The "Solo"

Cody did his first flying solo today. The whole family went to the airstrip to watch in excitment. He took off and landed about a half dozen times. The day was absolutely beautiful, but a little windy which kept him on his toes. Here are some pictures of the big event. The plane he is flying is a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, which is a little two seater made out of fabric!! It's the preferred plane for bush pilots because it's lite and easy to get up and down in small areas. Needless to say Cody is in LOVE with flying and it's all we hear about (which makes us just as happy)! He's just got to finish ground school now which is the book work to becoming a pilot, and he needs to build hours. This all needs to be done, most likely before the end of the year when we will probably be moving. He's put bids in to open Wildlife positions in Petersburg, Kodiak, and Cordova. We're crossing our fingers for Cordova and things look good so far. If we get this post we'll expect everyone to come for vacation, hunting, fishing, etc. The tradition after finishing your first solo is to be awarded a hat and to have your shirt tails cut off; so the instructor, Jay Baldwin of Alaska Cub Training Specialists, did the honors.