Most recent update: 5/26/03
This is more of a newspaper than a home page! Tom and Louise have not let any moss grow on them in the last few years. It seems that Central Texas was not the place for them and as of May, 2004, Tom and Louise have relocated to a new neighborhood at Providence Village,TX - that puts them within 10 miles of Sarah, Kenny and the Little Dictators (also known as Irene, Olivia and Anthony!).
Tom is no longer a student pilot - on December 16th, 1999, at 10:30 AM CST, he became an FAA Certificated Private Pilot!!! (Louise sticks with the big, commercial jets, although she admits that the Lockheed P-38 Lightning is her favorite plane) Tom kept his promise to the world that he'd earn his official Private Pilot Certificate before 2000! He earlier quoted himself: "I simply want to finish my flight training in the same century in which I started it. Besides, it would be monumental for me to be one of the last pilots to become certificated in the same century that the Wright Brothers did it - they and I would kind of be "bookends" for aviation in the 20th Century." That's quite a load, but it's what Tom remembers himself saying! As of the end of 1999, Tom's taken up daughters Sarah and Margaret, son-in-law Matt Smith and Sarah's then-fiance. No one hurled or spoke out loud the phrase, "Oh God, we're gonna die!" Louise even went up for a local flight in February, 2000 and got to see where all the money went (into that "big hole in the sky").
...Now back to the story in progress.
We're the proud parents of 3 grown daughters and 2 sons-in-law and two beautiful, bright granddaughters and two handsome, smart grandsons, and a granddaughter due in 08/08: Jennifer & hubby, Matt (pictured with Louise and Tom), graduated from medical school and are both Medical Doctors; they have temporarily moved to Philadelphia, PA (Jennifer is an attending Pediatric Radiologist - and Matt is Nephrologist in the Philadelphia area). Sarah graduated from Texas A & M Galveston in May, 1999 with a B. S. in Maritime Administration, and after working at a "regular" job in Dallas for a couple of years, she is now working as a fulltime mom - and, she's doing a wonderful job as a parent, as is Kenny. Sarah and family live in Little Elm, TX, a Dallas suburb.Sarah and hubby, Kenny Foley, are both Texas Aggies. As stated earlier, there's another two (for now) Griffith girls and two boys! Irene is a big sister to Olivia and Anthony, and Jen and Matt are parents to Judson, and soon-to-be-born Camilla Louise (due 08/08). See photo at top of main page for a view of the precious little Grandkids! Youngest daughter, Meg, is also a Medical Doctor, and is pursuing post-doctoral work in South Carolina. (It looks like Sarah is the only one in the family smart enough to get away from the healthcare industry and all of its government and insurance company entanglements!)
Our favorite links will include things associated with Aviation and who knows what else!
Tom and Louise do have photos of things besides airplanes! Their favorite subjects are Jennifer & Matt, Sarah & Kenny and Meg and NOW, the most IMPORTANT SUBJECTS are: Irene, Judson, Olivia and Anthony (if you count the number of photos taken nowadays)! This photo of Meg and Sarah (without the front teeth!) was taken one spring in the early 1980's in Mount Pleasant, Texas, one of our former hometowns.
If you have insomnia, read some more boring stuff about Tom's quest for his private pilot's "license" (the FAA calls it a "certificate"). Tom guarantees that this will work as well as those Halcion tablets that he's been dispensing over the years!
He began lessons in April, 1996. He soloed the Cessna 150 (photo of Sarah, Tom and the "Scooter") in November, 1997! It probably isn't the longest time-to-first-solo in FAA records, but it's probably up there near the top!
What happened during his first solo flight? The flybaby executed two average take-offs, and more importantly, two so-so landings that didn't make the witnesses scurry for cover (mainly cuz they were way outta the way!). Tom has lost the back end of a favorite T-shirt, but it was worth it. Louise and Sarah arrived in time to participate in the shirt-cutting and photo-taking. Among the witnesses (and in two of the photos) was Patrick Walker, local surgeon, Baron owner and partner in the Cessna 150 that Tom once partnered in.
Continuing with his on-going quest for the private pilot's certificate, our boy passed the FAA's Written Test in March of '98. He doesn't want to embarrass himself by reporting the score that he made, but months (years, actually) of studying have paid off! Tom sends his thanks to Kip's FAA Test Site, which you can visit by clicking on the link at the bottom of our home page.
After once again having to change flight instructors, in October, 1998, Tom had been flying round-trip solo from Crockett to Athens, TX (66 air miles) from January to May, 1999. He finally made his "real" solo crosscountry (as defined by the FAA) on May 7, 1999 and it was from Athens to Mexia to Huntsville and back to Athens (all in Texas). Since Tom wrote this, it means that he made it back and didn't get lost or anything.
In December, 1999, he finished lessons and became a "certificated" pilot (FAA jargon for "licensed pilot"), flying a rented Cessna 150, becaus he sold his interest in the Cessna 150 back to his partners. The oral and checkride were taken in Victoria, TX. Brion Williams is the young instructor who had the distinction of being Tom's last instructor at this phase of his aviation education. Maybe Space Shuttle lessons next...
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