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Stretch's Hangar

About Me Contact delivery on 122.45.

Introduction FSNut Pilot in Training

First of all, welcome to my pages for Fs98 & 95; I hope you will enjoy the resources here. The purpose of the pages is mainly to share a loved hobby and to provide a place to share info and simulator knowledge. My name is Aaron Swindle, and I live in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I am 6'2" and about 155 lbs, thus the nickname "Stretch" was coined for me by my friend Ace McCool, a retired engineer and long time advanced pilot. You can read some of his great writings about flying and aviation by clicking on his link on the homepage. He is a most avid writer and poet by any standards. He is also a most cherished friend and advisor to say the least.

I have had a love of flying for most of my life. My father was a career A/C mechanic in the navy for 22 years. As you can imagine, I got to spend a great deal of time around aircraft and ships. I have even had the privilege to ride in the GoodYear blimp once while living in Texas. That was a neat experience indeed. With so much moving around the country, it seemed we were always climbing in and out of commercial planes. This pattern continued for me after I joined the U.S.M.C. in 1986. Flying into San Diego to go to boot camp, "90 Days In Hell"…hahahahah, I had my first thoughts of getting my PPL. It would be 11 years later when I finally drove out to SHD, Shenandoah Regional Airport and met Pete Burr, a CFII/MEI, who owns Valley Air Inc. He was sitting behind a weathered metal desk. It turned out he also was from the same area of Texas I used to live in. I introduced myself and told him I wanted to learn to fly. Twenty minutes later we did a preflight inspection on the 150 Cessna and headed out to rway 23. With my hands on the flight yoke and feet on the rudder pedals, I knew I was in for a great experience. We hit the center line and he told me to give it full power, "Man what a great feeling to be right up front where the action is, after all those years of over-crowded backseat rides". To make a long story short, 55 minutes later I was "Hooked." Since that time, I have been training in a 172 Cessna Sky-hawk under the guidance of Norbert Wittman, CFII Charter Pilot.. Norbert, originally from Germany, is in the U.S. on an aviation training program. He's tough, but fair and I really enjoy flying with him. Progress is slow but steady, which is what a new pilot in training needs to remember. I am very close to my first solo---"Sweaty Palms", no doubt. I will keep you posted on my training progress. Again, I wish to welcome you to my little piece of heaven, and invite you to submit contributions to this site if you like. It will be a little rough at first, but hey most flights are until you get above the turbulence.

Stretch****

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