AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 34
PILOT BRIEFING
MUSINGS |
Human ballast
When the going gets tough, the engineer gets creative
BY PETER A. BEDELL
34 | AOPA PILOT January 2021
father took on the task of instructing his
65-year-old father in law.
Both Dad and my grandfather had a
mutual respect for each other and their
respective fields. Dad was a medical
doctor and accomplished ATP/CFI who
started flying in his teens. He even had
a stint with the airlines in his early 20s.
Dad was a very conservative pilot. There
were a few occasions, though, that had
my dad really worried about his latest
student, who had earned his private certificate and started flying-his way.
There was the time when an awful
line of thunderstorms created a wall
between New Jersey and my grandfather's destination, the family's farm
airstrip on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
My dad hoped that Granddad had
landed short and waited out the weather.
But the approaching drone of a Cessna
206 dashed my father's hopes. After
landing, the interior of that 206 looked
like a battlefield. Charts, flashlights,
luggage-and, best of all, a stewpot no
longer containing the beef tongue in
raisin sauce he was transporting for dinner-were strewn about the cabin and
baggage area. My grandfather's sweatsoaked shirt said everything my dad
suspected about the weather he just
tangled with. My grandfather naturally
downplayed the event. He wanted to get
home, and he did. Thankfully, the 206 is
a stout airplane.
There was also the time that the
family was gathered in the living room
one evening in my grandfather's home.
He was due to come back from New
Jersey again but since it was after dark,
we assumed he stayed the night. There
are no lights on the runway so landing at
night is out of the question. Once again,
the sound of an approaching 206 raised
SEAN MCCABE
THE EVENT I AM ABOUT to describe happened more than 50 years ago and the
participants have long since passed
away. But the story has been told at my
family's dinner table countless times
over the following years. With each
telling, it is met with chuckles and affirmative nods from those who've heard
the story dozens of times. Those who
haven't heard the tale usually express
disbelieving gasps. The story is true,
however.
My maternal grandfather was a
mechanical engineer and inventor who
immigrated to the United States from
Germany. Like many engineers, he was
talented, creative, and knowledgeable.
And like many Germans, he was stubborn. At the tail end of his successful
career inventing many machines that
touched the lives of billions around the
world, he decided to take up flying. My
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021
Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - 7
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2021 - Cover4
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