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1977, I transferred from the BTC to one of the factory- owned distributors, Beechcraft West in Hayward. I tried my hand at airplane sales and quickly found that I was not a good fit. I served as a demo pilot and filled in for many customers’ pilots during their vacation periods.
Beechcraft West had sold a King Air 200 to the government of Sabah, Malaysia. It was a highlight to ferry that airplane across the Pacific and to spend four months in Sabah’s capital, Kota Kinabalu, on the island of Borneo, training the Malaysian pilots. (Details can be found in “The King Air Book,” Volume I.)
I missed training! Upon my return to California, I filled in as the corporate pilot for Beacon Oil Company on their 1977 BE-200, hangared in Visalia. That was enjoyable with great people, but Mary did not want to leave the Bay Area, so I returned to Hayward.
An idea had been planted in my head when Beech stopped providing on-site ground and flight training at the customer’s facility. We had gotten so busy with training in Wichita that our ability to accommodate a customer’s request for on-site training went by the wayside. I formed Flight Review, Inc. in January 1979 to provide on-site training for King Air and Duke operators. Alan Roberts, another instructor at the BTC who had moved on to join the Beech distributor in Seattle, Washington, encouraged
me to start the business. He was the one who came up with the name, although he was never active in the company. Thanks, Alan!
On to Arizona
God blessed my endeavor again; that part of my career continued for 21 years until 2000. In 1987, I had relocated to make Scottsdale, Arizona, my base of operations, although my life was mostly in hotel rooms. I spent 232 nights on the road one year. From 1990 to 2000, I continued to travel a lot, but I also had an office and classroom at Scottsdale Airport.
I had a minor heart attack in 2000. My medical went and came and went again more than four times. Thank God I could continue instructing recurrent training since my students were already qualified to be PIC. Similarly, in 2016 I helped Gary Banker find and purchase a C90A; I managed that airplane for him for 17 years, until his death in 2023. We always operated with a two-pilot crew, and the insurance company allowed me to occupy either cockpit seat if a qualified PIC was in the other seat. I have no longer flown since Gary’s demise, except for delivering the King Air to its new owner in Canada. The last page of my logbook shows 24,000 hours, 16,000 of which are in King Airs.
Exceeding Expectations
• King Air Inspections & • Garmin Glass Panel Retrofit • Raisbeck Performance Maintenance • Structural Repair Modifications
American Aviation
• Paint & Interior
www.americanaviation.com
352-796-5173 | Brooksville Tampa Bay Regional Airport
DECEMBER 2024
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 7