December 1, 2015 Norman and the Fighters and Hustlers

The Liberty Gazette

December 1, 2015

Ely Air Lines 
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

There used to be this problem with the F-111 fighter jet where the engines were flaming out when they reached 30,000’ where the shock wave would block air flow, which is critical for jet engines. The test pilots had been trying to make it work, climbing to 30,000’, and when the engines would flame out they’d descend to get enough air to re-light them, and climb back up, but it would happen again.

The folks working on the problem near Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth were employees of General Dynamics, including young engineers such as Norman, who was in his first job since graduating from college with a degree in electrical engineering. Norman had received several job offers, and General Dynamics not only offered the best package, but they were also in the hometown of his bride, making that decision easy.

So on they went, testing the engines to find out the problem that needed to be solved. Building the F-111 had won General Dynamics a visit from a congressman and a big check. Now Norman and his fellow engineers put the engine on a test stand and started fiddling with things that would affect how the air traveled through it. They experimented with plates and spikes here and there, adding them to the engine to redirect air flow, to break it up, causing a turbulent flow into the engine. When they got the configuration right it would eventually keep the air moving through the engine when it reached high altitude, in spite of the shock wave.

Norman’s part in this effort was to work on the instrumentation of the plane, so he went to work connecting probes and manometers to test pressures, making adjustments and recording numbers. Two big block walls separated Norman and the others at the test stand from the workers in the engine monitoring room, yet the noise level was still quite high.

The work paid off, the solution was found, and Norman moved on to the next project, putting his efforts into the B-58 "Hustler", the world’s first super-sonic bomber.

On Norman’s last day with the company he was to report to the flight line at 7:00 am to test an antenna resistance. The antenna was built in to the skin of the airplane, behind the cockpit on the pilot’s side, so Norman gave his tool and equipment list to the union workers and climbed up the ladder. There in the cockpit were so many switches and levers and knobs and buttons that he was afraid to get in the seat in case he might accidentally move something, so straddling atop the plane, Norman got the job done.

"Even though I didn’t fly those things," he laughs, "I rode that baby - but on the ground. That’s probably the safest way."

You may remember Norman Dykes from when he was Liberty’s city manager, or you may see him still at the weekly Rotary meetings here. When you see him next, ask him to tell you what he knows about a Navy pilot dropping a message-clad rock on the family farm.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 24, 2015 Fly-Hope-Dream

The Liberty Gazette

November 24, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Gareth Williams is a compassionate man. At midlife he discovered The Halftime Institute, a Christian-based organization in Dallas that helps people figure out what they want to do with their lives after successful careers but with still plenty of life left to live and means to give. They are "The University for Your Second Half."

Through The Halftime Institute, Gareth’s next steps became clear. He loved flying, and he wanted to help grieving people –specifically those grieving the loss of a child (or children), because these are the things Gareth knows best.

Out of the exercises at Halftime came his answer. He knew of a big problem, with which he had a personal connection. This helped him discover his mission and create a strategy to carry it out.

The big problem. "Outliving one’s child," says Gareth, "is profoundly catastrophic and disrupts the natural law and order of life. The loss is multi-layered and persistent: no graduation, no wedding, no grandchildren. For siblings, the trauma of losing a brother or sister often goes unrecognized and unaddressed. Many families need help making sense of it all."

His personal connection. After a long illness, Gareth’s youngest child, Timmy, passed away in 2008, at just 12 years old. Gareth describes him as an audacious, fun-loving dreamer, whose motto was "Dream BIG". Knowing what flying has done for him personally, how slipping the surly bonds of Earth offers a certain kind of freedom in dealing with loss, Gareth quickly saw the unique potential of open-cockpit flight for uplifting the grieving spirit. It was then that Fly-Hope-Dream was born – out of the legacy of a beautiful boy with a charming smile, from whose life, and in even the face of death, Gareth found encouragement and drew strength.

The mission. Gareth explains that those who've lost children often feel isolated and alone. I have felt that myself, after the fire that took my husband and two of my children. "And yet," says Gareth, "around 57,000 children under the age of 19 die in the United States every year. That’s over 150 new families affected every day." Therefore, it is the mission of Fly-Hope-Dream to connect these families through flight experiences and related educational programs with the theme: "You’re NOT alone!"

The strategy. Mike and I flew up to Terrell, Texas to meet Gareth. I qualified, he told me, for a flight in his 1942 Stearman, the open cockpit biplane that leaves one with "the Stearman smile" long after the flight is over. More importantly is the mission to inspire parents and siblings alike. "Flying in an open cockpit biplane 500 feet above the fields brings a fresh perspective from which new hope can spring."

And he wants his passengers to know they are not alone, and that in fact, God has more plans for them. Considering the achievements of well-known figures who have experienced similar tragedy, grieving family members can find motivation and transform personal tragedy into meaningful legacy, beginning a new journey.

Among those who have learned to live with the loss of a child are Neil Armstrong, Presidents Lincoln, George H W Bush and George W Bush, and author Ronald Dahl. In these people and others those new to grief may see their hope, and out of that hope can come a new life, a new dream.

For more information, go to www.fly-hope-dream.org. Dream big, as Timmy Williams did, and transform those dreams into a lasting legacy of the child, or children, now gone on ahead of us.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 17, 2015 One giant list

The Liberty Gazette

November 17, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: With one mile of highway you can go one mile; from one mile of runway can go anywhere. As Houston’s Ellington Field has become the 10th licensed commercial space port, harken back to pre-Apollo launch days when enthusiasm for lunar pioneering was growing, back to 1958, when Barron Hilton, then Vice President of Hilton Hotels, and himself a pilot, believed their hotel chain would be the first to offer commercial lodging for space travelers.

Eventually, Hilton proposed both Lunar Hilton and Orbital Hilton, the former to be built beneath the Moon’s surface, the latter being free in space. Ever the savvy promoter, Hilton printed reservation cards for their yet-to-be-built Lunar Hilton, and gave away future room keys.

And if the common man was going to make a hotel reservation on the Moon, the airlines would need to step up their game to be able to get them there.

TWA’s Moonliner attraction at Disneyland had given the public a glimpse at the possibilities of space exploration for the common man, so after Austrian journalist Gerhard Pistor paid Pan Am Airlines about $20 in August 1964 for a reservation as the first passenger for future flights to the Moon, Pan Am’s marketing team saw opportunity and began promoting their "First Moon Flights Club".

Mike: But it wasn’t immediately after. Pistor probably took Pan Am by surprise with his request and payment. It would be another four years until Pan Am founder Juan Trippe would seize the moment. Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders were circling the Moon in Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve when, after their reading of the Creation Story from the book of Genesis, TV stations took a break and announced Trippe’s news that Pan Am would start taking reservations for commercial passenger flights to the Moon.

About 93,000 people called or wrote to Pan Am asking to be assigned a club member number and put on the waiting list. Pan Am expected the first flight to depart about the year 2000, although there were no promises as to date or cost. The company said it printed 100,000 numbered membership cards, but ceased taking reservations in 1971 amid financial woes.

According to Steven Mufson, who wrote in the Washington Post July 22, 1989, Pan Am was still planning to honor the club reservation cards: "One small step for man, one giant standby list for Pan Am."

This summer the National Air & Space Museum put out a call for donation of a Pan Am "First Moon Flights" Club card. Museum officials will choose one membership card from among those offered to be added to the label for Space Ship One, the first privately developed, piloted spacecraft. Both the reservation card and spaceship will be displayed in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall once renovations to the hall are completed next summer.

These club cards are not transferrable, and Pan Am went bankrupt in 1991, so the membership numbers assigned to people such as Ronald Reagan and Walter Cronkite will just be removed from the waiting list. If you have one, you have a great collector’s item.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 10, 2015 Plane crazy passion

The Liberty Gazette

November 10, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: With Thanksgiving near, and grateful for plenty, this week’s episode of Ely Air Lines takes a peek beyond the usual missionary flying. While we are ecstatic about flying and love to share this bliss with others, as Christians, what is the most important thing in all of life is God.

We aviators are a passionate bunch. We’re plane crazy. I’m not sure whether aviation does that to us, or it just draws that type of person likely to be so in love with flying that it dominates nearly every thought. Regardless, for a Christian who is also a pilot, sometimes our faith isn’t given as much attention as our flying.

Bill Starrs is a pilot from Pennsylvania who prayed for God to help him put his priorities in order. Reverand Starrs recognized his severe dedication to aviation but he wanted to live a life that shows he loves the Lord more. Feeling the nudge to let God upgrade from the back seat, Starrs put his enthusiasm to work to create an association of like-minded people that would provide free public benefit flying and ground transportation. Serving in this manner would make use of flying, which dominated his life, to honor God’s calling. Pilots For Christ International (PFCI), affectionately called "Our Lord’s Airforce", was the result of this prayer. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21, Luke 12:34)

The concept started taking shape, planning began, and a new prayer was added when Bill asked God to send 100 new members to the organization in its first year. His cup overflowed when, on December 31 of that year – 1985 – the 200th application for membership came in the mail.

With chapters throughout the United States and several other countries, PFCI now provides charity flight services, ministering to thousands of people while offering a way for aviators to serve faithfully

One of the chapters in Florida has become Servant Air Ministries Incorporated (SAMI). This inter-denominational non-profit partners with Angel Flight, Mercy Flights, pastors and churches to fly people in need, and to advance the gospel in the United States, the Caribbean and Central America.

Affiliates of PFCI are Mercy Wings International, Transport for Christ, International (dedicated to reaching, supporting and encouraging truck drivers), and Compass Aviation, which provides access to food, medicine, mail, supplies, and technical support for overseas ministries.

Mike: Over the years life has been breathed into other aviation specialty ministries, too. Air Show Ministries, founded in 2009 by Cam Roberts, offers spiritual support to military and civilian air show performers, organizers and spectators through volunteer Chaplains and Ministry Partners onsite during shows. This group prays for each performer participating in an air show and posts prayer requests for their social media followers to join in (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

Air Show Ministries’ show-quality vehicles on display at air shows, car shows, air museums and other related events draw spectators in to learn about their mission. Perhaps you saw them at Wings Over Houston this year with the display car, "Angel9". On this fancy tribute car sporting the Blue Angels paint scheme you’ll find original art under the hood, navigational and directional lights, cockpit-style displays, mock ejection seats, and a custom audio and video system, but at the heart of it all you’ll find thankful people who want to share their joy and the Source.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 3, 2015 A golfball and a Wink

The Liberty Gazette

November 3, 2015

Ely Air Lines
by Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Monika Petrillo is the writer, producer, director, editor and everything else of the documentary, "Flyabout", a film about her adventures taking a flying trip with her father as they circumnavigated Australia. The story of self-discovery, relationships, travel, culture, and flying is available on DVD and I highly recommend it - very well done. What she captured pulls the audience in and keeps us glued.

Last week I mentioned my dad’s involvement in filmmaking, and in his later years working as an "extra" in several feature films. One of these films was "Tin Cup" (starring Kevin Costner), in which Dad appeared in scenes shot at the golf courses of three Kingwood country clubs. A few readers insisted I tell the funny story to which I alluded. To write with an aviation-Hollywood connection a call to Monika was in order; we hadn’t actually talked live-in-person in years and she’s a fascinating and cool person, making this a fun assignment.

When she filmed "Flyabout" Monika knew she wanted to fly and direct, but found she can focus on one passion at a time, so as of last year flying is on hold while she raises her children and pursues her career.

She began working in her home country of Germany and moved to Hollywood as a script supervisor. Right now, she’s working on HBO’s "Silicon Valley". During filming you’ll find Monika’s chair next to the Director’s chair; her work includes such important things as continuity, helping the actors with their lines, and making script notes for the editors. Continuity is critical because scenes are not shot sequentially to the story, rather, all location scenes are shot at one time. Editing puts them together in story sequence. You don’t want to go to a movie and pick out mistakes such as a cigarette getting longer as it’s smoked, or an actor wearing a blue sweater and then suddenly a green sweater.

Dad did some directing, too, mostly industrial films and commercials, in Chicago and Indianapolis. He directed Charlton Heston in a film once when they were both in Chicago in their early days. When we heard that Hollywood was coming to Kingwood to film scenes for a movie, Dad came to stay with us to join in the fun.

One day during shooting, as Kevin Costner was practicing his golf swing, he hit the ball hard. Out it went, not very high, but very fast, finding its way to the bullseye it sensed on Dad’s left kneecap. Dad fell to the ground, writhing, and Kevin ran over apologizing and yelling for medical help. Every time the phone rang at the Emergency Room at Kingwood Hospital every woman working in the area ran for the phone because Kevin was calling to check on Dad.

Fortunately, his kneecap wasn’t shattered and he hobbled out on crutches the same day. Kevin autographed a golf ball for Dad, said ball now being in my possession.

Some day, Monika will be back in the sky, an aviatrix and Hollywood director, and I look forward to great things to come from her. Meanwhile, to prove her directing talent, she’s finished filming and is now editing her short film, "Wink", a story about a lonely, bored housewife who befriends a goldfish. Expect to see "Wink" in film festivals and on YouTube soon.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 27, 2015 Contributions of an old, dead Communist

The Liberty Gazette

October 27, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Ringing in the new year in 1892, the town of Atlanta, Texas welcomed Bessie Coleman, who would grow up to be a great pioneer of aviation, the first black pilot licensed in the United States. A woman of courage and perseverance, she learned to speak French so she could move to France for flight training since at that time in this country no one would accept her as a student, much less the prospect of her holding a license.

Mid-way through that same year, someone born a little earlier, but likewise a pioneer in aviation whose particular segment of society has also long suffered from bigotry, enslavement, and hatred, Jewish timber merchant David Schwarz designed the cigar-shaped airship made of aluminum, which he then sold to Count Zeppelin.

And while all that was going on, a young Theodore Dreiser was just beginning his writing career. The angry American-born Communist novelist whose bitterness toward his father made religion his target had taken his first job as a reporter with a Chicago newspaper.

Indeed, 1892 turned out to be an interesting year.

Despite the fact that Pilot Coleman and Airship Designer Schwarz made more valuable contributions to society than a man whose resentment ruled his life, I did find one quote of his worthy of mention.

Dreiser had moved to Hollywood, California marketing his stories for film, and had witnessed first-hand the life of the actor – generally speaking.

Now I will diverge a bit to say that Mike, although born in Hollywood, California (on October 26th – Happy Birthday Week, Honey!), thankfully put his talents to constructive use; and, although my dad did not grow up on the Left Coast, he did have considerable professional involvement in filmmaking, and in his later years enjoyed working as an "extra" in several feature films.

One of these films was "Tin Cup", in which Dad appeared in several scenes shot at the golf courses of three Kingwood country clubs. The movie starred Kevin Costner, and there’s a funny story to that which I might tell next week.

But back to Dreiser. Theodore uttered a different label for those who worked as background actors in Hollywood movies – the new term, he argued, should be "Atmospherians", because they were creating the atmosphere needed to pull off a believable storyline. They were not the big "stars" of the story, but were just as necessary to portray a public scene.

Ready for it? Here’s the connection to aviation (besides Bessie and David): Our Liberty Municipal Airport is not merely atmospheric; it is not to be ignorantly regarded as just an extra to the big "stars" of America’s infrastructure. The Liberty Municipal Airport is, in fact, a necessary and critical part of the national transportation system, relied upon since the 1950’s for providing the way for commerce, life-saving, and career training activities.

I bet you wondered where I was going with an old, dead Communist, didn’t you? That’s just it – old and dead are the ideas that only big airports serving commercial airlines make vital contributions. Thanks to Benny Rusk and Earl Atkins for having the vision, today our city hosts an important piece of our country’s transportation system; a runway that can take you via the atmosphere anywhere you want to go, and is anything but atmospherian.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

Oct 20, 2015 Sometimes Wrong is Right

The Liberty Gazette

Oct 20, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Johnny Keown dons his cowboy hat enjoying the gorgeous fall weather as he shares stories about his airline days. We are sitting around a table under the hangar awning at Critters Lodge, a private grass strip in Centerville, Texas, as he chats about another of our friends, A. J. High, who passed away a couple of years ago. They both flew for Texas International Airlines before it became part of Continental Airlines.

One day, Johnny was co-piloting for A.J. on a Convair 600 turbo prop, which is what the airline was flying then, a few decades ago. This airplane is powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart engines, with two big four-bladed props. On this particular trip, en route from Mexico to the United States, as they flew north past Tampico a red light on their instrument panel illuminated. The light’s job was to relay an important message: an impending gearbox failure on one of the engines.

Impending failure. Let that settle in as you imagine the immediate attention and focus required of the flight crew, Johnny and A.J., as they prepared their minds, organized their thoughts, read through emergency checklists, and used their training and years of experience so that the loss of one of the two engines would be handled safely and professionally, without incident.

As the pair were trouble-shooting and discussing shutting down the bad engine, the flight attendant entered the flight deck, informing them that a passenger was having a heart attack.

Johnny and A.J. knew that if they stopped the engine then, their speed to the closest airport – Harlingen – would be greatly reduced and the passenger might not survive all the way to landing. However, if they did not shut down the engine it could, and likely would, fail during flight. The weather and visibility at Harlingen weren’t the best, which would make having the power of both engines that much more important.

Standard procedure dictates shutting down the inoperative engine and relying on the remaining engine for the remainder of the flight. But is standard procedure the best choice in every circumstance? In this circumstance?

Linda: A.J. pressed the radio mic, reported the medical emergency to the Harlingen control tower, and requested an ambulance. Then, he made the difficult decision to keep the faulty engine running. The two pilots hoped both engines would stay healthy and allow them to reach their unplanned diversion swiftly.

The seconds ticked by. The light still illuminated impending failure. But both engines were still running.

Crossing the border they were cleared for the approach and landed at Harlingen, with full operation of both engines.

An ambulance crew picked up the passenger and whisked him off to the hospital. The other passengers deplaned and were put up in a local hotel as repairs were made to the aircraft. The flight attendant took advantage of the maintenance downtime and dashed off to the hospital to check on the sick passenger, whose only hope may have been that choice that was made that went against standard procedure.

"Passengers judge flights and pilots by the landing, not what goes on behind closed cockpit doors. It was a tough decision to make at the time and looking back on it, sometimes what seems to be the wrong thing to do is the right decision," says Johnny. "We did the right thing."

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

Oct 13, 2015 More FAQs

The Liberty Gazette
Oct 13, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

This week we’ll continue with answering a few more frequently asked questions about flying. 

Question: How do you know when you can land at a non-towered (uncontrolled) airport? ​

Answer: No permission required, but for safety and common courtesy we let other pilots know where we are. 

We’ll use our Liberty airport as the example again. Think of a rectangle, with the runway being one of the long sides. That’s the "upwind" side of the rectangle. If we take off and want to stay in the airport traffic pattern, we will turn left to fly the "crosswind" leg about half a mile, then left again to the "downwind" leg, being parallel to the runway, then when we look out at the left wing and see we’re at a 45-degree angle to the end of the runway we’ll turn left again onto the "base" leg for a short distance until we make our last turn to "final", and land. 

During this time we would announce on the airport’s designated radio frequency, our airplane’s N-number and our location and intentions, like this: "Liberty traffic, Grumman 26958, Left Downwind, One-Six. Liberty." One-Six means we’ll be landing in the direction of 160 degrees. Anyone tuned in to the frequency would know where to look for us. We’d be at the expected traffic pattern altitude of 1,000 feet above the ground, flying northbound, about half a mile to the east of the runway. 

Question: Do pilots have to go through regular testing? 

Answer: Yes. Pilots must have a flight review with a certificated flight instructor every two years, or every year if they have a low experience level. 

They also must have regular medical examinations and maintain health standards set forth by the FAA. Airline and commercial charter pilots must train and take a check ride every six months. Pilots flying jets for corporations must train and pass a check every year in at least one of the jets they fly and every two years in all the jets they fly in order to keep flying them. Flight instructors must get re-qualified every two years in order to maintain their instructor qualifications. 

Question: How fast can you go? 

Answer: The speeds of planes range from the very slow, some not even as fast as a car, to military aircraft that fly supersonic. 

The SR-71 Blackbird spy plane flew from Los Angeles to New York in 68 minutes and 17 seconds, slowing down at least once to air-refuel. In 1976 the Blackbird flew at 2,193.2 mph over Edwards Air Force Base, more than three times the speed of sound. Our four-seat, single-engine, piston-powered Grumman Cheetah flies at about 140 mph when we’re not racing, just cruising. Airliners see speeds of 500-560 mph. 

Question: How high can you fly? 

Answer: Like speeds, altitude capabilities vary. Small, single-engine planes generally are able to climb to 12,000 to 16,000 feet. Some go higher because they have turbochargers on their engines. 

There are also turboprops, sometimes referred to as jet props and they can climb 25,000 feet to 35,000 feet. Some airliners can climb to 41,000 feet and some corporate jets fly as high as 51,000 feet. The U-2 Dragon Lady and SR-71 have altitudes that are classified but are believed to be above 100,000 feet. The SR-71 normally operated around 80,000 feet and the crew members donned spacesuits, as do U-2 pilots. 

If you have a question, feel free to email us at lindastreetely@gmail.com.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

Oct 6, 2015 Ask Away

The Liberty Gazette

Oct 6, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

We thought we’d share our answers to questions we’re often asked about flying, so for the next couple of weeks we’ll pick a few of the most common ones. If you have a question, feel free to email us at lindastreetely@gmail.com.

Question 1: Do you need permission to land? This question is usually accompanied by do you have to pay to land?

In the United States an aircraft can legally land anywhere it needs to in the event of an emergency, but there are some rules about non-emergency landing. Of the approximately 30,000 designated landing facilities in this country, only about 5,000 are publicly owned. Many privately owned airports are provided by their owners for public use. For most aircraft, most public use airports are fair game for landing. Reagan National in Washington D.C. requires extra-special permission, and only since 9/11. Military airstrips are, for the most part, off limits to civilian pilots. At other larger airports with control towers such as Bush Intercontinental, Hobby, Ellington and Conroe’s Lone Star Executive, a pilot must radio the tower and receive a clearance to land from the controller. Unless there is a really good reason not to, such as a power outage at the tower (think Chicago last year), a stranded aircraft on the runway, or some other hazard, landing is not going to be denied. If the runway is private-use only, the pilot needs permission from the property owner, just as would be needed before entering your own private property.

The above is only part of the answer however. Non-towered airports such as ours here in Liberty are called "uncontrolled". Technically, landing here does not require even a radio announcement on the local airport frequency. However, it is customary, safe, and best practice to use the radio to announce position and intentions when near an uncontrolled airport.

Fees for landing vary from one airport to another. Large airports and airports in more liberal cities and states tend to be heavier on government-imposed fees. No surprise there. The more business-friendly conservative areas tend to have fewer or no fees attached to landings, however, we do pay excise taxes on fuel. Those tax dollars received are required to be kept separate and used only for airports. Overnight fees are sometimes charged at the biggest airports if an airplane remains more than a few days or a week. For smaller venues though, there is no reason to charge fees, as this would have a negative effect on the business brought in by the utility of an airport. That business just goes elsewhere.

Question 2: What’s that big witch’s hat thing on top of the parking garage at Hobby Airport?

The mysterious and colossal white cone-shaped object that looks like a witch’s hat is a navigation beacon called a Very high frequency – Omni-directional – Radio beacon, or in pilot lingo – VOR. Sometimes co-located with a VOR is a military beacon called a TACAN. Then the acronyms are combined, making VORTAC. You may have noticed the one atop the parking garage at Hobby, but there is another in a field just north of Daisetta. These beacons pepper the landscape and were the primary means of navigation before GPS. They are still a vital part of the national airspace system, providing a backup in the event GPS signals are blocked or turned off.

We’ll have a few more for you next week. Till then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 28, 2015 Look Better, Live Longer - Buy Our Products

The Liberty Gazette

September 29, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: In the days of the old Wild West, when only birds, bats, insects, and tempers flew, advertising was accomplished by means of handbills, posters, and dramatic presentations. When shady ad agents learned how easy the money came, honesty and trust were not their motivators, as the nation’s spending on advertising went from $3.5 million during the Civil War era to $75 million by the turn of the century.

But because all dark motives come to light, the trust that was lacking in those early days finally came out clean when the agency for Pear’s soap began creating ads that sold trust, more so than soap. The popular Reverend Henry Ward Beecher spoke on the virtues of Pear’s, and sales really bubbled. A few decades later Woodbury’s soap jumped in with a new idea: imply that customers would be sexier and live better lives when bathing with their product.

Printing, though, gave advertising a big boost; print was a life-changer. Before printing, people would buy from local shopkeepers who lived in their communities. With printing came opportunities to advertise and sell longer distances. With these opportunities came the problems of inventory, shipping, and other challenges, not the least of which was literacy.

By the early 20th century General Mills made a desperate attempt to save one of its products from extinction when, on Christmas Eve, 1926, on a radio station in Minneapolis, the first ad with song was aired. Sales of their cereal, Wheaties, skyrocketed, and so did the use of jingles.

The history of advertising has some notables, such as the nephew of Dr. Sigmund Freud, and "the father of spin", Ed Bernays, who convinced women to light their "torches of freedom" (and later claimed he did not know that smoking was dangerous); and Michael Levine, among whose 1,500-plus jingles was the longest-running ever - for Kit-Kat candy. He wrote that one while going up in an elevator just two floors.

When Werner Von Bron and Walt Disney teamed up to promote space exploration, consumer goods found new life by associating with NASA and soon we all drank to be like astronauts and ate Trix cereal promoted by an astro-bunny.

Mike: By the time aviation was ready for advertising, the trend was on focusing on consumer experience rather than the product itself. Airlines began promoting comfort, exotic destinations and speed. In the 1930s Braniff International Airlines advertised its Lockheed Vegas in New York as "The fastest way to the Gulf Coast, only one day." Braniff stayed with this theme as they were the only U.S. carrier to offer trips on the Concorde, albeit for a short time. Airlines advertised heavily on TV with all those sweeping shots of winged steel tubes cruising effortlessly into sunsets. Those advertisements were filmed from a specially outfitted Learjet.

When I was a kid, my cousin would drive me to Santa Ana airport to look at the airplanes on "the lot" where I would dream of one day walking up and buying one. They even had some in a showroom. Brochures for Piper Aircraft showed smiling people waiving at friends as they landed at airports in the Bahamas. 

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s current campaign, "You Can Fly" has sponsored television shows and documentaries. One of the most successful General Aviation airplane ad campaigns has been that of Cirrus Aircraft, whose message to nervous middle-aged non-pilot wives builds trust in safety via their ballistic parachute. The plane with a chute, "just in case," has certainly done more for sales than convincing buyers they'll look good in a Cirrus.


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