Learning to fly at Taos Regional Airport
Michael McCann learned how to fly during his time on the islands of Hawaii back in the early ‘90s. He credits his driven, goal-oriented type A personality work ethic for his success as a pilot. Especially when juxtaposed to the laid back leisurely attitude one would expect to have, surrounded by breathtaking vistas on that awesome archipelago.
In 2018, as a member of the Taos Composite Squadron, McCann hosted a field day for underprivileged youth on the tarmac at Taos Regional Airport, where students learned about airport personnel and operations. He still holds on to this philanthropic bent by giving students a pathway to earn high-paying pilot careers as an instructor for Fly Taos Sky, his flight school at TRA, which gives instruction to students both young and old, ranging from teenagers to septuagenarians. His hand-painted hanger, painted by some of the students and himself, stands out from the rest. It’s an image of an aircraft completing an arc around a mountain range illuminated by a zia-stylized sun.
There’s no small amount of consternation in Taos County about the ongoing expansion of the regional airport. In a May 5 opinion piece of the Taos News, Mickey Reilly went into a severe psychological plunge: “These seven words in the April 22-28 Taos News editorial threw me into a downward spiral from which I still haven’t recovered: ‘the airport expansion is going to happen.’ ” Other people have expressed their concerns, reasonable and palpable, of misallocated funds and a lack of prioritizing either the recycling center (still closed) or possible water shortages in Taos. Some folks loathe the idea of the uber rich touching down on a new runway that cost over $24 million to complete, just to strip the cultural riches of Taos, and fly back to their mansions.
But that’s only one perspective. Beyond all the controversy, the regional airport has also become a new access point for emergency flights, as well as the site of a growing subculture of professional and amateur aviators looking to earn their wings in what is undoubtedly one of the most unique and beautiful locales seen from above. This is what Fly Taos Sky is all about.
Taking off
On Sunday (Feb. 6) McCann’s job was to supervise Carlini, take over if need be, but mostly be there for support, and as an added task, ensure the safety of a couple of members of the press.
When Carlini isn’t playing the drums for one of his many bands, managing the Whistlestop Cafe at Taos Ski Valley, organizing multiday musical festivals at the Bedouin Tent or capturing aerial footage via drone for Daleee Productions, he’s working toward earning his commercial aviation license. As certified flight instructor McCann says Carlini’s always at the center of fun.
Immediately, though, Carlini’s past training was on display as he eased up the runway in less than optimal weather conditions in a four-person Piper Cherokee 180 with an Iowa decal near the tail.
McCann provided a calm reassuring presence in spite of visible snow and ice on the runway, and dense snow clouds creeping in from the north. But he has enough certifications to not be worried about sketchy variables. His certifications include: Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), for single-engine aircraft; Certified Flight InstructorInstrument (CFII), a flight instructor that teaches instrument flying; and Multi-Engine Instructor (MEI), for multi-engine aircraft. All require hundreds of hours in the sky.
After going over basic safety protocols, such as how to operate the door latch, and walking toward the rear of the plane as opposed to the front (where there’s a dangerous propeller), they went over the RUNUP checklist:
Parking brake ........................ set Throttle ..................... 2000 RPM Mixture ..........
Carlini missed a small detail. An Isuzu fuel dispenser truck refueled the plane before the plane was boarded, and the new fuel needs to be strained and checked for impurities before take off.
While Carlini drove the Piper onto the runway, McCann explained how piloting is a perishable thing. It’s not quite like riding a bike, he says. With all the complexities involved with aircrafts and piloting procedures, consistency and repetition is more valuable to a pilot than just the total number of hours amassed flying.
Once airborne, it was interesting to see a not so typical view of the Gorge Bridge and the surrounding sagebrush sprinkled with snow. From up above, the landscape looked like one of those movie theater concession stand Nestle SnoCaps candies. An eerie automated
voice kept the plane up to date on the weather conditions.
Carlini flew the Piper over Valdez, Arroyo Seco, El Prado, but not Taos Pueblo. As part of the deal for the new runway, pilots are required to avoid overflights of the Taos Pueblo World Heritage Site and the Blue Lake Wilderness Area. Carlini and McCann made a special note of where the plane was in relation to the Pueblo, and then headed closer to town over the plaza.
McCann named familiar roads and places of interest but from the perspective of a passenger on a plane making steep banks down toward the town, the adobe homes seemed like nothing more than dollhouses. The Taos Tigers logo on the football field was partially obscured as Carlini flew the plane back to TRA.
After touching down, they had a quick egoless debriefing about what went right and went wrong during the flight. There were subtle issues about communication, and compliments on taking the safest route back onto the runway.
McCann talked about the mental leaps one experiences up in the air, on the telescoping of perception.
“We’re very used to living in a two dimensional world just walking on the face of the earth — it’s just two dimensional, but to be able to have your mind actually tangibly see that you can separate yourself from that,” he said. “And then look down at where you normally are, most of your life and then come back ... And it just fosters just natural curiosity and potentiality.”
Then McCann opened up one of his hangars to reveal a gorgeous red and yellow Cessna 206E Super Skylane, a kind of plane popularly referenced as an “SUV of the air,” purchased in Kitty Hawk. Flight instruction is not the money maker for McCann, nor is it the overall aim. To train regular individuals that are passionate about piloting so they can earn the necessary credentials to fly one of these complex planes capable of scenic tours, and make real money and promote the overall love for flying, is the real goal, he says.