March 6, 2012 Community Airports

The Liberty Gazette

March 6, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda:After spending a lot of time with airport executives in the Houston area and beyond we see the results of good and not so good ideas. Airports are complex organizations, each a unique “mirror” of the community it serves requiring competent administration to manage them. First impressions are important and an airport, being the community’s front door, says “welcome,” or otherwise to newcomers.

Just like a business, an airport’s reputation in the local and aviation communities is built by a combination of influences, including policy-makers and tenants of the airport. The American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) recognizes that for an airport to be successful policy-makers must understand and balance two dichotomous philosophies: first, that an airport is a public entity and must be managed as such, and second, that the airport is a business enterprise and must be managed as such. The land and buildings of many public-use airports are publicly owned, by a city or county. The aircraft they host are mostly privately owned, whether by individuals or companies, engaging in commerce, while using airspace controlled by federal government regulations. So in reality there are many things about an airport over which its property owner has little or no control.

AAAE also recognizes that airports represent a variety of perspectives to a community, and expects that most citizens recognize the indispensable role of their airport. Professional airport management training educates students that key stakeholders in government positions sometimes use airports for political advantage, often preventing citizens’ participation in decision making related to airport operations and policy. This unfortunate situation should be addressed where ever it is a problem. No citizen of a community should become persona non grata at the whim of a politician.

Mike: While financial self-sufficiency is a goal, publicly owned airports are subject to public administration and subjected to policy decisions by people often far removed from the industry. Ignorance often cripples the host city and its airport. The most productive goal is for a city to recognize the airport as an asset and put it to work to benefit the community, using its entire economic impact to measure success. The inability to understand the unique nature of airports often leads local government agencies to attempt to put their airport into a frame of reference they better understand, such as parks or public utilities. This is where AAAE and the Aviation Division of the Texas Department of Transportation are such valuable resources. TxDOT’s Aviation Division is recognized as one of the best run state aviation divisions in the country. Under Dave Fulton’s leadership for many years, the entire state has benefited from his dedication to aviation and strong advocacy for airports throughout the state, and has set the standard for other states.

TXDOT holds the purse-strings for all the FAA grant money doled out to community airports such as ours so if they know about something that isn’t right they probably won’t be providing the funding. By utilizing TxDOT’s resources we can avoid costly problems before they occur, some of which come about as a result of depending on other so-called “experts” in aviation, and can expect healthy progress that will spell growth for the community.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

February 28, 2012 Airports are for people who don't fly

The Liberty Gazette
February 28, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: A mile of highway will take you a mile, but a mile of runway can take you just about anywhere. We’re seeing improvements at the Liberty Airport which is exciting given where we were just five years ago when it was a struggle for some to realize what a gem of an asset we have here, and how underutilized it's been. It is no small matter that City Manager Gary Broz has some experience with airports and understanding of their value. As with any industry, there's no shortage of outsiders, who without knowledge of the industry will criticize, manipulate, demonize, or even attempt to sabotage. We've said it before and despite naysayers, people who only contribute for their own glory, or politicians who once thought they could quietly “get rid of it,” we'll continue to wave the banner for this little airport in Liberty, because it’s an asset that exists to serve the community: Airports are for people who don't fly.

Mike: Why is the Liberty Airport such an important asset? Its importance is found locally, statewide, and nationally. Although our airport does not serve commercial airlines, we do not live in a bubble. Just imagine our highway system. Consider all the on-off ramps taking travelers from the main arteries for transportation to their final destinations. What if there were no on-off ramps? What if interstate highways only allowed access to major hubs? Our ground travel would then be limited to places such as Dallas, Chicago, L.A., and New York. Imagine the traffic jams if there were only these few off-ramps that all traffic must use. Now consider a national emergency of any sort and these being the only ways to get needed supplies and personnel to the scene. Help might be a long time in coming, if ever. This is what would happen if we similarly limited out national airspace system.

Our airport is considered by the FAA as a critical member of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems, or NPIAS, a 10-year plan continually updated and published by the FAA, listing public use airports and their development programs. The needs identified in the System Plan are considered to be in the national interest, and are classified as significant to the country. The FAA’s long list of objectives includes that airports in the system “should support national objectives for defense, emergency readiness, and postal delivery,” and should provide as many people as possible with convenient access to air transportation, “typically not more than 20 miles travel to the nearest NPIAS airport” and that the entire airport system “should help air transportation contribute to a productive national economy and international competitiveness.”

Linda: The Post Office and two world wars built our nation’s airports, and with today’s fast-moving society we need more, not fewer community airports. We need more access to areas beyond those few major cities, because most of the population lives outside those congested places. This is vital to understanding why our airport’s single runway is important on a national scale. It allows us access to a world that would otherwise restrict us from economic growth and vital time-sensitive services. So when you hear us say, “Airports are for people who don’t fly,” as my sister’s Pa-in-law says, “Pay attention!”

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

February 21, 2012 The Business Advantage

The Liberty Gazette

February 21, 2012

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: You often read here about fun places we fly, or people using airplanes for charity or sport, or about significant historical events in which flying is the focus, and it has always been with the idea of showing how aviation benefits us all. Yes, there is the fun part, but aviation is also an efficient and productive means of transportation. That’s why the most successful businesses use business aircraft.

Unfortunately, business aviation has been burdened with an unrealistic image, painted as luxurious, excessive and unnecessary in mainstream media. Overcoming public misconceptions has become essential work for business owners, airports, and the aviation industry as a whole. But, says Paula Williams of Aviation Business Consultants, “companies willing to embrace the controversy will find ways to weather the storms that keep the competition in the hangar.”

Mike: The efficiency and extended range of reachability is attractive: being able to conduct business in three cities in one day and return home in time to get enough rest to go out and do it again the next day. For example, an electrician from out of town who flies in to the Liberty airport to work here in Liberty. Business owners, consultants, engineers, technicians, sales representatives, and many others make use of the Liberty Airport to conduct business. These are the people who keep our country moving. These are the people who make the best use of their time, increasing their efficiency and profitability. Deals may be made on a golf course, but the real work is done in the office, and business aircraft often serve as airborne offices. When moving from one meeting to the next, business can be conducted en route in a confidential environment.

The fact is, Liberty Municipal Airport, like over 5,000 similar airports throughout the country, multiplies the number of places one can travel in a small plane over airlines by a factor of nearly 10. Airlines only serve about 600 U.S. airports and you have to allot time for the drive, “security” screening, loading, and lack of privacy, making airline travel inefficient and less profitable for many businesses when compared with point-to-point travel with their own aircraft. The businessperson pilot who has access to any of the other 8,000+ private landing facilities increases efficiency that much more.

Linda: In their report, “Business Aviation: An Enterprise Value Perspective” (2009), NEXA Advisors concluded that: for the largest public companies in America, those that use business aircraft consistently outperform those that do not; business aviation provides a unique competitive benefit to America’s businesses, both nationally and internationally, expressed through greater shareholder and enterprise value; and business aircraft users are overwhelmingly represented among the most innovative, most admired, best brands, and best places to work. They dominate the list of those companies strongest in corporate governance and responsibility.

NEXA’s further studies of small and medium-sized businesses (2010) examined key drivers of enterprise value, revenue growth, profit growth, and asset efficiency. Their analysis showed that likewise among smaller companies those that use business aviation consistently outperform non-users. In other words, says NEXA, “the use of a business aircraft is a sign of a well-managed company.”

Mike: The competitive edge would not be possible without the use of personal and company-owned aircraft, and without the essential network of airports. We’ll examine that network next week. Till then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

February 14, 2012 Winning - The Man Trophy

The Liberty Gazette
February 14, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The competition was stiff and with only five races to go in the 2010 air race season AnnElise Bennett had to make every one, but her mother’s days were winding down, and she had to be there for her. She declined the first-place points in Mesquite, wanting the National Championship to be hers fair and square.

AnnElise: I spent almost every day with Mom in May, June and July, leaving only to go race, with her blessing. She was eager to hear how each race went, and, even as her words became fewer and fewer, she always reminded me that I needed to “go and get that big trophy.” She passed away two weeks before the Great Canadian Air Rally in August. Flying my Cessna 182 to Canada with a side trip to Niagara Falls was the Good Fly and change of scenery I needed.

Races in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Sherman, Texas, and Courtland, Alabama all went according to the Man Trophy Plan. Going into the final race in Taylor, Texas there were at least half a dozen racers over about a 50-point spread going for three trophies. Depending on how many airplanes showed up in each class and how each of the top racers performed, it was a nail-biter to the very last airplane launched and landed. Complicating my situation, a new racer in a 182 arrived at Taylor. This would be the final obstacle between me and the Man Trophy! I do believe that was the most nervous I’d ever been before a race, because beating or being beaten by another airplane in my class was a 10-point difference. Being neck and neck with so many other (male) racers, I needed every point I could get.

One of my stiffest points competitors, Jason Rovey in his RV-8, had seven airplanes in his class. If he did well in this last race he could earn 60 bonus points. As new racers are prone to do, the new fellow in the 182 chose to take a more leisurely pace around the course than I, so when the final results were posted, I was awarded my usual second-place points, behind the fellow in the Cirrus, but ahead of the new racer for the 10 bonus points.

I had managed to survive one of the hardest years of my life, race in ten air races, winning one with Louise Scudieri and losing one to her, and finish 20 points ahead of Jason, good enough for the 2010 Sport Air Racing League Bronze National Championship! Yes, I got silly with my Man Trophy and carried it everywhere – to the party, to bed with me, and even seat belted in the back seat of my trusty steed, “X-ray,” for the ride home.

When my personal results were tallied, I’d inevitably lost my mom (too early), but what I gained in great flying experiences, wonderful new friends, self-confidence with the personal satisfaction of setting a huge goal and ultimately accomplishing that goal in the midst of family tragedy proved that I am making the most of every opportunity, living life to the fullest, and I am okay. That’s what my mom wanted. I think she would be very proud.

Mike: Bobby Bennett won the 2011 SARL Gold National Championship and AnnElise won the Silver National Championship, still the only female pilot on the podium. 2012 is going to be an exciting year!

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

February 7, 2012 AnnElise, Squeege, and the Quest for the Man Trophy

The Liberty Gazette

February 7, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Since its inception in 2007 all season point winners in the Sport Air Racing League were men. So AnnElise Bennett set her sights on what she calls the “Man Trophy,” vowing to claim one for her own. Trophies for the most accumulated points are awarded at the last race each year. In her rookie year AnnElise finished 13th in points out of over 100 racers, winning second place in her class. A fellow flying a Cirrus won the First Place Overall National Champion Trophy. AnnElise says that giant wood trophy “made the angels sing in my head, ‘ooohhh, girl, you gotta get one of "those!’” No female pilot had before been to the National Championship podium. There are no monetary prizes, we race for trophies and bragging rights. For AnnElise, that trophy, those bragging rights were priceless in the male-dominated world of aviation. The only way she’d have a chance at the top spot would be to race as many races in the season as possible, accumulating points.

AnnElise: Over the next few weeks, I worked on the Man Trophy Plan in my head. Since we couldn’t afford to go to every race in two airplanes I proposed in 2010 we would fly my airplane to as many of the far away races as we could manage, so I could win a Man Trophy, and 2011 would be Bobby’s year. It was crucial to my goal to do it by myself, in my airplane, so that I was solely responsible for winning (or losing) that big, beautiful piece of wood – and the aforementioned priceless bragging rights.

Linda: But AnnElise’s mother had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and early in 2010 her health took a turn for the worse. She wasn’t afraid of dying, but feared how her death would affect friends and family. She wanted them to live life to the fullest, and AnnElise knew that meant grabbing every experience and adventure she could, to show her mother she would be okay.

AnnElise: Mom was hospitalized several times. My sister and I took turns spending 24-hour shifts with her. And while she wasn’t an “airplane person,” she appreciated that I was, and in spite of declining health she encouraged me not to miss a single race.

2010 started out according to the trophy plan, with races in Taylor, Sherman, and Plainview, Texas; and Cecil County, Maryland. The next race, in Mesquite, would be the fourth time “X-ray” and I raced against my friend Louise Scudieri and her bird, “41Mike.” We start in speed-order, fastest first, and because my speeds had been faster than hers, I took off before she did. We were neck-and-neck around the course, and every time I called a turn, she called her turn, closer and closer, and by the time we crossed the finish line, she’d managed to creep up on me, finishing just seconds behind me – but that’s all it takes.

Mike: Louise won in Mesquite, and AnnElise congratulated her for a very tight race. After the race, however, confusion about mileage and times brought adjustments to the final standings, placing AnnElise in first place. In view of her quest for the Man Trophy, she needed those points, but she had heard Louise’s turn point radio calls and knew her rival was the winner. Being a true competitor, AnnElise declined the first-place points. If the National Championship was to be hers, it would be hers fair and square. We’ll tell you next week what happened. Until then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 31, 2012 AnnElise and Squeege

The Liberty Gazette
January 31, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The very classy and always stylish Ada Fay Schmidt said last week, “Linda! I just want to know one thing!” Curious, I asked, “What do you want to know?” Ada Fay said, “Which one of those ladies wins the race? I can't wait to find out!” I realized she was speaking of the friendly rivalry between Louise Scudieri and AnnElise Bennett, about which we’ve been writing in this space the past couple of weeks. Louise and AnnElise enjoy their competition. I've been at races where it seems everyone in the room holds their breath waiting to hear the times and speeds when those two race each other. So Ada Fay, this is for you. I asked them to tell it in their own words.

Louise: That is fantastic; Miss Ada Fay made me laugh out loud! I'm just looking forward to test pilot status in a couple of weeks. We will hopefully have everything on the new engine working by the beginning of March and right now my schedule is open March 31 for the first race of the 2012 season.

From the first time I raced a Sport Air Racing League race in Sherman in 2009 when AnnElise beat me by less than one mile-an-hour, I was hooked. Air racer and race organizer Pat Purcell found out I was racing Air Race Classic, tracked me down, and convinced me to try a Sport Air race just one month before the Classic. I am forever grateful. When Pat saw our times and speeds, she was quick to tell me I was ready for ARC and that AnnElise and I were well matched in SARL. I had such a great time from pre-planning, race brief, start, and the concentration of execution, that I felt so good after crossing the finish line I laughed my way all the way to parking! I savor the feeling and completely enjoy the experience each time (even when I miss a turn and beat myself up). Now that I have a new, faster engine I hope Bobby Bennett keeps his eyes open for a set of 520 steel cylinders on the back of a surplus truck or corner of a hangar to plug into AnnElise’s airplane to get us back into the same class. Until then, “41Mike” and I will attend every race we can fit into our schedule and invite more racers to ‘bring it’.

AnnElise: I remember being a nervous wreck the first time I raced Louise, it was the first time I'd raced anyone with the same airplane as mine. I figured she had to want it as badly as I did, being a girl competitor in the boys’ club. My highly competitive nature took hold and I went screaming around the course, flying the straightest, tightest line I could. My speed of 158.10 mph beat Louise’s 157.18. I was hooked.

Mike: These ladies compete hard. AnnElise won the first match, but come back next week (Ada Fay!), because there is more to this story and you don’t want to miss it.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 24, 2012 AnnElise Bennett

The Liberty Gazette

January 24, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: When Bobby Bennett said to his wife, AnnElise, “If you'll go to ground school and pass your written test, I'll buy you an airplane,” AnnElise says he really meant, “If you'll get your license you can be my co-pilot,” but she quickly explains that would be a sorely mistaken thought. Frequently the Dallas area couple flies two airplanes to compete in air races because, as AnnElise says, “I insist on aviation equality.”

Mike: The Bennetts live in one of their two hangars, a grass strip runs alongside, through their 80 acre funland. This is where AnnElise took many of her flying lessons from instructor Jill Williams Shockley. The Bennett runway is oriented northeast-southwest with power lines strung just feet from the north end, meaning departures and arrivals come with less cheek-squeeze factor when taking off or landing to the north (going out to or coming in from the south). However, prevailing winds from the south bringing a screaming quartering tailwind keep AnnElise on her aviation toes.

Her first emergency landing tested her skills for real when she had only 197 hours logged. She had picked up the airplane at a shop where repairs were made for hail damage. Lesson learned: always do a positive control surface check when control surfaces have been removed. One person manipulates controls while another holds onto the control surface so the weights are not causing the movement. Had they done that they’d have known she had no elevator control. But AnnElise passed the test with flying colors. Not a scratch on her or the bird.

Linda: In anticipation of their sixth wedding anniversary Bobby had asked AnnElise what she’d like to do to celebrate. She didn’t know right away, but after attending a 99s meeting, where air race queen Pat Purcell and Pat Keefer were pitching the U.S. Air Race she had her answer: “I want to race for our anniversary!” She says Bobby “looked at me like I had a hole in my head and said, ‘You want to what? We can't do that in a 172!’” Bobby now competes in his super-fast Bonanza, and AnnElise has moved up to a Cessna 182.

So what’s the favorite piece of living room furniture of a woman who lives in a hangar? It’s not the installed-in-the-floor trampoline, nor the climbing rope, rock wall, or gymnastic rings which contribute to her tight figure. It’s “X-ray”, her C-182, of course, adorning the living room when she’s not soaring fast and free. Bobby and AnnElise eat, sleep, live, breathe airplanes and X-ray has had quite a life. Before becoming a Bennett, X-ray was a sadly abused jump plane, but since her adoption has blossomed into as a sleek a racer as a C-182 can be.

Not content to be just a pilot, AnnElise has also helped Bobby, a highly experienced and award winning aircraft mechanic, overhaul at least 10 engines at last count, and is hoping together they will build a faster airplane to race. She’s especially enjoyed racing against Louise Scudieri, also a C-182 pilot, and says, “Every time I'm taxiing out to race, the adrenaline flows, the breath quickens, but it flows faster and sharper when I'm racing Louise because we are so well matched.”

Mike: And then there’s the “man trophy.” That’ll have to wait until next week.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 17, 2012 Cessna 182 Racers

The Liberty Gazette

January 17, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: I first met Louise “Squeege” Scudieri back in 2009 in Denver, as we prepared to race against each other across the country in the annual four-day long Air Race Classic.

Louise is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), and CEO/owner of Smooth Inductions, P.C. An independent anesthesia provider, Louise puts people to sleep, wakes them up nice, and puts in epidurals and other blocks appropriate for various procedures.

But just last week Louise admitted to “fighting back tears of joy” when her mechanic left a voice message that the crated overhauled engine had arrived at the hangar. She had ordered a shiny new engine, upping her horsepower from 235 to 275. In the Sport Air Racing League that puts her in a new class, and the long time friendly rivalry between Louise and AnnElise Bennett is on hold now, until AnnElise can convince her aircraft mechanic husband Bobby to put some more ponies under “X-Ray’s” cowling (that’s what she named her plane). Louise wants very much for that to happen, too. She says of AnnElise, “She makes me fly a tighter race. I want her in my class.”

Both women own and fly Cessna 182s. Both are competitive, and I just learned that Bobby Bennett, the world’s best aircraft mechanic, is heading over to Louise’s hangar to take a peek.

The race classes in the League are mainly determined by horsepower and cubic inch displacement. With the old engine Louise’s fastest time was in 2010 at a race in Sulphur Springs, where she clocked 157.31 mph. The record for these factory-built aircraft (in Class 3 with fixed gear) is held by Red Hamilton and Marilyn Boese. They flew their Cessna 180 in a race in Sherman, Texas and turned in a speed of 187.24 mph. AnnElise’s fastest time in the three years she’s been racing the C182 was in 2010 in Courtland, Alabama, where she turned in a speed of 164.45 mph. Funny thing about how the airplanes are classed, is that in the Factory 3 Class the Cessna 182 competes against a Cirrus SR22, which is a much newer airplane with a sleeker, cleaner design, and whips through the air pretty fast.

But moving up with increased horsepower, Louise will now find herself in competition with another fine chick pilot, Nancy Benscoter, who raced her first League race last October in Arizona, and turned in a speed of 164.80 mph. I figure Louise’s new engine has just got to be a whole garden full of carrots dangling in front of AnnElise. Still, the self-employed medical transcriptionist/domestic engineer of two hangars, two rent houses, 80 acres and 11 dogs who loves to turn people on to general aviation and giving rides – from a starry-eyed six year old girl with huge aviation dreams to an adventurous 80 year old lady for her birthday – wonders, is Louise actually going to race, push her new engine to its limits? I can’t wait to find out. The race season begins March 31 in Sherman, Texas. While we’re waiting for that, come back to this page next week for a peek into the life of AnnElise Bennett, race aviatrix extraordinaire. Until then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 10, 2012 Flying the Bahamas

The Liberty Gazette

January 10, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Imagine wandering around tall fluffy white clouds sporting dark grey underbellies when you spot what looks like shadows on the water that seems to extend forever in every direction in hues from azure to turquoise in the shallower parts. To the west where the Tongue of the Ocean reaches depths greater than 4,000 feet it’s deep blue awes you. Those shadows become more pronounced, breaking into several pieces of more jagged shapes. Then the dense vegetation, low scrub, mangrove, mahogany and logwood trees dotting low flat surfaces start to jump out at you. You’ve been looking for these islands ever since leaving Nassau 40 miles ago and they have magically appeared stretching angularly across the horizon.

This magical paradise with its exotic pink sand beaches, “sea glass,” buried treasure, pirates and rum runners, sits right smack in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. The major airlines only serve seven destinations in the Bahamas so exploring the “Out Islands” (700 islands and 2,000 cays) of this exotic land is best by light plane or boat. You can charter a flight from Florida or Nassau to some of the out island resorts but even some charter operators with their bigger, faster aircraft cannot land on the shorter or crushed corral runways.

Approaching the islands you soon spot a 3,000-foot-long airstrip on the south end of one of them. Turning downwind in the traffic pattern you see an aircraft in the lagoon east of the island, a DC-3 that ditched in the 1980s and now rests among the corral in waters so shallow it sits above the surface during periods of low tide – one of many casualties of drug smuggling. This is the notorious Norman’s Cay.

The Bahamas is part of the greater Caribbean that stretches from the tip of Florida all the way to the northeast coast of South America over to the Cayman Islands and Cancun and back to Florida again. The northern parts include the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos. At the southeast portion are the Windward Islands where peaks of mysterious jungle covered volcanoes are often shrouded in clouds. Many of the spices we use daily come from here.

The Bahamas are a popular destination, especially during winter months when “snowbirds” come for the 70-80 degree weather. Like Canada geese, people in the northern parts of the continent migrate to warmer climates in cooler months.

Pilots, too, fly south for the winter and the islands are a favorite destination, easily accessible from Florida. The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism promotes the country’s amenities. Annual activities planned to attract pilots and show off the beauty of these islands include an air race and an aerial treasure hunt. The Great Bahamas Air Race took place in mid-December and was won by our friend Alan Crawford in his Lancair Legacy. The week-long Bahamas Treasure Hunt begins February 12 and will cover more than 930 miles as participants use their airplanes to search for clues while enjoying the sun, sea, beaches, scuba diving, fishing, and relaxing.

Having had the opportunity to fly in the islands for my job in the past, I look forward to returning and enjoying their charms at a less hectic pace in the future.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 3, 2012 The Incredible Life of Gary Baker

The Liberty Gazette

January 3, 2012

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Gary Baker was a jolly fella who wanted more human contact than he got through his “Seven-Seas BBS,” an early variation on what we now call the Internet, or World Wide Web, and something that Al Gore didn’t have anything to do with. I met Gary about 20 years ago because I was a member of his board and we lived only a few miles apart. Gary couldn’t get out much due to health problems, so on occasion I’d venture by so we could chat face to face.

An electronics whiz, Gary had led an interesting life and we collaborated on stories for a time. We got into the development of an online aviation magazine where we could post our “hangar flying” stories but it never took off. Gary eventually moved from California to Tulsa where over time further health complications and his constantly changing addresses for one reason or another eventually led to us losing contact.

As a child actor his credits include the movie “The High and The Mighty” starring John Wayne. As a young man Gary served our country in the Air Force, based at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific’s Marshall Islands. His specialty was electronic countermeasures. Once discharged he worked in radio as an engineer and later his deep, smooth-as-silk voice got him seated on the other side of the microphone at stations that played oldies or country music.

Gary was also a pilot. He flew, among other things, a DC-3 airliner and later became a Boeing 727 captain. He may have told me once but I don’t recall the airline, just the funny stories he told of airline life. One of those was when he was captain on the DC-3. Someone brought a cat on board and somehow, in the middle of a thunderstorm, the sweet little fur ball got loose and tore through the cabin, invading the cockpit just as another bolt of lightning flashed and thunder banged. The cat went wild, jumped up on the co-pilot’s head and sunk its claws into the poor guy’s scalp. If one can wrestle with a cat, it happened that day. Eventually the cat let go and wedged itself so far down near the co-pilot’s rudder pedals that nobody could get it out. When they landed the co-pilot nursed his wounds, leaving the fight with the cat to the ground crew.

Gary was furloughed when his airline scaled back operations. While waiting to be recalled he worked as a truck driver. He stopped on the side of the road one day to fix some lights on the upper part of the back of his truck. As he stood atop his ladder a drunk driver ran into the back of the truck knocking Gary backwards. He hit the pavement 14 feet below, flat on his back. The blow tore his heart from its surrounding tissue and caused major internal injuries. A medical helicopter just happened to be flying by at the time and its passenger, a world-renown Houston heart surgeon, saw the accident as it happened, and ordered the helicopter to land. Gary was stabilized, loaded into the helicopter, and within an hour he was in the operating room with possibly the best heart surgeon ever. Due to the accident Gary never flew as a pilot again. I wish I knew now whatever became of him.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com