A Deja vu Airplane Ride over Carson City
An event at the Carson City Airport had my blood running faster than usual Sunday! An old Ford Tri-Motor plane came by to visit. This plane has an interesting history with a personal touch for my family. My son-in-law Glenn Ware, grew up in Kansas where this plane was first based, and he took a ride in it when he was 15 years old. He has pictures of it in his scrapbook.
This very plane I met my husband, Claude Owen, when he was a 19 year old flight instructor at the Park Hill Airport in Denver, Colorado in 1940. These were the days of all the old early planes; Aeronca, Piper Cub, Fairchild, Cessna, Curtis, Waco, and the Ford Tri-Motor was in that lineup. I am sure it must have come through Denver during that time.
Today they were selling rides at the airport in Carson City. I bought one. I was not prepared for the wave of déjà vu that rolled over me as I climbed into that old plane. The huge radial engines, the roar, the vibrations and the feeling — the real seat-of-the-pants feel of flying. My eyes misted as all those long buried experiences bubbled up in my memory.
I had my first real airplane ride in a Waco UPF-7. Claude asked me if I would like to ride along as a passenger in a formation of Wacos that was flying over a parade in Boulder, Colorado. He fitted me out in a helmet and goggles and a parachute and I will never ever forget the acrobatic maneuver that gave me the thrill of a lifetime!
The Ford Tri-Motor is a big workhorse of a plane.
It can accommodate about 10 passengers. My window looked out upon one of those huge engines and the big struts of the landing gear. It did not retract, by the way! From the window I could see the whole of Carson City and environs. It was a perfect day and a very special day for a lady approaching her 93rd birthday. I let my eyes take it all in while my heart throbbed with the joy of remembrance.
Betty L. Owen June 14, 2015