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John Michael Somero (1967)
Robert,
I certainly got to "stay in" Hyannis, as we bought our first house there and lived there between 1976 and 1985, with one short excursion to WV for not quite a year.
As far as "hob-nobbing with the locals", I don't think we did much of that. Our first two children were born there 15 months apart, and on a flight instructor's salary when you're paid only when the propeller was turning, I spent most of my time at the airport.
I did have one local who called me for a charter to Danbury, CT one night. He didn't care whether we took the single-engine or the twin-engine plane (twin costs over twice as much), and he paid me in cash with $100 bills out of a stuffed briefcase. He had a guitar case on that first trip, and halfway to Danbury at about 2a.m. he changed the destination to Newport, RI. It was an uncontrolled field, and I waited out there in the dark for about an hour and a half when he went somewhere to do his business. When he got back, the guitar case was gone, and as usual, he paid with $100 bills, and tipped me one bill before we started, and one more when we got home. Naturally, I asked no questions, and requested that he ask for me whenever he had to go somewhere.
One time he tipped me $100 at the start, and then another when I agreed to wait for him after we'd arranged for me to make two trips; one to take him there, and one to pick him up. When he arrived to go home, he was quite drunk. On the way home, he asked me if that plane could barrel roll. I already had two $100 bills in my pocket from him, and I told him that No, it wasn't certified for aerobatics and I could lose my job and/or licenses, etc. He was quiet for a while, and then a paper airplane floated up between the front seats and landed on the fuel selectors. It was another $100 bill, and he said, "John, that's yours if this thing will barrel roll". Twenty seconds later I tucked it in my pocket as he wiped coffee off of his shirt. I wasn't a good aerobatic pilot at the time, but apparently it was good enough for him.
Some time later there were headlines in the Providence paper about 22 people being busted in a big drug bust, and I never heard from him after that.
Boy, I could tell some stories. I've had more than my share of weirdos. I should maybe write a book...
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