Ever think of the times when you, as a flyer, would find yourself sitting in the parking lot of your local airstrip wondering why you're not in that new 172 or that shinny Moony tied down on the tarmac?

Did you ever wonder why you hadn't found the time to  get your medical update and make an appointment with your CFI?  I don't think there is a licensed pilot that, one time or another, hasn't thought  something was missing from their life once the priority of flying became more distant.  Oh, I know,  kids to collage, business to run, family to attend to.  The list goes on and on doesn't it?

I find myself still maintaining my membership in AOPA.  I drop the mail, sit down and flip through the newly arrived issue of AOPA PILOT every month.  A issue of Aviation Safety, the monthly journal of risk management and accident prevention, is always on our coffee table next to the TV guide.

SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?  That's it, It's time to make those calls and get flying. I'm gona get  back up there again.  How about you?

If you have never flown in an open cockpit aircraft it's something you've missed.  There's nothing like the thrill of flying with the wind and noise around you.  At the North Las Vegas Airport, we found several folks with open cockpit Stearman or Waco old timers available for charter flights.  My wife gave me a wonderful birthday gift; a flight in this Waco over the Nevada desert which is featured in the following slide show.