Page 23 - Nov23T

Lawson’s 1979 Cessna 310R on the ramp at Central Kentucky Regional Airport (KRGA), his home airport.
“What is so important to me about flying is that we are only on this earth for a short time. When people say airplanes are time machines, they are right, and it’s amaz- ing. But to me and my family, our airplane allows us to do things and compress time so that I can see them. On social media, the tagline I say is, ‘Aviation is not about the planes, the engine, the speed, the altitude, or any of those performance things. It’s about people and connect- ing with them,” he said.
Aviation allowed Lawson to connect with loved ones during a critical time.
“My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago. Flying allowed me to see her easily and enjoy our last days with her. Mom died back in March, and had it not been for aviation and owning this aircraft, those precious moments I spent with her would have been im- possible. That’s what this is all about. It’s about connecting people with people in a manner that this world otherwise sometimes prevents.”
experience made him wonder wheth- er the Arrow was the best airplane for his mission.
“We took the airplane to Tampa for a weekend to meet a buddy who hap- pened to be down there. Five hours with no autopilot [was not ideal], and we were consistently operating at the maximum performance envelope of that aircraft. The airplane was at max gross [takeoff weight] with my wife, myself, our son, and our luggage with full fuel on board. Leaving Albert Whitted Airport (KSPG) on the hot Florida summer day was probably the most scared I’ve been in my aviation journey to date,” he began.
“I was beyond where I could safely stop. I was probably 75 percent of the way down the runway and was probably, I don’t know, 30 knots from
rotate speed. It scared me. Luckily, God was on my side that day, and somehow, those wheels left the ground. That was an eye-opener. If we were to have a family aircraft, I needed one where our normal mission does not regularly put us operating at its maximum performance.”
So, after deciding that the Arrow was not the best air- craft for his mission, he began looking for other options. He chose two well-known twins as top contenders – a Beechcraft and a Cessna.
“My mom and dad lived in Eastern Kentucky, in the Appalachian Mountains, and part of aviation so far to that point for me was flying to see them. I wanted to keep do- ing that, but I considered making that trip. I didn’t want to look for a place to land if an engine went out without having another engine to give me an added safety factor. I started researching different airplanes and looked at other YouTube channels that were out there about flying twins. The cost of acquisition for a twin was acceptable.
The connection with others made Lawson transition from the Cessna 150 into something more capable. He explained that his typical mis- sion is leisure-driven, routinely loading the air- plane with his family and heading south to the Sunshine State for multi-day stretches.
“I flew my Cessna 150 throughout Kentucky and had a great time flying it. But I wanted a family airplane, so we looked around. I ultimately settled on a Piper Arrow, a PA-28R-201, with a 200-horsepower engine and a retractable landing gear. So, it wasn’t a high-performance airplane, but it was complex. It was a great airplane that I learned a lot in!”
One of Lawson’s key learning moments in the aircraft came during the start of a routine flight back home after a brief vacation. The
Purchasing a twin gave Lawson peace of mind
at night whenever he would fly in The Appalachians
November 2023 / TWIN & TURBINE • 21