Dad and Mom's Piper Comanche 250 with the new paint job. Wasn't she pretty?
June 1978 print date on back of photograph.
Grass Valley, California
Both my parents learned how to fly in the very early 1970's. My Dad, Dale Boothby, got the flying bug and could talk about nothing else. Of course, when he got the idea to learn something new, he jumped in 150%. And sometimes 200%! He started flying in January of 1971 and got his 3rd Class license in March of that year. He then got his instrument license to fly under IFR (instrument flight rules). He learned to fly at the same time as a good family friend, Mr. Sauers. Well, if Dad could learn to fly, then Mom could too!
Mom (Margaret Boothby) started ground school with Mrs. Sauers. Both passed the exam, and Mom started flying lessons in June of 1971. She received her Airman 3rd Class license on September 16, 1973. After the flight test, she asked the examiner if her license could please read "Airperson 3rd Class". He politely declined because that would not be government regulation. As Mom said, "I tried...it was the 70's after all".
Mom really wanted very much to learn to fly, but parts of the learning didn't come easily. Dad helped her study navigation, and she spent many hours later on being his navigator when they flew together. Mom often flew the plane on long trips, but didn't do take offs or landings because she wasn't checked out in the Piper. Our plane was larger and more powerful than the Cessna 150 that she trained in.
GlennJ., Dr. Ross, and an unknown gentleman. Photograph taken at a Rotary Fly-In at the Nut Tree Airport, Vacaville, California.
Date sometime after 1978.
Mom was learning to fly during her teaching years at Pleasant Ridge Elementary in Grass Valley. She prepared lessons on flying, weather and navigation for her students (lucky students!). She took them on a field trip to Beale Air Force Base to see the Thunderbirds perform; afterwards her students got to meet the pilots and have pictures signed. Mom was a fantastic teacher!
From The Union, Grass Valley, California.
Date unknown, but sometime before August of 1973.
Mom's first cross country solo flight was August 23, 1973, from the Nevada County Airport to Colombia and Sacramento. Her second cross country solo flight was August 28, 1973 flying to Concord. Her next solo flight was September 1, 1973 and she flew to Stockton and Fresno and back home again. She was on a roll!
Interested kiddos at an unknown event at the Nevada County Airport. Our plane is in the background. Dad was very involved with the airport activities and we also spent many hours playing in the hanger while Dad fiddled with the plane. Mom would bring over hamburgers from Humpty Dumpty for dinner. If we were lucky, we got to see the fire planes take off and land during a fire.
My sister and I were the beneficiaries of our parents' ability to go anywhere faster than our friends' parents. We rode in the back of the plane to Southern California to stay with Dad and Mom's pharmacy school friends and experience Disneyland, Lion Country Safari and Knotts Berry Farm. We flew to Grandma's house (Nino's) for Easter lunch and dinner in Sonoma and were home by bedtime. We flew to the Nut Tree for lunch many times! Dad flew to Chico State University in 1981 to pick me up for a dentist appointment in Grass Valley (I had my wisdom teeth out). Any chance he could get, he would rather fly than drive. It was way more efficient and much more fun! Actually, when I think about it, he drove a car just like he was flying.
One fun (!) memory for my sister took place when she was in kindergarten. Dad was doing his IFR training and did it early in the morning so he could get to work afterwards. He took Steph with him a few times, all dressed for school, and she would be in the back seat while he did his unusual attitudes under the hood. Poor Steph was dropped off at school feeling very green. One day, her teacher asked if she didn't feel well and she replied "My Daddy took me flying"... She said she barfed every time.
We did have some scary times, too. I remember vividly to this day being in the plane and landing at the Nevada County Airport. A tire popped as we landed, and Dad deftly got us stopped in the ditch at the side of the runway at a very odd angle. We were safe, but it was just about the only time I head my Mom swear....(and all she said was "Godfather!"). And there was the time we were flying down to southern California and it was particularly cold and we were in some bad weather. Dad had the heater on full blazes trying to keep us warm in the back seat. I think there may have been some ice on the wings, also...but he navigated his way out of that situation thankfully. And, flying with Mom always made me feel safer. We had two pilots on board!
Later on, Dad flew my son to Camp Joyful Noise, where Mom and Dad spent a few weeks every summer teaching music and computer skills. Dad continued to fly for many years, taking whomever needed a ride to the places they needed to go. He and his flying buddy Mr. Peavy had lots of flying adventures after my sister and I got married and moved away. Dad successfully passed "check rides" with an inspector until September of 2009. It broke his heart when he could not pass his physical due to his cancer diagnosis. He took one last ride with a flight instructor before he passed away in 2012 that no one knew about until after he was gone. The instructor saw Mom one day and told her that Dad was satisfied with his flight. I'm glad he got to fly one more time.
Mom still has flying adventures, but this time on big jet airliners. She and I flew to Arizona several times to visit her sister Claire, and she flew with my sister to join a cruise ship trip a few years ago. My sister, my daughter and I recently flew to Las Vegas for a fun get together. So, we are still flying!
Thanks, Mom and Steph for your help writing this story!
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