An Airline Pilot Retires

The story starts in 1976. I liked flirting with my sister’s roommate, who worked at a flight school in Van Nuys, CA. One day I was dropping off some papers for my sister at the flight school, and her roommate looked me in the eye and said “Dave, you need to learn how to fly”. I went on a demo flight that afternoon. This was sooo long ago that 20 hours of dual and 20 hours of solo with ground school cost $800. I used to buy and sell cars, and had sold a car that morning. I took the $700 out of my pocket, put it on the counter, and said I’ll learn how to fly. 

I had several jobs after college. The job that drove me into flying was working as an auto claims insurance adjuster. I did not like the job. I was going to have to shoot myself, start drinking, or find a new career. I decided to go get the rest of my ratings, so I sold everything I owned, and went down to Florida for the summer of 1985. I started at one of the big name flight school in Vero Beach. I got a dorm room, a room mate, and started instrument ground school. If I stayed at the big flight school was going to run out of money. I went down the field to the local FBO, and found an ex big school flight instructor with newer airplanes at about half the price. I talked my room mate into switching to the FBO as well. We rented an apartment on the beach, and started taking at least two lessons a day. One of us would fly, the other would watch, then we would switch and do the same lesson. In 5 months of doing that I got my instrument, commercial, multi engine, CFI, CFII, and MEI, and came in right at the $10,000 I had budgeted.