Encounters With Arrogant Celebrity Pilots

[Alchemy]

Conversely, I flew Lance Armstrong on a charter a few years ago . . . I thought he was an arrogant jerk completely lacking in people skills. When I told him that the itinerary he was proposing would have to modified to conform to Part 135 crew rest requirements he acted very put out that the regs would apply to HIM, too. I was very happy when that trip was over

I've gotta stand up for lance here....he used to be a semi-regular at an FBO I worked at so I procured a 4 foot poster of him in the yellow jersey and stashed it at work in case he showed up. Next time he flew in I took it (along with a sharpee) out to his challenger while I was refueling it and asked him to sign it. He said "sure, anytime" and signed it cheerfully. Maybe I caught him at a good time, but Lance is a-okay in my book, and a good tipper.

Don't get me started on Tommy Lee Jones. Completely rude, asks the world of the line service people and doesn't tip a nickle. I'll take Lance or Miss Bullock any day of the week. Sandra is extremely nice and down to earth for a celeb.

 

[JimG]

I share a hangar with Treet Williams.

Very nice guy who loves airplanes and will talk with anyone about them. He keeps a Waco, and a Seneca in with mine, but is selling them to buy a Navajo.

 

[avbug]

He had just read a conspiracy book about all the alleged guns and drug running at the Mena, Ar.

Alleged? Nothing alleged about it. Marana, too.

 

[lawfly]

Re: Harrison Ford. Never met him, but I believe he got his multi rating about a year ago--around Dec, 2004. Was the Flagstaff story before that? Could the lineman have been mistaken or whatever? Not that I am saying the posted account is inaccurate, but I do know he was doing multi training about a year ago, for his initial multi rating, as far as I know (at a well known flight school). I was unable to meet with one of the instructors there at the time--their most senior MEI--because he was "up flying with Harrison Ford for his multi rating."
Any aviation-related encounters with Angelina Jolie? I was in a restaurant about a year and a half ago when she walked in. She actually waited at the hostess stand to be seated, like anyone else. Not a lot of makeup (looked fine) and with her son at her side. And I encountered a certain Academy Award winning actress in the supermarket a couple of times, about six years ago, before she won the statue. She smiled and said "Hi". But I digress from the aviation context...those two encounters still affect me! Interesting stories in this thread.

 

[BigPhil]

Arthur Godfrey and Bob Cummings

You'll have to be a geezer to remember, but there wasn't a bigger tv star in the 40s and 50s than Arthur Godfrey. He was type rated in almost anything that flew. He was given a tricked out DC-3 by Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker and once got his ticket yanked with it by buzzing the Teterboro tower. Another big star from that era was Bob Cummings. He was taught to fly by his godfather, Orville Wright. He flew in WW2 and throughout his life . I can't confirm it but I recall hearing that Bob owned one of the few flying cars ever built. (Info from the internet movie data base,imdb).........Paul Harvey flew a Lear for many years and is a good friend of the EAA having spoken many times at Oshkosh.........James Arness owned a twin of some sort and commuted weekly to the "Gunsmoke" set in it..........Of course Jimmy Stewart was a WW2 bomber pilot, but I never heard of him flying privately.........Ed McMahon was a marine fighter pilot in WW2.......Sam Walton bought an old Ercoupe in the early 60s for under $2,000 and learned to fly. His brother Bud was a WW2 fighter pilot and for years wouldn't ride with Sam in an airplane or even a car. Sam was always preoccupied with the next business deal to pay close attention to flying. Sam later owned a Tripacer and for years flew a Navaho.

 

[John2375]

Elton John?

anyone ever fly or meet Elton John?
I know he commutes to all of his shows from his home in Atlanta and flies out of Peachtree/DeKalb airport

 

[erj-145mech]

. Sam later owned a Tripacer and for years flew a Navaho.

When Wal Mart opened its first store in Conroe, TX, Sam came down to sign the lease on the building (old Woolworth store), he was flying a Cessna 402. He came in the FBO wearing his bib overalls and had the cuff tucked into his boot.

 

[TankerPuke]

I have run in to Danny Zucko (Travolta) a couple of times. The first time was as a kid in Jackson Hole, Wy. I was about 8 and checking out a Citation on the ramp with my dad. Up walks Travolta (he was flying the Citation, not sure if it was his) and proceeds to give us the grand tour. I sat in the cockpit while he and my dad chatted it up. It was one of those times we all remember as kids when flying was everything, just like the first time a crew let you up front to check out the cockpit. He told me to watch his takeoff and after liftoff he rocked his wings to say goodbye. To this day it is one of my favorite memories...

PUKE

 

[BigPhil]

Christopher Reeves

Christopher Reeves once made a movie called "The Aviator" (not to be confused with recent pic about Howard Hughes) There's a crash scene in which an oil line breaks and he dead sticks a biplane into the woods. His reactions and movements were so realistic I can remember thinking: "this guy is a real pilot"; not knowing it at the time....He seemed to be a neat guy, taken way too soon.....

 

[BigPhil]

When Wal Mart opened its first store in Conroe, TX, Sam came down to sign the lease on the building (old Woolworth store), he was flying a Cessna 402. He came in the FBO wearing his bib overalls and had the cuff tucked into his boot.

Back in the eighties I built and installed the storefront signs on the first 55 Sam's Wholesale Club Stores. Sam had quit attending all the Wal-Mart grand openings by then because they were so numerous, but at that time made it to all of the Sam's openings. I saw him many times at these openings. He was a charismatic guy, but very friendly and approachable. I know at that time the Wal-Mart executives would stay in Motel 6s or Regal 8s and double up on the rooms. They would eat lunch at the Waffle House,etc. Sam didn't blow money. I know ever since those days when I encounter a "hundred-dollar-millionaire" I always think: "I met the biggest guy of all, and he wasn't a jerk like you"............Sam always credited the airplane for Wal-Mart's early success. The two lane curvy roads in the Arkansas and Missouri Ozarks were slow to navigate, and flying made his day much more productive. According to his book they were riding in the Tripacer one day when they came up with the name " Wal-Mart"

 

[avbug]

Navajo. Navajo. Navajo.

Navaho is a woman of ill moral repute who experiences difficulty finding her way from one place to another.

 

[kaj837]

I just remembered a story my brother told me from his Airforce days. He flew C-141's and Lear 35's (whatever the military calls a Lear 35). A Lear crew picked up Sen. Barry Goldwater at some military base once. The crew was ready to go and they noticed the senator doing a " walkaround" on the plane. They remembered he had been a ww2 pilot and thought maybe he was just sort of "preflighting " the airplane. When he got out to the wingtip he started taking a leak on the ramp in broad daylight in front of God and everybody.When he was climbing in the plane the crew rather sheepishly reminded the senator that the Lear was equipped with a head. Goldwater replied," Son, I don't get on my knees and piss in front of anyone!!"

Pretty sure that the Senator was a Major General in the Air Force Reserve for at least part of the time he was in the Senate

 

[BigPhil]

Navajo. Navajo. Navajo.

Navaho is a woman of ill moral repute who experiences difficulty finding her way from one place to another.

Navajo, Navajo, Navajo....got it. I thought that didn't look right after I pushed the button. I wonder if the p-c police are after Piper the way they are the colleges with the Indian..er..Native American teams? The feds might ground all the Apaches.....

 

[JimG]

Pretty sure that the Senator was a Major General in the Air Force Reserve for at least part of the time he was in the Senate

Barry Goldwater flew (or flew in) every military plane in the US arsenal at one time or another during his Senate career.

Pays to be a ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

Interestingly enough though, he had this little short lady (who didn't weigh more than 100 lbs.) fly him in a Travelair whenever he traveled around the state.

 

[PacoPollo]

[quote

Conversely, I flew Lance Armstrong on a charter a few years ago . . . I thought he was an arrogant jerk completely lacking in people skills. .[/quote]

I would too If i only had 1 nad...