COG Spotlight Tony Varga C-FFOM

One would think that after 20 years in the Air Force, I would have already had my fill of airplanes. As a constant reminder though, sits the aircraft I had the privilege of being a Crew Chief of, planted on pedestals just inside the main gate here at McConnell AFB in Wichita, KS. This was the first KC-135 to roll off the production line S/N 55-3118. The aircraft was appropriately named “The City of Renton”. I was born in Seattle and raised in a much smaller town of Wenatchee, the vortex energies appear to have converged along with my life at our present location of Wichita, KS.

I don’t really have a “I really loved airplanes when I was a little boy” story. In fact, some of you may find my connection with general aviation and what started my pursuit of a PPL quite amusing. I was under the impression my entire career, that wearing glasses was a disqualifier. So, sitting at the dining table one day, I was filling out a life insurance application. One of the questions was “Do you fly or have you ever thought about becoming a pilot?”. No, definitely no, I answered. It must have been a couple months later; I couldn’t get that question out of my head. Kind of like one of those tunes someone plants there. So, off I went in search of training……

Six months later I had my PPL in hand. I also completed my SES rating the week of my 30^th high school reunion with around 60 hrs. total time. It was a little nerve racking turning base leg over the high tension power wires for the Rock Island Dam there in the Wenatchee Valley. Taming the Columbia River and earning that Seaplane rating though was one of the most fun things I have done in an airplane. Having a basketball coach for a CFI didn’t help settle my nerves any either.

In October 2007 with about 95 hours of flying time under my belt, I came across an Ad for a Commander. Keep in mind I had never even seen one in person. Enter Judi Anderson (Mother of All Commanders). From that point forward, my life would never be the same and I have never had any regrets in my purchase of “Booster” a 112TC, tail number N4591W. I took a fellow AP friend of mine with me in November to Lake Havasu, AZ to do a pre-buy inspection. Needless to say, after actually seeing her close up and in real life, I had never dreamed I could own such a beautiful and refined aircraft. I needed to accumulate 10 hrs. “in type” and also needed to get my high performance signoff before I could bring 91W back to Newton. What an experience it was flying the Lake Havasu area, including Flagstaff and Sedona to get some high altitude experience with the turbo.

After losing a day of training by locking the rental car keys in the trunk, (sometimes a higher intervention is required) we loaded up and headed for Newton Kansas. We refueled in Taos, NM and only dropped an inch of fuel in the tanks with full load and a DA of 8800 ft. Interesting climb out for a new guy. My first experience with the jet stream too, as we whipped along at 13,500 ft. at 196 kts. ground speed and what appeared to be relatively nowhere to put down if an emergency should evolve. Including the checkout flying and the return trip, I had an 11 hr. flying day with my first night landing back home. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but it was smooth and uneventful.

I remember returning with the plane and my first wife (God rest her soul) along with a few of my grandchildren had colored a banner and taped it up on the wall for me to see when I walked in. It says simply this: “Welcome Home Commander of the Commander” and a picture of what they thought a Commander should look like. Talk about being filled with pride. It remains taped to my office wall and probably always will be, even if I am forced to sell 91W someday.

In September of 2008, I had the pleasure of meeting Judy and many more COG members at a Fredericksburg, TX Fly-In. What’s more important though, is that I met someone very special there. A Texas sweetheart named Tracie. I took her on her first flight in a GA aircraft. Lucky for me she totally loves flying. I married her a year later and September 2014 will be our 5 year anniversary. Time fly’s as we do, I suppose. We have spent many hours together flying to all sorts of places in 91W and hope to have many more to come. Hopefully, completing my instrument rating by years end will help.

That’s enough about the life of this pilot. Let’s talk about what we’ve done to our Commander since it was purchased. We have added strobe lights because I felt it was important to be seen. A Hartzell 3 blade prop because everyone else had one and they sound cool when you buzz by. I put Jim’s elevator spars in when the AD came out because my right one had a 2”+ crack in it and I (along with the FAA) thought it was a good idea to keep the elevators attached to the horizontal.

More recently, we did a complete avionics upgrade along with a new panel. This all started out when I lost manifold pressure and aborted a takeoff. I had enough of the antiquated stuff and wasn’t about to drop an AMU ($1000 US) to repair an analog gauge. So……we added a few more AMU’s to the pot and did a complete upgrade including: Aspen 2000 Pro with synthetic vision, GTN 750 GPS, GNC 255A Comm 2, MVP-50P engine monitor with CO detector, 406 Mhz ELT, GTX 33 remote transponder, GMA 35 remote audio, GDL 69A weather and XM radio, Mid Continent 4300-411 electric attitude indicator. A Whelen LED beacon and a LED taxi light were also added. We installed a sealed battery to keep up with the new stuff and to keep battery acid from getting all over the place. Also pre-wired for an ATX-200 Aspen ADS B unit which is now supposed to be certified in October (we hope). I’ve been told that 91W is the first “all electric” Commander, but as far as I can tell, it’s still burning gas. So I ask you, is it wrong to have the outer marker beacon wake you up so you can finish the approach? ;)

Of course I didn’t have the heart to put the old interior back in after all that fancy new stuff up front. Out it came and off it went. Local guy did a pretty decent job for a very reasonable price. Judy will probably beat me up for my paint scheme, but in the near future we would like to get her painted (Booster, not Judy) as in the design scheme bellow.

All I can say in conclusion is GPSS rocks! Flying through Dallas/Fort Worth Class Bravo at 12:01 am on the Fourth of July with this setup is very, very cool. I feel even after 7 years with COG, I am still a new guy. I also feel that most of our membership would probably take one of their own parts and overnight it to you to fix your AOG airplane or even fly it there themselves and help you fix it. The membership is just priceless and I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment I have spent in person or on the web site with all of them. I’m honored to be a member of COG and excited about the possibility of the factory opening back up in Norman, OK!

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