Frank Bales

626-590-1222

My formal education ended when I got my B.S. degree in Business Management from Pepperdine University. Worked my way through school among other things, doing Pension Administration. Today I am an Independent Insurance Adjuster working Homeowner and Commercial Claims.

I've had some challenges along the way. A heart attack at 41 gets your attention as well as the quintuple bypass surgerey followed 9 months later doing it all over again with a 2X bypass followed by an infection that cause congestive heart failure! Almost a decade later had several vertabre fused in my neck. This stuff has been tougher on Lynne and Sarah than me because they saw what was going and stood by me! That is a measure of the love that can be found only in the family environment!!!

Not only am I blessed with having people in my who care but I am still able to feed my passion of aviation. Lynne and I are both pilots and tootle around in our 1948 Stinson. We've had family vacations of flying to mountain landing strips and meeting up with friends from all over the West. There is usually a pig roast, plane games and hangar flying (sitting around and BSing about flying) and just plain fun bonding with like minded people.

Lynne and I had a dozen years of photographing and writing for flying magazines. I flew the planes to be written about in formation with a plane that Lynne is in taking pictures of the flight. I then do some more airwork and then write about the history, technical details of the subject plane and share with readers the experience of flying a particular airplane. We did this for 5 different magazines, frequently 2 or 3 at the same time! Each magazine has its own charactor and style so your writing has to follow their version of how it should be. With all of the changes in that area of the business world, we are currently on furlough though my name is still on the masthead of Plane and Pilot.

I'm lucky that my Dad is alive and doing well and that I have many wonderful friends in my life and most of all, my relationship with Lynne and my daughter, Sarah, are very close and loving. Who could ask for more?

This happened in Jr. High but it's my story! I was riding around So. Pas. on Toby Peters' Triumph Boneville chopper. Went down Oak then turned right on Fair Oaks. At the time I was 13 or 14 so had no business riding anything with a motor on the street! Anyway, Granny Thurman was staring me down as I was going down Fair Oaks on that motorcycle with a cigarette in my mouth. I just waved at him and MAY have looked like flipped him the bird, heck I was busy shifting, opening the throttle and smoking all at the same time...how did I have time to flip him off.

The next day Granny called me down to his office. Jeeze, I knew he was going rip me a new one for sure and I really did have it coming to me. He asked if that was me riding that motorcycle yesterday. I admitted that much of what went on but nothing else. He then asked what kind of bike that was to which I replied it was 67 Triumph Boneville 650. He just looked at me across his desk, hands folded, then broke the chilling silence by asking me if I would be willing to go his house and teach his kids (reading this Mike?) how to ride their Benelli mini bike. For some reason and I don't know why, we never got together but thankfully, Granny never said anything else about this incident.

In high school, during my sophomore year, I was in Lou Howorth's 7th period English class. She asked the class if anybody knew how to drive a stick shift in order to take her kid's babysitter to the Howorth home in her 65 Volkswagen. Hell, I've been driving sticks since 8 years old so raised my hand and volunteered for the duty. It was great! I got out of school early, missed class time and liked driving. It was a good thing for all involved.

One day out of the blue, she figured out that this was a sophomore class and nobody was 16! She figured it out and finally asked if I had a driver's license. Well, I DID have a learner's permit and we all know that isn't good enough. I know she was a bit pissed off but what the hell could she do to me? Send me to the office? How about telling my parents? She was a much to blame as I was so about all she could do was give me a B when I should have been issued and A. It really was a good thing for as long as it lasted!