“Everyone Who Wants To Do Something New Is Here"
by ANN Correspondent Aleta Vinas
If you’ve gone through flight training, John and Martha
King have probably been beside you -- in their DVD/video courses
helping you through those rough spots and explaining things step by
step. The Kings are uniquely qualified to teach aviation. The
two hold every FAA category and class rating on their pilot and
instructor certificates.
The King courses started over 30 years ago from a spare bedroom.
Today San Diego (CA) houses the complex which boasts a television
and software production facility.
Beside the starring role in their own videos, the Kings have
appeared on the Microsoft Flight Simulator program. They appear in
the Getting Started Wizard, providing instructions.
The National Air Transportation
Association honored John King in 2004 with the Excellence in Pilot
Training Award. The Kings have been married 42 years and they have
been attending Oshkosh for 32 of those years.
“Oshkosh is the place people come to to announce a new
product, to show something brand new,” John mentions the
recent Cessna entry into the LSA market and the couple of year old
VLJ market. “All of these things that have hope of completely
changing the industry are announced here.”
“Everyone who wants to do something new is here,”
John recalls. “Many years ago Tony Fox was introducing the
Fox Jet. It never materialized but it was a precursor of
today’s VLJ’s.” Oshkosh is the place to go to
garner support.
“Oshkosh and AirVenture are known all over the world as
the place to be. This is the place to have things happen," states
John.
“I had just finished a novel that involved a German
reconnaissance plane called a Storch.” As John walked around
the AirVenture grounds he noticed a Storch, “Wait, no,
there’s five of them” He realized. “The
excitement of seeing so many different kinds of airplanes that
you’ve read about or dreamed about, they’re
here.”
"[S]eeing the B-1 Bomber up against the Concorde nose to nose,
about 10
years ago," was another special sight for John.
John recalled around 2001 “We were the pilots with the
Fuji Film blimp, we carried passengers and flew it for the whole
time. That was an exciting period for us.”
John mentions “Harrison Ford who has made a tremendous
contribution by being willing to use his personality to promote
general aviation and that’s exciting. Another contributor is
Cliff Robertson who’s worked hard to promote general
aviation.”
Both Kings agree that flying Young Eagles in their airplanes
“is special for them and for us.” John says,
“It’s hard to figure out who gets the better end of the
deal.” John adds “When you fly a Young Eagle at
Oshkosh, you know that that person will remember it for the rest of
their lives. What a thrill to do something for somebody that you
know they’re going to remember for the rest of their
lives.”
(Tomorrow, Martha King shares her memories of
Oshkosh)