AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - July 2017 - 46

PILOT BRIEFING
YOU CAN FLY

|

'Tweety' launches North
Texas flying club
Reimagined trainer is a pilot magnet
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N

THE YELLOW CESSNA 150 around which the
Nate Abel Flying Club was formed has had
a busy year. AOPA awarded the airplane,
remanufactured by Aviat Aircraft, to the
North Texas club in January 2017, and it flew
more than 60 flight hours during its first two
months there. It's also helped attract 20 club
members, ages 15 to 84, and including high
school students, a firefighter, and a pastor.
"We're a very young club so a lot of
this is brand-new to us, but we couldn't be
more pleased with how well things have
started," said Thomas Barry, secretary/
treasurer of the club founded on January 1,
2017. It's named for a local general aviation
pilot who introduced many young people
to flying-including Barry's 17-year-old son,
Tyler-before succumbing to cancer last year.
The club has a hangar at Hicks Airfield
(T67) in Fort Worth, Texas, and flies
N150UC, the yellow trainer members have
nicknamed Tweety. Dues are $250 a year,
and members pay $35 an hour (dry) to fly.
Barry said the airplane is holding up well
in the demanding training environment.
"Aviat's called to check up and see how things

46 | AOPA PILOT July 2017

FATHER AND SON Thomas and Tyler Barry

(center, right) celebrate the legacy of Nate
Abel with fellow club officer James Smith.

Nate Abel, but I sure wish I had. He was a
very impressive young man."
Barry said the club is focused on flight
training, and bringing pilots who have been
away from aviation for many years back to
flying. The key is making it affordable and
sustainable, and club members believe
they're doing both.
The club had a fundraiser on Memorial
Day, and members participate in youth
events such as EAA's Young Eagles program.
Tyler Barry plans to enroll in the University
of North Dakota's professional pilot program
in the fall. He and his dad will remain active
in the flying club they helped start.
"I'm knee deep in club activities now, and
I'm going to stay that way so that others will
have the same opportunities as my son," Tom
Barry said. "It's a very young organization,
but Tyler is part of its legacy, and so am I."

are going," he said, "but there's really not a
lot to say because everything's working fine."
The Barrys recently made their first
father/son cross-country flight to Tulsa, EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org
Oklahoma, and back. The experience was an eye-opener for
the nonpilot dad.
"As the grownup, I'm used
to being in charge and I'm not
shy about telling him to speed
up or slow down when we're in
the car," he said. "But in the airplane, our roles are reversed. I
Flying club support is part of
do my best to sit on my hands
AOPA's You Can Fly initiatives
and shut up. I'm just in awe."
designed to get people flying
The club is one of 49 AOPA
and keep them flying. These
has helped start in the past two
initiatives support flying clubs,
get lapsed pilots back into the air, encourage
years. AOPA Texas Ambassador
best practices in flight training, help high school
Pat Brown worked with the
students prepare for careers in aviation and
club to help it launch. "From
aerospace, and bring AOPA's resources and
the very beginning, there was
expertise to pilot groups across the country.
something special about their
https://youcanfly.aopa.org
vision," he said. "I never met

You
Can
Fly
https://youcanfly.aopa.org
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - July 2017

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