Flying the EAA 1929 Ford Tri-Motor!

Recently I was honored to be able to fly EAAs 1929 Ford Tri-Motor! I flew it out of Shreveport Louisiana (DTN) on a beautiful sunny weekend. The Ford Tri-Motor has always been one of my favorite aircraft of all time. So, as you can imagine I was in heaven that day, a day that I will never forget.

Trying to maintain my cool and a heading!

My Captain for the day was Cody Welch, a retired airline pilot with over 33,000 flight hours. As if it wasn't hard enough for me to maintain my cool, I had one of the most experienced pilots in the entire state next to me. Capt. Welch ended up being one of the most down to earth and happy pilots that I've ever met. I confided to him that this was a dream come true for me to fly this airplane. He told me that he knows exactly how I feel. He said, "I still feel that way after numerous years of flying this bird!"

Capt. Cody Welch and Chris Rosenfelt

As a lot of my readers know, I have been flying skydivers for over 7 years now. So it was definitely cool to discover that the Tri-Motor that I flew also has a history of flying skydivers! It turns out that specific airplane use to fly Smoke Jumpers, helping to put out forest fires in Missoula Montana back in the 1950s. I have included a cool photo that I found of it back in the day about to take on a load of Jumpers.

Smoke Jumpers about to board Ford Tri-Motor in Missoula MT.

One of our passengers had a very interesting story to tell. He is Shreveport businessman Byrum Teekell. When he was only 5 years old (80 years ago) his father took him to the, then new Shreveport Downtown Airport to take his first airplane ride. It turns out that it was this very same airplane! That first flight inspired him to become a pilot, which he did, and even flew around the world in 1992!

Mr. Teekell told us that his first time up in this Tri-Motor it was piloted by legendary pioneer pilot Clarence Duncan Chamberlin. The second man to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft across the Atlantic, carrying the first transatlantic passenger. Yep, hearing that was definitely humbling for me to hear. Something I probably need more of.

Expose Yourself!

If you're a Jump Pilot or if you're planning on becoming one, you will get the opportunity to travel. You will more than likely have to relocate to another state or country when you get hired and/or the airplane that you fly will be leased by various drop zones around the country that you will have the privilege to travel to. 

When that happens, after you get settled in, I believe that it is important to expose yourself to your new surroundings. Taste the local food, visit local attractions and really get to know the local people.  You'll learn a lot, not just about them, but about yourself as well.

I've flown at 6 different drop zones around the U.S. in 6 years as a contract Jump Pilot and Ferry Pilot and I have always made it a point to do as much exploring as I could of my host state. 

While flying for Capitol Skydiving, I explored some huge local caves and learned why Austin is the "Live Music Capitol of the U.S.". While flying for Skydive Sacramento I snowboarded at nearby Lake Tahoe and explored the beautiful Northern California coast. I have learned so much about this country that I would have never been exposed to if it wasn't for this cool job of mine.  I have also learned that the more I travel, the more I want to travel.

Above are a couple of pictures of Renee and I at Oak Alley Plantation near New Orleans, Louisiana.  Those are 300 year old Oak trees in front of the plantation house. You might recognize this mansion from the movie Interview with a Vampire.

Louisiana Rainbow

I caught a picture of a nice rainbow over Louisiana after throwing out some skydivers in the Grand Caravan.  Constant beautiful views, yet another perk to my job!