April 25, 2023 Mentors and Role Models

The Liberty Gazette

April 25, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Over the years, I have received exceptional guidance from mentors and role models. My first flight instructor, Dennis Reece, was a fireman and taught flying part-time. A pilot’s first instructor can make or break the student pilot’s experience. Even though he taught part-time, he worked with me all the way through my private pilot training. I was fortunate to have had only one flight instructor during that formative period.

Mr. Galloway was an instructor who taught night classes in meteorology at Mt. San Antonio College. His methods of teaching a difficult subject made it fun. Dedicated to his students, he let them know they were important. Once, when I missed a class session because I was sick, he called the next day to see how I was and to go over everything he had covered in class. When he passed away, over 400 of his former students traveled from all over the world to attend his memorial service. I wish every instructor I knew was like him. 

Bruce Riggins was a missionary pilot for African Inland Missions who trained me for my commercial pilot certificate. His training was more in-depth than required to pass the checkride. He taught me survival skills, such as how to escape from a narrow box canyon and how to avoid them in the first place.

Chuck Gifford was the former head of the Aviation Department at Cypress College. I was already set to take my checkride for my flight instructor certificate when I began attending classes and Chuck convinced me to wait on the checkride so I could compete on the school’s flying team. Getting my instructor certificate would promote me to professional status, preventing me from competing in college. This benefited me as I honed my flying skills, expanded my knowledge, and learned more about teamwork and mentoring. After completing my instructor checkride he asked me to be a team advisor to pass along what I’d learned.

Travis Flannery, a Designated Pilot Examiner and instructor worked with me for the first twenty hours of flight instructor training. His grandfather-like demeanor and patience belied his 30,000 hours of teaching people to fly airplanes. He took me up in a Cessna 150, taught me, as he called them, “walk-down” stalls. The wing buffets and drops in a stall and the pilot corrects this by properly using the rudder. It’s a kind of dance. He also had me performing very precise steep-banked eights-on-pylons in high winds, building both skills and confidence in handling an airplane in any situation.

My parents top my list of role models. They encouraged my brothers, my sister, and I to pursue our dreams. They couldn’t pay for our college or flight training, but they were always there. They celebrated the highs and waded through lows with each of us. They were always willing to stop and listen, no matter the time or place, they made time for us. They gave us themselves, the best kind of role model.  

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