January 31, 2023 Men Who Ask for Directions

The Liberty Gazette

January 31, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

They didn’t know the area well, but they had a map in the Curtiss Jenny, out for a little cross-country fun. Granted, it was a railroad map, but that’s what they all used back then, before aerial maps. Just follow the railroads to get from town to town and look for the water towers to verify you’re in the right place.  It was 1924, not that long after the days of wagon trains on dirt roads. Sure, Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, Barney Olds, and of course Fred and Augie Duesenberg were already selling horse-less carriages, but it hadn’t been that long. 

They left Houston and went west. The map showed a couple of rivers flowing through that part of Texas. Only one of them was accompanied by the symbol of a railroad track. So, on they flew, thinking they were following the right one – the river alongside the railroad – when they finally realized that something didn’t look right. These weren’t the features on the ground below that they expected to see. Then they realized that the mapmaker should have added railroad tracks to the other river, too. That’s when they learned that the Rio Grande wasn’t the only river that gave Texas train passengers a view. The Nueces did as well. And below them was Camp Wood. Of course, they don’t know that until they landed, because the map didn’t have the names of towns. 

That’s what happened to Charles Lindbergh and his friend Leon Klink. At least the men can be credited with stopping to ask for directions. That it was the town square where they stopped made for some exciting chatter in Camp Wood. 

They could have taken off the next morning, but the two young bachelors stayed another day to go to a dance. The next morning offered a favorable winds. Lindbergh wrote in his book, We, that “One of the town streets was wide enough to take off from, provided I could get a forty-four-foot wing between two telephone poles forty-six feet apart and brush through a few branches on each side of the road.” As they lifted off, just before passing said poles, “there was a rough patch on the street. One of the wheels got in a rut and I missed by three inches of the right wingtip. The pole swung the plane around and the nose crashed through the wall of a hardware store, knocking pots, pans, and pitchforks all over the interior.” The storeowner refused Lindbergh’s offer of payment – it would be great advertising, like Land here for a great deal on all your household needs!

The Texas Historical Commission granted an historical marker along Highway 55 in Camp Wood to commemorate the unplanned stop made by the man who would, just three years later, become the most famous man in the world.

For the whole story and more, get yourself the book, History Ahead; Stories beyond the Texas Roadside Markers (Texas A&M University Press), which includes a few more aviation stories.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 24, 2023 True Magic

The Liberty Gazette

January 24, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Canadian Melissa Findlay loves her job. She’s seen beauty some will never see: sunrises, sunsets, and northern lights from her office in the sky.

On a family vacation to Hawaii when she was a child, she saw into the flight deck of an airliner. She thought, oh, look at all the buttons! Now she knows they’re just circuit breakers, but it was enough to draw her in, the first pilot in her family. 

After high school, she pondered hotel management and tourism. Six months working at a lodge was enough. She joined Skyservice Airlines as a flight attendant and went to a local college to learn to fly. That was before the current pilot shortage, so her flight attendant experience was an advantage. Airline flying sounded glamorous, so she’d wait for an open seat. Then she worked on the ramp for Transwest Air until they offered her her first flying job, flying medevac in a King Air based in La Ronge, Saskatchewan. Way north.

There were times she wondered, “What am I doing here?” It’s hard work. Some days she thought, “I should have been a librarian.” Or, “Is it too late to do the hotel thing? Can I be a massage therapist?” When temperatures were -50, she thought, “Some people are warm in their buildings right now.” But then she’d get in the air and remember, “Oh ya, this is why I do it.”

She had her first emergency flying out of La Ronge, a chip detector light. They had to shut down an engine in flight, and she managed just fine. In her time off, she became immersed in the community and learned to make moccasins and mitts and took foraging classes. “People working up there are away from family, so you create your own,” she explains. “Potlucks, movie nights, Sunday dinners. It’s actually tough to leave in the end.”

Then she got a job as captain on a Navajo out of Stony Rapids. “That’s really north,” she laughs. “At the very top of Saskatchewan. Groceries are flown in. People from the U.S. pay tens of thousands of dollars to go fishing up there. Best fishing camps in the world. In Stony Rapids, the people are interesting, the landscape stunning, the hiking exhilarating, and the flying amazing.”

Now she’s flying cargo and calls it the Unicorn, “because who knew in aviation you could have it this good.” She doesn’t work holidays or weekends and she’s home every night. She no longer aspires to fly passenger airlines, as this job offers a wonderful work-life balance. Then again, if her employer ever gets a B757 base in Calgary, she might be interested. 

In Hawaii, you can go to the top of the volcano and see the sunrise. “It’s nice,” Melissa says, “but I’ve seen better. I’ve seen the full dance of northern lights. I can put music in my headsets and play to the waving ribbons. The true magic of the north. Yes, this is why I fly.”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 17, 2023 How Not to Plan a Writing Retreat

The Liberty Gazette

January 17, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: In blizzard and icy conditions, we keep the Elyminator in the hangar and opt for a seat on the bus. Over Christmas break, we chose Southwest Airlines. In better flying weather, we would fly ourselves into Finger Lakes Regional or the Penn Yan airport in upstate New York. But Southwest doesn’t fly there, so we bought tickets to Syracuse and borrowed from Avis to drive west. If you followed any of the hubbub over the holidays, you might know that employees from some of the air carriers had threatened to strike during that time. Southwest was not one of those, so we thought our trip might have better luck. Unfortunately, they had somewhat of a system meltdown as flights were cancelling due to weather. It took them a few days to resuscitate their old scheduling infrastructure, but they did it. We were one of the fortunate ones in that none of our flights were affected in either direction. Sure, they have some work to do, and hopefully they won’t have a bean counter running the company ever again. Nothing against accountants, but they shouldn’t be running airlines. It’s not their forte. With a new CEO, we feel certain operations will improve dramatically, and Southwest will rise to the top again to regain the public’s “Luv.”

Linda: We had planned on having a winter writing retreat (and I wanted to make snow angels), but there’s so much to do in this part of the country that we had a hard time staying in the B&B. In a break from writing, we took a day to hike among frozen water falls at Watkins Glen State Park. Bundled in layers, we stepped gingerly across the snow and ice-covered paths surrounded with views of 19 falls that looked like opaque glass hanging from 200-foot cliffs. Summertime is peak tourist season, so we saw relatively few fellow hikers, and the air was filled with the sounds of burbling water where ice had thawed, snow-crunch footsteps, and an extra-large woodpecker whose hammering was surprisingly loud.

In the town of Watkins Glen are murals of vintage roadsters and portraits of acclaimed race drivers in honor of the city’s rich auto racing history. My dad used to talk of the famous Watkins Glen speedway when I was a child, and it was a treat to finally see it in person. 

Back at the B&B, we rested to the sounds of Canada geese honking as they flapped their wings 500 feet above the center of Seneca Lake. The house was perfectly placed on the west side of the lake with a wall-full of windows facing east. Each morning, we woke to a stunning pre-sunrise sky gracefully glowing from deep red to pink to bright orange, then yellow, casting light on rabbit footprints on the snowy deck. 

Only a bit of progress was made on a Scottish Renaissance novel and a book for flight instructors on teaching scenarios. Next time, we should plan our writing retreat at some place boring.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 10, 2023 Reflections from Hammondsport, NY

The Liberty Gazette

January 10, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Glenn Hammond Curtiss. Had you been born around 1880, you would have said in 1900, watch that man. He’s going places. People in his hometown liked him. After his father died, when Glenn was about five, he went about town with a screwdriver, asking merchants and homeowners if they had anything that needed fixing. The man of the house at an early age, he took care of his little sister, Rutha, who had become deaf from meningitis. He was competitive, too. The invention of the bicycle had allowed people to “move up” from four hooves to two wheels. He found like-minded men and they all raced against each other for the title of fastest cyclist. Glenn won and won and won again. He was strong, and he built good bikes. Because everyone loves a winner, everyone wanted a bike like Glenn Curtiss’. Voila! A business! Curtiss Bicycles. Hammondsport, New York (his father’s ancestors had founded the city). 

Technology moved fast, too, but Glenn kept pace. He didn’t invent the motorcycle, but he bought a V-8 engine and mounted it on his bicycle. He set a speed record with it in 1907. 136 miles an hour. “The fastest man on earth,” they called him.

Glenn met the most beautiful woman ever, Lena Pearl Neff, a local gal, and asked her parents for her hand in marriage. Her mother wasn’t sure, but her father could tell. He’s going places.

Business was good, and despite personal tragedies, including the death of their first son at 11 months, he and Lena carried on. Together. He was curious and smart. He solved problems. He made things work. After his first flight in a powered balloon, he said, “I think I can make it go faster.” 

He also cared deeply about people. It is, therefore, no surprise that his business grew. Everybody liked Glenn. Everybody, that is, except Orville and Wilbur. They did not like the competition as the world raced to be the first to build an aeroplane that would carry people. Even the French were nicer to Glenn Curtiss than the Wright boys of Ohio. They were smug with their wing-warping idea and interconnected rudder. They’d found a way to steer a glider and accused him of patent infringement.

Warping wings? He could do better than that. He made ailerons. But those Wrights ran crying to a judge and put Glenn out of business for a time. Around 300 employees out of work. That’s when Henry Ford stepped in. “Let me know when you need me,” he offered. He disliked those boys from Ohio. Ford told him to make the controls work independently (not interconnected) and funded the legal team to fight the potential monopoly from an overly broad patent. 

All U.S. patents were invalidated during WWI, and Curtiss-built aircraft became the only U.S. aircraft to see service in the war. There’s a lesson in this: Don’t be greedy. Ironic karma will get you.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

January 3, 2023 It's a Wonderful Life

The Liberty Gazette

January 3, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: We braced against the icy blast, mucking through snow on a bridge in Seneca Falls at 9:00 PM Christmas Eve. I wondered why the water below wasn’t churning like the scene in Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.” But then, that was probably done in a Hollywood studio tank. We could have encountered the ghost of George Bailey or clockmaker Clarence P. Odbody, AS2 (Angel, Second Class), but we didn’t. The temperature was 12 degrees, but the wind chill was -5. Not much different than when we left Liberty early that morning. 

Seneca Falls was the fictitious town of Bedford Falls in the 1946 Christmas tale. Little did we know when planning the trip that a winter storm would sweep the U.S. But then, that’s what adventure is all about. Besides, this meant a white Christmas. 

The B&B we picked for our winter writing retreat was just down the road in Penn Yan (home to Penn Yan Aero, aircraft engine overhauler). The idea was to break from routine in an environment that evokes creativity. After scanning possibilities around the globe, we chose a sweet little cottage overlooking Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region. This is mostly a summer resort area, but it’s magnificent in winter as well.

We knew however, that we probably wouldn’t make it here in our airplane due to low freezing levels. The Elyminator doesn’t have a de-icing system. We were a little concerned as the cold weather approached Liberty. Airports across the country were closing, there was a threat of airline strikes, and so many flights were cancelled. We were fortunate, but the airport scene was nothing less than chaos.

Linda: There are no direct flights from Houston to Syracuse, and we’re lucky we didn’t get stuck in Orlando like so many people did. I got a kick out of the lady who joined our row of seats. She was going to visit her daughter for Christmas and loved that I gave up the window seat to her. She was glued to the glass and kept taking pictures. I didn’t figure her for a pilot but thought I’d open the door to the topic, just to see. 

“Great views!” I said. She agreed wholeheartedly. I pointed toward the flight deck. “Second only to the one up front.” Her response would tell me if she was an aviatrix.

Her facial expression was one of yearning. Wishing. Love from afar. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like,” she replied, “the whole country, right there in front of you. I can’t imagine.” She looked back out the window with great admiration. I was right. Not a pilot. But clearly, she loves flying. I didn’t mention being one; I just wanted to hear what she had to say. Her love of flight made me happy.

There’s so much to do in the Finger Lakes region, home to over 150 wineries, amazing hiking and scenery, and lots more for us to tell you about next week. Happy New Year!

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 27, 2022 How Christmas Was Saved

The Liberty Gazette

December 27, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

The morning of December 20, 2022, the urgent call went out around the world to certified flight instructors who specialize in international procedures. It seemed there had been an oversight. A very important pilot with a sizable crew had been so busy with work that they missed the deadline for recurrent training, with just days left until their annual flight around the earth. To complicate the matter, there was no time to get to the usual training facility. But they couldn’t fly out of currency – that would be illegal! Oh, the border crossings! The permits! The flight plans to file! The Honorable Kris Kringle was going to be in a pickle! 

“Emergency!” read the memo from the Chief of Flight Training. “No time to wait! International Procedures Instructor needed. All expenses paid + bonus. Travel required. Client is at the North Pole.”

Ricky and Jessica were proud new parents. This would be four-month-old Grant’s first Christmas. They thought back to the excitement of Christmas in their own childhoods, anticipating an impressive rooftop landing, even if there was a crosswind and snow. Now, they were both pilots. They could help! 

In a flurry of thumbs, Jessica texted the Chief. “We’ll do it! Ricky and I! But we need to bring baby Grant with us – will that be okay?” 

The Chief was elated to get this message, but he wondered if bringing an infant would be a good idea. There was no time to spare. “Bring little Grant,” he replied. “It will be the most special first Christmas, and you can write about it in his baby book.” He blinked and shook his head. Did he really just write that? Well, there was no time to ponder. There was no way the Chief was going to be the cause of millions of children not getting their presents on time. There were puzzles and games, bikes and dolls, toy cars and trains, and so much to be done. While Professor Kringle and his team weighed all the gifts and completed their weight and balance calculations, the Chief would do his part. 

“Be at the airport tonight at 7:00 am sharp!” he texted back to Jessica. “It will take a day to get there, then you’ll have one day to give the crew their training. You will be back in time for Christmas. You, Ricky, and Grant are going to be heroes!” He hit send. Then he remembered one more thing. “Bundle up!”

The new family boarded a 737 and flew north. Little Grant cooed and smiled, entertaining the elves while the jolly man and his furry crew listened intently to all the knowledge Jessica and Ricky had to impart. At the end of a full day of training, the instructor-heroes signed the FAA documents, making Santa Claus and his eight crewmembers legal to fly around the globe. Then Ricky patted Rudolph on the head and said, “Remember to light up those landing-noses on final approach.” Then they all gathered ‘round for a group selfie for Grant’s baby book. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 20, 2022 My, How Time Flies

The Liberty Gazette

December 20, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: It’s hard to believe it has been 10 years since we pulled over on a freeway to watch the live broadcast of Austrian Felix Baumgartner making the ultimate base jump – from the edge of space. A space jump. He broke three records that day. His was the highest manned balloon flight and the highest freefall, and in that freefall, he was the first to break the speed of sound (without an aircraft), which is around 761 mph (depending on a few factors, such as temperature and humidity). Sixty-five years to the day after Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, Felix dove 846 mph, breaking the sound barrier with his body before pulling his chute and landing in the New Mexico desert.

The extraordinary leap, which required the cooperation of the U.S. Air Force, the FAA, NASA, and other agencies, was seven years in the making. Red Bull sponsored the project called “Stratos” which contributed to technological advancements as difficult problems were solved on the turbulent path to success. 

The two-hour documentary, “Mission to the Edge of Space,” poignantly demonstrates team accomplishments versus solo accomplishments, something so important that it can mean the difference between life and death. Living and breathing the team concept so deeply that it is part of you will determine the success of any non-solo venture. And that’s where the crux of the problems arose, in lack of trust, because Felix had come from a solo career. But he learned through his mistakes, through his fears, claustrophobia and anxiety, that this was not like solo base jumping. At one point, several years into the project, he walked out – went back to Austria, because he could not handle being confined in the spacesuit. He had a lot to learn. 

The team was built with the best of the best experts in skydiving, ballooning, meteorology, space medicine, life support, capsule engineering, communications, and high performance. Dr. Jonathan Clark served as the Medical Director. He had been the Space Shuttle Crew Surgeon on six missions. He lost his wife, Dr. Laurel Clark, an astronaut on the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle. After that, he made it his mission to figure out ways to make it safer, and he had become an expert in understanding crew escape. He feels that the crew escape options they know about today could have potentially saved his wife and the rest of the Columbia crew. He was determined to implement everything he had learned for Felix’s safety.

The documentary also gives considerable airtime to Col. Joe Kittinger, USAF (Ret.), trained as a fighter pilot, and an aerospace legend whose world record set in 1960 was what Felix sought to break. Felix could not have made the jump without Joe.

You owe yourself the gift of watching what went on behind the scenes. For those who pay attention, the film graciously gives lessons on teamwork, duty and accountability, confidence and trust, all of which apply to so many aspects of life. Your two-hour investment could reap indefinite rewards. https://www.redbull.com/us-en/films/mission-to-the-edge-of-space.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 13, 2022 A Glimpse into the Heart of a Pilot

The Liberty Gazette

December 13, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: It wasn’t your everyday occurrence. My friend Susan had flown her boss in his Citation jet to a small island in the Bahamas and was relaxing on the beach when someone rushed to her saying her services were needed immediately to take a sick man off the island and to a hospital. The man had had a stroke. She headed back to the airport to get the jet ready, and the man arrived shortly thereafter in the back of a pick-up truck. One of the people who brought him held the oxygen bottle, trying to keep him alive. This was a personal airplane, not used for medical flights, not equipped for patients, and Susan had never flown a critically ill person before. But she got him to Fort Lauderdale quickly, and he was whisked away by ambulance. She never heard the outcome, and she hopes he survived. As stressful as it was to make that flight, it was also personally rewarding to be called upon in a time of need, to be trusted with somebody’s life.

That experience might top the list, but she’s made other feel-good flights as well. Flying Special Olympics athletes has been another highlight in her flying career. The first time, she picked up four athletes, along with their support persons and luggage. When she asked the loading crew in what sport these athletes competed, they shrugged, saying, “We don’t know, but their luggage is heavy!” It turned out to be a bowling team. She says it makes her heart happy to fly these special passengers. 

As a wife and mother of three, and co-owner of a Beechcraft Baron, she flies her family on vacations. As an avid runner, she treats herself to organized 5K runs at airports. She has flown her Baron to run on the runways of JFK in New York City, Miami International Airport, and others. She has invited me to join her. I didn’t know there was such a thing!

Susan began flight training at age 16 with encouragement from her father, who was a recreational pilot. She has fond memories of weekend trips to the beach, holding the charts, helping him navigate, and hanging out at the airport while he worked on the airplane. After graduating from Tufts University (majoring in child psychology and French), unsure of what to do next, she enrolled in Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach. Earning all her ratings within a year, she was flight instructing when one of her students offered her a job as a corporate pilot. He owned a company and had a small airplane, a Malibu. After a couple of years, she stepped up to the aforementioned Citation, which has given her a great deal of satisfaction. 

To be able to get off the ground, slip through the air, to view the world from above, the physical and mental challenges that flying brings, it takes her away from the everyday world and gives her opportunities to do extraordinary things for others. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 6, 2022 Match Game

The Liberty Gazette

December 6, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: When pilots get together and talk shop, it’s like car fanatics when the names of makes and models of airplanes start to fly. Many of the names may be unrecognizable to the uninitiated, and they’re not likely to know the difference. So, we thought we might try and make a little sense out of it, just for fun. 

Among the companies that build airplanes is Textron, their brand name divisions being Cessna Aircraft Company, Beech Aircraft Company, and Bell Helicopters. Matching that aircraft manufacturer to a car builder, the closest comparison would be General Motors Corporation with its GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac divisions. 

Ford Motor Company, along with its Lincoln division, which is the next largest car company in the world, would be kind of equivalent to Piper Aircraft Corporation, though Cirrus may say they are number one in small planes. Cirrus, which some liken to the Mercedes of aircraft, may currently be putting out more planes than Piper, but I’m considering the total number of aircraft built.

Aircraft manufacturer Air Tractor of Olney, Texas, would get the John Deere match because they build crop dusters.

The Chrysler Corporation with its Dodge sports cars, Jeeps, and Ram pickups is kind of difficult to match with an aircraft manufacturer. Aviat with their Huskey bush airplanes and Maule Aircraft are good for the off-road types, but then, Cessna does a pretty good job in this category too. DeHavilland Aircraft of Canada sold its rough-country aircraft division to a company named Viking Aircraft which has been churning out an updated version of the Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Twin Otter as well as supporting the older Beavers and Otters still in the field. Mooney Aircraft makes clean and quick airplanes, but you don’t want to take them into a rough strip. 

There are a lot of other airplane manufacturers. Like car builders, many have become divisions of other companies, a product line, or they have disappeared altogether. Recently, the last Learjet rolled off the assembly line, and Bombardier, Learjet’s owners, closed down the plant in Wichita. 

Now we come to the big plane builders, Boeing and Airbus. What can I say? They build mostly long-haul Greyhound and Trailways buses. The shorter and smaller “buses” are built by Bombardier, Embraer and Aerospatial. They all once had distinctive personalities, but these days it is becoming more difficult to tell them apart, as they are created by computer programs rather than the imaginations of their designers. 

The computer-designed future drone air mobility aircraft are going to be the Teslas.

Lockheed Martin made the aerial Peterbuilt and Kenworth trucks – the C-130 Hercules, C-141 Starlifter, and the C-5A Galaxy. 

McDonnel Douglas (now Boeing) built the Mack Truck – the C-17 Globemaster. 

Finally, for airplanes that look fast just sitting on the ramp, clean lines and crisp controls, yet economical, the flying match for the Mazda Miata is the Grumman American cats – the Tiger and Cheetah, which includes the Elyminator.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 29, 2022 Legacies

The Liberty Gazette

November 29, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: I was reading about Google’s private airport terminal at San Jose Airport near their headquarters. They have their own entrance, white-glove service, private security, and direct access to their airplanes. No need to shuffle among the rest of us; they’re special. If you’ve read our column for very long, you know how unimpressed I am with big egos. These self-proclaimed “giants” have done their good deeds and have chosen their rewards. What a legacy. In contrast, I asked Mike to share his memories of his grandfather. Enjoy a breath of fresh air.

Mike: My grandfather often sat on the patio with a glass of iced tea as he gazed to the southeastern sky through our tall backyard trees. He loved watching airplanes pass overhead every few minutes. They were on approach for landing at Los Angeles International. He always had the company of our family dogs when they weren’t out exploring the rest of the yard, and the desert tortoise was close by during the summer months. 

Grampa wasn’t tall, topping out at just five feet. It’s been nearly thirty years since he passed, but I can still picture him driving up the street in his 1973 Chevy Malibu with only the top of his mostly-bald head barely visible through the steering wheel. He attached a manilla folder to the visor to block the sun further down. He may have been short, but to many, my grandad was a giant. It the way he treated others. 

Grampa was a doctor. A general practitioner. During the Great Depression, he would accept chickens or eggs or some handyman work as payment for medical services, because most people then wouldn’t take something without giving something in exchange. But he was a firm believer in the Hippocratic oath, so no matter if he got paid or not, he never turned anyone away. Most didn’t have health insurance. Somehow, they survived, even without the government’s “assistance.” Mostly because people were generally other-centered rather than self-centered. 

Grampa served as a military doctor during WWII at a hospital in Hawaii for most of the conflict. He returned home to California and his family after VJ Day. His daily routine was to have breakfast with the family, walk five houses down to his office on Sunset Boulevard, and see patients until noon. Then he’d have lunch at home and see patients either at his office or the hospital into the evening. He also delivered my older brother, my sister and me. 

Grampa supported my dreams of flying. Not financially, but with the kind of support and interest only a grandparent can show. He did help me find specialists when I needed some extra tests for my medical certification. But mostly, he was just interested in what I was doing, where I was going, who I was becoming.

My grandfather never thought he stood head and shoulders above anyone, but I always knew he did because he loved helping people get well. That was his life’s work. That is his legacy.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com