George Weber, N583GW
Unlike most morning commutes, the best part of George Weber’s day often
turns out to be the trip to work. Weber starts his morning heading east,
face to face with the rising sun and then flying right down the
coastline from Port St. Lucie to Lantana, Fla. in his Commander 114.
“Every day is a new adventure,” Weber said. “The winds are always
different. The sun is different. You get thunderstorms. It’s just an
exciting way of life.”
Bitten by the aviation bug at a young age, Weber recalls collecting photos
of military aircraft when he was about 10 years old. A decade or so later,
he finally came face to face with the airplane that would change the
aviation enthusiast into a true aviator.
For just $3, a flight instructor guided Weber to the skies in a J3 Cub.
They took off in 1964 from a grass strip next to a cornfield in
Trexlertown, Penn. “And I’ve course I wanted to come back tomorrow and do
it all over again,” he said.
Flight training continued in various aircraft throughout the 1960s thanks
to a steady job polishing cars during college.
He secured his private pilot’s license in 1967 and bought his first
airplane, a Cessna Skyhawk, in 1969 for about $7,000. Every plane after
the Skyhawk required more speed.
“That wasn’t fast enough so I bought a Cessna
182 Skylane, and when that wasn’t fast enough I bought a 210,” said Weber,
who is also a hot air balloon pilot. “And then I decided I wanted a twin
engine so I bought an Aztec (Piper PA-23).”
The upgrades stopped for a period in the 1970s when he split his time
between homes in Pennsylvania and Florida. But his passion for flight
never faded and he maintained a flight club membership in Daytona Beach,
where he ran a Chrysler car dealership. The club allowed him to conduct
business quite efficiently he said—by flying to auctions and enabling easy
trades.
Additional aircraft purchases over the years included the Piper Cherokee
235, followed by the 180.
A service manager for Sarasota Avionics, Weber has owned 10 airplanes over
the years, but met his match 21 years ago.
“People always ask me, which is the best airplane I’ve owned and I always
tell them ‘It’s the next one.’ But right now it’s the Commander 114,” said
Weber, who has logged more than 8,000 hours.
It’s the most comfortable aircraft he’s owned. Newly refurbished
throughout the interior and painted within the last few years, the
Commander features some of the latest equipment, such as the Garmin 750
and 255, and is ADS-B compliant for 2020.
When
he’s not flying to work and visiting customers, Weber enjoys taking the
Commander to see friends throughout Florida and is known to make runs to
Everglades City, Fla. for stone crab claws during season.
“There’s something special about flight,” Weber said. “It’s
exciting, but it’s also relaxing in the Commander. I take to the skies any
chance I get. I just love it.”
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