But it wasn’t easy, as Inhofe learned last Thursday when he landed his newly purchased World War II vintage single-engine plane in Oshkosh, Wis., to attend the annual Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association air show, and was told by his office he had to be back for a key vote on the debt-ceiling crisis on Friday.
{mosads}So Inhofe, 76, who has been flying his own planes for 50 years — he owns three others — and is the only senator licensed as a commercial pilot, turned around and made the four-hour flight back to Washington, only to discover Friday’s vote was put off.
After speaking on the Senate floor, Inhofe hurried out to Frederick, Md., where his plane is based. The high-flying senator then flew back to Oshkosh to join his two sons at the air show, making him the only senator who didn’t vote on Sunday when the Senate failed to limit debate on a Democratic proposal for a debt-limit increase.
But Inhofe’s upper-atmosphere expedition didn’t end there — later on Sunday, the senator flew back from Wisconsin to Washington. We’re tired just from reading about that whirlwind of a weekend.