AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2015 - 104

NEWS & NOTES

INSURANCE SERVICES

MEMBER PRODUCTS

Like father, like son
A Cessna 172 creates a bond
"I CAME INTO THIS WORLD with the flying bug from my father," says
retired U.S. Air Force Col. Jim Kerr. His father, John, was a private pilot
who flew as a passion and a hobby. He earned his private certificate on
December 7, 1941, and later-as a recent college graduate-was involved
with the Manhattan Project. "He was doing research at Oak Ridge
Laboratory in Tennessee," says his son, "and he was sworn to secrecy."
Kerr's father took him for an airline trip in a Convair when he was
three years old, again when he was five, and once more when he was
nine. "My father was my biggest mentor and supporter," adds Kerr, who
took lessons when he was 15 and soloed on his seventeenth birthday.
He earned his pilot certificate before his driver's license. "The only
reason I got my driver's license," he says, "is that my father told me he
was tired of driving me to the airport."
Kerr had a 38-year Air Force career, flying everything from Huey
helicopters to the C-141, KC-135, KC-10, and others. "I had a very wonderful and rich career."
His father had purchased a Cessna 172 that had been used as a demonstrator. Almost new, the airplane was a 1980 model with just 160
hours on it. When his father decided it was time to retire from flying,
he gave the Cessna 172 to his son. "The airplane was in pristine condition. It was always hangared and treated with great care. In fact, it
still has its original paint," he says.
When it came time to insure the 172, the Kerrs called AOPA
Insurance Services. "AOPA is like a good doctor; you want someone
you can grow old with who knows your history," the younger Kerr says.
"Just like my father, I enjoy working with AOPA; they're like family."

ON THE

WEB

No matter your needs, AOPA Insurance
Services has the right policy for you.
For more information or to apply for a
policy, visit the website (www.aopa
insurance.org) or call 1-800-622-2672.
You may earn a 5-percent discount just
for being an AOPA member.

ANSWERS FOR PILOTS

WEIGHT AND BALANCE ISSUES-AND YOUR HEALTH
STEPPING ON the scale in January can be discouraging. Pilots with diabeties face the scale on two fronts as
holiday foods also wreak havoc on blood glucose levels.
However, diabetics treated with oral medications who
have the condition under control can obtain a special
issuance medical under the current guidelines.
For pilots with a condition referred to as "pre diabetes," there's even better news: The FAA now has a
process known as CACI (conditions aviation medical

104 | AOPA PILOT January 2015

examiners can issue) that allows aviation medical
examiners to issue medical certificates at the time of
an office visit.
Read more about this in January's online Answers
for Pilots (www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Answersfor-Pilots.aspx). If you have questions, please give the
aviation technical specialists in the Pilot Information
Center a call at 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672), Monday
through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.

http://www.aopainsurance.org http://www.aopainsurance.org http://www.aopainsurance.org http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Answers-for-Pilots.aspx http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Answers-for-Pilots.aspx

AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2015