Planes...

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With all that talk of trains in another thread, I thought I'd get one going on my favorite mode of travel.

I've been fascinated by airplanes my entire life. When I was a toddler my parents would take me to the airport on the weekend and we'd have a picnic in the approach lights at the end of the runway. I spent a lot of time lying on my back staring up at the clouds and would get really excited whenever a big jet flew over because it was the only thing in my field of vision and it was really really loud.

As I got older I used to look forward to going to the airport to meet relatives who came to visit. The best part was that (back then) I could go stand in the viewing gallery when the jet was leaving, and feel the heat and wind of the jet-blast, smell the kerosene and listen to the scream of the turbines. It was a total sensory overload and I loved it.

When I was 13 I joined Air Cadets and flew in both gliders and airplanes every time I had a chance, which wasn't nearly often enough. Eventually I took up sky-diving, more for the thrill of flying under an open chute than for the free-falls. When I was about 24 I earned enough money for flight training and got my own pilot's license. That lead indirectly to my current career in aviation.

Types I've flown (as pilot or co-pilot): Cessna 150, 152, 172 and L19 (BirdDog), Piper Warrior and Tomahawk, Zenair home-built (I didn't build it), Schweitzer glider, Blanik sailplane.

Types I've sat in cockpit as guest for takeoff/landing: Dash-8, DC-9, Boeing 747 & 757, Airbus A320, British Aerospace BAe146, Bell UH-1N Huey (helicopter), Bell OH-58 Kiowa (helicopter).

Types I've been on as passenger: Vickers Viscount & Vanguard, Airbus A319, A321, A330, A340, Boeing 767, 737, 717 & 707, Fokker F28 & F100, Douglas DC-3, DC-6, DC-8 & DC-10, Boeing PT-17 Stearman (OPEN BIPLANE! YES, WE DID ACROBATICS!), Cessna 182 and Beechcraft Super King Air.

I'm looking forward to trips on the Boeing 7E7 and Airbus A380 when they show up.

I love flying, but i am too young for a pilot's license, and i do not have 20/20 vision, so i wouldn't become one anyway. but i do enjoy flight simulators and R/C planes. I have an F-16 fighter jet simulator program for my computer, and a J-3 Cub R/C plane with throttle, elevator and rudder control. The R/C plane has been grounded ever since my dad crashed it in the forest. I will remain so until i can find a new wing, and a new propeller shaft and nose cone, as well as a few rubber bands to hold the wing in place.

You don't need to have 20/20 unless you plan on joining the military or some overly-picky airline. To qualify for a licence (in Canada) you have to be 20/200 or better and be *correctable* to 20/20 using glasses or contacts. I wear glasses for myopia+astigmatism. I'm contemplating getting laser surgery, but the idea of having someone (something) touch my eye is just too hard to get over.

I'm pretty fond of aeroplanes too - I inherited that one from my dad. I'm currently waiting for the first four issues of a weekly magazine to build a RC Spitfire. (I could never afford an RC Spitfire kit outright, so I've gone for the weekly magazine + parts)