed skills that l posess."
Then l would think," See that plane over there?"
ln the end, don't you know, l went for the plane-ride.
Ray said "l hope this change will greatly advance and increase your career
situation. MPT will miss you." He didn't say "lf things don't go well at the flying shool, etc. etc.
Arriving home that evening, l called John and told him l'd be able to start the
next day. He was so stoked by my news, he thought at first l was kidding;he
really thought when it came right down to it l'd choose MPT. L would have thought that as big as aviation had been and was, in his life, he would have expected me to choose flying.That first day at Alpha Aviation (about mid-July,
1966) was all riding as a passenger while John gave me familiarization with instruments and controls in the Cessna 172. We landed at the Nut Tree, a Fly-
In restaurant a few miles West of Sacramento. The parking lots there are full
of show-class airplanes; well, maybe not full, there were a few like the dour
but utilitarian 172 that we came in. A miniature train with twenty-or-so open cars transports flyers-in from parking to dining to parking again.John's wife had been shopping in Sacramento with her sister, who lived there. They joined us for lunch and then John's wife flew back to Alpha Aviation with us.
The next day, l had two hours of instruction with a Licensed Iinstructor (Harv) in one of the Aeronca Champs. Harv said l did well. L wanted to believe him, but
but there were a few times, during that first lesson that l lost control of the plane, causing him to take control. l still remember how scared l was for a few moments. During the next couple weeks' l scared myself more than a few times.
Later that day, John got me started on ground school
lt took me a long time to solo. l'd improve some and for a couple of days l'd think l was ready, my instructors would agree with me, but before my solo was scheduled, l'd make some mistake that showed that l was not ready and my solo
would be moved back for a day or so. Then, when it was finally my time to solo,
l made two bad mistakes and almost crashed the plane into the pole to which the wind sock was attached. Two of the instructors that had instructed me, witnessed my near collision and they both met me when l landed.l thought they would take my Student's License until l had many more hours with an instructor
beside me,before l'd be allowed to fly by myself again. But as they approached
me, they both cried Good Save!! Well l did avoid hitting the pole, (which could
have crashed the plane,) ln fact, they told me to go right back up and continue my solo flight. They later told me, that if l had quit then l might not want to mount the plane again. So l went right back up and soloed for aboiut another half hour.Before my solo flying was finished l logged more than 200 hours.
in that plane.
l was still in my first month at AA when Jerry told me that John had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The Doctor gave him less than six months.
Jerry was very dependent on John when it came to Business Management. When it came to flying though, nobody could top him. As AA's Sales Mgr. l was technically number three on AA's number 3 on the totem pole. but there was no way l could do either John's or Jerry's job with out many years study and job
experience, that without AA l would never gain. l thought about my dad and how he liked my flying over his house on Gobblers Knob
He would miss my almost-weekly flyovers and l would miss doing them .
Alpha Aviation's facility was located on old hiway 17 (now l 880) which runs between Oakland and Santa Cruz. AA was closest to the town of Milpitas.
On my Dad's Birthday, (about 6 weeks after my start at AA) l bought a half-case
of Olympia beer, fashioned a parachute made of a squarely-cut bed sheet and 8
equall-length nylon twines which fastened to each corner of the sheet and to the middle of each of the sheet's sides. John accompanied me and threw the package out of an open window as we passed over my dad's house. The package was caught by a tree's branch and required some extrication. My dad cut a thin tree branch and easily fished the beer from the tree. John and l returned to AA triumphantly.
Some weeks later, l was solo-flying and l decided to buzz dad's house. Arriving there, l circled his house a few times and realized he was not at home.
Seen from 500' above the Santa Cruz mountain crests, it's all downhill, steeply.
l rotated my little plane and watched the compass until 90 degrees came up.
Now pointed at my destination and set for slow decline, l kicked back for the ride home. l had about one or two minutes of sheer bliss and then,KABLOOOEY.
At first, l thought the fuel tank in the wing just above my head had exploded.
Then, it seemed to be blowing from the left of the cabin to the right. My eyes
followed to the right and suddenly l see that l am about 200 feet behind the tail-end of a C-133 climbing into the South-West sky from it's base at Moffatt field, no doubt on it's way to hunt enemy subs in the China Sea or where ever. ln less than a minute it was out of sight.l flew directly back to AA. Jerry and l went over that plane with a fine tooth comb and found nary a scratch nor a dent, outside or inside. So, at least there was no physical contact between the planes . John said we would cooperate if we were visited by authorities.
After that, no more kicking back when l was the pilot.
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