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
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Key Takeaways:

A young pilot's challenging 1964 cross-country trip escalated with bad weather, leading to a borrowed plane being left behind and his own Taylorcraft crash-landing on a mountain due to fuel exhaustion.
The pilot received remarkable and unexpected assistance from Robert McCulloch, a prominent developer, who mobilized a full team to rescue him, repair his aircraft, and help him fly it off the mountain.
McCulloch extended his generosity by flying the pilot home in his private Lockheed Constellation and later having the Taylorcraft fully repaired and fueled for the pilot's return trip, all at no charge.

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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.