Philip Withim

Private, single engine, land. Tail dragger endorsement (at Lenhardts, Hooray!) Planes I've logged at least 5 minutes in: Schwietzer sailplanes (as a teenager in Pennsylvania), Cessna 152's, a 172, One or two other spam cans, RV-6's, Boeing B-17 and Stearman, a pulse-jet powered go-kart, Champs, Rutan Vari-EZ, Shukoi Su-29, and the wonderful Rans S-10. Picked up my licence at Palo Alto Airport, under the San Francisco TCA - I mean Class B airspace. 390 measly hours TT. "Going up" to 25,000 feet without oxygen in an altitude chamber sucked my brains out through my ears, but it was fun. So far, I'd have to say that nothing compares to the Shukoi. Of the rest, my Rans is the most fun. Though, the bombardier's position in the nose of a B-17 is mighty cool. I must have taken out 300 wind-surfers with those phantom 500-pounders.

To finish the S-10 took eight years of building plus four years of doing nothing. Flying her to Oshkosh was a nice adventure and the culmination of a phase of my life. Flying over the mountain valleys of Idaho and Montana was really sweet. Beating back the admiring babes asking for rides has been tiresome, though.