Old pictures, part 1: a few shots from my flying days

I was digitizing some old pictures today and I came across a few that might be of general interest and/or amusement. Here are some pictures from more than a decade ago back when I first got my private pilot’s license.

 I’m standing next to a Cessna 172 in the photo above. I’d just finished my check ride and the piece of paper I’m holding in my hand is my temporary license.

Here is the only picture I know if that shows me actually flying the plane. We are heading out for a “hundred dollar hamburger”, flying from Van Nuys to Camarillo airport. By the looks of the altimeter, I’m up at about 3000 feet which means I was probably heading west just passing out of the San Fernando Valley.

Here I am practicing “steep turns” above the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. This was in early 2000 when it was still okay to fly over places like this. I was up at 6,000 feet and this is taking looking straight out of the passenger-side window.

It’s a typically hazy day at Van Nuys. I remember snapping this one on about a one-mile final approach into runway 16L (the short runway). Even from a mile out the visibility isn’t great.

I haven’t flown since 2001, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted and it was something I always wanted to do. So proud of my accomplishment was I, that it was only recently that I finally canceled my membership to AOPA.