Plane Rides $7

A conversation I had earlier today made me remember my days of flying as a private pilot.   A joy and excitement I have not thought of in a while.  I think of flying and to this day, I still get an energy rush, stronger than the strongest pot of coffee!

Funny, because it all started here in Sedona long ago.  Right where I am now....but now is all these years later.    Back then, I was in college and I played music on the weekends.  It was a great way to earn money while in school.  We (the band I played in) had a gig up here in Sedona, and we stayed the night.

The next day driving around, we saw a sign that said, "Plane Rides $7".  Our curiosity was peaked.  So we headed up airport mesa and took a ride.

My little plane, Cessna 24518, the plane I learned to fly in

The pilot was a young woman, a student at Embry Riddle.  She took us up and I sat in the co -pilot's seat.  We breezed above Sedona.  She let me take the yoke (the wheel), and I felt the wind as I turned the plane.

I was hooked.  I had to learn how to fly!

And so I did.  I took lessons in a little Cessna plane, a 152.  I still remember the tail n number, 24518.  In this plane, I learned to fly and earned my private pilot's license.

I wonder where that little plane is today...if it even still exists. But I found this old photo... 

And now, I have not flown as a pilot for over 20 years.  After I stopped flying, I wondered why, why I had learned to fly.  All those hours, the cost...and I did not become a professional pilot.  Oh well, it was fun anyway.  It was thrilling.  Great memories.   And I had a few spiritual lessons up there...

But years later I realized why.

Years later in life, I was (am) a chaplain in the military, the USAF.  Was it any wonder I wound up in the USAF?  Was it any wonder why I still love to be around aviation, and the people of aviation?  I know the lango of aviation.   It was/is great to serve the people of aviation.

Well, I may have never become a professional pilot...but there is a reason for everything in life.

We never know what the future may hold...in the things we do, the experiences we have, why we do them, the people we meet...

Or how taking a little plane ride for $7 can impact your life!

More Stories from the Edge of the Earth...Doing Shabbat in Antarctica

A recent talk I gave made me think about my adventures in Antarctica.   I did not write about all of them when I was down there. I just did not have enough time!  OK, so here is one more.  Read and enjoy. 


One day sitting in my office in the Chapel at McMurdo Station last October, a lady came in and asked me, "Are you the chaplain here?"   I told her that I was.  She asked, "I am Jewish, when am I supposed to do Shabbat?  The sun never sets here!"

Well, that was a stumper.  I had never been asked that one before!  And they don't write about these things in the textbooks.   Of course, I had never been to Antarctica before either.  She was right, it was  the Antarctic Springtime, the austral spring - summer and the sun went round and round in the sky, 24 hour sunlight!

I told her I would get back with her right away.

I emailed a colleague I know who is a rabbi and a chaplain in the New Zealand Navy.  I asked her, when should she do Shabbat?  The sun doesn't set here!

She wrote back, "Have her do Shabbat when the sun sets at the closest land mass to Antarctica".

And that would be New Zealand.

So I told the lady to practice Shabbat by following the sun set times for Christchurch, New Zealand!

And all were happy.