I Learned About Flying From That: The Flight I Will Never Forget

Dick Russ

Saturday, February 04, 2012 at 12:03 AM ET

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** To see more of Barry Ross' aviation art, go to
barryrossart.com.**

Key Takeaways:

The author, a young pilot, experienced a challenging cross-country trip in 1964, first having to leave a borrowed TriPacer due to bad weather, and later crash-landing his own Taylorcraft on a mountain after running out of fuel.
Following his crash, he was rescued and received extraordinary and unexpected assistance from wealthy businessman Robert McCulloch, who provided a team, tools, and fuel to help him repair and fly his plane off the mountain.
McCulloch's generosity extended to arranging for the pilot's luxury transport home via his private Lockheed Constellation and later ensuring the Taylorcraft was fully repaired and fueled at no charge for its eventual retrieval.

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(February 2012) This story is not only about an aviation experience, but it is also about a man who went out of his way to help a young pilot he didn’t even know. It is also a story about meeting some really great people in this country.

It all happened back in 1964 when I was living in Simi Valley, California, where I was a test engineer working on the Saturn S-II project at Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana rocket test facility in the Santa Susana Mountains. My wife (now ex) and two children were on the return portion of a cross-country trip in a TriPacer I had borrowed. We were heading home from Wiley Post Airport (KPWA) after attending my sister-in-law’s wedding in Oklahoma City.