The thrill of flying low and slow

Gerald “Jerry” Griggs of Goddard, Kansas, has been flying more than half a century, and though he’s flown high and fast, he still loves flying low and slow.

He learned to fly at 16 in 1967, and shortly thereafter, became a flight instructor. 

His professional flight path led him to fly in faraway places.

“I’ve flown in North Africa and Europe and the Middle East,” shares Jerry. “The first two years I was in Oman flying a Cessna 206 for mineral exploration. For five years I was living in Saudi Arabia and flew a King Air 200 and a Learjet 25 for the Lockheed Corporation (now Lockheed Martin).”

Killer K

Jerry soloed his first student when he was 18, and has kept his CFI current through the decades. Among the most memorable students he’s soloed were his daughter, Janice, and her best friend, Andrea, in October 2004.

“I soloed them in my 1937 Aeronca ‘Killer’ K when they were 16 — you wouldn’t do that if it was really a ‘Killer’ K! That’s just the nickname the Model K acquired years ago,” chuckles Jerry.

“You learn more about flying when you teach it,” he continues. “I learned more in my first 100 hours of dual given than my first 100 hours of dual received. That’s because you have to think more and then verbalize it so that the other person can understand. Sometimes you have to verbalize it two or three different ways to get the point across.”

The first Aeronca K Scout was introduced in 1937, powered by an Aeronca E-113C engine. Jerry’s K model is now powered by a Lycoming O-145B, and he’s owned N18869 for four decades and counting.

Jerry first became aware of this particular Aeronca K in 1969, when he was attending the Spartan College of Aeronautics & Technology in Tulsa as an A&P mechanic trainee. 

“A classmate at Spartan was a part owner and involved in the partial restoration of this K,” he recalls. “It was then located in a garage in Chanute, Kansas. We made a weekend trip from Tulsa to Chanute to look at it in late 1969.  The fuselage was being recovered and a 65-hp Lycoming engine was being adapted for it.”

“By 1974, the plane was flying and I made another special trip to Chanute (from Houston, Texas this time) to fly it,” he continues. “The K is delightful to fly and in some ways the opposite of a J-3 with a heavy rudder and light ailerons. It performs about like a 65 hp J-3. The stall is not as docile, though. With the Clark Y airfoil, the stall gives a clean, quick break with little warning. The ailerons are totally ineffective during the stall and will enter a spin if the pilot uses excessive aileron without rudder during the stall. I suppose that is where it gained the nickname ‘Killer K.'”

“I bought the airplane in 1980 knowing it needed work,” he continues. “I built all new wing ribs for it and covered both wings, ailerons, and tail surfaces, and had it back in the air in 1984, shortly after I returned from Saudi Arabia. I flew it actively for about 700 hours, but it is currently parked and waiting for new fuselage fabric.”

Back in 2003, Jerry enlisted N18869 to help brighten up his lawn at Christmastime. Since he lives on a residential grass runway, he pulled his Aeronca K out of the hangar and tied it down in his front yard. Then he decorated both the yard and the Aeronca K, including lights for the airplane and even a circular lighted frame to create the illusion of a whirling propeller. Mother Nature applied the finishing touches to the scene with a crystalline snowfall.

His first airplane

Jerry obviously has a soft spot in his heart for tube-and-fabric vintage flying machines. The first airplane he ever owned was a 1940 J-5 (N26953).

“I bought it in 1972 when I was 21, but couldn’t afford it and had to sell it after about a year,” recalls Jerry. “It’s down in Houston, Texas, now and owned by Brooke Tribley. She bought it to learn to fly in it and learn tailwheel, and named it Beatrice. It’s serial number 5-9, and is the oldest J-5 Cub still flying. As a designated pilot examiner (DPE), I was able to travel to Texas in 2018, with blessings from the Wichita FAA FSDO office, to conduct her private pilot checkride in that J-5. The flight test was at Navasota, and I was pleased to award Brooke her private pilot certificate.”

For Jerry, the day turned into quite a memorable occasion — not only because of his own personal recollections of his former J-5, but also because he was able to see one of his treasured mentors.

He wrote a description of the day: “Unlike other flight tests I’ve done, this one unleashed a flood of distant, pleasant memories of the days when I owned Beatrice, using her to build hours towards my ATP. The memories include taking a trip in Beatrice immediately upon college graduation. It was about a week-long trip with a sleeping bag and a few other things thrown in the back seat and I was off. The highlight of that trip was in Salina, Kansas, getting to fly Chuck Lemaster’s Boeing 247D while there. That very plane is now in a museum in England, but it was a thrill to have flown a Boeing 247 from the copilot seat. I returned from that trip to my flight instructor/mechanic job in Shawnee, Oklahoma, with about $4 in my pocket and half a tank of fuel left in the Cub. I knew when to quit and head home! Of course I also had memories of hopping passengers and relatives in Beatrice, giving tailwheel checkouts to the previous owners, and fabric recovering of the airplane one summer.”

“My old aviation mentor, Hank Henry, came out to Navasota to witness Brooke getting her private pilot certificate. He was 93 years old at the time, and was driving in Houston traffic daily and still managing a flight school in West Houston. Hank passed away about a year and a half ago. He was an awesome guy and my aviation mentor since 1967. He taught me eights on pylons and other maneuvers needed to earn my CFI in 1969. I worked for him as a flight instructor and later we flew Cessna Citations together. He mentored hundreds in aviation over the years, especially young kids. He flew B-24s during World War II and successfully crash landed a B-24 in Allied-held Belgium after being shot up over Germany. I left Navasota glad that I did this flight test and happy that Beatrice is in good hands, happily doing what Cubs do best, teaching stick and rudder flying skills to pilots.” 

The Second Piper J-5

While Jerry was enjoying his J-5 flight down memory lane in Texas, he decided that he ought to get another J-5 to fly in his retirement. So he bought N28050, a 1940 J-5A (s/n 5-88), about three years ago, and has logged around 100 hours on it.

The Piper J-5 Cruiser model first flew in the summer of 1939, and around 1,500 were produced from 1940 to 1946. The three-place J-5 was powered by a 75-hp Continental instead of the A-65-8 that powered J-3 Cubs. Several versions of the J-5 were produced during World War II. The Navy used the military version as an ambulance and another version, the L-14 , was dubbed the “Army Cruiser.” 

Jerry has flown to the Antique Airfield Association/Air Power Museum annual fly-in in Blakesburg, Iowa, about eight times, most recently in his J-5. From his home base of Lake Waltanna Airport (SN65) west of Wichita, he flew about three hours on the first leg, stopped for fuel, and completed the flight in two more hours. Once on the field at the 2020 fly-in, he set about pitching his tent and relaxing under the wing.

“I enjoy the scenery while I’m flying low and slow, and watching the farmhouses go by,” he says. “If you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t do it.”

“The J-5 is roomy. The J-3 is a little more sprightly, but the J-5 has room for two 21st century adults — how else do you say it?” he laughs. “I don’t have any plans to sell it. Nothing’s forever, but as long as I keep flying around in old airplanes, I’ll keep this one.”