I never made it as a pilot, but I did manage three hours of instruction. I had been teaching science for about five years when I was accepted into a summer workshop at MTSC (now MTSU) in Murfreesboro. It was the TAC Aviation Workshop for Teachers. Later it was called an aerospace workshop.

The idea was to get teachers to spread the word about the aerospace industry by showing them how to use airplanes and rockets as motivators.

Part of the appeal was that six free half-an-hour flying lessons were included. There were also some field trips taken by air and an air tour of about a dozen small Tennessee airports.

My lessons were usually in a Piper J3 Cub, a two place tandum airplane that weighs less than some modern motorcycles. The student sat in the front seat and the instructor, who looked barely old enough to drive, sat in the back. The controls were very basic. There was a throttle on the left side just below the window. It had two rudder pedals and two brake pedals. These were mainly used for steering while taxiing. Brakes are somewhat useless in the air, but the rudder is helpful when making turns while flying.

There was also the aptly-named joystick, which stands between the knees. It is used to control the attitude of the air craft. That means nose up or down, and roll to the left or right.

Piper Cubs, like most aircraft have duel controls, meaning that you can fly it from either the front seat or the back. Unlike a 747, anybody on board can reach the controls.

There were a number of Cubs available, all converted from conventional gear to tricylce gear. That means that when they came from the factory, they had two wheels in front and one in the back, but they were changed to have one in the front and two in the back. Novice pilots learn quicker with tricycle gear. For some reason, wheels on an airplane are called "gear."(s. or pl.)

In addition to the Cubs, there was a a Piper Super Cruiser. The main difference was that the Super Cruiser had a larger 100 hp engine, and it still had conventional gear, also called a "tail dragger." With tricycle gear, the plane lands on the two front wheels and then rocks forward on the front wheel. The tail dragger lands on the two front wheels and then rocks back on the tail wheel. In the air, there is no difference.

Taking off and flying around was easy for me, but I never got the hang of landing.

On the air tour of Tennessee airports, I got a chance to fly a Piper light twin. I flew it from the right seat after the pilot got us up to cruise altitude. It had 160 horsepower engines on each wing and the performance was a different ballgame. It cruised at almost 200 mph and climbed at a steep angle. It also had retractable gear, which improves aerodynamics, fuel economy, and stability.

If somebody offered me more free flying lessons, I would have to start from scratch. Somehow, since 1964, I have managed to loose my logbook.
Howard