Owning and flying your own airplane is tremendously enjoyable.  It is also very practical, as well.  

Want to go to the beach?  Fly to the North Myrtle Beach Airport from the Upstate in only an hour and a half.  There is no hassle with traffic, and you can be on the beach by 9:00am.  Walk back to the airport about 5:00pm, and be home by sunset.  Take along sandwiches and drinks, and be set for the day!

Fly to the theme parks and Kennedy Space Center in Florida in less than four hours.  Fly to Maine or Texas or South Dakota’s Black Hills in a day.  Traffic?  Watch it on the highways far below as you go flying past.

Private airplanes only make the news when there is a crash, as recently happened at Greenville’s downtown airport.  What really happened was a pilot who did not take care of his airplane, nor himself.  

Every airplane is required to have an annual inspection. Until that happens, an airplane is not “airworthy”.  The airplane that crashed had not had an annual inspection in more than two years.  Flying that airplane was illegal.

Similarly, every pilot must have a Biennial Flight Review (BFR) every two years.  If that airplane had not been flown in more than two years, then it is likely that the pilot had not had his BFR in the last two years.  If so, for him to fly an airplane was likewise illegal.

Compare it to a ten-year-old trying to drive a car.

To anyone who is a pilot, the crash was no surprise.  There is a very good reason for requiring annual inspections and BFRs, as well as the other requirements for both an airplane and a pilot, before leaving the ground.

You will sometimes hear a pilot say something like, “I will never fly with that guy.”  Good pilots are all too aware of what flight safety is all about, and will not risk their lives flying with someone whose skills are in doubt.  

Everyday flying does not make the news, but there no doubt that flying is a whole lot of fun.

If you want to meet a bunch of good pilots, join us at a South Carolina Breakfast Club fly-in.  Fly-ins are held every other Sunday morning, at various airports, all over the state.  Typically, 30 to 40 airplanes bring about a hundred people to a fly-in for breakfast.  

The most recent SCBC fly-in was at the Broxton Bridge Plantation, a resort located between Allendale and Ehrhardt.  Broxton Bridge has a reputation for always putting on the best breakfasts, and this year’s was no exception.  The head chef has been at Broxton for more than thirty years.  The eggs, grits, bacon, corned beef hash, and biscuits were delicious!  

The Breakfast Club began in 1938.  A gentleman wanted to have some father-daughter time before church, so they would fly together somewhere for breakfast.  Friends heard about what they were doing, and began asking them where they were headed each flight, so they could fly there as well.  

Those quiet beginnings were the start of the South Carolina Breakfast Club.  There are no dues and no by-laws.  Come once, and you are a life-time member.

Flying Is Fun!  

SCBC fly-ins are a great way to meet old friends and to get to meet new ones, while helping to stay proficient as a pilot.  See you there, about 9:00am!

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