During my student pilot days, I bought my first plane.   I know it sounds expensive, but BeechCraft Sundowner N9317S  was only $27,000!  Hey, I had friends who had cars that cost that much!  The tie down was $30 a month and the math said"  " if you're going to fly for more than 100 hours a year, it is cheaper to own". So I bought my first plane, finished my student pilot work and then put some 750 hours in this wonderful flying machine!

I think that I have made most every mistake a pilot can make without killing himself.  Most of these mistakes were made in this Sundowner.  I have come to learn that a good pilot is always a "student".  I have also come to understand that there is no substitute for experience.    You can earn a private pilot license in about 45 hours of experience.    I earned both my private pilot and my Instrument rating in this plane in under 125 hours.  I well on my way to 3000 hours, now in a multi-engine aircraft and I marvel at every hour of experience I earn and learn.   (Is this a metaphors for life?) 

This plane spent most of its time with me flying out of Danbury Airport, in Western Connecticut on the Westchester County border, near my Waccabuc New York home.    All my firsts were in this plane.  I still enjoy the memory of flying friends and family down the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty, a beautiful flight that took about an hour.  Just the right medicine for those who were not to sure how they would react in a small plane.

I don't think you ever forget your "first" anything.  I will never forget an hour of the 787 hours I spent flying this Beechcraft wonder.