I was stationed in Millington, Tennessee on instructor duty. I had gone through basic and advanced training there and was finally being an instructor in the Avionics fundamentals school I had gone through years earlier. If you ever want to really learn something, start teaching it. There is no greater motivation to know everything about a subject than having to face a training class and be able to know everything on your subject so you can answer a miriad of questions that will follow.
Today I remembered Larry Wyatt. I knew him while on duty in Millington. We were friends and when I wanted to start moonlighting working on electronic devices, he had been working on TV sets in his off time, but closed his shop when he developed an interest in flying. He sold me all of his test equipment for bargain prices to get me a great start on my venture.
It happened frequently that we had mornings without classes to teach, so we would cross the street from the training command to the old World War Two flight line where the navy had trained pilots in navigation during that war. It was the perfect place for that training because when pilots flew from the flight line there to hone their navigational skills, if they got lost, all they had to do was find the mighty Mississippi river and follow it north to Millington to get home.
Larry needed flight time to meet requirements for his pilot's license, so we would go airborne in a Piper Cub aircraft. It was a very small plane, but it was fun to fly in one. They had a small engine, smaller than in a car back then, but they had a lot of wing lift so takeoffs were easy and required little speed, landing was the same, slow on approach and slow landing, much slower than what we drive on the highways today. Those were some very good times for me. I don't know what ever happened to Larry, but having the memories of us flying out of Millington are very fine indeed.
Today I remembered Larry Wyatt. I knew him while on duty in Millington. We were friends and when I wanted to start moonlighting working on electronic devices, he had been working on TV sets in his off time, but closed his shop when he developed an interest in flying. He sold me all of his test equipment for bargain prices to get me a great start on my venture.
It happened frequently that we had mornings without classes to teach, so we would cross the street from the training command to the old World War Two flight line where the navy had trained pilots in navigation during that war. It was the perfect place for that training because when pilots flew from the flight line there to hone their navigational skills, if they got lost, all they had to do was find the mighty Mississippi river and follow it north to Millington to get home.
Larry needed flight time to meet requirements for his pilot's license, so we would go airborne in a Piper Cub aircraft. It was a very small plane, but it was fun to fly in one. They had a small engine, smaller than in a car back then, but they had a lot of wing lift so takeoffs were easy and required little speed, landing was the same, slow on approach and slow landing, much slower than what we drive on the highways today. Those were some very good times for me. I don't know what ever happened to Larry, but having the memories of us flying out of Millington are very fine indeed.
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