Riding The Sky

Willie Simon is just like his name: plain, open, regular.

   He’s a likable guy, a 46-year-old auto mechanic with a wife, three children.

   And an airplane.

   A chunk of the six-plus acres he rents on Housatonic River Road in Salisbury is given over to the horses Glynis Simon, his wife, rescues; another chunk is for the motocross track he made for his kids and their friends from across the river who career around a stand of trees for two hours just one night a week. His house is there, of course, planted right where the paved road ends and the dirt road begins; and his little Cessna 120, “a tail draggerâ€�  — two wheels in front and one in back — with a white body and baby blue trim is parked on a grassy slope between the side door and the garage.

   This was a handy spot for working on the plane because Simon collected this 64-year-old treasure (for which he paid $8,000) from a nearby garage in a dozen boxes, which he piled up in the kitchen.

   “It looked like junk. But I knew I could make it right and put it in the sky.â€�

   Well, the plane works fine now, taxiing along the field between his house and the Housatonic River. And since a certified mechanic gave it his OK this last weekend, the Cessna can take off for Great Barrington Airport, where it will be housed, as soon as the corn field at the end of this makeshift runway is harvested. No use taking chances, now.

   “I’m very passionate about flying,â€� he tells me.

   The passion started a couple of years ago when this “car guyâ€� as he calls himself, took some flying lessons and promptly fell in love with riding high in the sky.

   So he started renting  a plane, at $130 an hour, and taking weekly lessons. Then, without notice, on Jan. 17, 2009, Simon landed at Great Barrington airport as usual and his teacher stepped out of the Cherokee 140: “It’s all yours,â€� he said. And Simon, heart beating like mad, inhaled slowly and took off on his own.

   “It’s hard to get my excitement level up, but flying does it. It was scary and exhilarating. You could crash and there’s a lot of stuff going on. But it’s a really cool feeling.â€�

   He will not be flying his Cessna on its maiden flight to Great Barrington, though. A registered pilot will be doing that. And Simon will not even be going along as a passenger. On a first flight like this, he told me, traveling light is the way to go, in case something unexpected happens. Which it won’t, he figures.

   Then, as a sport pilot he’s free to take off anytime he can. And with further training and licensing he’d like to offer scenic rides to photographers and people who love the sky as he does.

   “Anybody can do this,â€� he says. “I’m just a regular guy with a job and a family.â€�

   And a little Cessna marked N 89603 in his backyard.

  

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