Not sure if this is the right place for this, but it looked like the best fit of the bunch. Anyway, I just wanted to drop a few lines and make a quick introduction. I came by this site via endless searches for anything J-3 related and was instantly drawn to the outstanding comment quality, profound wisdom and overwhelming sense of camaraderie. So far I've enjoyed post after post trying to absorb as much as I can...what a terrific resource!!
About me: I'm a 38 yr old AF Capt stationed at Vandenberg AFB CA, loving husband, father of a fur-ball (golden retriever), photographer, cyclist, auto enthusiast, and the list goes on and on. I'm a space and missile guy by trade and have had a great run at it so far. My flying career (LOL) is pretty short...I think I have around 35 hours in the log book. My brother and I started working on our Private licenses in '96...he finished and eventually went on to fly F-16s. As for me, I ended up using the pennies I had saved for flying to fix a (then) girlfriends transmission...I never recovered and shortly thereafter (seeing the success of my brother) became a poor full-time student at Texas Tech University working two jobs and pulling student loans just to make room/board. I joined the ROTC program and...well...dang it all, they found that my color vision was just out of spec for pilot/nav and so that dream died as my pilot package entered the trash. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason...somehow my brother got the good vision gene and I wound up with the hair gene...he's bald as a bat and I'm a Chia-Pet (I'd trade hair for good color vision any day of the week!!). Oh well, you win some and you lose some...just got to do the best you can and go for it. Fast-forward a decade and I eventually picked up a few more flying hours when I was stationed at F.E. Warren AFB near Cheyenne WY, but that quickly fell apart when I deployed to Iraq.
I guess this isn't turning out to be a 'quick introduction' - sorry about that (I'm usually not this wordy). In short, I think I'm at a place in my life/career that I can start seriously looking at finishing up the license (at least a Sport License due to my color vision deficiency). Along with the license, I'd like to eventually own a Cub. I've always had a thing for the Cub...growing up in and around airports (military and civilian) I've always had a soft spot for them. Sure there are sleeker, faster, sexier aircraft to be had, but unlike many of my generation, I don't want those things...I enjoy the journey, not just the destination. Like I said, I'm at a place in life that owning one can be a reality...we're not rolling in the dough (and you ex military can certainly appreciate that one) but we're not hurting either. Comfortable is a right word. It probably won't happen for a few years (allows me to keep saving nickels/dimes and to learn all I can), but that's why I'm here. So hopefully, after a while I'll have a much better understanding of what to look for, what to expect, how to maintain and maybe, just maybe cultivate some wonderful friendships along the way.
If any of you will be at the Lompoc Fly-In this weekend, I'm coming off shift early Sat morning and plan on going down to admire some of the beauties that will (hopefully) be parked there. Of course I'm bringing the camera equipment...hopefully I can con a few of you in letting me take a few images of your aircraft. Thanks for toughing out my short novel...
Cheers!
About me: I'm a 38 yr old AF Capt stationed at Vandenberg AFB CA, loving husband, father of a fur-ball (golden retriever), photographer, cyclist, auto enthusiast, and the list goes on and on. I'm a space and missile guy by trade and have had a great run at it so far. My flying career (LOL) is pretty short...I think I have around 35 hours in the log book. My brother and I started working on our Private licenses in '96...he finished and eventually went on to fly F-16s. As for me, I ended up using the pennies I had saved for flying to fix a (then) girlfriends transmission...I never recovered and shortly thereafter (seeing the success of my brother) became a poor full-time student at Texas Tech University working two jobs and pulling student loans just to make room/board. I joined the ROTC program and...well...dang it all, they found that my color vision was just out of spec for pilot/nav and so that dream died as my pilot package entered the trash. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason...somehow my brother got the good vision gene and I wound up with the hair gene...he's bald as a bat and I'm a Chia-Pet (I'd trade hair for good color vision any day of the week!!). Oh well, you win some and you lose some...just got to do the best you can and go for it. Fast-forward a decade and I eventually picked up a few more flying hours when I was stationed at F.E. Warren AFB near Cheyenne WY, but that quickly fell apart when I deployed to Iraq.
I guess this isn't turning out to be a 'quick introduction' - sorry about that (I'm usually not this wordy). In short, I think I'm at a place in my life/career that I can start seriously looking at finishing up the license (at least a Sport License due to my color vision deficiency). Along with the license, I'd like to eventually own a Cub. I've always had a thing for the Cub...growing up in and around airports (military and civilian) I've always had a soft spot for them. Sure there are sleeker, faster, sexier aircraft to be had, but unlike many of my generation, I don't want those things...I enjoy the journey, not just the destination. Like I said, I'm at a place in life that owning one can be a reality...we're not rolling in the dough (and you ex military can certainly appreciate that one) but we're not hurting either. Comfortable is a right word. It probably won't happen for a few years (allows me to keep saving nickels/dimes and to learn all I can), but that's why I'm here. So hopefully, after a while I'll have a much better understanding of what to look for, what to expect, how to maintain and maybe, just maybe cultivate some wonderful friendships along the way.
If any of you will be at the Lompoc Fly-In this weekend, I'm coming off shift early Sat morning and plan on going down to admire some of the beauties that will (hopefully) be parked there. Of course I'm bringing the camera equipment...hopefully I can con a few of you in letting me take a few images of your aircraft. Thanks for toughing out my short novel...
Cheers!
