Page 5 - April 23

You Should Fly a King Air Across
the North Atlantic
10 Reasons Why
Story and Photos by Joe Casey
APRIL 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 3
There was a seminal moment in my life about 10 years ago when I was in the throes of changing jobs; that moment changed my life.
I was in the Army for about nine years in the 1990s and enjoyed it, but I knew I didn’t want to extend my service. I decided to join the Army Reserves and become an airline pilot. I flew for American Eagle Airlines as a first officer flying the Saab 340. Back then, regional airline pilots made very little, and it was certainly not enough to feed my growing family. I then worked for a paint company as a “flying salesman”; the owner of the company was a brilliant businessman, and I learned so much from him in the eight years I worked there.
I finally got the courage and decided I needed to do something entrepreneurially crazy – actually do what I wanted to do, which was to fly airplanes all over the world ... but I didn’t know how. Back then
I did what information-seeking people did ... I searched the internet to locate someone who flew ferry flights and found Margrit Waltz.
Margrit has been called the “Queen of the Atlantic.” That is an understatement, as she has over 924 North Atlantic crossings in her logbook as of this writing. That is a record that no one will likely ever eclipse. I worked up the courage to call her. She answered and gave me about 10 minutes of her precious time. That seminal moment I referred to before was when I asked Margrit if I could go with her on a ferry flight.
I did not hear from her again for nearly five months, but unexpectedly she called and asked if I knew anything about Pro Line 21 avionics. I answered, “Of course!”