Dayton, Ohio, has been delivering aeronautical thrills from, well, the very start of human flight. And now Daytonian Bill Leff has added to that legacy. On Sunday evening the 59-year-old pilot was making an approach to Fond du Lac airport* in his 1950-vintage military trainer when the aircraft’s engine decided the time had come to retire from active duty and quit, for keeps.
Leff spotted an opening on Highway 41, which runs right by the airport and squeaked one on. Unfortunately, straight ahead was a Wisconsin Highway Patrol car, and with insufficient room to bring his aircraft to a stop, Leff employed an “old crop dusting trick” and pulled the airplane up briefly, long enough to hurdle the cruiser, before setting down again.
Both untouched and a bit surprised by the highway hop, the cops were quite complimentary of the unexpected arrival. Leff and his son, who was flying with him from a weekend airshow in Peoria, spent Monday admiring the airplanes that managed to make it all the way to the OSH runway....
Cessna’s SkyCatcher, its new light sport aircraft, which was unveiled here Monday, is already showing strong appeal among women interested in flying – a fact doubly welcome by Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack Pelton. With his wife, Rose, by his side, Pelton, smiling broadly, said SkyCatcher No. 1 was going to none other than Rose Pelton of Wichita, Kansas, as noted earlier in our Oshkosh coverage. He told those gathered for the SkyCatcher announcements that he wasn’t pulling rank--that he had cleared Rose’s purchase with Cessna dealers at their meeting the previous two days earlier (a meeting at which dealers signed for 300 SkyCatchers, by the way.)
Mrs. Pelton wasn’t alone in signing for Cessna’s newest offering. Mrs. Pete Bunce, wife of GAMA’s president, is also a buyer, as are several wives of Cessna sales executives.
For some time, Rose Pelton has smilingly chided her spouse for his personal airplane acquisition fever – he owns a Cessna 195 (which he flew to Oshkosh this year), a vintage Ryan trainer, and has a Cessna 210 on order. When asked if it wasn’t her job to limit the size of the Pelton family fleet, both Peltons laughed heartily.
Later in the day, order taking for the new $109,500 LSA was brisk, so it would seem fortunate that Mrs. Pelton was first in line, so to speak....
Aside from airplanes, weather is a favorite subject at EAA AirVentures, which frequently mix broiling heat and acres of mud resulting from passing thunderstorms. The start of this year’s gathering had neither. Rather Day 1 had clear skies, temperatures in the 80s and just enough breeze to keep attendees cool, particularly those who managed to find shade under a convenient wing. The outlook for the week is for continued clear skies, but both the temperature and humidity are forecast to rise. Stay tuned.
*Airport corrected, from Wittman Field
