Discovering the Dream
In 2006 I re-discovered aviation, thanks to an acquaintance who was offered the First Officer's seat in SkyWest Airlines' Embraer Brasilia 120. I say re-discovered because during the only six years of my childhood spent living with my parents, my dad was an airplane spotter- a real aviation enthusiast, before access to airport terminals was eliminated to the non-flying public. I still have a lingering memory of watching planes at the gates of LAX and LGB's terminals.
Looking back, my dad's mission in life appeared to be to teach me everything he knew about aviation. His scanner was on 24-7. I knew the difference between Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas. The Beechcraft Bonanza was my favorite airplane because it had a V-tail, and for some reason, All the Piper Native American names for their aircraft intrigued me. At six years old, I was reading the schedules of commercial airlines, loaded with numbers and acronyms which were beginning to make sense to me. All this came to a premature end when I became a ward of the court as a first grader.
The SkyWest F/O faded out of my life, but a taste for the non-glamorous life of a flight attendant had seized me. My ties to the home state of that regional airline and the fact that it had 15 (at the time) possible flight attendant domiciles, one being at SMF, where I had family I hadn't really learned to identify with, made it the top airline on my list. Unfortunately, I wasn't the top candidate in the recruiter's eyes. I guess she didn't see the wingbuds beneath my interview suit.
I had wingbuds ready to emerge and soil conditions were right, so to speak. While reading Flying Magazine, an amazingly designed advertisement for Lakeland, Florida's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In, caught my eye.
Living the Dream
The Sun 'n Fun Fly-In was like the sun and water to my budding wings. I realized that I didn't have to be a flight attendant to be able to fly. I went to the first volunteer meeting for the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In, where I met a couple, each wearing a sweater with a seaplane depicted upon it, and said "Go jump in a Lake". I asked, "Is a Lake a type of plane?" From the context, that's how it appeared, and it turned out the appearance wasn't deceiving at all.
Their answer to my next question FLOORED me! "Where are you from?" I asked. They could have said, "Winterhaven", where they were spending the winter, but of all things they said, "St. George, Utah". NO WAY! That is SkyWest Airlines' headquarters! I came to learn that they had two pilot son's and a daughter-in-law who was a flight attendant for SkyWest on leave! He was a retired TWA Captain, and she was a retired teacher. After their meeting, they took me out to their plane and told me about their flying adventures. One day, for each of the next two consecutive months, I attended the volunteer coordination meetings and gradually fell in love with General Aviation.
Wings to the Dream
Looking back, having now volunteered at two Sun 'n Fun Fly-In's and interviewed with half a dozen airlines, I have much to look forward to. No Sun 'n Fun theme will ever represent self-actualization as the theme for my first year, "Living the Dream". It is a mantra for nearly every aviator I've met. They know what it means: It means they've got the wings that would have helped them reach higher and realize their potential. My dad gave me my wing buds, which were long neglected as life took me other places, but once they're planted, they'll let you know when it is time to harvest your destiny.
