Peggy Long 1946- born Andalusia, AL
Peggy is my mother's first-cousin's daughter, my 1st cousin once removed; we met at a family reunion
several years ago and found that we had many things in common, especially aviation. Peggy has lived in
the Denver area for several years and is active in the 99s.
Here is her story in her own words:
I had always wanted to learn to fly and when I was in my twenties I had the opportunity and time but no
money. That was in the mid 70s when it was estimated to cost as much as $800 to get your private pilots
license. In the late 80s I had neighbors were very intensely involved with the Colorado Pilots Assoc. This is
mostly a social group but also they lobby for laws that will protect general aviation and after Sept. 11th we
were wondering if there would ever be any more general aviation. Even though all of the planes involved
were airlines the restrictions on the small private pilots where the most severe. My neighbors were always
flying somewhere to do interesting things. My first trip was to Greede, CO to see the repertory theater which
turned out to be excellent theater, perfect weather and great food.
My work, training people to use my company's computer software, kept me on the "road", a different city
everyday, about 12 days a month, 3 to 4 days a week. With advances in technology we were able to rewrite
our software so that in person training was no longer needed. Now I had the time, opportunity and the
money to learn to fly. I was 51 when I got my private pilots license. I immediately started shopping for a
plane that I could afford and felt comfortable that I could fly with confidence. After shopping for months on
Internet sites and Trade A Plane (a tabloid size newspaper that is full of planes for sale), I found a plane in
Chattanooga TN that was old (1961) but appeared to be in good shape. I made the deal and with the help
of one of my instructors, flew her to Denver. Betsy is a Cessna 210B; she has a Continental 10470 engine,
260HP. She burns about 12 gals of 100LL (low lead gas) an hour. Fuel is now around $4 a gallon; when I
started flying, it was less than $2 a gallon. I earned my instrument rating in 1998.
The best adventure to date is flying to Guatemala and Nicaragua with a group of 6 planes -- all members of
the Colorado Pilots Assoc. It was the trip of a lifetime. Flying over smoking volcanoes is something I won't
forget. I've flown west to the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas, northwest to Jackpot NV, north to Sturgis SO,
east to Savannah, GA, Chattanooga TN, Montgomery AL, Pensacola FL, Austin TX, Tulsa OK and lots of
places in between. Several years ago I learned to fly a float plane which opens up another wonderful way to
see country. From the air you can see so much beauty that you can't easily see on the ground like a
hundred miles of aspen leaves that have turned yellow, glacier lakes on the top of mountain ridges, wagon
ruts that run for hundreds of miles of the Santa Fe Trail, parts of the Oregon Trail in Wyoming. It's all so
very beautiful I'm just sorry that I waited 50 years to get my license.
Peggy is my mother's first-cousin's daughter, my 1st cousin once removed; we met at a family reunion
several years ago and found that we had many things in common, especially aviation. Peggy has lived in
the Denver area for several years and is active in the 99s.
Here is her story in her own words:
I had always wanted to learn to fly and when I was in my twenties I had the opportunity and time but no
money. That was in the mid 70s when it was estimated to cost as much as $800 to get your private pilots
license. In the late 80s I had neighbors were very intensely involved with the Colorado Pilots Assoc. This is
mostly a social group but also they lobby for laws that will protect general aviation and after Sept. 11th we
were wondering if there would ever be any more general aviation. Even though all of the planes involved
were airlines the restrictions on the small private pilots where the most severe. My neighbors were always
flying somewhere to do interesting things. My first trip was to Greede, CO to see the repertory theater which
turned out to be excellent theater, perfect weather and great food.
My work, training people to use my company's computer software, kept me on the "road", a different city
everyday, about 12 days a month, 3 to 4 days a week. With advances in technology we were able to rewrite
our software so that in person training was no longer needed. Now I had the time, opportunity and the
money to learn to fly. I was 51 when I got my private pilots license. I immediately started shopping for a
plane that I could afford and felt comfortable that I could fly with confidence. After shopping for months on
Internet sites and Trade A Plane (a tabloid size newspaper that is full of planes for sale), I found a plane in
Chattanooga TN that was old (1961) but appeared to be in good shape. I made the deal and with the help
of one of my instructors, flew her to Denver. Betsy is a Cessna 210B; she has a Continental 10470 engine,
260HP. She burns about 12 gals of 100LL (low lead gas) an hour. Fuel is now around $4 a gallon; when I
started flying, it was less than $2 a gallon. I earned my instrument rating in 1998.
The best adventure to date is flying to Guatemala and Nicaragua with a group of 6 planes -- all members of
the Colorado Pilots Assoc. It was the trip of a lifetime. Flying over smoking volcanoes is something I won't
forget. I've flown west to the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas, northwest to Jackpot NV, north to Sturgis SO,
east to Savannah, GA, Chattanooga TN, Montgomery AL, Pensacola FL, Austin TX, Tulsa OK and lots of
places in between. Several years ago I learned to fly a float plane which opens up another wonderful way to
see country. From the air you can see so much beauty that you can't easily see on the ground like a
hundred miles of aspen leaves that have turned yellow, glacier lakes on the top of mountain ridges, wagon
ruts that run for hundreds of miles of the Santa Fe Trail, parts of the Oregon Trail in Wyoming. It's all so
very beautiful I'm just sorry that I waited 50 years to get my license.
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