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Anne
Degreef-Safft and Stuart Safft
--Interview by Cheryl Ewasick
Training
Together Makes for Some Healthy Competition... and ALOT of Fun!
CE:
How did you both become interested in flying?
AD-S: Stu had taken flying lessons many years ago, and had
mentioned from time to time how much he had liked it. I somehow was
attracted by helicopters, just liked how maneuverable they are. But
whenever this came up we somehow never did anything about it. One
weekend in May 2004, while seeing a helicopter on TV, I commented
again how neat that seemed. The next day Stu decided we should go
check out SCH airport, we came upon Richmor Aviation, and before I
knew it he had signed me up for a demo flight. I absolutely LOVED
it, and we decided on the spot to take flying lessons.
SS: I had taken some lessons (got to solo, then moved near NYC
and gave it up) almost 40 (yikes!!) years ago. Had the urge to re-start
several times, finally did it when Anne also got interested.
CE:
Did you both meet through the sport of flying?
AD-S and SS: No. We met through business. Anne is Belgian
and was working for the Belgian subsidiary of the US company Stuart
worked for. Stuart spent a year working in Belgium in 1989-90, asked
Anne to take him sightseeing one day and ....
CE:
What brought you to Richmor Flight School?
AD-S: See answer to first question.
SS: We live between Albany and Schenectady and initially chose
Schenectady as probably an easier/quieter airport for students. Hooked
up with Richmor by just driving there one day and walking in.
CE:
Are you Richmor Flight School's first flying couple?
AD-S and SS: No idea. You need to ask Richard.
CE:
Who were your instructors at Richmor?
AD-S: I started out and did most of my training with Luke
Yetto who was a great instructor. I flew with Matt Brauen for a couple
of weeks in August while Luke was on vacation. When Luke decided to
stop being a flight instructor in October, I worked with Tony Flores
who got me all the way to my license!
SS: Tom Bollock, with occasional help from and check rides
with Manny Lewis, John Ives and John Healy.
CE:
When did you make your first solo?
AD-S: On September 4, 2004. Quite something! When Luke stepped
out of the plane saying I was ready to solo, I momentarily felt "the
butterflies." But as soon as I called SCH Ground before starting
to taxi to the runway, my training took over and I was so concentrated
on the flying that it actually became very easy.
SS: 7 Aug 04
CE:
When did you receive your Private Pilot certificates?
AD-S: I took and passed my end-of-course flight check with
John Healy one day after Stu, on December 19th.
SS: 18 Dec 04
CE:
Are you planning on continuing your flight training with Richmor?
AD-S and SS: Yes. In fact we have just signed up to begin IFR
training.
CE:
How would you rate your experience in flight training with Richmor?
AD-S and SS: Excellent. If only Richmor could have arranged
for better weather this past summer, we would have had our certificates
sooner.
CE:
Is flying a hobby or do you both plan careers in flying?
AD-S and SS: Hobby.
CE:
Where do your flights take you?
AD-S: See Stu's response below. In addition, in July while
in Belgium I rented a C-172 (with pilot -- we didn't have our license
yet) and took my parents up for a short flight: we flew above downtown
Bruges and along the North Sea Coast, it was beautiful.
SS: So far we've gone for practice flying together to Glens Falls
and to Manchester, NH. We flew to see my son and his family in CT
and my daughter and her family in NJ. Over last Christmas/New Year's,
we went to the West Coast and visited my brother and his family in
Portland, OR and Anne's sister and her family near San Jose, CA. I
rented a plane (with an instructor along as we were unfamiliar with
the area) and took my brother up; Anne did the same with her sister
and sister's husband.
CE:
What is your favorite flying trip to take?...the farthest you've gone
on a trip?
AD-S:
My favorite trip thus far was the flight around the San Francisco
Bay Area (with a safety instructor and my sister & her husband)
-- the views were stunning, we flew near downtown San Francisco
and the Golden Gate Bridge. I would love to take a multi-stop, multi-day
trip some time this summer, possibly towards Maryland (where we
used to live) and Virginia. We'll take a few days off and just do
it.
SS: Enjoyed them all so far. Too few/too soon to have a favorite.
Farthest so far has been to my daughter and her family in central
NJ.
CE:
How do you decide who gets the left seat?
AD-S: We have a clear rule: we take turns. Having trained
in a C-152 without GPS, I am a little better at navigation, so usually
Stu takes the left seat on the outbound flight if it is a new destination
so I can focus more on navigation, and then I fly on the return.
SS: We take turns: one flies the outbound and the other the return.
We're very careful while in the right seat to ask and advise, but
not to do anything without the "Pilot" telling us to.
CE:
Anything else?
AD-S: It was a lot of fun pursuing our license at the
same time. We did have a little healthy competition going on, both
wanting to do well. We often talked about our flight of the day,
and were able to help each other with questions we had. A few of
the instructors were rooting for Stu to get his license before me
-- you know, that male vs. female thing, which he did (yes, by one
whole day)! During the training, we were eager to get to the point
where we could start flying together -- we could go solo on cross-country
flights, yet we could not fly together until after we had our license
(understandable, but it felt strange).
SS: Interesting experience on our long cross-country solo flights
prior to getting our licenses. We did it on the same day, Anne in
a C-152 and me in a C-172. Our route was Schenectady-Binghamton-Utica-Schenectady.
Being a true gentleman, I "let" Anne depart SCH first.
Not a good idea! As I was in a faster plane, I was gradually catching
up to her. The Air Traffic Controller (ATC) (we had requested flight
following) warned me of a Cessna about six miles ahead; I didn't
see it. Same thing again at four miles and then two miles. I then
changed altitude just to be safe. ATC then asked if we were traveling
together as he noted we had identical flight plans. I explained
that we were husband and wife on our long cross-country solos. He
responded: "I'm the same way. I always get two single kayaks
rather than a two-seater for my wife and me just in case...."
When I was almost directly under Anne and still could only say "Still
looking for traffic," the ATC responded: "OK, continue
as you are. She'll probably come diving out of the sun with her
guns blazing." Another pilot chimed in: "Guns! Is there
a problem?" and the ATC explained the whole discussion to whomever
was listening. Our 15 seconds of fame!
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