July 30, 2019 Earth Shattering

The Liberty Gazette

July 30, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Ever camp out near a rushing river? Parts of California’s Kern River have Class VI rapids, the highest rating on the International Scale of River Difficulty. Those are death traps for rafters or swimmers, but where the water flows slower, Class I through III are easily enjoyed by the average person.

Lake Isabella

I don’t know the class of the rapids closest to the airport’s campground—maybe Class VI—but about 500 yards from our tent, it sang us to sleep. It was delightful!

Everything about coming to Kern Valley Airport was delightful. I loved the approach to the airport from the south. Just around a mountain, Lake Isabella came into view. Surrounding mountains reflected in her mirrored surface. With the lake off our right wing, we descended into the valley. On the left, and all around the runway, the mountains kept us from flying a wide pattern to land. The visual cues while descending with high terrain all around is fascinating and seems somewhat movie-like. It’s certainly 3D at its best!

We secured the Elyminator with tie-down ropes, set up camp and cooked primitive-style with the latest equipment from REI. The airport’s grassy area caters to fly-in campers in a way every non-airline airport should do. Since there are about 600 airline airports in this country, and about 17,000 non-airline airports, we need the other 16,950 airports to look to Kern Valley as an exquisite example.

Camping at Kern Valley Airport

The entrepreneurial veteran who shuttled us to town for a sunset dinner brought us back later to settle in under billions of stars. Coyotes and jack rabbits ran by in the cool evening, probably wondering who invited us.

The next morning, July 4, we began packing our gear and loading the airplane in preparation for some sight-seeing. I’ve always wanted to fly the Owens Valley, Mike has talked about it so much, as it was part of a route he used to fly regularly. As we were at the baggage compartment, Mike on his knees, stuffing the sleeping bag in, me standing next to him, handing him stuff, suddenly, I felt funny. Surely, I wasn’t getting dehydrated, was I? Maybe I was, I thought my head felt kind of funny, and I wasn’t used to the dry heat.

But no, it wasn’t that at all. A few seconds later, Mike yelled, “Earthquake!”

So, I wasn’t getting sick after all! That was my first earthquake, and now I know how disorienting they are! It wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. Not like the drama Hollywood has produced, although I’m sure they can be that devastating. One of my sisters was living near the epicenter of the Northridge quake in 1994. There were 57 fatalities reported from that one.

But we were not near any buildings, just mountains and lake. We didn’t know where the quake’s epicenter was, or the magnitude. The runway looked fine, so we took off over Lake Isabella. Come back next week and we’ll fly the Owens Valley together.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 23, 2019 Mike's Re-flights

The Liberty Gazette

July 23, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: When I accompanied Mike on his venture back to recreate the earliest pages of his first logbook, something special happened. Landing at the airport in El Monte, California was the first of many places that helped put together so many stories I’ve heard him tell over the years. I didn’t know him 44 years ago when it all began, when he soloed in an airplane for the first time. I was only 10 when he took his first flight. That’s why going back with him had so much to offer. The trip brought me right to the places he’s talked about. The high desert and mountains he loves made their way to my own eyes, and straight to my heart. And now I have my own memories and can picture the area that birthed my favorite pilot.

Long Beach

While his purpose was to document the many changes that have occurred in flying over the past four decades, I soaked in the exciting combination of newness, yet virtual familiarity. Finally, I was flying the flights of his storytelling!

Three of my favorites were Long Beach, Santa Barbara, and Kern Valley.

The Long Beach airport is super cool in a way that’s hard to explain to non-pilots. It’s a busy but spacious airport, with a friendly, small airport feel. Big jets and small prop planes are treated the same here. Kind of like Ellington in south Houston. I also have friends in Long Beach. Nina, who owns a helicopter flight school, and Tanille, who’s working for SpinLaunch. It’s always good to run into friends when you’re far from home. We felt welcome, and the Elyminator was well cared for, parked safely on Ross Aviation’s ramp.

Santa Barbara

Over Santa Barbara, I was awed. The blue-green sea snuggles up to the sandy shore; the mountains just beyond, standing guard. The view from the air is stunning. We parked on the ramp of Signature Flight Support. Usually, the facilities of this world-wide company are upscale. I figured their Santa Barbara location would be a real high-falutin’ place. Was I ever surprised to roll up to a mid-twentieth century hangar and find a humble lobby—the irony of such a simple, old building at an airport where billions of dollars are based! I loved it! It was like going to Chez Nous in Humble and ordering a burger and fries; like your husband’s comfy, old recliner in your new mansion.

Speaking of comfy, the nearby rushing Kern River made for sound sleeping in our tent on the grass next to our plane at the Kern Valley Airport next to Lake Isabella. The mom-and-pop airport cafe even had a separate vegan menu. This was the Fourth of July. On the fence post along the walkway to the diner, a raven perched next to a flowerpot with an American flag stuck in it and looked hopefully through the window at us.

Raven at Kern Valley

There’s so much more to say, so I’ll pick up next week where I’m leaving off here with some earth-shattering news.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 16, 2019 Re-flights

The Liberty Gazette

July 16, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: El Monte, California was where it all began forty-four years ago, when I soloed in an airplane for the first time. There are many public airports in southern California and many flight schools. I picked El Monte Skyways because it was closest to my home. I didn’t have a car because all my money from after school jobs went to flying. I took the bus to school, work, and the airport.

I’ve wanted to go back, reconnect with old friends and re-fly several of my student flights, to see if things are different now. I’ve changed—I’m seasoned. The shape and volume of controlled and restricted airspace have also changed, as have means of navigation and FAA regulations. This was what I wanted to see, the changes flying in the complex and congested area around Los Angeles today.

As Linda flew the Elyminator, I listened to radio chatter and the stream of instructions issued by controllers. When the El Monte tower controller said to fly over the Santa Fe dam and follow the water toward the runway, memories clicked. I was taken back to a place long forgotten.

It was beyond that dam where, as a student, I practiced aerial maneuvers and flew patterns low over the ground. Sometimes, I did this in smoggy conditions. I’d get a special clearance to fly in low visibility. Then I’d follow the flood control channel from the dam’s spillway to a straight-in approach to the runway. The sky is still hazy some days, but it isn’t nearly as bad as I remember it.

Duplicating several cross-country flights from my first logbook, we landed as far south as San Diego Brown Field, only a mile from Mexico and as far north as Kern Valley in the Sierra Nevada, where we camped next to our airplane. We scooted through a special corridor over Los Angeles International to have lunch in Santa Barbara. We could do this more efficiently now, because we have GPS to navigate more directly. This equipment didn’t exist when I was a student.

As we flew between mountains, over deserts and along the sea, Linda took notes as I explained the differences from my new pilot days, such as several of the old airports that no longer exist. Due to politics and greed, houses and industrial parks have replaced them. In one instance, a replacement airport was built only to be threatened by further urban sprawl.

Further, redesigned airspace has added rules in convoluted layers in altitude, designating where one must have a clearance to fly. As a result, activity has increased on already overcrowded radio frequencies. We rarely had a break from the constant staccato of pilot-controller verbiage flowing through our headphones.

In this “going back” adventure, we put 41.7 hours of flight time on the Elyminator over 10 days, flew 4,075 nautical miles, made 34 landings, wrote 21 pages of notes, experienced 2 earthquakes, saw many friends, and made loads of memories. And I noted, so much has changed.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 9, 2019 KSHN FM Memories

The Liberty Gazette

July 9, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The morning of June 28, Bill Buchanan rocked this part of the world when he announced the sale of KSHN FM.

When he said, “I hope we’ve been of some positive service to this community,” we imagine everyone in Shine All 9’s listening area reflected on stories that confirm Bill’s hope. In fact, it was Hope we thought of.

Besides regular broadcasts of high school football games, the Partyline, and local news, for weeks leading up to Saturday, May 31, 2008, Bill, news director Tiffany York, and others joined forces to pull off an outstanding benefit fly-in. It’s is one of many memories we hold dear, which KSHN helped make a success.

Emotional and financial hardships had descended on a local man and his wife when their second pregnancy ended early with the premature birth of twins. The one baby who survived was hospitalized quite a while, and the bills and upheaval brought trying times with daily trips to the medical center. Their uninsured portion was just shy of $13,000.

Bill promoted the fly-in and as usual, his radio station became the hub for donors and sponsors to join in support. Tiffany put long hours and hard work into planning and logistics, and on the day of the event, it all paid off.

Mike: I took Bill up in our Grumman Cheetah so he could see the sights from above – all the airplanes, the lines of cars, and all the kind-hearted people who had heard Bill talk about the fly-in, whose heartstrings were pulled at the enormity of the burden one local family was asked to bear. From the air, we watched in awe of what people can do for each other.

We flew circles above their remote transmitter. Bill had the birds-eye view and gave a report like none other, which brought more people flocking in.

I’ll never forget that flight with Bill. He spoke into his microphone in one hand and with a radio in the other, checked that his voice was making it down to their audio equipment. Tiffany took care of the rest.

The donor list took up several poster boards hung along the fence. And in the end, Prosperity Bank employees reported over $13,000 raised.

I had a blast flying him, and I’ve enjoyed running into him many other times since then. I can’t help but feel impacted by the sale of the station to KSBJ.

Linda: At 11:30 p.m. on Monday, July 1, the last Community Bulletin Board came on. Then we heard Tiffany’s voice. “It’s twenty-four minutes before the hour and yes, you are still listening to KSHN.” Three songs followed, as we watched the clock: Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” Toto’s “Africa,” and The Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill.”

In the final twelve minutes, she again explained how to listen to KSHN.com online via TuneIn Radio. They played the theme from “A Summer Place,” and then she and Bill said good-bye from the terrestrial station.

“So long everybody.” Bill squeezed out the words, as the Partyline theme began one more time. “So long, we love you, thank you very much for your support.”

As do we, Bill. As do we.

KSHN FM August 8, 1991-July 1, 2019.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 2, 2019 Toddie's Rocket

The Liberty Gazette

July 2, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Clint and Toddie were buds. Both hailed from the Big D, both invested in real estate development, oil, and restaurants. When Clint founded the Dallas Cowboys, Toddie bought a piece of that, too.

Clint was a hands-off owner, trusting the experts he hired to do their jobs. He also loved practical jokes. Before the Cowboys’ first Superbowl, he wrote to Coach Tom Landry: “Dear Tom: I have taught you all I can. From now on, you're on your own.”*

While Clint Murchison lived large, he didn’t live all that long. The last few years of his life, he was bankrupt and battling a rare nerve disease, wheelchair-bound until his death at age 63.

Toddie Lee Wynne’s life went a little differently. He and his brother built Six Flags in Arlington in 1961, the name honoring the six countries that have held power in Texas: Spain, France, The Confederacy, Texas, United States, and Mexico.

Many years before, not far away, the Cuellar family had worked as cotton pickers and cow hands on a ranch in Kaufman. The matriarch was a mother of 12, and accustomed to cooking big meals. One weekend, to help make ends meet, she made extra food and sold it at the county fair. Her dishes were such a hit, she made more money that weekend than the whole family had the entire year. From that success came the El Chico chain of restaurants.

The Wynne family loved Mama Cuellar’s cooking so much, that when they opened Six Flags, one of the first restaurants in the theme park was El Chico. This, friends, is how we got introduced to Tex-Mex. Tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, guacamole, thanks to the Cuellars, and Toddie Wynne.

And here comes the aviation part. It is bitter-sweet.

Toddie partnered with the U.S. government and the state of Texas to purchase Matagorda Island. His one-third of the enclave was the southwestern end, with plenty of room for an airport. Toddie kept his DC-3, and later his Convair there. Oh, the luxury! Astronaut Deke Slayton would fly in and give impromptu airshows. Imagine the parties!

In 1981, his real estate business partner David Hannah II convinced him it was also a great place to relocate their Space Services, Inc. Unfortunately, their Percheron rocket exploded on the launch pad during an engine test. That’s okay, these things happen. Just ask Elon Musk. You regroup, try again.

In 1982, they launched the Conestoga I rocket. It shot 30 miles straight up, as planned. But Toddie would never see the success of his most interesting investment, the first privately-owned rocket to go into space. While waiting for the launch, he had a heart attack and died on the way to the hospital.

Both launch pads are still visible. On the website Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields, you can see aerial photos and old aviation charts that keep the history of Wynne Airport alive.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

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 * Dick Hitt (1992). Classic Clint; the laughs and times of Clint Murchison, Jr. Plano, TX