Flying High
“Flying like a bird around your neighborhood is a dream of many children and my interest in flying was no different as a boy. My fascination with flying was encouraged by my father who was a combat pilot in the Pacific during World War II, and was still in the Air National Guard actively flying everything from transports to jet fighters to helicopters when I was young. He would occasionally fly an aircraft to our local airport where I could sit in the cockpit and dream. We did not have the resources to own a plane, but family friends did, and I was able at times to fly with them and my father. The view from a small plane is better, and the sensation of flying is nothing like the flight on a commercial airliner. The wonder of watching the earth fall away as we climbed above the earth resonated with me then and still does today.
As so often happens, life gets in the way of dreams and it would be many years before I pursued a private pilot license, even though my wife gave me a gift lesson with a flight instructor. As I neared completion of the license, we adopted special needs children, and with the birth of a son as well, the family finances once again forced a suspension of the dream. Later as our own son was maturing, he and I decided to pursue pilot licenses as a father-son project. Several years ago we obtained a small, 1965 Piper Cherokee 140 airplane, and the two of us flew it home on a long cross-country flight. Flying now is primarily in Colorado enjoying the beautiful sights of this wonderful state. My now 10 year old granddaughter is often my co-pilot. She has been flying with me since she was sitting in her car seat. Now quite comfortable at the controls, she frequently puts us in a steeply banked turn so she has a better view of the ground out the side window. She too, dreams of flying like a bird.”
David Glasscock, MD
Arvada Family Practice
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Tags: colorado, newwestphysicians, pilot