August-September-2021 - 42

S H OP TA L K
Fifty Years of Aviation Has
Brought Me Full Circle
It was a typical June day in north central Wisconsin. Warm, with a breeze from the
south. I was out of bed early, and soon my dad and I were headed to the Merrill
Airport. I had been anxiously awaiting my 16th birthday, not because of cake
and ice cream, but if all went well today, I was hoping to make my first solo flight.
Things did go well, and I made three solo take-off
and landings! I recall one time looking at the empty
back seat and smiling...yes, I really was alone.
The airplane I had been learning to fly in was a
By Ron Donner,
Aviation Consultant
Piper PA-11 Cub, and my instructor was a man by the
name of John Hatz.
A few years earlier, John had designed and built his
own 2 place open cockpit airplane, the Hatz Biplane.
Over the next few years, I would have the chance to
over time, would take a ride in one whenever I had
the chance.
I even bought an unfinished project in the 1990's
but work, family and lack of a shop ... well, it was later
sold. Yet, I would regularly keep an eye on the for-sale
ads, just in case.
Fast forward 50 years.
Over the years, I would try to fly on my birthday
just as a personal way to commemorate my first solo.
Sometimes in the airplane I owned at the time, a few
times in a rental PA-11 Cub, an airliner on a business
trip, once in a glider, or whatever, worked out. But this
year, I was not quite prepared to fly the Cub on that
memorable day, so no birthday flight.
What transpired next was very unexpected. Paging
KEITH DOYON
fly in the biplane with his eldest son Lyman at the
controls. Lyman and I attended high school together.
A few years later, after attending A&P school, I
had the chance to help build and fly a couple of other
Hatz Biplanes that were being built in the area, and
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Elliott Aviation ........................2
GlobalParts.aero .................... 23
Gradient Lens Corporation ......... 25
42 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021
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Preferred Airparts, LLC ............. 41
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ADVERTISER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE #
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Taughannock Aviation .............. 35
Things for Aircraft Support, Inc. .... 41
USA Borescopes ................ 33, 41
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AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
through Barnstormers.com one night, I came upon a
new for-sale ad for a Hatz Biplane located about 250
miles from my home. I e-mailed for pictures, talked
to the seller a few times, made two trips to look at it,
fly it and in less than a week, it was mine...sitting in a
hangar at my local airport. It was just what I wanted.
Okay, okay, call me crazy, but I cannot think of a
better way to commemorate the 50 years since my
first solo. I prefer to be thought of as being passionate
about everything aviation!
Keep 'em flying safely, Ron
http://www.Barnstormers.com
August-September-2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August-September-2021
