I finished up my ground school my senior year in high school. I could not afford to take lessons for a while. I was all set up to go to the Air Force Academy but at that time you had to have 20 20 vision uncorrected. I failed the eye test and missed my dream. After I started working for the L&N in Louisville I got a part time job at Cardinal Aviation. I used that money and the discount that they gave me to fly. I stopped flying when Sherry got pregnant with the second child. I never got my license. At the time you needed 40 hours and I stopped at 38, but I flew with a friend who has his commercial license and did it for a living. Me flying gave him time to be lazy while he was working and gave me time for having fun in a big plane.
Three of my high school mates ended up with their licenses. Andy Foster made a living of it and became a jet jockey for Dow Chemical and then a large importer in Anchorage, Alaska. My best friend was Darryl Buckingham who owned an oil company, so he owned a plane to help him get around the country on his own schedule.
Flying was fun. At that age I did not know probably how damned dangerous I was!
