December 24, 2019 Community

The Liberty Gazette

December 24, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

In this very galaxy, relatively speaking, not that long ago (although writing a two-volume book set feels like it), we sought to bring the lines we draw in the air down here to paper. It was always a community thing, and always will be. We feel like we have an advantage because we live in both this community in Liberty, Texas, and in the aviation community. Sharing stories here each week allows us to bring our dual citizenship in these communities together.

Community is a place where a guy who picks up garbage twice a week has so much heart and soul that for our neighbor who is mobility-challenged, he never leaves the trash can on the street, but hustles it up near the house where she keeps it. He makes it easier on her not to have to retrieve it, because he cares.

Community is a place where we can share information about airplanes to the local first responders, as we did years ago in the early days of this column. It’s the place where police and fire fighters want to know more about responding to issues concerning aircraft, because they care.

Community is a place where the local librarian plans cool and interesting events for kids and families, like reading stories and making crafts, encouraging literacy, because she cares.

In 2007, when Cynthia started letting us fill this space in the Gazette, we had heard some people say, “What? We have an airport here?” Soon, the airport began getting recognition for the true asset it is. Its purpose: to serve everyone.

Great blessings came from the entire local community as well as the aviation community to benefit a family with a newborn in intensive care via a fly-in fund-raiser. Bill Buchanan did a live report from our plane as we flew lazy circles over the airport. A flying “poker run” brought pilots from all over Southeast Texas to the Liberty Municipal Airport. They enjoyed breakfast cooked by the Liberty Lions Club, bought fuel (spending money here), and were impressed with the community and the airport.

With it all came recognition that, as they say, in a small town can have a couple different outcomes. Either way, everyone knows everyone. So, when you’re turning and forget to use your blinker and it’s late at night, an officer could pull you over and remind you that it’s important to use your blinker every single time. And in our case, after giving an informational talk about aircraft to first responders, they could say, “Hey, aren’t you the airport people?”

So every week when we bring you another story, whether it’s based on our adventures high in the sky, or something revealing the humanity of our “other” community, we do it with one purpose in mind: to share goodness with our hometown community, Liberty, Texas.


Merry Christmas!

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 17, 2019 New Books

The Liberty Gazette

December 17, 2019

Ely Air Lines
by Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: As we celebrate the publication of our new book series, Ely Air Lines: Select Stories from 10 Years of a Weekly Column, I’ve wondered if I could pick one favorite out of the 100. I think maybe I can, but only because it’s about Mom. It’s about how important all those little airports are between here and Mattoon, Illinois, where she was born. I’m fortunate that I could go back with her to that first house in her life and walk through the little town that was hers more than eighty years ago and witness her reminisce in “Landing on Memory Lane.”

There are so many other stories about people and places—adventure!—that I cherish, that other than Mom, it’s really hard to pick a favorite.

But what a treasure we received when Tommy Chambers shared part of his father’s diary in “Allan Chambers’ Letters Home.” When we received that, we felt like there just wasn’t anything more we could ever write that would top it.

Then there’s “Sign Me Up!” which Bob Jamison wrote for us when I was out air racing and Mike was busy at work and couldn’t get that week’s piece done in time for the deadline.

And there’s our friend Jed Keck, the other Daytonite. He’s always full of stories, and great ideas for more. It’s not unusual for Jed to email us and ask, “Hey, have you heard about …” so-and-so, and he’ll give us a tip on a great story. He’s usually flying way up there around 39,000 feet; it’s good to have friends in high places.

I love learning of humorous stories and sharing them, such as “Of Turtles and Hares” and “No Rush Like It.” And the variety of types of people we meet in aviation never ceases to amaze and impress me: a basketball star, a sculptor, a professional percussionist, a grandma, war heroes and widows. They all have stories to tell, which, once we hear them, we can’t keep them to ourselves.

Mike: “Time with Dad” is probably my favorite. A heartfelt glimpse at the tasks that await a man whose last parent has recently deceased. My dad was not a pilot, but he worked for Lockheed Aircraft and TWA during the Golden Age of Aviation’s later years – the 1950s. The Lockheed Constellation was his favorite airliner. He was my first airplane passenger.

He, too, was a writer. My brothers and I built him an office in our garage where a foot heater glowed red as he banged away at a heavy old typewriter on cold nights, trying to be the next great novelist. The “w” key was always stiff, and he’d hit it particularly hard.

Then come the stories about courage and standing up against tremendous odds. These always score high. I’m in awe of people who won’t give up.

So much of life is touched by aviation. A mile of highway will take you a mile. But a mile of runway can take you anywhere.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 10, 2019 New Book Series

The Liberty Gazette

December 10, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: It all started on June 26, 2007 after Kevin Ladd suggested we write a piece about the airport which had come under attack by certain politicians. An airport is a city’s front door, so the misguided thought that Liberty shouldn’t have one is a fine “how-do-you-do.” But the pen is mightier than the sword (and more legal), and now here we are in our thirteenth year in this space. We never dreamed it would last this long.

In April of 2017, we had the brilliant idea to compile our favorite stories from the first ten years of Ely Air Lines and put them in a book. Our version of a “best of.” I say “brilliant” because there have been times when we’ve questioned that. It’s a lot of work. We discovered that many of the stories needed a fresh update. A lot can change in ten years. So we set about to update them with more interviews and more research. We handed 100 stories to an editor and thought we were ready to go when at the last minute we decided to take each story to our writers’ critique group in Houston. There are no other pilots in that group, so we were counting on feedback that would help us know we hadn’t written too technically. Since the group only meets once a week, it took time to get through all the stories.

After that, we decided it would be good to partner with another editor, but this time one who is also a pilot and has edited several other aviation books. Best of both worlds. That turned out to be a good idea, but it also set us back considerably in time. So now more than two years after “brilliance” struck, we have a two-volume set to be released on December 20 through Amazon.

There are stories of local friends, as well as people from farther away, and our own adventures. And it all began right here.

Mike: The process of seeking inspiring stories is continuous; we are always on the lookout for more. We each contribute from our own perspective and experience. We each have our own style of writing. A third style emerges when we write as one. There are times when one of us has a special story to share, and then that week’s contribution has a single author.

Admittedly, there have been times when we were almost too busy to make the deadline for the next week’s article. We’d ask on the eve of submission day, “What are we going to write about?” Somehow, it’s all worked out, and we thank Cynthia for the opportunity and space she has given us.

I believe so much of life is touched by aviation; so much good lands at the city’s front door. It’d almost be a crime not to share it. We plan to continue, because a mile of highway will take you a mile. But a mile of runway can take you anywhere.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 3, 2019 Susan

The Liberty Gazette

December 3, 2019

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: On February 3, 1959, over the Atlantic Ocean from Paris to New York, Pan Am flight 115 had a sudden emergency. I won’t go into details (you can look those up), but as you can imagine, the 119 passengers on board were frightened out of their wits when they dropped suddenly from a cruise altitude of 35,000 feet down to 6,000 in a matter of minutes. You might notice, depending on your age, this was the same day the music died. 

We all know you’re safer in the air than on the ground, and this story has a happy ending. The crew regained control of the airplane, stopped the rapid descent, and made an emergency landing safely in Gander, Newfoundland. 

Among the passengers was a gal named Susan. Now, Susan was 26 and a go-getter. However, this incident threw her for a loop. She refused to fly on the business trips her career demanded of her. She went to a hypnotist, and the treatment was helpful, but Susan needed to conquer her fear, not put it to sleep. You know where this is going. 

The harrowing incident was beyond her control, but her reaction to it wasn’t. So, conquer it, she did. In 1964, Susan learned to fly. And because she was Susan, tenacious, relentless, on-the-move, Susan, she didn’t just learn and quit. She learned, bought an airplane and became the fourth woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 

Then in 1967, as an American fluent in Russian, she thought she’d fly her Aero Commander 200, named “Chance II,” from New York to Moscow. But the Soviets found nothing interesting about her idea and denied her entry into their air space, grounding her in Denmark, which would have been her final leg on the way to Moscow. You can read her story in her book, “Odyssey: A Daring Transatlantic Journey.” 

But hey, what’s a Russian attempt at insult to a woman like Susan? “Nee-chee-vo” (that’s “nothing” in Russian). 

In 1970, she and her race partner, Margaret Mead (not the anthropologist) won the Powder Puff Derby, and she so impressed the aviation world that Learjet asked if she’d learn to fly a Lear and help market their aircraft. She was a busy woman, so that only lasted a little while, but she did find time to earn her instrument rating, commercial single and multi-engine land, and private pilot glider certificates. She wouldn’t let February 3, 1959 be the day her music died. 

Her fear of flying extinguished, Susan boarded airliners with confidence, which, as I mentioned, was necessary for her career. You might recognize Susan Oliver, highly sought-after actress and director, as "Vina," the lead lady character—“the green girl”—in the first pilot Star Trek episode, “The Menagerie.” She accepted many acting roles, playing opposite all the major male stars, in shows such as Wagon Train, Twilight Zone, and Magnum, P.I. She directed episodes of M*A*S*H and Trapper John, M.D. 

But she also flew. Because she overcame. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 26, 2019 Abby's Turn

The Liberty Gazette

November 26, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By special guest author, Abby

Hi, my name is Abby. I’m the furry four-legger who lives with Mike and Linda. I wanted to share what I’m thankful for, so while they were sleeping, I accessed Google Translate to get my thoughts onto their computer. I have so much to say about airplanes and flying, and given they’ve had this space every week for twelve and half years, I don’t feel bad about hijacking it just once.

When I was a young girl, the Elys found me at a shelter. I had been paired in a crate with a boy named Chip, and the lady from the shelter talked them into taking us both. I’m glad we came to Liberty to live because when they leave the big front door open, I love to watch through the glass door and bark at all the people who go by. I also bark at the deer at night, but those coyotes and hogs, well, they’re kind of scary.

But you know what’s not scary? Flying! Okay, I will admit I was a wee bit nervous the first time. But when we landed in Llano and got out to sniff the grass… ah, the new smells! The new spots to pee! It was doggie paradise!

And you know what? There are more dogs like me who have been helped by pilots and airplanes. I heard Mike and Linda talking about a program called Pilots N Paws, and it warms my heart to know that so many people who fly love animals that much!

My tail can’t stop wagging from reading all the wonderful stories on the Pilots N Paws website, http://www.pilotsnpaws.org/.

Like Mary and her husband, Todd, pilots from Hunstville, Alabama. On their 73rd Pilots N Paws flight, they flew eight puppies to Jacksonville, Florida, where another pilot took them on to their final destination in Sanford. This was Mary’s way of celebrating her birthday. I’m going to quote her here, because I love what she said. “Unfortunately, many others aren’t as lucky, and as you all know, the only answer to this devastating issue is to spay, neuter, and rescue. All of these dogs are really sweet, and they deserve to be curled up on the living room floor at night—not tossed out like trash.” I love you, Mary!

Oh, and Brad. He is so handsome! You must check him out on the website. I’m thinking of asking Mike and Linda if they’d like to take me to Florida to meet him. Brad was living in a shelter in Bainbridge, Georgia when the Pilots N Paws group offered to help get him to the Labrador Retriever Rescue near Tampa. Pilots Preston and Jenna flew him there, and now he’s in safe hands. He’s so good-looking, I bet he’ll have a forever home in no time!

And I don’t even mind that they help cats, too. In fact, I would be thankful if that orange cat that runs the neighborhood got on a one-way flight somewhere.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 19, 2019 Challenge Air

The Liberty Gazette

November 19, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: It’s that time of year again when pilots eager to share their love of flight descend on Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport and meet up with families of special needs children and a hundred volunteers. The day is simultaneously rewarding and exhausting. I always come away with a few favorite stories. One this year is about a young man with Down syndrome. A recent high school graduate who had served in the JROTC, graduating with the rank of Major, he was one of the last co-pilots to fly before the sun set.

He returned to the hangar, escorted under the balloon arch and down the red carpet lined with cheering fans, and met his mom at the end. I turned back to look again, and saw his mom wrap her arms around him, his head buried in her. I walked over to them and asked, “Is everything okay? Is there anything you need?”

His mom just smiled and replied, “No, thanks, we’re fine. He’s just overwhelmed. His grandfather flew bombers in World War II, so flying in a plane today is very important to him.”

That’s enough to move me to tears, too. Here was one proud young fellow who had just flown with a special mission in mind: “I flew for my grandfather,” he said.

The great celebration in the hangar included clowns, face painting, arts and crafts, the Chick-fil-A cow, the H-E-B walking grocery bag, Santa Claus, and someone in a pink dinosaur costume. Families and volunteers danced to the music the disc jockey blasted out from hi-fidelity speakers, and everyone loved it. Except, that is, those who are sensory sensitive. Mostly, kids with autism.

“Special needs” covers a wide range, and events intended for “special needs kids” are too often planned without regard to the special needs of kids with autism who cannot take heavy doses of stimuli. I learned this from Jennifer and Wes, a couple who brought their son to Challenge Air last year. “The flight was great,” they explained, “but the rest of it is too much.” So, they offered to make it better for other kids this year.

They set up a walled tent and equipped it with individual floor mats, bean bag chairs, small hand-size plush toys perfect for squeezing, and weighted blankets. This was what they wished had been there last year when their son was bothered by all the noise and activity while awaiting his turn to fly.

One boy came in and immediately lay down on one of the floor mats, finally in a quiet space where he felt comfortable. He tapped the floor mat and said, “Like.” When Santa Claus peeked in the tent to check on how things were going, Jennifer invited him to lie down quietly with the boy. There, in his own element, calming before his flight, he and Santa had a heartwarming bonding.

Thanks to Jen and Wes, the sensory-sensitive tent was a big hit. We look forward to its expanded presence next year.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 12, 2019 Auto-land

The Liberty Gazette

November 12, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Electronics manufacturer Garmin announced at the end of last month a project they’d been secretly working on for eight years – Garmin Autoland – which they say can save an airplane with an incapacitated pilot or even take over and land when the weather is too rough for the pilot to land.

Eventually they may offer this for small aircraft such as ours, but for now, they’re starting with small jets, the Piper M600, and then the Cessna Vision Jet. Aircraft must be already equipped with the Garmin’s G3000 advanced navigation system and auto-throttle.

It took the dedication of over 100 Garmin engineers to come to this marvel that is being so widely celebrated in the aviation industry. Among those were human factors experts whose input included requirements built so that non-pilot passengers would be able to switch on the device and understand what’s happening.

The company has already flown more than 800 auto-lands while testing in a variety of aircraft, including piston airplanes. And it seems they’ve thought of everything. All the pilot has to do before flight is show the passenger(s) where the button is, and explain that if the pilot becomes incapacitated, just push that button. The airplane will take over from there.

It will find the nearest safe airport to land on, it will radio for emergency help, it will slow the plane as it descends and lower the landing gear and flaps. It will line up and land right on the center line of the runway, slow to a stop, and shut off the engine(s).

On three screens, passenger(s) will be advised of what is happening at all times, including a map showing the path the airplane is taking, a view with synthetic vision, and a timer advising how many minutes and miles to go. There is also voice command, which will warn passengers not to touch any controls, and when the airplane lands, instructions how to open the doors to exit.

This news has been the buzz ever since it hit the skies, and my friend Yasmina, with whom Mike and I have conducted many a Pinch Hitter course, texted me the morning of the announcement, saying, “I guess we won’t be teaching non pilots how to land airplanes anymore!”

Mike: Avionics have come a long way since I started flying over forty years ago. These tools have made life easier in the cockpit, allowing pilots to stay on top of everything that goes on while flying. Technology is also being tested on simulated hijacking scenarios so that a remote pilot can take over and land the aircraft.

But as nifty as these gadgets are, they are just tools. However smart these machines seem, artificial intelligence will never replace the pilot’s reasoning, born from skills developed by good training, and judgement developed through experience. Falling back on tech as a safety device is okay, relying on it as a primary or sole means of operation is a recipe for disaster.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 5, 2019 A Different Windy City

The Liberty Gazette

November 5, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: When high winds hit New York City in mid-October, many flights were delayed or canceled. The average delay was just over four hours for those who had not yet departed for New York. For those enroute, the average hold time in the air was 44 minutes. Flights operated with smaller aircraft that have less capability for landing in high crosswinds were nixed altogether. Those mostly were coming from cities closer to New York, whereas larger aircraft are used for longer distances. And how did I come by the details of this not uncommon scenario at this particular time? Mom’s bucket list.

Mom said the last thing she wanted to be sure she did before she leaves this life was to go to the top of the World Trade Center with her three daughters. She wanted a “ladies-only” weekend trip to New York City where we could have a slumber party in a hotel on Times Square and take in Manhattan. I’ll do anything for my mom. Even that.

My sister Diane flew from Bellingham to Seattle, and then took a direct flight from Seattle to JFK on a Boeing 737-900. The crosswinds at JFK were reported to be straight out of the west at 29 knots, gusting to 37. The runways are oriented northeast-southwest, and northwest-southeast. Just picture an X. Those are the options for landing. With the wind coming from straight west, no matter which runway you pick, you have a crosswind. However, it wouldn’t be a direct 90-degree crosswind, since you’d be angled one way or another. Using the highest number, 37-knot gusts, the indirect crosswind came to about 28.3 knots at JFK. That number is well within the 737-900’s capabilities, as long as the runway is dry and in good condition.

However, Mom and my sister Barbara were coming from Indianapolis, a much shorter distance. Their chariot was an Embraer 175. The maximum crosswind of this aircraft is about 7 or 8 knots less, putting them much closer to their limitation. With the forecast calling for continued high winds throughout the night, the airline canceled that flight.

And here I was, heading to Bush Intercontinental, for a flight I knew would be delayed, but on an aircraft I knew could land there.

Long story shortened, we all made it. Mom and Barbara caught a different flight, and I was the last one in, arriving around 1:00 a.m.

Mom won’t be deterred, so we got up early enough to walk Central Park and experience the famous Russian Tea Room, one of Mom’s favorite places. The rest of the weekend included seeing Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway—in Yiddish; dinner at the exclusive Patsy’s Italian Restaurant (where Frank Sinatra had his own spot), and we even scored one of the five tables in the Sinatra Room; and lunch at the top of the World Trade Center, the impetus for this trip.

Mom was determined to take part in the victory of being American, rising from the ashes, no matter which way the wind blows.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 29, 2019 Colorado Cool-Ade

The Liberty Gazette

October 29, 2019

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The CH-54 Skycrane is so unique looking, it draws a lot of attention. But sometimes, you might not want as much as you get. Last week, Curtis Laird told part of the story of picking up a cargo pod at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, using the big Crane to carry it to Fort Benning, Georgia. This helicopter can carry about 20,000 pounds. It’s no lightweight.

The first leg of that trip was the adventure he shared last week. Here’s what happened after the fuel stop, on the second leg.

Curtis: We planned our next fuel stop to be an airport in Mississippi. As we landed, we immediately realized this airfield was the headquarters for the Mississippi Highway Patrol Aviation Division.

Now a CH-54 draws about as much attention as a B-52, and it wasn’t long before a bunch of them Mississippi pilots had gathered ‘round to ogle our aircraft. The shut-down procedures take a few minutes to complete, and once we had that done, we got out to stretch our legs just as one of the state troopers walked up and asked to look inside the pod – the cargo we were carrying.

Our quick-thinking crew chief advised the trooper that there was classified material on board and no one was allowed within twenty feet of the aircraft.

We filled up with fuel and got on our way, our last leg of this trip back to Fort Benning. Once we were in the air, I asked the crew chief why he told the trooper there was classified material on board. The last time I had checked, there was nothing there but a tarp with a few pieces of luggage under it.

Then someone on the intercom mentioned that some of the guys at Fort Benning would like to have some “Colorado Cool-Ade” and there were a few cases under that tarp. Of course, they were referring to Coors beer, and figured the fine trooper might be a bit surprised if he saw it.

Mike: From firefights and tarantulas, and John-Wayne-style defense in Vietnam to smuggling coveted brew into Georgia that back then you couldn’t buy east of here, Curtis Laird’s accumulated adventures have turned him into a storyteller. If you run into him in the grocery store, take advantage of the opportunity to hear some more, because, as Harry Reasoner explained, “A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying, immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter. That is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot.”

Indeed, the helicopter pilot is a different breed. They must anticipate trouble, and as a result, they dance to the beat of their own drum.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 22, 2019 Laird Stateside

The Liberty Gazette

October 22, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: We’re back with more from Curtis Laird, this time, flying here in his own country.

Curtis: While stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia as operations officer of the 478th Heavy Helicopter Company, we received a mission to fly a CH-54 “Skycrane” to pick up a cargo pod at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This helicopter weighs about 20,000 pounds when it’s empty. It can carry so much load and still fly weighing as much as 42,000 pounds. The fuel stops on the return trip were the places that gave me more stories to tell.

Nearing our first stop, Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, we advised the tower controller we’d be refueling. To our surprise, they advised of “a situation in progress,” and they’d direct us where to park. Unfortunately, they were leading us to a light load parking area. To top it off, the area had just been paved with asphalt. Fresh asphalt in Louisiana in July could be a problem for such heavy aircraft. We’d be taking on several thousands of pounds of fuel and if we parked there, we’d sink for sure. Somehow, this information fell on deaf ears. They told us to stay put and a refueler would be with us shortly. When we were ready to depart, we were told again to wait. All this time, our helicopter’s weight (now heavier with full fuel) couldn’t have been good news for that new paving job.

My solution to this problem was to request a vertical take-off to 5,000 feet. Then, whatever “situation” they had in progress wouldn’t be affected by us taxiing or otherwise being in the way. By this time, we had sunk eight inches into the asphalt, so I advised the tower controller we’d be upward bound as soon as we got unstuck. To accomplish this, we rocked the bird to loosen it from the sticky stuff. The “collective” is what you pull to make the helicopter go up. I pulled it up to my armpit, and in about a minute we were straight up, 5,000 feet.

Since they’d been so difficult to work with just getting fuel, I had one last “dig” for them before we were out of their airspace. “You’ll need to get someone out to that parking apron,” I said, “and fill those holes before someone taxis into one.” The silence was golden.

The controller evidently wasn’t familiar with the capabilities of our ship. The Skycrane set several records back in 1968: A vertical climb to 9,800’ in one minute, 38 seconds; a vertical climb to 29,000’ in seven minutes, 54 seconds; and a max ceiling (the highest it could go) of 31,400’.

The next flight offered a bit of a surprise.

Linda: You’ll have to wait until next week for that one. But it’s worth it. Here’s a hint: that CH-54 is so unique looking, it draws a lot of attention. Sometimes, you might not want as much as you get.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com