October 2005 - American Bonanza Society

When the passionit can become an"NATURE VS. NURTURE"BY JOHN EWALDSEGUIN. TEXASNature versus nurture has long beenargued by psychologists and evolutiontheorists. Does a person develop certaincharacteristics because of his upbringing,or is that person born with thoseattributes? This question could certainlybe applied to me.On his first wedding anniversary,my father received a gift certificate forone free flying lesson at our local airporthere in Seguin. It was something he hadalways wanted to do, and in 1965 fuelwasn't as expensive and the days of outrageouslitigation awards were a longtime yet to come. So flying was easier onthe pocketbook. This was also before Iwas yet to come, so life for my parentswas still relatively undemanding.By the time I did come along, myfather had bought and sold several airplanes,stepping up along the way. Iremember as a small child going onvacations in the old Piper Apache withthe Geronimo conversion. I probablyhave more time in that airplane as a passengerthan I do in any single airplaneas pilot in command.Somewhere during my early youth, Iabsolutely fell in love with all things aviation.I hounded my father on a continuingbasis to let me go with him to the airportor let me ride along on whatever triphe was taking. I simply cannot remembera time when I didn't love airplanes.My father was almost as much ofan aviation nut as I am. Our house wasfull of airplane magazines. EverySunday, he and I would go to the NewBraunfels airport to "rub on the plane"and walk the ramp. He was always buyingdifferent airplanes, looking for that"perfect" machine. At one point. weeven went through a couple of Cessna340s. When my father died in 2002. hehad almost 4,000 hours, not bad for aprivate pilot.By the time I was at the proper age,I wanted to take flying lessons. When Iwas 15, my father had a B55 (a stepdown from the 340). He bought a 1946Model BC I2-D Taylorcraft for $6,500for me. It was in this airplane that Ibegan my own journey through airplanesand aviation.Every day, I'd wait for my father tocome home from work to take me to theairport to fly the T-Crate. We would goup several times a week and burn 4 gphof auto gas flying over the same places,over and over.On the afternoon of June 23, 1989,my father was tired of riding in the airplanewhi le I flew the little white taildragger."Go on and go," he aid. "Youcan fly it better than I can." That was theday I experienced my first taste of ultimalefreedom- when I looked at theempty seat next to me and realized thesky was ntine to explore.As I progressed through highschool and college, the airplanes I flewgot bigger and faster, wh ile my dadmoved down in size. Realizin2 thatmost of his trips were now take~ withjust one or two people, he decided aJohn Ewald with his wife Katherine and their 7·month-old-daughler Caroline.turbonormal ized V-tail was the planefor him.On lhe other hand, I moved upfrom the Taylorcraft to a Cessna 170,and then to a Cardinal. I flew that beautifulplane all over the southern U.S .,wondering how life could get any better.After I graduated from college andbegan working at our family tractordealership, my dad and I flew our wonderfulV-tail, having sold my Cardinal.It was at this time I began to realize justhow nice Beechcraft airplanes reallyare.Shortly before my father died, wepurchased a 58TC, which I have sincesold. Through a partnership arrangementwith our mechanic, I am now flyingboth our old V-tail and a nomurbocharged58 Baron.So I ask you, growing up in theenvironment I did, am I an airplane nutbecause of my father? Without thatupbringing, would I have spent my lifedreaming of flying , or would aviationsimply have been something associatedwith security checks and delays at thedowmown airport?Who knows. But I am thankful forthe blessed life I've had. And I'm thankfulto my wonderful father for imroducingme to an activity to enjoy andsomeday share with my children. --@-