I must confess right off that my interview with pilot Keena Pope wasn’t so much an interview as it was a good, old-fashioned, girl’s day out, get-together and gossip fest. That it was done while she was on the clock and at her boss’s expense made the visit all the more special.

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This month our oldest child will turn 40 and last month our youngest turned 13. When Amy and Keith were young, we worked. There wasn’t much time for travel and fun stuff. When there was time off, we were typically too tired for much activity. There were a few trips (one or two to Oshkosh, if I recall), some school activities, and we always made time for church.

Being older and having Keely in our lives has given us new perspective. For me, even before she became our third child, learning to fly changed me profoundly. Some things that were important before no longer were, and the simple things that are often put aside or ignored took on new significance. Flying heightened my appreciation of the world around me, especially the natural world that we, as pilots, see so beautifully from the windows of airplanes.

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Through most of my married life, which has been most of my life really, my Old Man has been the backbone of this family. Sure, I often have to be the navigator, gently — and sometimes not so gently — guiding us in the proper direction, but once on course, his strength and determination sees us through whatever obstacle or situation is at hand.

I am a pretty tough old gal, but I’m able to be tough because I have a safety net to fall back on, a strong pair of arms to keep me safe, a shelter from the storm, and all those kind of sappy, cliché phrases that happen to be true in this case. In fact, in our social circles, this is so well known that the Old Man once received a commendation at a Luscombe banquet for being the “wind beneath my wings.”

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Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia.

Red Bouchie was born and raised in Oneida, S.D., and came from a long line of farmer-ranchers. In the days after World War II, everybody in those parts had a J-3, and he spent his youth in the backseat of such a Cub pestering coyotes.

Those early days were influential. In 1956, while in Fullerton, Calif., he soloed a Tri-Pacer and took his check ride in a Cherokee 140. He considered a flying career as a California highway patrolman, [Read more...]

Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia.

I was going to write about something pleasant this month but a comment, casually stated as fact on an Internet forum, really cooked my goose and has become the basis of the following rant. My flying buddies and regular readers are probably rolling their eyes right about now, thinking, “Lord have mercy. Here she goes again.”

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Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia.

Young Bobby Burns was infatuated with flying and airplanes, and on his 13th birthday his parents fed the fire with a 10-minute flight in an Aeronca Champ at San Fernando Airport in San Fernando, Calif. He was prepared. He had memorized a little book called “Let’s Fly,” and when the pilot of the Champ gave him the controls, he was sure Bobby had flown before. [Read more...]

Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia.

It’s not often that a reader takes the time to send me a written letter through the postal service, and when he or she does, it is special to me. Just this past month I received a very warm correspondence from Dick Waite of Hagerman, Idaho. I felt it appropriate to share his words as they reflect the experiences and the sentiment of a lot of Short Final readers.

“Your column in General Aviation News is always a first read.” Thanks Mr. Waite. I really try to keep my writing fun, just like my flying. If it becomes too serious or negative, it will be time to do something else.

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Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia.

Ed Nitzsche started flying lessons while in high school under the tutelage of Jack Brown at the original Tamiami Airport in Miami in 1951. He later finished instruction at Kendall Flying School, which was operated by women’s aerobatic champion Mary Gaffaney, and received his sign off on Feb. 17, 1956.

Wow. That paragraph is loaded with aviation history, [Read more...]

Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia.

Last post I regaled the world with the great flying weather during the first part of October in the southeast. Two fly-ins, two weekends of travel and two Luscombes keeping the airways hot satisfied my need to fly.

I was quite happy to finish the rest of the month with a few short leaf-peeking flights until the Old Man pointed to a letter lying on the kitchen counter. It was the announcement of my 30th class reunion for the upcoming Saturday evening.

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Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia.

It’s October in the South and it’s flying time. There are more fly-ins, air shows, gatherings, events, happenings and visitations than you can shake a stick at, and we’re trying our best to see and do them all!

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