PENSACOLA, Fla. — With six aircraft at his disposal, Jim Cassoutt of Robertsdale has an air force that some small countries would envy.

But, Cassoutt, a 27-year veteran of the United States Navy isn't planning to put the Pensacola Navy Flying Club's six-plane collection of Cessnas and Pipers at anyone's disposal. Instead, Cassoutt, president of the PNFC, and the officers of the club keep the white, blue and gold aircraft ready for the 130 members' use. Be it for an hour's jaunt around the airfield, or a cross-country trip, the planes are ready to fly.

"Some members are more active than others," said Cassoutt. "About 40 of us fly in any one month. There's no club requirement to fly, but they have to maintain FAA currency."

Flying, Cassoutt says, is addictive.

"Once you fly, you can't not fly," Cassoutt said. "Flying expands your horizons."

Cassoutt is proud of his time in the Navy. He came through the ranks as a "mustang," a person who starts as an enlisted person, then becomes an officer. He worked in aircraft maintenance, and became a pilot after retiring from the Navy. He currently holds an he holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate (the highest commercial civilian certification) and is a certified flight instructor. He’s flown as copilot for an air ambulance company, pilot for organ donor flights, and for an on-demand charter company.

Flying is a Cassoutt family affair. It was his wife, Cindy, who led the way into the air, Cassoutt says. "My wife Cindy got her pilot's license about an hour before I did," Cassoutt said.

The PNFC, according to Cassoutt, is for current and retired military personnel, or former military personnel with an honorable discharge on their DD214 forms and military dependents (that's usually the spouses and children of military folks). Department of Defense civil servants and their dependents and contractors providing service to local DoD organizations are welcome to join. The best thing to do is check the club's Web site, pnfc.org or e-mail the membership chairman, Mike Cannon, at membership@pnfc.org. Membership for "rated" or FAA-licensed pilots is $435 a year plus $30 per month and there is a cost per flight hour based on the aircraft used.

And yes, the price of gas is rising for pilots as well as motorists.

"Currently aviation fuel is $6.50 per gallon, which makes flying expensive," Cassoutt said.

It's the lure of flying that has hooked members of the PNFC.

Flyers are a mixed bunch, says Cassoutt.

"We have senior officers and former prisoners of war on the board," said Cassoutt. "We even had someone in the club who was the CO (commanding officer) of the Blue Angels three times in the club. The reason he was a member was that his wife was taking lessons."

"The club is nonprofit," Cassoutt said. "Everyone is here because they want to be here and they love to do it. It's a way of being involved in aviation at a reasonable cost. People are content to "own" their own little plane through the club."

Student pilots are welcome to join the club as long as they fulfill the membership criteria. They pay $795 per year, plus the $30 per month dues and aircraft costs.

"There's additional wear and tear (on the planes) or risk of accident," explained Cassoutt.

But, several members of the PNFC are FAA-certified flight instructors and have been approved as instructors by the club's board of directors, so membership in the club is a fun and economical way of getting a pilot's ticket punched.

Jack Omer, the club's Operations Officer retired from the Marine Corps after 27 years as a lieutenant colonel, and now serves as one of the club's flight instructors. He now makes his home in Pensacola.

"I flew fighters for the Marine Corps," said Omer, adding that he served as the executive officer and commander of squadrons from the Mediterranean to Japan, Vet Nam and the former El Toro base in the United States. He says he's flown 322 combat missions.

That experience makes him rock steady in the instructor's seat Cassoutt says.

"Not much bothers him," Cassoutt jokes. "You can tell the guys who have say, 60 (flight hours) They are constantly checking everything. With Jack, who has thousands of hours logged, everything is just automatic, like breathing.”

Omer returns the comment with a level, "seen everything" look. Yep, nothing fazes him, a good quality to have when you are teaching someone to soar thousands of feet above the ground.

But talking to Cassoutt, Omer and Cannon, it’s clear that the sky has taken a big chunk of their hearts and souls.

“One of the things we have in common is that we all have a common love of aviation,” Cassoutt said. “It’s almost like a religious fervor.”