Getting to Know Richard (Bud) Davies

When I was in grade school, I was interested in things that were self-propelled and in things that fly. When I was about 10 years old, I got a bicycle and one of my favorite things was riding to the airport to look at the airplanes.My first airplane ride was in a Boeing Stratocruiser. We were on our way to Ohio and I remember eating French toast and going up to the 2nd level on the spiral staircase. My first small plane ride at about 15 years old, was in a Piper Super Cub piloted by Haven Buob. He had a wheat farm in Coulee City and would fly from his farm to town with his take-off and landings from a rather steep slope.

On June 22, 2017, at 66 years old, I got my private pilot license. My first and current plane is a 1979 Cessna 152. I’m presently working on an instrument rating. When I was looking for an instructor, I was advised by a Sequim pilot, who was moving to Florida, the first thing to do before even starting training, was to join AOPA and EAA, which I did. I have enjoyed being around pilots who I can learn from and who are interested in what I am doing. It is a good resource for me because just about all of our EAA 430 members know more about flying and airplanes than I do. I had one harrowing experience while flying a friend over Whidbey Island, where I came very close to a perfect head-on collision with a low-wing single-engine airplane. Why? The only thing I can think of, I was flying south 176° at 3500ft and the other plane was probably traveling at 0° at 3500 ft. Less harrowing was when my alternator went out on my solo cross-country trip for my private rating.

John Meyers was the EAA Young Eagles coordinator in our chapter. Roger Runion was chosen by John to be his successor and was set to assume leadership of EAA Young Eagles for the next year, but he died from a heart attack on November 28, 2018. I had both of these fine pilots as my instructors. With Roger gone, John turned to me, so I got the opportunity to take over the position. I held the YE coordinator position for a year and was then joined by Tracy Halsted as co-coordinator for the past four years.

I grew up in Ephrata, Washington (KEPH). My life in a nutshell is Ephrata 18 years, Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota 9 months, University of Washington (7 years in Seattle), San Antonio 2 years, Sequim 4 years, Kennewick 9 years, and Sequim 1991 to present. Growing up, I had no clue what I would be. I was in the Air Force for 2 years at Lackland AFB as a dentist. My education was a BS in Zoology and a DDS from the University of Washington.Besides airplanes, and being a retired dentist, I do Ventriloquism, a little Magic, play Guitar, sing in a Barbershop Harmony chorus and a quartet, act in occasional plays, watch old movies, work as a volunteer announcer at KSQM, and enjoy traveling and seeing my kids in Alaska and Florida.

The last goal on my bucket list is to get an instrument rating, which I am fairly close to accomplishing. I think I am ready for another bucket. That may come as new opportunities present themselves.

For me, EAA Chapter 430 is a source of real friends and people to respect and admire. As expressed by my wife, Laurie, after a lunch fly-out, she was impressed by how we carried on talking with each other at lunch without the aid of a cell phone to hold our attention.