Page 7 - June24

In seven years of operating FL- 136, the Herr family typically takes a week vacation at spring break, two weeks over the summer, several trips around major holidays, and a few short weekend excursions. Family visits – his mother’s family is in South Dakota and Kay’s family is in Florida – are 1,000 nautical mile trips.
Last summer’s Alaskan adventure marked the 50-state milestone for Herr, Kay and Elizabeth (Wilmer is still needs to visit Vermont). The Alaskan tour, comprising more than 30 flight hours, required the most arduous planning of any family vacation to date. Challenging terrain, inclement weather, long distances and a dearth of hotels and rental cars made alternate planning tricky. “I see why so many people visit Alaska on a cruise ship,” Herr said. The family’s route in their King Air included landing in Ketchikan to ride the ferry from the island airport into town for lunch, before flying on to Anchorage. They also visited Nome, Fairbanks for mountain biking, rafting and fishing, and they spent time at Denali National Park, which the family said lived up to its billing of spectacular and varied wildlife. They stopped in Juneau to visit family and enjoyed a spectacular private whale watch cruise on a 30-foot boat.
Spring break 2024 was a trip to Houston, with an overnight in Tullahoma, Tennessee, where Herr said the entire family enjoyed the Beechcraft Heritage Museum. “The museum’s human-interest storylines of Olive Ann Beech, Walter Beech and air-racer Louise Thaden bring life to the beautifully restored airplanes: Travel Airs, Staggerwings, Beech 18s and many more,” he said, adding that he is eager for the King Air Gathering to return to Beech Heritage Museum.
Blackhawk Modifications
fc 13 7
JUNE 2024
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 5