Pilot

I have loved airplanes since childbirth. Rather recently in life, I fulfilled my dream of flying an airplane.

Origins

My dad was an aeronautical engineer, and when I was very young, he taught at the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Cairo. My earliest memory is of running around a belly-landed Beech 18 that was in the yard there, and getting lost….

In the 1950s, my dad spent a summer working at a factory in Egypt that built the Heliopolis Aircraft Works Gomhouriya, a re-engined copy of the Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann trainer. I was raised on stories of the cool structural details of this airplnae, which was made primarily of wood with a plywood or fabric covering:

Growing up in Nigeria, I read American magazines and dreamt of flying airplanes and joining the experimental aircraft community.

My first lessons

There was not a confluence of opportunity and desire – I had a lot of immigrant survivor guilt to contend with. But this was about to change. My father-in-law, Dr Rick Blum of Wilkes-Barre, PA, became a pilot and purchased his own airplane!

When visiting Rick, at his home airport of KWBW, I had my first-ever flight lessons in a Cessna 172, with Lou DeFazio. Lou was great! Right from the start, he gave me exercises like asking me to follow the Susquehanna river at low altitude, going with the bends in the river, and in so doing loosened up the “death grip stare” that comes with a lot of new pilots. I was learning to control the plane – banking into turns, staying coordinated, doing the thing. It was a great confidence boost!

Flight training in Palo Alto

I continued my training in Palo Alto, out of KPAO, near our home at the time, in a Cessna C162 “Skycatcher” which I nicknamed the “Flycatcher”. My main instructor was Nadav Eiron, a fellow Google engineer, though I also had valuable lessons from several other knowledgeable folks.

On October 9, 2014, I broke ground for the first time as a solo pilot in an airplane. I have video of the event, and I was all business, only allowing myself a smile for a fraction of a second once on takeoff and once on short final. On June 19, 2015, I passed my test and became a Sport Pilot - Airplane Single-Engine Land (SP-ASEL). I was now licensed to fly anywhere (with proper radio contact where appropriate), and carry a passenger.

Flying in San Jose

We moved to San Jose, and I joined AeroDynamic Aviation at KRHV. The owners, Josh and Jen Watson, have become great friends to me, and are very talented and knowledgeable aviators. My main instructor at this school was Johanthan Ingensson Logan, and I flew the Evektor SportStar aircraft, N188EV and N712MF. I had a lot of really good times with my wife Melissa and son Aden in these fun, responsive airplanes!

Getting the RANS bug

I was already familiar with RANS as a company that made recumbent bicycles (another hobby of mine). At some point, Tom Jones flew over to KRHV and gave us test flights in his RANS S-6S “Coyote II” airplane, and both Melissa and I loved it!

Not unsurprisingly, this is the same type of airplane as N291DR, the airplane I chose to form my Coyote Valley Sport Flyers ownership club!

Flying N291DR

I have had lots of adventures in N291DR with family and friends. N291DR is a tailwheel equipped short takeoff and landing (STOL) airplane with comparatively large tires. In our ownership club, we do not impose restrictions on ourselves regarding where we can land – so we get to land on off-airport dirt strips if we want. I am now working towards becoming an instructor in my own right, taking friends for flights where I give them the controls (under safe circumstances) and learn how to teach!

And, in particular, I got to take my father-in-law Rick Blum for a flight!

Check out my remarks about Airball; the Coyote Valley Sport Flyers; and Rivets for more aviation related content!