Memphis PT-19 Flying Club

[Randy Haskin]

Thought the WIX hive mind would be interested in this article from the September AOPA Pilot magazine about a PT-19 flying club in Memphis, TN.

The owners of the PT are 25 and 30 years old, and the club is primarily focused on getting younger pilots involved in tailwheel and warbird flying. About half the pilots in the club have less than 50 hours of tailwheel time, and a couple of them are getting their initial tailwheel endorsements in the PT.

The airplane is based in the same hangar as the Memphis CAF squadron (as you can see in the photo, with a couple of T-6s, a Stearman, and others right there), and there is some overlap between the people involved in the club and the CAF unit (but the PT isn't a CAF airplane at all).

Pretty neat airplane and group with a fantastic objective to bring in and up the next generation of warbird pilots.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all ... s-new-club

[OD/NG]

Wow, great article and idea. I'm glad there are younger folks out there preparing to "carry the torch". Getting younger people involved is one of the biggest challenges according to the many people I talk to involved in different warbird museums and organizations. I think a lot of youth think that flying heavy W.W.II aircraft is a "rich person's game" and out of reach for most of them. Hopefully, with organizations such as this one, it will open up some more opportunities for the youngsters to fly the higher performance stuff.

Kudos to the two dudes who started this!