Why We Fly

Promoting aviation comes naturally

Since the dawn of man's consciousness he has envied birds in their flight, and wished for freedom from Earth's gravity. John Ward of Cushing, Oklahoma, has not only realized his dream of flight, but also brought harmony together with his feathered friends, his community, and his airport.

Ward was introduced to aviation as a young boy. It happened that a pilot had an unfortunate landing close to Ward's home. The small two-place airplane finished its landing upside-down on a grassy knoll. After the airplane was righted and the uninjured pilot rescued, Ward and his younger sister were thrilled to find all the coins that had apparently fallen out of the pilot's pockets while he was upside-down in the airplane. "We thought we were millionaires," Ward laughed. Every day after school for more than a month, the two siblings would go down and play in the airplane. John and his sister pretended they were fighter pilots, and flew imaginary flights around the world. "It broke my heart when they took that airplane away," Ward recalled. "Ever since that event I wanted to have a plane."

Ward learned to fly in 1971 and purchased his first airplane, a Luscombe 8E, in 1977. He sold it after a year when the cost of fuel reached 78 cents a gallon. However, it didn't take long for the flying bug to bite again.

In 1980 Ward decided to move from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to a more rural community. He chose Cushing for one main reason: Cushing Municipal Airport. With paved and turf runways, a terminal building, hangar space, and a very friendly welcome from the existing airport family, Ward had found his new home. Over the years, he has owned a number of airplanes; his hangar at Cushing now shelters a Piper Cherokee 180, a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, and a Kelly-D (amateur-built experimental) biplane.

Ward loves to be involved with anything that promotes aviation and his airport. His hangar neighbor is a skydiving operation, and he noticed that the kids and family were always out on the flight line while parents or friends were skydiving. To promote safety and friendship, and with the help of two buddies, Ward built a picnic and playground area for airport visitors to safely watch the action.

Wanting to do more, Ward, Bill Wells, and Dave LeBow formed the Cushing Support Wing Association, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Known as the Cushing Airport Support Wing (CASW), the organization promotes airport business and other aviation-related projects that are not government funded. CASW has provided a courtesy car for the airport, helped a local business, donated time and aircraft to charity flights, paid to bring a North American B-25 Mitchell to a Memorial Day celebration, and promoted several airport events.

A member of the Cushing Chamber of Commerce, Ward felt it was important to put something in the chamber welcome basket that "really said we welcome you to Cushing." He builds beautiful birdhouses (bird feeders in winter) to be given as a gift to new residents from their Cushing Airport family. Each is adorned with a sign that reads, "For Our Flying Friends From: Cushing's Airport Support Wing." On the roof there is another small sign, "Proud to NEST in Cushing!"

Why does Ward fly? "I love to fly, I love the freedom, I love to share, I love to give rides...I love to give rides! I recently gave a ride in my biplane to a lady on her eighty-ninth birthday," he said. "Her family and friends are wondering what she's going to do on her ninetieth birthday!"

Mimi Stauffer is a co-owner of Golden Age Aviation, Inc., publisher of The Oklahoma Aviator. She enjoys flying with her husband and is helping him to build a Zenith Zodiac sport plane. She's looking forward to learning to fly it.