February 2007 - American Bonanza Society

BY DAN MAYWORMLIBERTYVILLE, ILLINOISIn his early teens, our # I son was thetypical airpOll bum. He spent everymoment he could spare riding hisbike to the local airport, bumming ridesby washing airplanes and just beinghelpful around the airport. aturally hekept bugging me to learn to lly and getan airplane.About that time, my company createdplastic packaging products that wereideal for the presterilized single-usemedical market that was just starting toemerge. Much of the manufacturing wasdone in small towns around the countrywhere there was plenty of low-cost labor.This required a lot of travel. A typical tripto one of our customers in centralMissouri would include getting toChicago O'Hare Airport an hour beforellight time, an hour flight to SI. Louis anda two-hour drive - all told about 4-112 to5 hours, plus an overnight stay.An Angel Flight two-for-one flying a little girl from her Chicago doclo(s appointment back home 10Pennsylvania, and a young boy from Peoria 10 his monthly heart checkup in Cleveland, Ohio.As was typical of most of theplaces I had to go, there was an airportright across the street from the plant Iwas visiting. So with my son 's urgings itdidn 't take long to realize that personalllying could make my time much moreproductive. He told me about a wintertimedeal at Sky Harbor airport (OBK,closed in 1973) that guaranteed a privatelicense for $500 as long as I llewMonday through Friday and ovemberthrough March.In December 1964 I llew every dayElias' (far left) medical condition prevented him trom flying on airliners, so an Angel Flight flew him from hishome north of Minneapolis to Cincinnati. Holding Elias is his grandmother. his mother is in the middle andDan Mayworm is at right.for two weeks, soloed with 10 hours,and got my private certificate in 40hours. In April of '66 I leased a P35from a friend who had lost hi s medicaland earned my instrument ticket in Juneof that year in the Bonanza.When my friend got his medicalback, the company bought me an A55that I new for about 15 years. As thecompany grew, my need for traveldecreased dramaticall y, so we sold theBaron and I bought an F33A with apartner and then another on my own,I sold the company in 1981, starteda new medical journal publishing companyand bought a Cessna 340 for travelingextensively from coast to coast.After another 14 years, I sold the publishing company and the 340-andretired. (My son now llies a Citation XforetJ ets.)I went back to my love of Beechproducts and in 1995 bought a brandnewA36, the only new airplane 1 haveever owned. So now I had a great travelingmachine-and no place to go. Wevisited friends and famil y all over thecountry as much as we could andbought a lot of $100 hamburgers.The need to put purpose into myllying again came at an ABSPage 10076www,bonanza.orgABS February 2007