The Hill News

A few years ago, as lieutenant governor, I had an opportunity to take a 35-minute ride in a C130 cargo plane with 27 young Vermonters. 

As we flew over the countryside, I took students to the cockpit and explained the instruments the flight crew was using. One boy was thrilled when he looked through the cockpit window and saw his family’s farm below.

I was about his age when I stood near the runway at Burlington Airport, watching with my dad as the Air National Guard pilots took off in their Air Defenders. When I saw the afterburners kick in and watched them zoom into the sky, my dreams of aircraft and aviation took off with them. I grew up to earn an engineering degree, design jet fuel systems, and fly 10,000-plus hours in military and commercial aircraft combined.

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