Flight Training - July 2011 - 24
FLYING CARPET
By Greg Brown
MATT PEACOCK with his 1973 Cessna 150, at Lake Placid Airport. LAURIE SARGENT joins Matt Peacock in his Cessna 150.
MATT PEACOCK AND HIS CESSNA 150
AFFORDABLE ADVENTURE
t’s not every night you can dine with fellow pilots on the Queen Mary!” said Matt Peacock. He and girlfriend Laurie Sargent had just joined our table at the “A Night for Flight” fundraiser during AOPA Summit. They proved to be hospital nurses from upstate New York.
172, but as a beginner I wasn’t sure what to look for, or what I could afford. So I decided to buy an economical two-seat Cessna 150 and upgrade later. A wellequipped 1973 model popped up on eBay in Chesapeake, Virginia, that even had an autopilot. A student had once collapsed the nose gear, but I figured that was to be expected on a 35-year-old airplane. “I offered $22,000 for the plane sight unseen, and the seller accepted. So I purchased two one-way tickets to Virginia Beach, and first saw the plane the day my instructor and I flew it away. Kurt warned me beforehand that, ‘If I have a bad feeling about this plane, you’ll hear about it.’ But I figured at the price, even $2,000 or $3,000 of repairs would be reasonable, so the risk was small. As it turned out, we both felt good after interviewing the seller’s mechanics, who’d just completed the annual inspection. Since then,Kurt often says that I got a great buy.” “How did it feel, flying your own airplane home?” I asked. “Great, though I got nervous when we experienced engine roughness two hours into the flight. But after Kurt calmly applied carburetor heat, the engine chugged for a moment and then ran fine. ‘Congratulations!’ he said. ‘Your first experience with carb ice.’ We decided to stop at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, rather than proceeding home over mountains at night in a new airplane, as originally planned. “Ultimately it took one and a half years to earn my license, primarily because of my busy work schedule. My 75 hours of training time included extra solo practice thanks to owning my own airplane; I feel I got my private much cheaper than had I rented throughout. After that, I flew weekly to Poughkeepsie—a four-hour round trip versus 10 hours driving.” Last summer he flew to AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with his mechanic
"I
“Did you fly yourselves here?” I asked. “Oh, no,” said Matt. “I pilot a Cessna 150 out of Ogdensburg, up on the Canadian border. Flying here would have taken forever.” Along with working Ogdensburg’s emergency room, Matt practices as a travel nurse in Poughkeepsie. “Flying myself there saves time, and is affordable.” “How did you get into flying?” Jean asked. “At the time I worked full time in Poughkeepsie—eight days at a stretch to minimize the number of five-hour drives from Ogdensburg. I remember thinking, ‘There must be a quicker way to get here.’ “Someone suggested I look into flying down for work. They meant by airline, but it triggered the thought, ‘Why not learn to fly myself?’ I found my instructor, Kurt Thomas, on the Web, and was hooked after my first lesson.” Thirty hours into training, Matt bought his own airplane. “I figured, ‘Why not apply $5,000 of my training cost against buying my own plane?’ Originally I wanted a Cessna
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Flight Training - July 2011
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - July 2011
Flight Training - July 2011
Contents
President’s Perspective
Right Seat
Letters
The Wind in Your Hair
This Weekend
Success Story What It Looks Like
ASI News Member Products
Tech Tip
Since You Asked
AOPA Action
Final Exam
AOPA Action
News
Insights
Flying Carpet
Emergency Practice
I Love Low and Slow
Technique
Weather
Checkride
Flight Lesson
Rotorworld
Career Advisor
Tech Talk
Get Inside the Checklist
Nothing to See Here
Ultimate Communicators
Advertiser Index
Debrief
Flight Training - July 2011 - Flight Training - July 2011
Flight Training - July 2011 - Cover2
Flight Training - July 2011 - Contents
Flight Training - July 2011 - 2
Flight Training - July 2011 - 3
Flight Training - July 2011 - President’s Perspective
Flight Training - July 2011 - 5
Flight Training - July 2011 - Right Seat
Flight Training - July 2011 - 7
Flight Training - July 2011 - Letters
Flight Training - July 2011 - 9
Flight Training - July 2011 - The Wind in Your Hair
Flight Training - July 2011 - 11
Flight Training - July 2011 - This Weekend
Flight Training - July 2011 - Success Story What It Looks Like
Flight Training - July 2011 - ASI News Member Products
Flight Training - July 2011 - Tech Tip
Flight Training - July 2011 - Since You Asked
Flight Training - July 2011 - 17
Flight Training - July 2011 - AOPA Action
Flight Training - July 2011 - Final Exam
Flight Training - July 2011 - AOPA Action
Flight Training - July 2011 - 21
Flight Training - July 2011 - News
Flight Training - July 2011 - Insights
Flight Training - July 2011 - Flying Carpet
Flight Training - July 2011 - 25
Flight Training - July 2011 - Emergency Practice
Flight Training - July 2011 - 27
Flight Training - July 2011 - 28
Flight Training - July 2011 - 29
Flight Training - July 2011 - 30
Flight Training - July 2011 - 31
Flight Training - July 2011 - I Love Low and Slow
Flight Training - July 2011 - 33
Flight Training - July 2011 - 34
Flight Training - July 2011 - 35
Flight Training - July 2011 - Technique
Flight Training - July 2011 - 37
Flight Training - July 2011 - Weather
Flight Training - July 2011 - 39
Flight Training - July 2011 - 40
Flight Training - July 2011 - Checkride
Flight Training - July 2011 - 42
Flight Training - July 2011 - 43
Flight Training - July 2011 - Flight Lesson
Flight Training - July 2011 - Rotorworld
Flight Training - July 2011 - Career Advisor
Flight Training - July 2011 - 47
Flight Training - July 2011 - Tech Talk
Flight Training - July 2011 - Get Inside the Checklist
Flight Training - July 2011 - Nothing to See Here
Flight Training - July 2011 - Ultimate Communicators
Flight Training - July 2011 - Advertiser Index
Flight Training - July 2011 - 53
Flight Training - July 2011 - 54
Flight Training - July 2011 - 55
Flight Training - July 2011 - Debrief
Flight Training - July 2011 - Cover3
Flight Training - July 2011 - Cover4
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