Article archive / June 1, 2012
Originally published: . Volume 3, No. 10. Source pages: 13, 14.
Editor’s note: In honor of fathers everywhere, and their impact on the flying behaviors of their daughters and sons, The Times is pleased to re-run the 2010 article of Dr. Peggy Hagan’s journey to attain her pilot’s license. We wish all fathers out there the best on June 17th.
Margaret “Peggy” L. Hagan, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice from Slidell, took her first flying lessons in 1995, but then had to postpone because of other duties. She told the Times, “In late 2008, I had a little sit down chat with myself and asked what was the most exciting part of my life, and why wasn’t I still doing that?”
She decided to get her pilot’s license, thinking, “Why not? Flying a plane is pretty exciting…”
Peggy’s father (Bill) was a pilot until 1985, when he felt it might be best to discontinue flying.
He took flying lessons at age 16, in 1940, expanding on his keen interest in aviation, evidenced by his building a rudimentary flight simulator when he was only ten years old.
Bill flew a Piper Turbo Arrow for his business during the years Peggy was in college at the University of Illinois. He would pick up Peggy and her brother (a Ph.D. in physics and nuclear engineering) from Champaign- Urbana and fly them home to Omaha.
“…But let me tell you,” Peggy said, “we had some very harrowing flights when he was Pilot-in-Command.”
“One Christmas the plane was tossing this way and that,” she recalled. “I kept hitting my head on the top of the plane. It was ferocious.” Peggy remembers her father yelling, “ ‘We’re all going to die!’ ”
“When we came in for a landing,” she said, “the icing on the plane was so bad he had me open my door so he could look out and see the runway.”
When we touched down, there were fire trucks and ambulances. And Dad said ‘I didn't call a Mayday.’ The tower said, ‘Well, we did. We were sure you wouldn't make it down.’
They had closed the airport to commercial flights a few hours before,” Peggy said. Bill explained to the Times that the plane had accumulated too much ice, and he could only keep the engine just above a stall.
“On the drive from the airport to our house,” Peggy said, “our car swerved into a ditch.”
Even aware that sometimes the excitement can get a little higher than she might want, Peggy returned to her lessons in 2008, determined to earn her license.
She trained with two Certified Flight Instructors, Don Pechon at the Slidell airport and Sharon Knight at Hammond. “Two amazing aviators,” she said.
“My first solo flight was on April 13, 2009,” she noted. “We had a flight lesson in the Cessna 150…Don said ‘Okay, go do 2 or 3 touch and go's. Be careful.’ I was so excited. I let him out and thought I would be a nervous wreck. But like anything, training takes over and I taxied out, made my radio calls, took off and did a couple of –perfect– landings. Quite a thrilling day!”
In November 2009 Peggy completed her solo cross-country requirements– 150 miles or more with several landings and take-offs. She flew from Slidell, landed in McComb, and then proceeded to Hattiesburg, announcing, “ ‘Hattiesburg traffic, Cessna 334 is 5 miles west, inbound for landing. Runway one- three, full stop, Hattiesburg.’”
Peggy landed, talked to some other pilots, called her instructor, and took off back for home. “It was 3.3 hours of solo cross-country. I was really, really thrilled.”
To pass the FAA exam, “I studied my caboose off,” she said. “When I wasn’t in my office, I was found at our local coffee shop where I studied and studied.” The exam requires proficiency in a variety of technical and critical-thinking areas, “…weather conditions, navigation, computing headings and the effect of wind, engine and mechanical workings, decision making, emergencies, etc.,” she explained. “–A vast array of subjects.”
Peggy aced the exam, with the help of Sharon Knight. She also aced the three hour oral exam with the FAA examiner. Then Peggy continued her training with Don to prepare for the checkride.
“I was nervous about the checkride with the examiner,” Peggy said. “You have to do stalls, emergency landings with no power, steep turns, and other maneuvers.”
But she successfully completed her checkride on June 19th, 2010, and earned her Private Pilot License. How did she feel about the accomplishment? “It was a blast and a half,” she said.
Eight days later, on June 27th, while her father and mother were visiting from San Diego, Peggy surprised her dad by inviting him to go up with her as her first official passenger.
Bill was delighted, telling the Times, “The flight was perfect from the smooth take off to the very smooth slight crosswind landing. She flew me out over Slidell to get me oriented and then out towards the Gulf.” He said, “…the view from 2000 feet was excellent.” And, “Her communications with the ground and also with the oil company helicopter crew that was getting ready for their daily flight out over the oil spill was flawless.”
Years ago, Bill had taken up his mother for her first trip in an airplane. His first passenger-carrying flight was his wife, Peggy’s mom.
On the 27th, Peggy’s second passenger that day was her first-born daughter Joanne.
The weather was perfect, Bill and Peggy and Joanne all noted. The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the sun was shining.
Bill, age 85, said, “All in all, it was a perfect flight.”
Peggy told the Times, “It was a beautiful day.”
Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Hagan has been in private practice in Slidell since 1984. She sees all ages, and specializes in psychoeducational evaluations. Even though she started out in mathematics, she told the Times, “I absolutely love my ‘job’– I cannot imagine doing anything else.” Above, she goes through her careful checks.
Dr. Peggy Hagan and her father Bill.
Photos by Dr. Hagan’s daughter, Joanne Hagan Mabry. Joanne was Peggy’s second passenger and said about her mother, “She was so dedicated and determined to obtain her pilot's license,” and noted that her mom’s efforts in aviation are “inspiring.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.