This is a 1929 Waco Replica owned by my friend Michael McCafferty.  Taken at CRQ (Carlsbad) airport in late 96' just after a wonderful flight, down to San Diego, over the coast line.

At the intersection of what today is Hempstead Turnpike and Interstate 135 in Bethpage, Long Island NY was Zorns airport.  Zorns  was a little grass airstrip, behind a chicken farm.  The chicken farm Zorns, still stands today.  My parents went there from time to time when I was a kid and while they shopped, I watched the planes.  The air strip is long gone, along with 100's of my childhood friends homes that were knocked down to make way for the new Interstate, I 135 that would connect the North and South shore of Long Island.

I guess I was about 10 or 12 when I I went to my father and said: "Dad, I want to learn to fly my own airplane".  He looked at me over the tops of his glasses, cigarette in one hand and a coffee cup in the other and said:  "That is a rich man's sport" so I determined to become a "rich man" as soon as possible so I could fly!

Sometime in late 1989 I had an office at the approach end of runway 35 across the street from Danbury airport in Connecticut.  The airplanes taking off and landing would cause so much noise that I often had to scream into  the mouth piece of my phone, while placing a finger in my ear  to close out the background sounds in a vain attempt to get some work done while working on the phone.

One day at lunch, I walked across the street to "Bluebird Aviation" and signed up for lessons.  Less than six months later I had my private pilot ticket.  Clearly I was "rich"!  I was now a pilot.  I consider earning my private pilot wings one of the great accomplishments of my life.    

Golly, Jonathan Livingston Sea Gull!

The Baron  Bonanza N100LJ The Sundowner! Mooney N The Twin Commanche