Rear Admiral Gary Mayes captures the attention of Red-Tailed Hawks and tags our Chief Pilot, David Tyler, with the call sign of “Crash” in a moment of levity.
Yesterday, RDML Mayes, Commander, Navy Region Northwest, inspired, motivated and encouraged thirty of our student members with his personal account of his career path, his love for flying fixed-wing and rotorcraft for the Navy, and words of wisdom as a leader and Naval Aviator. He tied some of his comments to our academic topic for the day and emphasized the importance of calculating Weight & Balance during pre-flight planning. He also linked the aviation wisdom of priories to Aviation, Navigate and Communicate to life in general. He encourages those listening to fly the airplane and fly their own lives.
After an insightful question and answer period, the meeting transitioned into an academic session led by David Tyler and Jason Sims covering Weight & Balance and Aircraft Performance. It was an interactive discussion full of real-life examples, which engaged the membership and sparked learning.
The balance of the day was filled with touring the Museum of Flight Restoration Center and flight simulation and flight line training led by Perry Tarrant at Regal Air. Inclement weather prevented most flying, but we did get two sorties in at the end of the day.