"I am what he was, because he was what I admired and hoped to someday become. We were both blessed to have spent a large part of our life literally with our heads in the clouds. We’ve each had the good fortune to have logged thousands of hours turning, twisting and banking through the skies far above the world of the earth-bound folks we served. I am a professional aviator today in large part because he was one back then. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand that my love of flying machines was a gift slowly and gently given from him to me. In that respect I owe him a lifetime of joy, excitement, and gratification at my place of work."


Guest Writer William "BBall" Ball tells how, and why, he became a pilot.
http://simhq.com/_air14/air_515a.html

Thank you for sharing this wonderful story about your Dad. I can relate very closely with your experience - my Dad went through Ft Wolters in 1967 and flew UH-1's and Chinooks for about 8 years. His service and example are a daily inspiration to me, as your dad's is for you.

T

Great article. I have always liked your stories BBall.
Thank you for sharing a little of your life with us.

That was a fantastic article, thank you BBall.

Excellent Article.

Nice write-up, thanks for sharing!

I enjoyed reading your story, alot! Excellent reading. Thank you.

Fantastic story! My wife and I were both Army Helicopter pilots, and my father-in-law a life long Army Aviator as well. Great message; Wonderful writing! Thanks for sharing!

Nice read BBall, That was definitely a cool experience to have as a kid. I followed you at Frugals for the longest time and it' good to see you surface again. Still flying 757's I presume, just with new colors now?

Fantastic article thank you for bringing a smile to my face this morning.

That was very moving, I especially loved seeing those photographs!

My grandfather's farm (God rest his soul) is in Santo, Texas. I remember he took me up in his Cessna when I was about 8 or so and I saw the old Camp Wolters auxiliary fields out in the pastures, mostly grown over.

Thanks for reminding me of that precious memory.

Thank you for that trip down memory lane. Brought back memories of my Pop, and the times we had, together.

Awesome story BBall. Thanks for sharing it with us.


Wheels

Wonderful article, I'm also very fortunate to be able to relate closely to this. My Dad was a crewman on helicopters in the RAF for the entire time of my childhood. I grew up with the smell of avtur in the air, and the sound of rotor blades in the sky. I was also very fortunate to be able to go flying with my dad on quite a few occasions. Which certainly planted the aviation bug in me. Not to mention the feeling of home that 230 / 33 and 7 Sqns provided . To this day I always feel very proud when I see them flying over or at air shows. While sadly I never managed to achieve my dream of becoming a pilot, I do believe that those experiences shaped me into the person I am today. For that I am very greatful.

While I may now be the wrong side of 35 ish and have my own family, if I get a sniff of avtur, or hear a chinook or puma fly over, or even meet one of my dads old friends, I am instantly 10 years old again.


While moving around alot may mess with your education, at least it did with me, I wouldn't change growing up on a military base for anything.

Fantastic story, BBall. Brought a lump to my throat. Especially what you said about your Dad being the yardstick of your life. Same with me. Dad always wanted to be a pilot, but never achieved his dream. Instead, he dribbled his love for aviation onto me, and it caught and sparked, so here I am, a commercial pilot

Great story, and what a great dad you had.

Great story and reminded me of the good times my older brothers and I had going to the base with our Dad as kids. He was a Chief Engineer on CG cutters, ice breakers and buoy tenders. We had many a fun time using those ships as jungle gyms when they were in port. I always remember him putting on a movie on the ships VHS player (HI TEC) and telling us to come get him as soon as the credits roll (almost every movie in that library had a porno at the end LOL).

Great stuff, much like Womble, it reminds me of my time sat in hangars 'flying' Pumas as a kid, little knowing that my Dads fascination with flying would rub off and that I'd end up on the same squadron years later, or the time he 'arranged' with an old friend of his for me to sit in a Spitfire, one that I now help 'see off' on any given weekend in the summer. Magic.

Straight from the heart Bball , beautiful read

Hey guys,

First of all, let me say to the wonderful staff at SimHQ, many thanks for allowing me a platform. My old shop (Frugalsworld) is gone but (hopefully) not forgotten. Also, I would like to extend a huge “thank you” to you nice folks for all the kind words regarding my article. It was a joy to write, and I only wish the protagonist were here to read it.

Secondly, as I’ve said many times to my youngest child (she’s an amazing wordsmith, shows me to be the hack that I truly am), that the greatest joy a writer can attain is to know that you’ve touched someone’s emotional cortex. Your responses surely remind me of why I put pen to paper…well…you know what I mean.

Personal notes:

-Kozmo514; If you’ve never gotten the chance to read Robert Mason’s book “Chickenhawk”, please give it a go. The first ½ is about his time at Wolters, and it’s a great insight into what these men went through during their first days as fledgling helo pilots. Shortly before my Dad passed, I offered it to him, wondering about his take on its accuracy, etc. Afterwards, he said he loved reading the parts about Ft. Wolters, but then he paused and said the second ½ about being in Vietnam just “brought back too many bad memories”. God bless your Dad for his service.

-Rider06; check your PM.

-Birdski; thanks for the kind words. Yep, still banging around in the 757…only now with the jets painted blue and white (Delta colors), we are also logging time in the that OTHER beautiful Boeing…the 767. Neat jet, reminds me a bit of the DC-10.

-PFunk; Speaking of the old auxiliary fields (they called them “Stage Fields”), I’ve spent many an hour out at those things with my Dad. As I mentioned in this article, he also took me with him many times out to Ft. Wolters, and I would sit in on the pre-flight briefings, then ride in the old pickup truck out to whatever Stage Field they’d be using that day (usually one of the I.P.s would draw the duty of just playing “Unicom” freq guy, and I was their default “mascot” as it were…I was 12-13 years old at the time). The stories I could tell you about what those bigger-than-life I.P.’s used to talk about when their students were out doing solo pattern work would curl your hair…LOL
.
-Womble; Great story, thanks for sharing. I too wouldn’t trade my young life as “gypsy” moving from base to base for anything. I saw countries I’d only heard of, I met amazing people, and I formed an opinion about the world that hasn’t changed much in 50 years. Having roots is cool, but not having them can be cool too. Oh, and if you’re a flight sim nut, then you ARE a pilot. IMHO, It’s a frame of mind as much as a vocation.

-semmern; Good to hear from you old friend. Isn’t it funny how our kids sometimes love what we love, and sometimes not. My Dad gave me the love of air-machines, and I introduced him to that maddening sport called golf. I guess we’re even…lol. Fly safe my brother.

-HitchHikingFlatlander; lmao.

-HarryR; the more I see of the great big world, the more I come to realize just how small it can be.

Thanks again folks for all the nice words regarding my piece. I mentioned to Doug that I have dozens more if there would be any interest. If you’d like, I’ll see what I can scratch up.

Have a great day all,

BBall

I very much 2nd this statement! Very Moving Indeed! What a great read. Thanks

Definately a great read BBall, and thanks for sharing a small (but important) part of your childhood.

I guess I can relate a little, but not exactly the same. My dad was POL (fuels) in the USAF when I was very young and at 3-4 years old I barely remember riding in his fuel truck on the flightline at Luke AFB around '70-'71 while he gassed F-100s. I had to stay in the truck, but my eyes were big as saucers as I looked out of the driver side window at what he was doing. Maybe not quite as glamorous as flying, but the smells of JP-4, oil, jet exhaust stuck with me...so I joined the USAF 26 years ago and became an aircraft maintenance technician (Crew Chief) on fighter aircraft. I still work the flightline as a full time Air National Guard technician, and it was very cool last year to return the favor to my dad. I was one of the first few guys at my base to be trained on the A-10C since we had just started the conversion from F-16s, and we only had one A-10C. We had a "family day" and I invited him out to the base. In front of a huge crowd...and my father...I launched out the A-10C in the pouring rain for an F-16/A-10C flyby to mark the end of our F-16s. I've never been on an airshow team like the Thunderbirds, but I bet I could have given their Crew Chiefs a run for the money as I did my Crew Chief thing with all of the snap and professionalism you'd see them do. It was a good day.

Great writeup BBall, I was an Army Aviation tech in Germany at the end of the cold war and can definitely picture the scene and what a great guy and aviator your dad must've been, senior Warrant Officers were always a different breed from the rest of the Army commisioned officer pilots, no similar childhood experiences myself, but now that I have young daughters your story is a good inspiration to me, also a good reminder to revisit Chickenhawk after all these years. Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks guys,

“senior Warrant Officers were aways a different breed from the rest of the Army commisioned officer pilots”….LMAO…truer words were never spoken.

BTW, I recently began reading a book titled, “Thunderbird Lounge” (http://www.amazon.com/Thunderbird-Lounge-Transportation-Helicopter-Companies/dp/1553690060) and so far it’s enthralling.

It’s written by a gentleman that was in the sister company of my father’s that deployed to Vietnam in 1962 when he went. They flew the ubiquitous H-21 Shawnee (like my father), and it’s quite fascinating. During one passage, they’re working on a downed machine in a hot LZ, and one of the brand new UH-1B Huey gunships lands to chat with them. The dude flying the Huey WAS ONE OF MY DAD’S BEST BUDDIES! I’d heard the name many times growing up, had met him a time or two, and now seeing it in print was priceless. This book is paralleling my Dad’s time “in country”, and is giving me a rare insight into his life during that war.

I once took my father’s logbook, compared the stories he had told me and my brother about his experiences in Vietnam, and penned a piece written from his point of view. I think it captures what it was like flying in the early stages of what would become the world’s first “helicopter war”. I also feel it’s one of my best pieces, and this book makes that work even more real to me.

Thanks again guys, and have a great day,

BBall

Great article, reminds me of getting to go to work with my Dad several times at MCAS El Toro in the 80s. Loved it, and being a military brat, at a military school, VMFA-531 "Grey Ghosts" adopted me as their mascot whenever I was on base. I remember one particular 3 day stretch, when I was suspended from school, but the guys at Ghost-town took me up in a brand new F/A-18, and I got to fly the simulator (but just the "Red" side, which wasn't a full motion sim, but fun nevertheless. I always felt I escaped punishment for that suspension, and somehow ended up with one of my favorite memories ever as a reward! I can't even remember what I got suspended for, but I'll never forget 3 fun days with all the Marines.

Do you have an approximate date for those last photo's in the article? I ask because I was a WOC at Fort Wolters in Primary from May to September of 1973 - among the last three classes to go through there before it closed and everything moved to Fort Rucker. The guy on the far right in the right hand picture sure looks like a classmate of mine later at Fort Rucker. My class had mostly military instructors at Wolters so I almost certainly didn't get to fly with your dad.

cheesehawk,

LMAO! What a great story. Thanks for sharing it.

Snake_Pliskinn (one of THE best movie names ever),

Not sure about the date of the pics in question. The guy simply told me that he went through "Wolters" in the early 70's. Sorry, I know that doesn't narrow it down. If I can find the dude's email, I'll shoot him a note and get back to you.

Later all,

BBall

Awesome story!

BBall: You, sir, are a very lucky man

May I just add that this, and more, of BBall's memoirs can be found on my site and in their original formats...

http://digitality.comyr.com/milnet/Logbook.htm