Darrin Jacobs

“Hi, Darrin! I’m going to be your new neighbor,” Doug Rand, a retiree from Boeing, told Jacobs. Not long after he relocated to his new home near Table Rock Lake, Rand contacted Jacobs and asked him if he’d like to go flying. The invitation wasn’t a surprise to Jacobs. However, it did raise memories he thought were long buried.

“I gave up flying, cold turkey, when I moved to Cassville in 1997 to help my dad run his Ford dealership,” Jacobs said. He put a lifetime of aviation behind him with that move.

While Jacobs was growing up in Alva, Oklahoma, his father, Les Jacobs, owned a Taylorcraft, and the pair spent much time in the air and in airports. Later, while attending college in Wichita, the younger Jacobs worked nights in an FBO until he was offered an apprenticeship as a mechanic.

“That’s where I fell in love with J–3 Cubs,” he said. “That plane has lots of sex appeal.” When Jacobs saw a J–3 available to rent, he was smitten. He wanted to learn to fly it.

“A friend gave me flight lessons, and I ended up checking out in that J–3, then picking up my tailwheel endorsement,” Jacobs said. “It was a dream come true.”

Afterward, he accepted a mechanic position with Air Plains Services, in Wellington, Kansas, which evolved into a sales position. While there, he sold engine conversions on Cessnas. Every engine upgrade required that the airplane be flown for four hours afterward to test its performance.

“I jumped from 50 hours to 2,500 flight hours in no time,” said Jacobs. “Then I moved to Cassville with my wife and two kids, who were young at the time. I opted to stay on the ground to raise them.”

However, Jacobs did agree to meet Doug Rand at nearby Table Rock Airport.

“Wouldn’t you know, he met me in a Cessna 172,” Jacobs said. “It’s the airplane I’d racked up most of my flight hours in at Air Plains Services. When I started to climb into the co-pilot’s seat, Doug told me, ‘No! You’re flying.’ I immediately protested and said, ‘It’s been too long!’”

“Doug wouldn’t take no for an answer, though,” Jacobs said. “I took off and we flew to the Cassville Airport. When I landed, that’s when the adrenaline got to me. It’s a feeling I hadn’t had in 20 years. I loved it!”

After flying touch-and-goes at the airport in Aurora, Missouri, Jacobs said he could barely contain his excitement.

“I looked at Doug, that day, and saw the devil,” Jacobs said. “He knew what he was doing when he took me up in a Cessna 172. He knew what would happen. Sure enough! I was ready to fly again. My kids were grown, and the time seemed right.”

Jacobs bought an American Champion 7EC taildragger that had long ago been converted from a 7FC “Tri-Champ.” Sporting an April green coat, Ethel (as he called the airplane, after a previous female owner) put a fresh spring in his step.

“She reminded me of the 7AC Aeronca Champ we flew for public events when I worked at Air Plains Services,” Jacobs said. “I loved that airplane.”

Jacobs loves Ethel, too. Aircraft and owner have logged some 200 hours of incomparable flight time together over the glittering lakes and stunning Ozark terrain of northern Arkansas and far southern Missouri.

Sheila Harris, a freelance writer, lives in southwest Missouri.