Pilots

At the age of 93, Edmund F. Ball is the fourth oldest active pilot in the United States and has just begun to slow down — evidenced only by the fact that his insurance company now requires that he fly with a copilot. A tall stance and sharp wit keep Ball above the average pilot, both physically and mentally. Ball is also a modest fellow — you'd never know that he was once the CEO of Ball Corporation — you know, the company that produced the home-canning jars that bear the same name. Today, the Ball Corporation is a $1.5 billion company involved in everything "from fruit jars to satellites." Meanwhile, Ball's other endeavor, Muncie Aviation Corporation, continues strongly as an FBO and Piper dealer located at the Delaware County-Johnson Field in Muncie, Indiana.

Ball's deeply rooted history in aviation may not really sink in until he relates a story of visiting Washington, D.C., and landing at the airport, which was located on the grounds where the Pentagon now stands. "A traffic light on U.S. Route 1 stopped traffic long enough to allow airplanes to take off," Ball recalls. He and cousin Frank E. Ball were in Washington to participate in the organization of agencies to sponsor legislation and protect the rights of private pilots and their airplanes; one of these organizations became AOPA, of which Ball, AOPA 003764, is a charter member.

Ball soloed on October 9, 1929, in an OX-5-powered Travel Air. His instructor, Harry White, was killed 11 days later while instructing a student in the same airplane. White's accident seriously threatened Ball's interest in learning to fly, but, as Ball puts it, "I was too hooked." On March 9, 1930, he was back in the cockpit again. By June 10, Ball received his private pilot certificate.

Muncie Aviation Corporation (MAC) was founded in April 1932 with Ball, his cousin Frank, and Clyde Shockley as major shareholders. Ball and his cousin had recently bought airplanes, both Waco Fs. Ball often used his Waco to visit glass plants in Oklahoma and Texas in support of his family's growing fruit jar business. Through the years MAC has sold various brands of aircraft and is now a well-known dealer and FBO.

Ball, like any pilot who lived through 1930s aviation, also has his share of war stories. He was quite conservative in airplanes, compared to his friend and business partner, Clyde Shockley, who would better be characterized as a barnstormer. Nonetheless, Ball has had his share of bad luck — namely in the form of forced landings. In 1933, Ball, already with seven forced landings under his belt, was flying his Waco F with a new 170-horsepower Jacobs radial, when the engine "swallowed a valve," resulting in a forced landing on a farm in Bunker Hill, Indiana. This farm eventually became a part of Grissom Air Force Base, leading Ball to proclaim to have made the first landing there. Since most of Ball's forced landings were in Jacobs-powered airplanes, he became known as "the Jacobs engine distributor," since he had done a good job of distributing Jacobs parts all over the country.

World War II sent Ball overseas, and he earned his military wings in Morocco in 1943. After the war, Ball rose to become the CEO of Ball Corporation and used general aviation airplanes extensively for business and pleasure. According to another son, Fred, his father's love of aviation and the size of Ball Corporation grew simultaneously. Utilizing GA airplanes, Ball was able to zip about the country, visiting factories and making business calls far more efficiently than could the airliners of the time.

In 1949, times were difficult for Ball both in business and at the personal level. After settling an excruciating labor dispute at the company, Ball and wife, Isabel, who were married in 1935, departed for Fort Myers, Florida, for a vacation. On a fishing trip the following day, a boat explosion fatally injured Isabel. Ball remarried in 1952 to Virginia Beall, an aspiring pilot and widow herself. They were married in Dallas and set off on their honeymoon in Ball's Beech Bonanza. The couple launched westward for a U.S. tour, a precursor to their upcoming lifestyle.

Since then, Ed and Virginia have managed to touch down in a GA airplane in all 50 states and several continents. Along the way, Virginia eventually became a multiengine and instrument-rated pilot herself. Whether flying for business, touring South Africa for fun, or participating in air races in Australia, the couple made general aviation an integral part of their life. Ball retired from Ball Corporation in 1970, allowing for still more traveling.

Ball wrote a two-volume book about his exploits, titled Rambling Recollections. In those volumes Ball relates several stories of his flying in and around various countries with his "copilot in command," Virginia. Rambling Recollections contains a rich history of aviation in Indiana and the pioneers who shaped it. In descriptions of hobnobbing with the likes of Walter Beech, Dwane Wallace, Roscoe Turner, Chuck Yeager, and several other well-knowns, Ball conveys his modesty through various dedications to those he and Virginia have met in their travels.

Ball is one of few who have seen aviation's humble beginnings, rapid growth, rapid downfalls, and promising outlook. Through it all Ball never lost his love of general aviation. He has flown everything from open-cockpit rag-winged trainers to sophisticated turboprops. Last October the couple arrived in Orlando, Florida, for AOPA Expo, flying a Piper Cheyenne II. For this modest and unselfish man, it was yet another trip to see what was new in his favorite industry and to catch up with some old friends.