Pilots

General aviation has been important to the success of Joseph G. (Joe) Fabick, and now the Milwaukee businessman is using general aviation to make a difference in the lives of others.

With a single World War II-surplus airplane, Fabick, now 67, and his brothers entered the aviation business in St. Louis during late 1945. "We started with an old Bamboo Bomber — the Cessna UC- 78," Fabick recalled. Their second airplane, a brand-new Beech 18, came straight from the factory in 1946. The company then bought two military-surplus Fairchild trainers for employees who wanted to learn how to fly. "I learned to fly in a PT-19," said Fabick, who received his pilot certificate in March 1946. "I've been flying steadily ever since then."

From 1946 through 1951, he and his brothers owned Beech airplane and Bell helicopter dealerships in St. Louis. In 1947, at age 19, Fabick obtained his helicopter rating at Bell's old headquarters on the Niagara Falls, New York, airport. "I was the youngest helicopter pilot in the world for a number of years," said Fabick, who logged more than 3,000 helicopter hours on mapping and oil exploration missions in Colorado and Alaska.

Two of Fabick's three brothers — and one of his three sisters — were pilots, a tradition which continues. Fabick's five sons are all pilots, as are two of his three daughters — one flies fixed-wing aircraft; the other, hot air balloons. "We're an aviation family — everybody flies," he observed. "It wasn't designed that way, but the kids took a notion to flying because we'd fly everywhere we went. We celebrated 50 years of flying in the family last year with a big party in St. Louis."

Aviation wasn't the Fabicks' livelihood, however. The family business is much more down to earth. A dealer for Caterpillar construction equipment in St. Louis since 1921, Fabicks' company became heavily involved in pipeline construction during the mid- 1930s. The firm was involved in the construction of the Trans- Alaskan Pipeline, providing and servicing equipment and training operators. Then the company constructed a 48-inch gas pipeline from Tabasco in southern Mexico to Brownsville, Texas. "Until I moved up here, I was involved in every major pipeline project in the world," said Fabick, who worked on projects as far away as Turkey and the Alps.

Fabick left the family business in St. Louis more than 12 years ago, moving to Milwaukee to start a heavy equipment dealership of his own, selling Caterpillars in Wisconsin and upper Michigan. He has continued to fly, logging some 18,000 hours and supervising a corporate fleet that includes a Beech Twin Bonanza, two Excalibur Queenaires (Beech Queen Airs modified with 400-horsepower Lycoming IO-720s), and a Rockwell Model 60 Sabreliner. He is current in all three types, flying about 250 hours per year.

But Fabick would rather talk about Cessna 206s and Wings of Hope. In 1962, along with Bill Edwards, George Haddaway, and Paul Rogers, Fabick founded the non-denominational humanitarian organization in response to a request from the Rev. Joseph B. Houlihan. The Catholic bishop, who had been working in Africa for 30 years, was visiting St. Louis and mentioned at a social gathering the need for a sturdier airplane. Two airline pilots had provided a Piper Super Cub — and a nun was trained to fly it, transporting a doctor around to nomadic tribes in the Turkana Desert. But at night, hyenas, attracted by the smell of glue and dope, would bite chunks off the machine. "The bishop said that he needed an all-metal airplane," Fabick recalled. A collection was taken, and a brand-new Cessna 206 was sent to Africa. "That's how it started — with just one airplane."

Since then, Wings of Hope has sent more than 100 aircraft abroad and helped with engines or avionics for dozens of others. Friends of Fabick confide that some of the organization's early projects were financed from Fabick's own pocket.

Today, two full-time employees coordinate volunteer efforts from a hangar in St. Louis. Retired aerospace workers provide manpower and expertise to refurbish donated aircraft. "If we can't use the donated aircraft in our service, we turn it into cash and buy what we need," Fabick explained. "The Cessna 206 is a favorite for its versatility. It makes an excellent bush aircraft. We have 206s on wheels, on floats, and on skis."

Despite his accomplishments, new challenges await. Last year, a United Nations organization, the World Council of Peoples, asked Fabick to help to launch a similar operation. "Unlike the U.N., the World Council of Peoples is non-political, non-governmental, and humanitarian," he explained. "I'm just getting started on that. They've never had an aviation or air assistance arm." The first efforts will be sending Cessna 206-type aircraft to South Africa and Guatemala.

Why does Fabick devote so much time to aviation-based philanthropy? "I could not begin to achieve the things that I have accomplished without being able to fly — without being able to get around," he said.

For more information on Wings of Hope, write the organization at 18590 Edison Avenue, Chesterfield, Missouri 63005; or telephone 314/537-1302.