May 24, 2022 Airpark Life

The Liberty Gazette

May 24, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

When Kimberly Ewing left home in Connecticut to start college in South Carolina, she didn’t have a plan. “I had a boyfriend,” she laughs, “but no plan.”

Fortunately, Aunt Jayne (Ewing) also lived in South Carolina and invited her to spend the summer with her at her glider operation. “She said I could learn the operation. She’d get me to solo in a glider and see if that might give me some direction.” 

Kimberly earned her private pilot certificate in gliders, then added powered aircraft. “Aunt Jayne asked me what I was going to do with it. I wasn’t sure.”

That’s when Aunt Jayne explained the vast horizon. She could be an airline pilot. “I had no idea I could do that,” Kimberly admits. 

Aunt Jayne suggested they visit Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University together, and it was there, in Daytona Beach, when Kimberly understood what her aunt had been saying. Finally, she had a plan. “Flying for fun had been great, but I didn’t realize I could get paid for it. I transferred to Riddle and hit the ground running.” Not only that, but she met the dashing Nick Gill, a fellow student, and together, they would build their plan.

Kimberly began flight instructing, then she was hired by a regional air carrier. Nick went the route of corporate aviation. The couple settled in the Atlanta area, and Kimberly commuted to work. 

One day, Nick heard about a fly-in not far from their home. Kimberly wouldn’t be back from her trip in time to join in the fun, so Nick borrowed her 1965 Aeronca Champ, which they kept in a hangar about an hour from their apartment, and hopped over to the private grass strip to check it out. There, at Mallard’s Landing, Nick made many new friends. He couldn’t wait to show Kimberly. 

“We didn’t know there was such a thing, flying communities. We fell in love with the place and the people. When our realtor told us about a house at Mallard’s Landing coming on the market, we jumped on it.”

Kimberly and Nick with their de Havilland Beaver

Within a few years, Kimberly joined Delta, Nick was hired by NetJets, and their fleet was growing, adding a de Havilland Beaver and two project planes – an Extra 300S and a Schweizer 1-26 glider – because Nick is also an aircraft mechanic. 

Kimberly says airpark life suits them well. “I get home from work and think, what a nice day, I think I’ll take the Champ out. I taxi out, and there’s my neighbor Jeanel, also a Delta pilot. She’s on her deck with her dogs, and I wave as I taxi by. Then I see our friend Mike in his Stinson, and there’s Leigh in his Cessna 195. This community is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Sitting on the deck watching airplanes with a coffee is like, is this real? It’s been ten years, and it’s still like that. We are incredibly fortunate. I will never take flying or living here for granted. Airplanes are cool.”

So is Aunt Jayne.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

May 17, 2022 When Pigs Fly

The Liberty Gazette

May 17, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: She stood by the dusty dirt road, her tail wagging at every car that went by. I noticed her as I took the back way to the soaring club in Waller. I figured she belonged to a rancher nearby. After I made my flights at the club, I retraced my route to see if she was still there.

As I approached the place where I’d seen her, a floppy-eared head popped up from the grass. I slowed, and this pup trotted over to my car, tail still wagging, as if expecting me. When I stepped out, she dropped and rolled around at my feet. She had some Pit in her, but I couldn’t figure out what else. 

A couple in a truck stopped. “Do you know her?” I asked. “No, never seen that dog before. She might belong at that house a half-mile up the road.” I opened my door, and she climbed in with her short legs and made herself at home in my front passenger seat. I knocked on doors. Each person said she wasn’t theirs. It was Saturday afternoon, and no animal shelters were answering, so temporarily, she came home with me.

We’d lost our beautiful Hilda (Linda’s canine soulmate), a 100-pound German Shepherd, just six weeks prior. Twelve days later, we lost our sweet Abby, a flat-coat Retriever. We had decided no more pets – “when pigs fly,” as they say. We needed to find this dog’s owner.

We had a local vet check her and discovered she was microchipped. From that information we contacted the tracking company who attempted to contact the owner. No response. We prodded. Finally, they made contact. The owner said she would call us. No calls. 

We talked with the Houston SPCA who adopted her out to this owner just two months prior. To dump her where I found her, that owner had to drive over 30 miles through three towns and across two highways. Why? The SPCA has a no-questions-asked return policy. Our only answer is she tested positive for heartworms and hookworms. We started treatment. 

The SPCA had originally taken her in after someone found her with a bullet in her leg. They had named her Iggy, and she answered to it. She was barely eight months old when I found her, and now, she’s 48 pounds of muscular Corgi-Pit. 

We’ve tried to find her a forever home but figured as long as she’s with us, we might as well see if she likes to fly. Our other dogs didn’t like flying, and Hilda, though she loved car rides, was too large and frail to lift into the plane.

IggyPiggy, as we now call her, donned a harness and settled in the back seat. With the prop spinning, we left the canopy open until take-off for maximum mutt enjoyment. She curiously peered out the windows. The wind made it bumpy that day, so we made it a short flight. Here’s hoping IggyPiggy will fly again.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

May 10, 2022 Give Him a Hand!

The Liberty Gazette

May 10, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

We had a good dose of relaxation and fun at our favorite fly-in, the semi-annual “Critters Lodge – An Aviation Preserve,” in Centerville, Texas. A little warmer than we like for tent camping, the low was about 65 on Friday night, and maybe 60 or so Saturday night after a good thunderstorm blew through. 

Wendall and Beverly (and a handful of friends who volunteer to work until their heal spurs kick up) make everyone feel welcome at their home grass strip, serving meals Friday through Sunday with no expectations – nothing but a donation jar. 

A couple of regulars, Don Lymbery and his wife, Ginger, hopped over from Lufkin. Seated at one of several cafeteria tables in the palatial hangar with a commercial kitchen (and room left over for a Beechcraft Baron), Ginger ratted Don out about a recent poker run when she nodded toward him and said, “Mr. Can’t-Miss-The-Fun over here.” 

“I got an email about a poker run someone was organizing a couple of weeks ago,” Don explained with a grin. “I’m always up for a fun flight, so I hopped in my RV-6A and went to the first stop, Cherokee County, Jacksonville. I picked up one of the sealed envelopes from the stack and climbed back in the plane to the next stop, Gladewater. I didn’t see anyone else, but it was kind of windy that day.” 

How windy? 18-24 knots, with 30-knot gusts. 

Let’s analyze this. If the wind is blowing at 20 knots from the north, and the runway you want to land on runs east-west, you’re going to deal with a crosswind trying to blow you off the runway. Of course, a smart pilot will know her or his own personal limitations as well as the limitations of the aircraft. You handle the airplane and fly it on down, maybe at a crabbed angle, but you get it on the runway and make it look effortless. 

Don left his home strip, Acorn Acres Ranch, and flew to five airports to collect one card at each: Jacksonville-Gladewater-Mineola-Palestine-Aero Estates, and then back to Acorn Acres Ranch.

“Gladewater and Aero Estates were the most challenging, with 24-30 knot crosswinds. Flying the leg from Mineola to Palestine took the longest because it was straight into the wind. At 7,500 feet (to get over the clouds), the headwind was 40 to 50 knots on that leg.”

Landing for the fifth card in the hand, Don was surprised to see people, since he hadn’t seen any at the other airports. It turns out, Don admits, that he missed the email that canceled the poker run the night before–due to winds. “Everyone was shocked to see me fight the winds at Aero Estates. They were there for their monthly ‘End of the Runway’ gumbo lunch. After a good laugh, they guaranteed me the first poker hand at the next poker run (the cards were in sealed envelopes, so I never saw my hand). I can’t wait. Man, I love to fly!”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

May 3, 2022 Every Dog Has Its Day

The Liberty Gazette

May 3, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

These days, there’s a “Day” for everything and everyone. Whether you follow the National Day Calendar, as do about 20,000 media outlets, or a lesser-known competitor, you can find a reason to celebrate every day. 

Last week in this space, we applauded the progress taking place on improvements for the Liberty Municipal Airport. While it wasn’t exactly “Airport Day,” it was International Pilots Day. So, let’s celebrate!

For starters, there’s still a gigantic pilot shortage. The airline industry predicts hiring 140,000 pilots between now and 2030, about 17,500 a year. There’s also a push to extend the airline pilot retirement age from 65 to 67. Eventually, that could go up to age 70. The U.S. is ahead of Europe on that. They’re still forced to retire at age 60, or younger in some countries. As long as a pilot is in good health and can pass the annual FAA medical exam, there’s no logical reason to keep her or him out of the flight deck. 

But International Pilots Day is a day to celebrate all pilots, not just airline. While we share our special day with the likes of National Pretzel Day, National Richter Scale Day, and at least a dozen other party theme options, the day for cake with airplane frosting designs wasn’t chosen at random. In fact, it has its origins in Turkey. 

Mehmet Fesa Evrensev was an Ottoman Turk born in 1878 in Istanbul. At the age of 33, his military sent him to France to learn to fly. Upon his return, he was the first Turkish pilot, carrying certificate number 1. Evrensev flew for his country in the Balkan War, World War I, and the War of Independence. He taught military pilots to fly, and he managed Turkey’s first air transport company, which eventually became today’s Turkish Airlines, a very low-cost international carrier. He died in 1951. We may not have anything in common with him other than aviation, but he was a pretty big deal to the Turks. That’s why they chose to commemorate the date of his first flight, April 26, 1911, by proclaiming it International Pilots Day. 

Surprisingly, this recognition is fairly new. Last week was only the ninth year our special day was official, the result of efforts by the Turkish Airlines Pilots’ Association, joined by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations. So, while it has its beginnings honoring those who “fly the line,” the day of celebration includes private and recreational pilots, charter and corporate pilots, air show pilots, Grand Canyon tour pilots, balloon and glider pilots, and even cargo pilots, also known as “freight dogs.” For one day each year, with or without freight, we’re all dogs having our day. 

Once our feet are back on terra firma, and the airplane’s back in the hangar, we raise a toast to our fellow airheads around the globe, to those who share the incredible passion for flight. It’s certainly a better choice than today’s “National Lumpy Rug Day.”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com