A couple of years ago a good friend of mine, Scott Crosby, invited my wife and I to join him and Rhoda on a flight to North Carolina for lunch. With over 30 years flight experience, his Cessna 182 made for a wonderful trip idea. 

We live in the Greenville, SC area, so the idea of going on a flight for lunch in North Carolina was intriguing. He asked us to meet him at the Greenville downtown airport for a trip to Rutherfordton North Carolina. The short flight would take us to a popular little lunch spot on the flight-line, then a tour of the mountains around Greenville, followed by a glide over Clemson and back to Greenville. 

Connie and Rhoda sat in the back seat, seeming a little unsure of the turbulence every now and then even though it was a short flight.

My wife admitted about a year later. “I would never have gone on that flight if I had known that you were going to lose your mind.” She has since warmed somewhat to the idea.

 I enjoyed it... I enjoyed it so much that I began to investigate the idea of earning my pilot’s license. I was encouraged to have a flight physical before applying to a flight school and proudly I passed with flying colors. At 74 I was embarking on a new adventure!

After considering my budget and being warned that general aviation was quite expensive, I discovered that there were several levels to enter the aviation family. That's when the subject of a short wing piper entered the story.

Taking flying lessons entails renting an aircraft and paying a CFI (certified flight instructor) the cost of which is quite daunting for sure. At that point I was encouraged to consider the options of purchasing an aircraft to train in. I began an online search for an affordable aircraft. Barnstormers, Trade-A-Plane, and Facebook were sites I began to search for just that right aircraft within my budget.

I spoke with several aircraft owners from around the country who had planes that were listed for sale. I am happy to say that the general aviation members I spoke with were most helpful and encouraging. That’s when I met Steve Carruthers, the president of the Short Wing Piper Club. He was encouraging and full of knowledge about the Tri-Pacers and Colts and was most willing to share that information with a novice pilot hopeful. At that point I joined the Short Wing Piper Club and began receiving the Quarterly magazine. Bursting with a desire for information, I devoured each issue and was determined to learn to fly and own a Short Wing aircraft.

I came close on several occasions to purchasing an aircraft from different parts of the country. There was a nice-looking Colt in New York. A rough looking Tri-pacer in Alabama and several short wings in the southeast. For more than a year I made friends, bugged them constantly for information and discovered how difficult this project turned out to be.

Perusing through some online posts of planes for sale I found a listing in Texas that was included in an estate auction. The details describing the aircraft seemed to meet all the expectations of an antique aircraft, 1963 Piper Colt with mid-time hours on the engine and traditional avionics. The Aircraft was listed as needing a paint job, but the fabric was described as acceptable and airworthy.

The reserve was reasonable, and I opened an account to bid. I shared the information with several friends and spoke to Steve Carruthers who was interested in the project. As time was about to expire on the auction, I realized my bids would never reach the level of the reserve and frankly I lost interest in the initiative. A few days later I received an email from the auctioneer…I was, in fact, the high bidder and was informed that I had 24 hours to purchase the plane. I was overwhelmed with the idea that I may have made an enormous mistake. Still considering it, my next conversation with Jason was an offer from the owner to pay for an annual

inspection on the plane if I would purchase it at my bid price. Now, it seemed like this purchase might be doable. One hangup was the annual. All could be completed except the rear right strut was dented and could not be signed off as air worthy. The challenge was to find a strut to finish the annual in time for the owner to move out of his hangar.  A replacement strut would take 12 to 14 weeks to build and ship. This is where Steve stepped up again. He had a strut taken off a renovation Colt sitting in his hangar and readied it for shipment to Texas. I ordered a new one to replace his and shipped the strut to Denniston. 

After quite a bit of soul searching and a long conversation with Steve, a plan was set to go get my plane. 

Steve and I agreed to meet in Greenville and fly to Dallas commercially and meet the plane owners in Denniston. Once again Steve proved to be the true enthusiastic ambassador for the Short Wing Piper Club.

We arrived in Dallas and were picked up by the auctioneer and taken to the aircraft where Steve and the AP spent several hours examining the plane. Standing on the flight line in the evening dusk, we watched as Steve performed a detailed preflight inspection and fired the aircraft up. The plane was parked on an old Air Force Base with many vacant hangers and a 9000-foot runway. We watched as he performed the run up, checking the gauges, mags, and lights, then to our surprise he began to taxi the aircraft. Down the flight line it went and disappeared at the end of the runway. It was just about dark and to our surprise he was taking it for it test flight in the dark… never saw the plane before. Three times around the pattern and a smooth landing prompted a thumbs up as he exited the plane.

Needless to say, the aircraft performed as expected and we made our plans to meet at 7:00 the next morning for the flight to Greenville.

Right on schedule, Jason, the auctioneer picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the hangar. There we met up with the AP Raymond Fulenchek and together we made the final preflight inspections.

Steve had prepared a detailed flight plan for us to travel 800 miles across the country. We were scheduled to make three stops on the way to Greenville. With clear skies and a 28-mile tailwind we cruised over the southern states often at 10,000 feet. The only real turbulence we encountered was a strong crosswind at Donaldson Jet Center in Greenville. With a warning from the tower to be aware, we turned to base and set up for a potential bumpy landing. This was my first experience flying in a Colt as a passenger and I marveled as he brought us down safely. I asked him to tell me exactly what he did to combat the crossword and make the necessary adjustments to get on the ground. His answer was simply “I flew the plane; I did what the plane asked me to do”.

With Steve's help I am now the proud owner of a Piper Colt N5849Z, honored to be a member of The Short Wing Club family and ready to train for my Private Pilot’s License.

I must share one disappointing aspect of this project. For several months I could not find a flight school willing to take me on as a student in my aircraft. Most complained there were no brakes on the right side, but the more daunting challenge was the plane was not equipped with flaps. Four flight schools in the area admitted they were not checked out enough to teach me to fly.

Glad to say I found a CFI with PA 20-22 experience and we are nearing the portion of my training that will require a solo flight. I’m not there yet but working on it.

Thank you, Steve, Jason, Raymond and all the members of the General Aviation family that answered my questions and shared their knowledge. I am proud to be a part of your group and look forward to many years of flying.

Bob Gecy, 
Student Pilot ●