Ever Been Flying in a Small Airplane?

Recently, I had a Saturday opportunity to go out flying with a friend from church. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, we could see New York City in the distance. We flew over to an airport near the NJ/NY border for lunch, and returned. The picture to the left is of still frozen Lake Wallenpaupack.





On the way over, we flew in formation with a second airplane that my pilot frequently flies with . While that was fun to watch, on the way back home, he turned the controls over to me....my first time flying a small airplane since about 1978, when I was taking flying lessons out in California, flying out of Van Nuys airport in the San Fernando Valley.



Van Nuys airport has it's own interesting history, opening as Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport in 1928. Hollywood apparently liked that airport quite a bit, with Howard Hughes, Cecile B. DeMille, and Gene Autry, and Wallace Beery all flying out of that airport. In 1929, Amelia Earhart set a new speed record there during races that were held.

In addition, some famous movies had scenes shot there, including Casablanca, Lost Horizon, Hells Angels, Men with Wings, and Test Pilot.