Adventures of an Arctic Pilot: February 2016

On June 4th 2015 the author of this blog suffered a STEMI, medical terminology for a significant heart attack. I was fortunate and grateful to receive life saving medical treatment within hours of this event which medically grounded me for 6 months. I am on a determined path towards recertification through the Special Issuance Process. Ironically this occurred early in the morning after the annual QB Wing-Ding at Richard Wien's hanger. The heart in question has mended and in the process, the author, who had no symptoms attributable to cardiac disease and always consisted himself healthy and well, has now dedicated himself to becoming even more healthy and well. This has involved ramping up the exercise, losing 20+ pounds and choosing a more vegetarian diet.

The author's beautiful airplane, Arctic Tern 75 AR, also was in need of restoration, since its fabric was more than 30 years old and showed some signs of wear. Determined to find some good in the events that sidelined the pilot, the decision was made to commence recovering and repainting of the airplane and this work is now complete. In the meantime, the author has passed his stress test and other milestones on the road to complete recovery from an Acute M.I. and has applied for a Special Issuance of his Class 3 (private pilot) medical certificate. An answer from the FAA is expected in the very near future.

The color scheme is Cub Yellow with a red tail. This is an homage to the Brave Pilots known as the Red Tail Angels, the Tuskegee Airmen.

Preliminary photographs follow and more will be added when we begin taxi testing and flight testing in the next several weeks. The A&P mechanic who has performed this magical restoration is my good friend Curt Hamlin.