December 29, 2015 Long history takes pilot to short runway

The Liberty Gazette

December 29, 2015

Ely Air Lines
by Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: A few years into the Facebook craze I happened upon a couple who had been good friends of my father’s. We reconnected, nearly 40 years later, each of us with grandchildren and life stories to share to fill in that huge gap of time.

Jeff and Linda Bloom have always lived in Michigan, but I was hopeful I could see them again, soon. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that Jeff, a professional race car driver, was still racing throughout the midwest, and still winning, as he always did, and still carrying the same race number - #26. He’s been a formidable competitor all his life, a hard-charging racer who has earned great respect from fellow drivers because he drives a clean race and wins on amazing skill. It’s like he wears the race cars he drives, or maybe even the tracks on which he makes them glide. So when Linda Bloom shared the Must See RacingTV race schedule where I could watch Jeff race on TV, I was eager to find an opportunity to watch him race again - but I’d prefer in person.

The opportunity came in the summer of 2012 when I’d flown to Indianapolis to see family. The Blooms would be just a quick flight to the south in Salem, Indiana at the Salem Speedway, a high-banked half-mile asphalt track I had been to dozens of times as a kid. The Salem Municipal Airport is right next to the speedway, so all I had to do was land, tie down, and walk over.

Landing offered the first challenge. Not that a 2,700’ runway should be that difficult for a Grumman Cheetah, but I was a bit out of practice on shorter runways. The Liberty Municipal Airport’s current length is 1,100’ longer than Salem’s.

After circling above the track to see some action from the air, I entered the traffic pattern but came in a little hot on final and used up most of the runway getting stopped without slamming on the brakes. No one was in sight so I just tied the airplane using the ropes in an open tie-down spot, and trudged across the weedy, rough ground between airport and speedway.

Race ticket prices have gone up in the last 40 years, but the money collected contributes to the purse so I didn’t mind. The pit pass I purchased allowed me to cross the track - literally - which gave me a chuckle as I reminisced walking across that track at that same spot so many years ago. A guy who stands at the guardrail-gate lets people cross when the cars are between practice sessions.

Making my way across the sloped track to pit row I searched for the older versions of a couple who had been very dear to me for most of my life. Soon I spotted Jeff, and then Linda, and the reunion was almost surreal, having been so long coming.

Jeff had mechanical problems that day, and my time there was much too brief as I had to return to Indy, but we made the most of what we had and I am so glad I made that flight down to southern Indiana that day.

One month after that quick visit Jeff was in a terrible, fiery racing accident that gave him broken bones and third-degree burns. Tough fighter that he is, and believer in prayer, Jeff recovered and was back racing seven months later, and inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, which is exactly where he belongs. My father knew that many years ago, when Jeff was a young 20-something. Dad used to say, "Now there’s a real race driver."

I miss my dad, so when the Blooms mailed a gift to me, it was extra-special, a symbol of relationships that last: the last Christmas card my dad had sent them before he passed away, which they had saved for 15 years.

How time flies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 22, 2015 Santa's helpers

The Liberty Gazette

December 22, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Santa’s helpers don’t always dress in red velvety elfin-wear. Sometimes their attire is a more of a blueish-purple, or brown hue. It’s peak season for the elves of Federal Express and UPS; the latter now forecasting delivery of 430 million packages this Christmas.

What a busy and challenging time of year this is for all air freight operators and pilots. The work increases 60 percent over other times of the year so the companies hire seasonal labor to handle the volume of packages. About 50,000 people are working temporary jobs with UPS to help deliver or work in sort facilities such as Louisville, Kentucky and Rockford, Illinois. FedEx’s seasonal work means lots of jobs in Memphis, Tennessee.

Tonight their company jets will fly thousands of gifts from regional distribution and sort centers in major cities to hub cities, and then transfer all those presents to other cargo jets as "feeders" bound for smaller cities, and eventually drivers will haul them in trucks to their destinations underneath Christmas trees across the country.

Pilots on the feeder routes will fly a split morning and evening shift, making their way out from the regional hub with several stops along the way, arriving at the outstation by mid-morning. Then in the evening the crews will hopscotch back to the regional hub, arriving in time for the packages they’ve picked up to be put on bigger jets departing for the major sort centers.

During the three months leading up to Christmas Santa’s pilots get to log a lot of flight time to help move the excess volume. By the time Christmas Eve rolls around, some freight pilots have pretty much maxed out on the number of hours they can legally fly for hire during the year.

The freight carriers try hard to deliver all packages labeled "Christmas" by Christmas Eve. This year UPS says if a package gets in their next-day-air system by December 23rd, they’ll deliver it in time for present-opening.

One Christmas Eve, because all my fellow company pilots had reached their legal for-hire flying limit, we, the Learjet crew, ended up flying into smaller airports where jets don’t normally land.

At the airport in Payson, Arizona just as we finished unloading the boxes a local law man stuck his head in the door of the airplane and began his inquisition.

"Excuse me, but do you know how fast you were going when you landed?"

"We crossed the fence at 123 knots."

"Hmm, that’s what my radar gun said, too."

He’d been having coffee at the airport cafe, heard us announce our arrival on the airport’s radio frequency, and he and his friends dashed out to clock us with his radar gun on our approach and landing.

"Well seein’ as it’s Christmas and you being Santa’s helpers and all," he grinned, "I guess I’ll let it slide this time."

We ended up back at the Phoenix airport late at night on Christmas Eve, exhausted from several weeks of intense flying schedules, and after 15 years of this I can tell you that on Christmas Day Santa isn’t the only one settling down for a long winter’s nap. Most of Santa’s helpers do, too.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 15, 2015 Historical surprises and other fun discoveries

The Liberty Gazette

December 15, 2015

Ely Air Lines
by Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: A funny thing happened on the way to Thanksgiving. First came a blessing. One of Mike’s customers, a company whose pilots look to him for their annual training to stay current and legal flying their company jet, was in a bit of a quandary. One of their pilots would be unavailable the week of Thanksgiving, meaning that if anyone in the company wanted to take a trip they would need another qualified pilot to be available.

Being a week normally filled with travel and family time, the company generously brought both Mike and I to Cincinnati so he would be available should they want to travel - all expenses paid and he only had to stay within a few hours’ drive in case they needed to call on him.

Since my daughter and her family who live in Cincinnati would be out of town for Thanksgiving, we opted to drive two hours west to Indy to visit my mom and sister. The week included lots of food, family, fun, and The Game of Things - try it sometime for good laughing spells. We would have the final day back in Cincinnati with my daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren.

Spending some unhurried time back in my home state allowed me to gaze once again at the architecture of homes and other buildings built in the early nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Daydreaming of these lovely historic Hoosier homes, I landed on IndianaLandmarks.com. After joining the non-profit preservation organization I quickly ordered the beautiful coffee table book, "99 Historic Homes of Indiana".

I’m still making my way through amazing photos and inspiring stories of original homeowners and present-day caretakers of these landmarks, but I knew when I first opened the book that surely there would be at least one story that would make its way here, to this space in the Liberty Gazette.

In the small town of Peru, Indiana in 1913 there lived one of the most materially wealthy people in the country, James Omar Cole. His empire included California gold fields and West Virginia timber land. But in one of the most beautiful places he’d seen, he built a stunning Colonial Revival style home for his daughter, Kate. She and husband Sam Porter lived many years in the home called Westleigh.

Kate and Sam had only one child, and his focus on music caused the family great concern. Grandfather Cole is said to have admonished him for not having a real job. But when the young Cole Porter found success on Broadway the family was proud.

When Cole’s parents passed away he asked his cousin, James O. Cole to move in to the magnificent home, so the family of six left Washington, D.C. to call Westleigh home. One of the four children who grew up there, Joanne, married Major Sid Kubesch, who was stationed at nearby Bunker Hill Air Force Base. It was Sid as commander of his three-man crew who set the world speed record flying a B-58 "Hustler" named "Greased Lightning" (just like the one retired Liberty City Manager Norman Dykes had worked on) 8,028 miles from Tokyo to London in just eight hours and 35 minutes, an average of 938 mph, a record still standing today as the longest supersonic flight.

Mike: The company that brought us out there did not make any trips that week, giving us a relaxing vacation instead, one more thing for which we gave Thanks.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 8, 2015 Please don't kill us

The Liberty Gazette

December 8, 2015

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Imagine yourself aboard an airliner departing Bush Intercontinental or Hobby. You gaze out at the city through puffy clouds when something flashes past your window. You hear a thump and the captain announces that the airplane is returning to the airport.

US Airways Flight 1549 was not able to return to the airport when such a thing happened, and landed in the Hudson River instead. Everyone escaped the aircraft and took flights on a different day. What took down Flight 1549? Birds - large Canada snow geese.

Birds instinctively dive away from aircraft when they see it coming, but I’ve taken a bird strike that left a big dent in the leading edge of the left wing on a Learjet. I’ve also experienced a direct hit on the windshield in the middle of the night. The impact was so loud my co-pilot was wide-eyed with shock.

Birds are relatively soft and light weight, but what about drones? What instinct, what self-preservation system do they have to avoid aircraft? None.

The FAA has been under pressure to create regulations for drones. Amazon, Google and Walmart are chomping at the bit to offer delivery services via drone and are discovering the FAA does nothing fast, frustrating those companies drooling over potential profit increases.

More than one million buzzing, bug-like drone craft will be sold as "Christmas presents" this year. What’s to keep someone from flying one into an airliner landing at Bush? A drone operator not trained properly or who is cavalier about their responsibility can cause real trouble, so now those who play with drones will be subject to regulations.

FAA: Flying a drone anywhere in U.S. airspace automatically makes the operator become part of the U.S. aviation system. Under the law, the drone is an aircraft, so while rules for drones may be different, drone operators carry responsibility for safe operation, the same as a Cessna or 747 pilot.

Linda: The FAA is still working on the new regulations but the agency is opening the door to commercial drone operations. What must be answered is how to certify the person operating the drone craft, and this next part is very important.

Last week the FAA authorized Kansas State University Polytechnic to train students and companies on flying unmanned aircraft, and created a mandatory registration process for drones.

Drones weighing more than 0.55 pounds it must be registered. The process is simple, and can be done through an app or online. An electronic certificate is immediately issued along with an identification number that must be marked on the drone prior to it being flown. The FAA then provides the new drone owner with information on where it is legal and not legal to fly their toy.

Federal guidelines for safe flight include no flying at night, no flying beyond line-of-sight, and no flying over populated areas. Operators must act responsibly. If an accident occurs the results can devastate entire families.

If you or someone you know is purchasing a drone this year, be sure you play it safe, play by the rules, and don’t risk lives: register your drone and fly it safely, avoiding incursions.

For more information, go to https://www.faa.gov/

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

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