Checking Out

First thing this morning I took the Aerostar down to Metro to check out two guys in a newly purchased T-6. It was my 15th different T-6, but this one had several brand new to me things.  It has an electric fuel pump, which none of the others had.  It has a gun barrel mounted to the cowl, which I love and want.  It has an oxygen system, which is just weird.  Who goes that high in a T-6?  It has an autopilot, which isn't the first time I've flown a T-6 with an autopilot.  And it has a full glass panel front and back.  All digital, no old steam gauges at all, at least in the back.  I think there was a turn-and-bank in the front.  THAT is new. A fully IFR capable TAA advanced 1943 SNJ-4 T-6 Texan. It's a beautifully done airplane, but the glass panel is wrong in that kind of airplane.  Craziness.

It ended up being two guys I was flying with, not one.  Nobody had a flight suit, so I left mine in the Aerostar, with gratitude.  It was hot.  We did some ground, went over the basics, and then I took the owner, Keith, up first.  He also flies a jet, a Waco, a Beaver on floats.  He was really good, he picked it up fast, and within 2 hours I basically signed him off.  The only things we didn't do were a bunch of stalls, engine out, and crosswinds because we had no winds.  He said about 10 times that he really enjoyed how I instructed, which was nice.  We landed, got lunch, a drink, and then it was time for his 2nd guy, Kevin.  Kevin is low tailwheel time, but he also flew the Waco some.  We flew 2.4 hours, and he never really got consistent with his landings, so he needs a little more time, but he did amazingly well in 2.4 hours.  These two are some of the fastest picker-uppers I've ever had in the T-6, them and that Lance kid from Michigan. Faster than I picked it up.   But after 4.5 hours of flight time plus all the ground time plus the schmoozing and talking, I was really tired.  T-6 instruction is still very high tension and focus. Afterwards, I'm doing their logbooks, we're talking, and he hands me cash and says "This is for you, and bill me for all your time, the plane fuel to get here, all of it."  I get home and I pull out the cash, and he tipped me $600.  SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS for a tip. I've never seen such a thing.  I texted him, didn't feel right about accepting that much, he told me that he had a blast, that I was great to get along with, was an excellent instructor, and he was happy to do it.  Wow. I mean...wow.  I'm still a little stunned.

Funniest part about it. At dinner tonight with AE and Jeff and Steve, I told them about the tip and then said Steve should have asked what I'd really been doing.  Then Steve reads me the last text I'd sent him. He'd texted and asked me how it was going.  I said "Doing two guys, just starting on the second guy. First guy was good."  And that's it.  He waited until dinner to crack a joke about that. HAhahaha.  Oops.