Hi All!

Charles WoodGlad you're here, hope you're having fun flying with DC-3 Airways! I sure enjoyed pulling the pieces together.

 I have a super job right now, others call it retired. Been in that happy state since 1992, and Flight-Simming fits in perfectly.

A long time ago, I held a private pilot’s license and accumulated 450 hours of flight time. Learned to fly at Rutherford Airport, NW of Baltimore. It boasted a single 2800 ft. runway—half was paved, the other half was gravel. Typical small airport, power lines at one end and 50 ft trees at the other end. I brushed those tree-tops with the landing gear one day when practicing take-offs and landings. Unconcerned, my CFI watched from the ground ... It was my Tripacer.

When developers gobbled up Rutherford, I moved to Baltimore's then Friendship Int'l Airport—now Baltimore Washington Int'l Airport. There I gained controlled-field experience and got a start on my Instrument Rating. Passed the written test OK and was nearing the time for my check ride when my employer thought it would be a fantastic time to send me and the family to the middle east for 3½ years.

College expenses followed our return to friendly turf, and for a long time I didn’t think much about flying. By the time my eyes drifted towards the clouds again, it was too late. Degrading eyesight would ground me as a pilot.

I've had the pleasure of being a passenger on two DC-3 flights. The first was an Eastern Airlines connector flight from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Md., about 35 miles. The more recent flight was in 2001 on N44V, the perfectly restored Piedmont Airlines DC-3, based at Douglas International Airport at Charlotte, N.C. The Carolinas Historic Aviation Commission owns, maintains, and keeps that aircraft in flying condition for air shows.

This VA was a year and a half in the making. Side-tracking for six months to develop a navigation tutorial website was part of the reason. Stopping to help two other VAs get off the ground held things up, too, as well as my duties as a senior vice-president in yet another fledgling VA. All time well and enjoyably spent.

With DC-3 Airways as a near-daily taskmaster for over four years it was time to retire as CEO. The milestone of enrolling pilot no DC3-1000 seemed the fitting moment.

On 16 July 2003 when I submitted my resignation I could only reflect that it had been an impossible-to-top experience. I am indebted to our staff for making it so and very confident that DC-3 Airways can only improve under CEO Ron Bushell's leadership.

Thank you,

Charles Wood
18 July 2003

 

 

 

Charles Wood