Rod Magner

I had my first flying lesson at age 14 in a glider, from a grass strip in Bayport, Long Island.

Soloed in a J3 Cub at Zahns Airport at 16, got my Private License at 17 in high school. A glider rating in Elmira the summer I graduated from high school. The Navy retaught me how to fly at age 22. First combat mission was New Years Day 1969 with VA-163, the Saints, flying A4E Skyhawks. Flew 23 missions with them, came home, the Navy decommissioned the squadron and I moved to VA-164 the Ghostriders flying A4F's. Went back to Vietnam and flew 100 missions on my last combat cruise in 1969-1970. Instructed in the A7E and played around with the T-28's we had in VA-122 at Lemoore. Courted my wife with one, flying to Alameda on weekends:)) Ended up with 207 carrier landings. Got a type rating in the B737 on the promise of a slot at SWA but never flew for Southwest Airlines, only airline I cared about. Left Texas with the family in tow for Orcas Island in 1989 and started my Scenic Biplane ride business over the San Juan Islands May 1st, 1991. Have flown over 20,000 passengers in my 1929 TravelAir biplane, over 7000 hours in "Magic One", and have made about 10,000 landings on the same runway on Orcas. People ask if it gets boring. At 1,200 feet generally over some of the most beautiful islands on the planet, the answer is no. Boring is doing something someone else made you do. I have chosen this kind of boring:))