February 2006 - American Bonanza Society

(gerefratw~ at P/(ilty f!KawhBY CHARLIE DAVIDSON, ABS DIRECTOR Kill DEVil HillS, NORTH CAROLINAJohn Miller draws a crowd of aviation enthusiasts at lhe airport.Some of the ASS members took a four of the locol Christmas lights.A large number of ASS members turned out 10 help John Miller celebrates his 1 DOth birthday at the Firstf light Society Ball In Kilty Hawk. North Carolina.At the ABS convention in Dallas there was some discussion concerning theupcoming IOOth birthday of our esteemed member, John Miller. Let's face it. howmany organizations have members who reach that milestone and are still activelycontributing monthly magazine articles and traveling great distances to porficipalein Society actIVities?ASS Presidenl Craig Boiley, John Miller and Kent Ewing ofter theircruise over the First Flight Monument in Kent's V3SB.Ihad not seen John since his serious automobile accident inFebruary 2003. I knew he had suffered through a longrecovery with several months in the hospital. But John,being the trooper he is, was enthusiastic about joining us at theABS convention to sign copies of his book.Jack Threadgill and I arrived at Dallas InternationalAirpon to pick up John. I was concerned that we might need awheelchair. No way. As I stood watching the gate, I spiedJohn's traditional khaki shin and bolo tie bounding up the tunnelfrom the airplane. He was passing those slow youngsters infront of him. I later found John gelling his legs in shape byclimbing the 12 flights of stairs to his room each day in the conventionhotel. This man will not slow down!John's December 15 binhday comes just two days beforethe anniversary ofthe first powered flight by the Wright brothers.We discussed the possibility of ABS joining the FirstFlight Society in a celebration of flight and the centennialcelebration of John Miller's binh. This all came together in agrand couple of days, December 16-17.Several ABS members contributed to making this eventhappen. In parricular, Scott Thomas, a Baron driver fromSaranac Lake, ew York, graciously flew John and his daughterTrish Taylor to the Outer Banks from their homes inPoughkeepsie, New York.On the night of the 16th. several ABS members had a parryfor John at the Black Pelican Restaurant in Kitty Hawk, NonhCarolina. It is in the original lifesaving building where theWrights sent their message to Dayton in 1903 that they had successfullycompleted their flight I It seemed appropriate that Johnshould be in a historic place with such a significant connection tohis life's work.Joining John's private binhday parry to kick off a busy 24hours for the centenarian were ABS President Craig Bailey andwife Connie; ABS board members and their wives, Bill andPhyllis Stovall and Charlie and Patti Davidson, ABS ExecutiveDirector Nancy Johnson, a Bonanza formation group andseveral others.The next moming brought mild temperatures and a highovercast, great flying weather for the annual First FlightSociety event. The f1yover opened with the Green Beret jumpteam landing on the grounds of the Wright Brothers NationalPark in front of a crowd of a thousand spectators gathered onKill Devil Hills and near the visitor pavilion.Shonly thereafter, at exactly 10:35 a.m. (the time theWright's launched their first flight ), a lone V-tai I Bonanzacruised over the monument at 1,000 feet. At the controls wereJohn Miller and Kent Ewing, Capt. USN/ret. They were inKent's V35B that is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. CraigBailey accompanied Kent and John, followed by a formationof one Baron and three Bonanzas.Page 9460 www.bononza.org ABS February 2006