Around the Field
North 40 filling up…it’s
a family thing…the well-qualified formation pilot…and, not your
typical father-son flying story.
Story
and photo by Jack Hodgson
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Theresa and David Marten, with their 1956 Bonanza. His other plane is a B-1 bomber.
Photo by Jack Hodgson
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It’s Sunday, and a
steady stream of planes are arriving in the North 40, filling up row
after row. Lots of different colors, sizes, and shapes.
The EAA flag people wave
their orange wands, directing newcomers to the next open space. Fuel
trucks bounce up and down the rows, topping off tanks.
Tents, sleeping bags, and
all kinds of gear are being pulled out of loaded-to-the-limits small
airplanes.
AirVenture 2006 is under
way.
Downwind of their
campsite, at the far end of the North 40, you can smell breakfast on the
Avra family’s gas grill.
Shawn and Mary, and their
kids, Elizabeth, age 8, Patrick, 6, and Alex, 5, arrived at the fly-in
Saturday evening in their twin-engine Cessna 340.
Shawn and Mary have been
coming to the fly-in for 10 years.
"The first year we
came here, we drove," says Shawn. "And it’s a lot more fun
to fly."
They’ve had the C-340
for about eight years, but have for sale signs on it this year. Selling
the twin will leave them with "only" a Baron and a Kitfox and
an Arrow.
One reason to get rid of
the twin is that it’s too large to operate out of their 2,600-foot
home strip back in Coldwater, Michigan.
In addition to
AirVenture, Shawn takes part in other flying adventures throughout the
year. For the past two summers, the Avras have flown a Cessna 185
throughout Alaska.
"We flew into
Anchorage, then we went southwest to King Salmon and the King Islands.
Then last year we went southeast down through Cordova. We spent some
time at Yakutat and Valdez. Mostly salmon fishing. That was fun."
One of his favorite
fields in Alaska is Merrill, near Anchorage.
"They’ve got a
thousand little airplanes. There’s always airplanes coming and going.
Lots of people to talk to, just a lot of activity around the
airport."
Sounds a lot like
AirVenture.
David and Theresa Marten
arrived at AirVenture 2006 as part of the Bonanza to Oshkosh group on
Saturday. It was their first time as part of that group.
"It was great. A lot
of fun. They’re great folks, and they’ve got it down to a science. A
very well-oiled machine."
Most first-timers have to
go through special training to qualify to be part of these group
arrivals. But David has some special skills.
"My day job is as a
B-1 pilot." David smiles. "They gave me credit for my
formation training."
David is an Air Force
captain, currently stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid
City, South Dakota. The B-1 that is visiting the fly-in this week is
from David’s squadron at Ellsworth.
David and Theresa’s
personal plane is a 1956 Bonanza.
Theresa isn’t a pilot,
but she enjoys flying with her husband in their Bonanza.
"I’m just the
navigator," she says, then grins, "and the CFO; I pay for the
airplane.
"Our family does not
live anywhere near us, given that we’re in the military. So we use the
airplane to be able to get to and fro."
"We’ve had it
about three years," says David. "I’m a very active EAA guy,
and two of the guys in the Chapter were rebuilding this thing. And I’d
monkey around with them on Saturdays. And they said, ‘Hey, Dave, when
we’re done with this, you ought to buy it.’"
"I sold my Pacer to
another EAA guy and bought the Bonanza. It worked out pretty good."
David is with EAA Chapter
39 Rapid City. He’s the Chapter’s Young Eagles coordinator, and he’ll
be flying Young Eagles here at AirVenture on Tuesday and Friday.
Jimmy and Ben Harris are
father and son from Jackson, Tennessee.
They made the four-hour
flight here this year from their home airport, McKeller field.
This is their fifth year
at the fly-in.
For Ben, one great memory
of past AirVentures was last year’s visit by SpaceShipOne and White
Knight. And Jimmy loves the experience of being here camping among all
the different planes.
"You see every kind
of airplane… from the walk here to the gates you see every kind of
airplane that’s generally made. It’s real interesting to see all the
planes."
Jimmy and Ben are not
your typical father-son flying story.
"I’ve been flying
a long time," says Dad. "But I’ve just been licensed a few
months."
He had been interested in
flying since he was a kid. He wanted to go into the Air Force, and
flight school, and learn to fly.
"But I had too much
astigmatism to get into flight school, so that kinda shot that dream
down. "
He settled for a career
in real estate development, but kept his passion for flying, which he
passed on to his son.
Ben carried on with that
passion, attending Embry-Riddle, becoming an A&P mechanic, and
getting his pilot certificate about seven years ago.
Ben and his dad have flown together since
then, first in their Cardinal, and now in their shiny new Cessna 182.
And now, after all these years, Jimmy has achieved that dream of being a
pilot.
