Page 41 - Volume 15 Number 3

driver – really. He said jump and this 15-year-old jumped. I attribute my work ethic to him nonetheless. Between you, me and Dr. Hook, “Life’s Been Good to Me So Far.”I Learned About Flying, Business and ... WomenTo say Kalamazoo Aviation, built by the Gustafsons, played a large part in my aviation career (and life) is like saying aviation played a part in World War II. I learned about flying, working, business and women during those years. The Boss himself taught me airmanship in the “old school” ways. I was required to manually track my work hours and justify“Sue asked her uncle, Donald Gilmore, then president of the Upjohn Comtpany, for a job as a pilot. However, at the time, female pilots weren’t accepted in the aviation industry.”– Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum Web siteAccording to the Zoo Web site, Sue DeLano’s flight instructor was Irving Woodhams, whose pilot’s license issued in 1926 was signed by Orville Wright. Sue and Irving met in 1941 at the Austin Lake Airport, south of Kalamazoo, Mr. Woodhams’ airport. The airport was just across the lake from a large pharmaceuticalcompany, and the smell of their liver pill was in the air. That first flight was the beginning of a passion for flying for the granddaughter of Dr. William Erastus Upjohn, founder of the Upjohn Company. She would search for a place in the male dominated world of aviation, eventually serving as a WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilots) during World War II, and flying as an air show performer.In the mid-1970s Mr. Gustafson constructed his home within walking distance of the Austin Lake Airport. This author had his first flight instruction with Mr. Gustafson and accumulated some of his flying time in those early days haulin’ the boss’ daughter from Kalamazoo to Mr. Frank Woodhams’, the son, grass field at the Austin Lake Airport; two-tenths each way in an M-10 Mooney Cadet. Eighty octane was less than a buck-a-gallon after all. The smell of liver pills still filled the air up to 8,000 feet.Snap (crackle and pop) 40 years into the future and you’ll find, at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport, situated at midfield on the west side of runway 17/35, the Air Zoo, previously known as KalamazooSue DeLano Parish’s pink P-40 is a must-see aircraft.An F-14 and SR-71 are among the aircraft on display at the Air Zoo.every one. I watched as aircraft loans and leaseback agreements were negotiated and secured. And much to my parents chagrin, I met an older woman who was working as a secretary at the FBO (yep, wearing one of those aforementioned miniskirts). You knew I was going to say I married her. She was learning to fly as well; and no Dustin, her name wasn’t Mrs. Robinson.MARCH 2011 ­TWIN & TURBINE • ­39