I enjoyed the article in the January 2026 edition of Midwest Flyer Monthly, and the photo of Midwest Flyer Magazine cofounder, Dave Weiman, with that pretty red bird which caught my eye — especially the N-number (N51113).
When I was in grade school and in high school, I loved learning everything I could about aviation. I rode my bike to the local airport, Alexander Field South Wood County, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin (KISW), watched planes and dreamed about someday learning to fly. I even considered applying to an aviation post-secondary school, but in the end, journalism won out and I went to UW-La Crosse and earned a degree in Mass Communications.
In those formative years when I hung out at Alexander Field, the FBO had a green and white Cessna 150, which was N51133 — very similar to the Cessna 150 you learned to fly in (N51113).
This week, I checked the FAA database, and the two aircraft are cousins: N51113 — serial number 15069775, and N51133 – serial number 15069784. That’s a difference of only nine (9) aircraft, so they were probably manufactured in the same month in 1968. Those were the days! Great memories! Thanks for telling your wonderful story. Attached is a photo of N51133.
Best wishes!
Tom Enwright
Sauk City, Wisconsin
EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Andy Darlington of Air Marion Inc. at Marion Municipal Airport (fly@airmarion.com), in Marion, Indiana, who got us in contact with the aircraft’s current owner, Dr. Shannon D. Riegle, who bases N51133 at the airport. In an email to subscriber Tom Enwright, Darlington stated: “Shannon is a super nice guy and has a super nice family! He bought the plane from another pilot on the field, Hardey McDaniel. Shannon learned to fly in the plane, and then all four of his kids did too.”