"Greatest Generation" Reflections

 

For several years I owned a company that was the Training/Sales/Service dealership for Robinson helicopters. In 1990 we purchased a new R22 (like the model pictured above) to use to teach people to fly. In four years we put 2000 hours on that bird and sent it back to the factory for a complete overhaul.

When the rebuild was completed my business partner and I were supposed to go pick the bird up and fly it back to the MidWest. The flight back from California is quite an experience...
Almost 20 hours in the little bird across the desert, through mountain passes, and requiring some fairly high-altitude landings/takeoffs.

A week before the day we were scheduled to pickup our rebuilt helicopter my partner called:
"Something has come up. I cannot make the trip."
I asked... "Do you mind if my Dad fills the empty seat?"
"Sounds like a plan..." he responded.

My Dad was a WWII Veteran and Purple Heart recipient of the Pacific theater, wounded in the Philippines. After the war he used his GI benefits to take flight training. I flew many times with him in various airplanes, from a Piper Super Cruiser he owned to a Stearman Biplane owned by a friend of his.
But he had NO helicopter experience at all. He jumped at the chance to make the trip with me.

The day before departure from home I plunked a new Garmin GPS in his lap...
"Dad, I need you to be familiar with how to use that thing to help me safely get out of the Los Angeles basin. We'll need to pass through the airspace of a BUNCH of airports, and you can help me with directions and radio frequencies."

I set the GPS up on "Demo Mode" and told him, "You cannot break this thing. Play with it and learn how it works until you're comfortable with it."
And I left him alone with the device.

Returning 15 minutes later I saw the GPS laid over on the end table next to his chair.
"So you're comfortable with how to use that thing?"
"No, I was afraid I'd break it."

Sigh.

So we departed with the newly rebuilt R22 from Torrance, California and I was a "one-armed wallpaper hanger" trying to fly/navigate/communicate/avoid getting my ticket pulled until we got East of Corona, California.
Stressful. And yes, I was aggravated with him. But...
We'd approach something on the ground like a Railroad track or a major highway, and as it passed beneath the aircraft he'd look at the display on the GPS and shake his head- marveling at how accurate the device was.
Reaching our destination he asked, "How much does this thing cost?"
And he bought one within a week.

My Old Man hated to be embarrassed. It was the worst thing you could do to him. The new technology scared him and he was frightened he'd make a fool of himself during our flight home.
He WOULD NOT HAVE, but that is beside the point.

That flight home with my Dad took three days.
Three days of sharing airtime with a fellow pilot.
And those days are a memory I would not trade for all the treasure in the world.