It was a typical June day in north central Wisconsin. Warm, with a breeze from the south. I was out of bed early, and soon my dad and I were headed to the Merrill Airport. I had been anxiously awaiting my 16th birthday, not because of cake and ice cream, but if all went well today, I was hoping to make my first solo flight.
Things did go well, and I made three solo take-off and landings! I recall one time looking at the empty back seat and smiling…yes, I really was alone.
The airplane I had been learning to fly in was a Piper PA-11 Cub, and my instructor was a man by the name of John Hatz.
A few years earlier, John had designed and built his own 2 place open cockpit airplane, the Hatz Biplane. Over the next few years, I would have the chance to fly in the biplane with his eldest son Lyman at the controls. Lyman and I attended high school together.
A few years later, after attending A&P school, I had the chance to help build and fly a couple of other Hatz Biplanes that were being built in the area, and over time, would take a ride in one whenever I had the chance.
I even bought an unfinished project in the 1990’s but work, family and lack of a shop...well, it was later sold. Yet, I would regularly keep an eye on the for-sale ads, just in case.
Fast forward 50 years.
Over the years, I would try to fly on my birthday just as a personal way to commemorate my first solo. Sometimes in the airplane I owned at the time, a few times in a rental PA-11 Cub, an airliner on a business trip, once in a glider, or whatever, worked out. But this year, I was not quite prepared to fly the Cub on that memorable day, so no birthday flight.
What transpired next was very unexpected. Paging through Barnstormers.com one night, I came upon a new for-sale ad for a Hatz Biplane located about 250 miles from my home. I e-mailed for pictures, talked to the seller a few times, made two trips to look at it, fly it and in less than a week, it was mine...sitting in a hangar at my local airport. It was just what I wanted.
Okay, okay, call me crazy, but I cannot think of a better way to commemorate the 50 years since my first solo. I prefer to be thought of as being passionate about everything aviation!
Keep ‘em flying safely, Ron
