After sitting on the sidelines of this thread for a few days, I finally feel compelled to add my own accounts to the pool. When I was little, I used to fly Air New England and/or PBA from Hyannis to Boston almost every weekend. The former flew Fockers and Twin Otters (which I have spotted in St. Barth's several times in recent years), while the latter flew Cessna 402s, YS-11s (a 50 seat Japanese turboprop), and DC-3s (PBA had one other plane that I can't quite recall, Martin something perhaps?). Because I flew so often, I usually got to sit in the cockpit of the single pilot airplanes when loads were light. And, on occassions where I was the only passenger, I even got to fly the plane -- quite a treat for an eight-year old.

It's safe to say that my experiences on the hya-bos route, as a child, catalyzed my interest in aviation.

[This message has been edited by moondog (edited 08-27-2001).]