I have been fascinated with
flying since a young boy. Growing up in Wisconsin, my parents took me to the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh a few
times. This experience sparked a life-long dream of someday taking to the air in my own plane.
My first year in college, the dream started to become a reality as I majored in aviation. I took all of the
basic classes of aerodynamics, ground school training, etc., and then the second year required real flight time. Unfortunately,
I did not have the money to rent an airplane and pay for the instruction time, so my major was changed and the dream of flying
was put on the back burner for a while. It turned out to be a LONG while.
In the fall of 2002, I
started to really get the itch again. In part because I was working in a career that afforded both the time and money
to take up where I left off so many years prior. In addition, two other advisors in my office were pilots. One
of them took me up for a flight in his 1957 Piper Tri-Pacer and that was it. I was hooked... again.
I waited until after the holidays and then in January of 2003 I started my search for a flight school and instructor
with which I felt comfortable. After many phone calls and a few visits to flight schools, I landed at a school based
at Addison Airport (ADS), Monarch Air.
My instruction began in February and I completed my FAA Checkride
on August 13th, 2003. That was it! I was a private pilot. I now had the ability to walk into Monarch Air,
rent an airplane, and fly where ever my heart desired. Over the next two years I enjoyed hopping around the North Texas
area and giving pleasure rides to family and friends. I continued to rent from Monarch and enjoy the thrill of flying.
The dream was finally realized... at least part of the dream.
Two years later in 2005,
Linda and I were ready to move into a bigger home and better neighborhood in which Sydney could grow up. We
had been looking for about a year already but just could not find anything that 'spoke' to us. Part of
the problem was that Linda wanted to move farther away from the city (Dallas)... she wanted to have a larger
lot and space between homes. On the other hand, I wanted to move closer to the city and cut down on my daily
commute time.
I knew of places called 'residential aiparks' as I had
a few clients that lived in one south of Dallas. It occured to me that an airpark would certainly be appealing to me
as I could buy and hangar my own plane one day, and it would satisfy Linda's desire to have more space.
So, the search started. I looked up all of the residential airparks in and around the DFW area.
I only physically looked at two. After driving through the second one, I knew immediately that it was the place for
us. I knew in my mind that Linda would love it as well... I don't know why... I just sensed that this was the place.
It had wide open green areas, a horse pasture with stables, home lots that were all at least one (1) acre, and of course...
A PRIVATE RUNWAY! How cool is that?
After visiting Hidden Valley Airpark, I came home to Lewisville
and told Linda that I had found our new neighborhood. She did not seem all that enthusiastic at first, but once I took
her for a tour of the neighborhood, I believe she fell in love with it just as I did. Now, all we had to do was find
a home. No problem, eh?
We talked about buying an empty lot and building vs. buying
an existing home that was for sale. The problem with the latter being a very limited number of homes that were for sale. We drove around the airpark looking for "For Sale" signs and only found two. Of
the two, only one was very interesting to us from the curb. We called the owner, scheduled a tour of the home and made
an offer within a week.
That was it. It was almost magical. Here we had
be struggling to find a neighborhood, struggling to agree as to where we wanted to even look... struggled over school districts
and everything else that is taken into account when moving. Hidden Valley Airpark hit the radar on a whim of mine and
within a month we had found our dream neighborhood, our dream home, the place we wanted to spend the rest of our lives...
we were on contract to buy the house in less than a month.
As for the flying, well
the house just happened to have a hangar attached to it. With the increasing cost of fuel and rental costs, I found
myself flying less and less. It was time to start shopping for a plane. Why pay a rental fee when I can make a
loan payment on my OWN plane? It's like renting a house vs. buying it.
I looked at all of the industry rags and online ads, carefully determining what I wanted from a small first aircraft,
what I should spend, and then ultimately, which is the right one.
In September of 2005 I
came across an ad for a plane that fit all of my criteria, and even better, it was based at a local airport in Fort Worth.
I drove to the airport, met with the owner, looked over the logs, visually inspected the plane, and put down $500 on the spot
with intent to buy pending a pre-purchase inspection. Needless to say, everything went perfectly and on September 17th,
2005, I flew N4530T, my 1972 Piper Cherokee Cruiser, to the new home base... Hidden Valley Airpark.
Finally... a life long dream... completely and enthusiatically fulfilled!
Enjoy the photos below.
Tim
