There are many reasons why people go home again, and former Riverside resident Scot Douglas came up with a great one recently. Scot graduated from Rubidoux High School in 1976, spending his juvenile years hanging around his father's flight school and air charter facility at Flabob Airport. Predictably, he soloed in one of his father’s airplanes at 16. After Douglas' father died in 1978, his mother had no choice but to terminate the flight training and charter programs and liquidate the modest fleet of aircraft along with the facilities.

        Among the airplanes she sold was a 1956 twin engine Cessna 310, which had been the flagship of the charter flight operation. Douglas moved out of the area shortly after his dad died and his involvement in aviation came to a halt. For a while he made a number of visits to his home town and whenever he was there, he would always make it a point to stop by Flabob, just to walk around and check the status of his father’s former twin.

        Douglas was saddened to see that the aircraft was not being flown regularly, and was, as happens to so many older aircraft, slipping into a state of total disrepair. In 1985, during what would be his last visit, Douglas found that the Cessna 310 no longer occupied its normal spot and thought it had surely been carted off to some nearby salvage yard.

        By 2000, Douglas was active in aviation again and had settled permanently in Ashland, Oregon. One day, while sharing mental lists of favorite airplanes with a group of fellow pilots, Douglas learned of an early model Cessna 310 in Pasa Robles, California that was for sale. Though Douglas was not in the market for an aircraft, the combination of an attractive asking price and nostalgia prompted him to contact the seller. That led to making an appointment to have a look at the airplane. Arriving at Pasa Robles Airport, the excitement of having the opportunity to see an aircraft similar to the one his father had flown was quickly overridden by the startling realization that he was in fact looking at the very same aircraft his father had owned.

        With very little thought given to the challenge of bringing the aircraft back to airworthy condition Douglas agreed to purchase the 310. After several weeks and countless phone calls arranging for necessary repairs, the aircraft was flown to Douglas' home in Oregon, where the restoration process began. It took a lot of patience, but Douglas brought the aircraft back to its original 1956 condition.

        He then completed his "cycle of life" experience this June, when he flew the aircraft back to Flabob Airport. "I couldn't think of a better reason to go back home," said Douglas. "It was a wonderful feeling to see that airplane on the ramp at Flabob once more."