Cockpit Close-Up is a FREE event to be held 8-10 a.m. the first Saturday of each month. The next event will be held Saturday, June 1 at the airport terminal building, 4800 E. Falcon Drive.
The event will feature volunteer pilot Steve Lewis based at Falcon Field and his private aircraft. On June 1 the featured aircraft will be a 1976 Cessna C177 Cardinal RG – RG means “retractable (landing) gear. Get a close-up look and talk to the pilot about the aircraft, flight training, flight knowledge & experiences, aviation careers, etc. Questions are welcome! It's a great opportunity for those who are considering flight training or a career in aviation!
Steve Lewis has been a pilot for over 45 years. He is a Commercial, Instrument Pilot, a Certificated Flight Instructor and Instrument Flight Instructor. He has accumulated approximately 3,000 flying hours in many different airplanes and weather. He is also a retired FAA Air Traffic Controller who worked at seven different Air Traffic Control facilities during his 27+ year long career. Lewis Aviation Consulting, L.L.C, is the name of the business that Steve does consulting work through and fly's under.
We asked him a few questions below!
What got you into Aviation?
This is ALL my dad’s fault! My dad was an “airplane nut” since he was a young boy, and I am another example of the old adage, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
When I was 5 years old, my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday present. I told them that I wanted an airplane ride. They had a friend who ran the local airport in northern Oklahoma and it was arranged that my dad and I got to go for an airplane ride around our small town.
Where did you learn to fly?
I learned to fly in southeast New Mexico, where I grew up. My parents gave me my first pilot’s logbook for my 16th birthday. Inside the logbook was a coupon for an introductory flying lesson. My dad told me after that flight, that that was the only flying lesson he was going to pay for and that if I wanted to learn to fly, I was going to have to pay for it.
Most of my school classmates in high school worked to buy and improve their first cars. As long as my car got me to the airport, that was good enough for me. I worked to pay for flying lessons all through high school. I got my private pilot certificate about a year after I graduated from high school.
Is Flying a hobby or profession?
Aviation, not just flying, was both for me. I enlisted in the US Navy and I attended the Navy’s air traffic control “A school” where I learned about working as an Air Traffic Controller and I served in the Navy as an Air Controlman. After my enlistment was over, and I finished college,
I got a job with the Federal Aviation Administration as an Air Traffic Control Specialist, which I did for over 27 years. I was a controller, a staff specialist, a supervisor and an operations manager. I retired from the FAA in late 2014. After I retired, I got my commercial pilot certificate, my flight instructor and instrument flight instructors’ rating. Besides flight instruction, I was a pipeline patrol pilot and a chart pilot for Federal Express. I would fly their large single engine airplanes to Flagstaff, Lake Havasu and Yuma, carrying freight and cargo to those communities. I flew that job for almost 3 years.
What’s your dream aircraft?
Richard Livingston, the author of the book, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” said, rightly, that there is no one perfect airplane. The missions or trips change and have different requirements or needs and there is no one airplane that can do everything. Richard Bach had a large hangar FULL of different types of airplanes.
The airplane I will be showing during the Cockpit Close-Up is very good for the traveling we are doing now. Longer trips or trips with precise timelines or events, we will fly commercially on an airliner.
The airplane I will be showing everyone is a 1976 Cessna C177 Cardinal RG – RG means “retractable (landing) gear. It has a single 200 horse-power engine, 4 seats and can fly 200 miles per hour at altitude. He and his wife, Susan, have owned their airplane for over 10 years and have made many improvements to it over that time.
For questions about Cockpit Close-Up, contact Falcon Field Airport at 480-644-2450 or airport.info@mesaaz.gov.
