Tonight after work, I met Tim Ung, my old friend from Sagebrush Highland Church, and another friend- Mike Smith, who was also part of the old kids area morning set-up crew back when the church met at Highland High- for dinner at Mannie’s on Central. It was great to see Tim for a bit as he was back in Albuquerque for work the last few days. Tim had asked Mike to join us, and it was enjoyable to see Mike- a very kind ole Texan who is always cheerful, encouraging, and hard working, even though he is older than Tim and I by probably 15 years. It had been probably a year and a half since I had last seen Mike.

Mike Smith, myself, Tim Ung, and drop-in visitor Janice Pettine photographed by mystery guest Bill H.

Well, Mike had also brought a friend of his to join us for dinner, and it turns out his guest carried us through much of the meal conversation.

I had forgotten that among Mike’s many talents and careers, this mild-mannered man had his pilot’s license, and at one time he taught others to fly- including his friend Bill Hannahan. Bill, Mike’s one time student, had come down from Denver this week for short visit, and as dinner conversation began, we touched on the curious nature of a fatal plane crash years ago that involved the husband of a friend we all know. Mike brought up beacons and VFR and automatic navigation contributing to this crash outside of Brown, Texas, and Bill chimed in about the archaic air traffic control systems used by the FAA that didn’t help real well in minimizing air collisions. “We can put automatic driving cars on the road, but we can’t keep aircraft from colliding in the sky”, he pointed out. I asked Bill if he was a pilot because he had knowledge of the system. It was then he pointed out that not only was he a pilot, but that Mike had taught him how to fly.

And then Mike told us that Bill had a wonderful plane.

Bill has put a lot of miles in flying around the country in his Lancair 320, registration number N888WH.

Completed around 1991, Bill told us about it’s 4-cylinder, 180 HP engine, and it’s 30 miles-to-the-gallon performance. With a top speed a little over 200 miles per hour and a ceiling altitude of 18,000 feet, Bill told us about a few of the trips he took the little plan on, and that she was fast for a little two-seater, and that he enjoyed traveling across the country low over fields in that plane. With a little plane like her, you can skip lines and security checks and just head out to the hangar and hop away for the day.

Looking at a photo of his plane, I thought, “Wow- with that long narrow nose, that plane looks kind of like an old P-39 Airacobra.”

It was clear Bill enjoyed flying his plane, and I could see why. Convenience. Freedom. Relative affordability.

It didn’t hurt that this plane, N888WH, has a special provenance. Over 2 years, Bill built this plane carefully, from a kit, himself.