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My first step was checking out Cleveland Ohio area flight schools at Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF), Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL) and Lost Nation National Airport (LNN). (Anyone interested in preserving LNN should look at http://rob.com/lnraa/.) I finally took my first lesson on May 2nd, 1999 with the T&G Flying Club at their picturesque CGF location. I quickly joined the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) - a very worthwhile move. After abusing Cessna-152's for a while with Matt Murphy, Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), I soloed on June 30, 1999 in a Cessna 152 (tail number N4847B, Matt on the left & me on the right). Afterwards, I graduated to abusing C-172s as my training continued. As often happens during training, Matt left full time instructing to fly right-seat on a corporate turboprop.
Photo by Rick C.
I quickly found a new instructor at T&G, Susan Garcia, CFII (Certified Flight Instructor plus Instrument Instructor). She was terrific (even if she did have to sit on phone books in a Cessna-172 :-). (Shortly after I got my certificate, Susan also left T&G. She went to work for Continental Express in the right seat of a 19-seat Turboprop. In 2001 she moved up to the right seat of a 50-seat turbine - way to go Susan! Coincidentally, Matt is also now flying for Continental Express. Susan's husband, Guy, captains commuter jets for Continental Express. Ironically, Rick Crownover, who had helped motivate me to take lessons, had switched his lessons over to T&G at CGF, used Matt as his instructor, also soloed on June 30th, and switched to Susan when Matt left.)
Photo by unknown.
Meanwhile, Larry kept nagging me to check out a Grumman Tiger. (A 1970's design produced in the late 1970's by American Aviation/Grumman and in the early 1990's by American General Aviation Corporation, and again in 2001 by Tiger Aircraft LLC.) So, as a ~40 hour student I posted a query to the Grumman Gang e-mailing list in early September 1999 to see if any Tiger owner would give me a ride. Rob Logan responded and put me in the left seat of his N123VB (white/blue/gold). Wow, was the Tiger ever a vast improvement on the Cessna 152's and 172's! Much to my pleasant surprise and contrary to rumors, the Tiger was easy to fly. The controls were well balanced, responsive, and easy to learn. Landing was no problem as long as you remembered to come across the "fence" at 70 kts. (Any faster and you floated for a while.)
Much more about Tigers later...
Photo by unknown.
I finally took my checkride with Designated Pilot Examiner Ed Hartung and received my "Private Pilot - Airplane Single Engine Land" (PP-ASEL) certificate on December 12, 1999 (in a Cessna 172, N51883). Then the Cleveland winter weather set in - ugh. Nevertheless, it was time to look for my own plane.