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Earning His Wings
"I'm just amazed at flying. Even though I know every aeronautical reason why an airplane flies, I'm still amazed when I see that giant piece of sheet metal jump off the ground."
At 14, Aaron began earning his wings and eventually learned to become a corporate pilot, logging over 2,500 hours of airtime. At 23, he was about to take his final set of exams to become a commercial pilot when the energy crisis hit, drying up jobs in the airline industry.
Aaron remembers his first experience as a pilot occurred when he was 4 and his father, a veteran aviator, placed him behind the controls of a plane thousands of feet above the family's Greenville, S.C., farm.
"I remember looking at cars and trucks on the ground and thinking how they looked like Matchbox toys."
 Aaron's had a close call when testing his father's biplane after an engine change. "One of the lines vibrated loose and started pouring oil out of the engine. I had to make a choice where I had to either land it in this cornfield, or gain enough altitude to make the runway two or three miles away. All I could think of was how mad my dad was going to be at me if I crashed that airplne and tore it up. I did what's called a dead-stick landing, and to keep from seizing up the engine, I shut it down and glided to the airport and landed." |
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Aaron's Current Collection of Planes3 Cessnas ~ (Two 150s, One Unknown)
1 Vintage Cessna 195
1 Piper Cherokee
2 Piper Cub J3s
1 Chipmunk
While filming the Working Man's Ph.D. video in Los Angeles, Aaron got the opportunity to fly both an F-18 and an F-16 (both fighter jets). One of the pilots from the Navy's Blue Angels had heard Aaron's song My Blue Angel and invited him along for a ride in an F-18.
While flying the F-16 with the US Air Force Precision flying team, The Thunderbirds, Aaron made 9Gs, earning a 9G pin. For many, this is hard to accomplish; it can cause you to pass out!
Note of Interest: 9Gs is nine-times your body weight pressed against you.
Aaron sharing his passion for
flying with son Teddy (4). |
 Photo from THE ESSENTIAL
AARON TIPPIN CD Insert |
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