Californian Dan Shumaker and Texan Ron Cain struck up a conversation at the 1972 Reno Air Races, not over airplanes, but cameras. They each had the same model Pentax in their possession.
The fact they both also had a thing for airplanes became the start of a 50 year, and counting, friendship.
Two years later, in 1974, Dan flew his Mooney Mite from California to Florida to visit his parents. Along the way he stopped in at Ron’s grass runway in Flower Mound, Texas.
While there Ron flew Dan’s Mite. Nearby was Ron’s months old son Jeff. Ron’s daughter, Lisa, would follow along a few years later.
Fifty Years Later
After roughly five decades of ownership, Ron convinced Dan to donate the Mite to the Ranger Airfield Foundation. After trailering the Mite from California to Ranger, Texas, it was reassembled and inspected.
Next up, according to foundation founder Jared Calvert, was to get Ron’s kids to fly the Mite.
Jeff Cain is an Air Force Academy gradate with 3,000-plus hours in F-16s. Today he’s a Southwest Airlines pilot. Lisa Burt started as a flight attendant for Southwest before moving into the cockpit as a pilot.
According to Jared: “Flying the Mite is a simple 4-item checkout: ENSURE gear is LOCKED! Land with full nose-up trim, which also provides 16° flap. Fly the pattern at 80. And ‘It’s very pitch sensitive, so don’t drag the tail!’”
With that, 50 years after their Dad first flew Dan’s Mite, both Jeff and Lisa have added their name to the Mite’s pilot list. What a cool connection.
Old School Fly-In & Airshow No. 17
Dan made it to the Ranger fly-in for the first time in 2024. He got to see his friend Ron fly his Chipmunk and Jeff fly his Bücker in the air show. All the while his little Mite zipped around over the airport.
Eight Ranger Airfield volunteers have now flown the Mite and all landed with a big smile on their face.
Just imagine, if they hadn’t had the same camera, none of this may have ever happened.
Our flight school, Elmo Aero at Lake Elmo, MN used to rent a Mooney Mite to private pilots to build retractable time so they could rent the Bellanca and Cessna 210 airplanes. We did a ground checkout so they could learn how to use the Beech Roby controllable prop and put the Mite on jacks to learn the gear retraction system. It was on our flight line for 6 years with no gear up landings and no accidents. I flew it a fair amount. Great airplane, low cost to operate.
This is so great! I would love to talk to Ron, I’m a Flower Mound journalist who has been curious about that air strip for years as things have developed around it, any chance you can help me get in touch with him? Thanks!