Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Douglas. Model: DC-3. Nickname: Skytrain
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane ME Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Multi-engine land
> Engine Description: twin piston

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 6/25/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 1.4
> Number of Times Flown: 1
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: C-47

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 80
> Date First Flown: 9/30/1995
> Location First Flown: Santa Monica, CA Airport (KSMO)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: USNTPS Qual Eval, with Jan Aarvik

Recollections: I flew DC-3 as part of a USNTPS “Qual Eval” session.  Like many of these Qual Evals, I was simply amazed that I was getting to fly an airplane I could only dream of flying.  This was no exception.  That said–and while I’m sure I did some “test pilot stuff” and likely wrote a “daily report” of my findings…the thing I remember most about the flight was the pilot I was flying with.  My log book didn’t record his name and all I remember was (1) he didn’t speak much english and (2) I distinctly remember him leaning over from the right seat on each takeoff, raising his right hand in front of my face with two fingers extended in a side-ways peace symbol and loudy saying over the intercom “wee-too”.  This was my signal that I could rotate, at “V2” (the takeoff safety speed).  Writing this recounting for my recollections, I came across the following AOPA article from the year before I flew: LINK TO ARTICLE

This article mentions the following: “The DC-3 based at Cloverfield Aviation at Santa Monica (California) Municipal Airport is owned by the husband-and-wife team of Jan (pronounced Yon, as in Don) and Britt Aarvik. Jan was a pilot in the Norwegian Air Force and has amassed more than 17,000 hours (4,000 in DC-3s).”  So, yes, I think I flew with Jan!  

Years later, after retiring from the FAA, I decided I’d once-again become a DC-3 pilot, this time paying for an SIC rating at the Historic Flight Foundation at Felts Field, WA.  This gorgeous museum, unfortunately went under before I could complete my rating, so it remains a “bucket list” item.  If I do ever fly the “skytrain” again, I’m convinced I’ll hear “WEE-TOO” as I rotate.

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Beechcraft. Model: 18. Nickname: Twin Beech
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane ME Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Multi-engine Land
> Engine Description: Twin piston

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 6/25/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 2
> Number of Times Flown: 2
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: BE-18, D-18, H-18, C-45

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 93
> Date First Flown: 6/27/1997
> Location First Flown: North Las Vegas Airport, NV (KVGT)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Qual Eval with USNTPS

Recollections: Ah, the twin Beech!  What a machine.  Unfortunately, my experience with her is not what I wish it was (but there’s still time!).  My first flight, which is poorly recorded in my US Navy logbook, took place while conducting a “Qual Eval” (Qualitative evaluation), during a US Naval Test Pilot School staff field trip in the summer of 1997. I flew with a pilot recorded only as “Walker” (you out there?  contact me to fill in details!) in the summer of 1997, in N1828D.  A search of this N number reveals the owner as “Walker James” of Henderson, NV (near Las Vegas and–most importantly–Nellis AFB).  I believe I conducted this Qual Eval during a field trip to Nellis (this was a common stop on field trips, to visit facilities that–at the time–were pretty well-kept secrets and which, as I write this, I’m not 100% sure what is classified or not, so I’ll just zip it).  

So, what of my first flight in the Beech 18?  Well, that’s even fuzzier, possibly due to what I’m sure was a good time in Las Vegas.  I remember much better my 2nd flight in a twin beech…when I went to buy one in 2004 while working as an FAA Test Pilot in Wichita, KS.  I decided that–to travel the midwest for work and fun–I needed a twin engine airplane.  After consideration of Beech Barons, et al, I decided that the machine for me was a Twin Beech.  A gorgeous one was for sale near Pittsburgh, PA and so my son Will and I traveled to Pittsburgh, rented a car and drove to the Beaver Falls, PA airport to fly with the owner, Bill Burdis.  The plane (Serial BA-650, a late-model H18 registered then as N8612M and later N87711) was wonderful and, while clearly a plane I’d need to get proficient in, well suited to my mission. Sure, it was a bit heavy on the controls (but there’s a beauty in that) but she was solid, nostalgic and I fell in love.   After flying with Bill for a 1.2, we made him an offer.  In the end, it was an offer he COULD and DID refuse, selling the plane instead to a well-known twin beech pilot, Steve Oxman.  It was probably for the best, as I ended up moving jobs to the Seattle FAA office within just a 6 month period and keeping a twin beech in Seattle probably would’ve proven a difficult task.  It would be another 15 years before I would once again attempt to become an owner of an aircraft, when Fred Quarnstrom and I purchased our Birddog.