My first plane ride

The world has gotten a lot smaller these days but back in the Osage when I was about 17 I enjoyed my first plane ride thanks to Paul Jones, father of David, Debbie, and Paula and husband to Billy.  Paul was one of those guys when you are young you think he hung the moon.  I was always amazed at the things he did.  For instance, he had this small Ford Bronco (I think it was a bronco) that he put a huge engine in just to see how fast it would go.  The story that I cannot confirm is he was on his way to Pawhuska and a HIPO stopped him for speeding.  Paul, being the friendly guy he was, talked him out of getting a ticket and in fact talked him into clocking his vehicle to see how fast it would go.  The story was that Paul passed him going over 140 miles per hour.  Now where else could you get such great service from the Highway Patrol than in the Osage?  Anyway the other thing was that Paul raised greyhound dogs, lots of them, for coyote hunting.  This was a great sport in Grainola as there were lots of coyotes, too many, and in fact there were so many that the government paid you $4 for a pair of coyote ears as bounty just to get rid of them.  Personally I loved sitting on the porch at night and listening at the coyotes calling back and forth and then watching them run across the grass lands to find each other.  But now Paul took coyote hunting as a serious sport and in fact he flew his airplane watching the dogs and looking for coyotes.  It really was a dangerous sport but Paul could do about anything with that plane.  I remember him landing in downtown Grainola on Highway 18 and I heard but never saw him fly his plane underneath the high line wires or telephone line.

Paul Jones

Another great thing about Paul was that he was a kidder.  That means he dished out a lot of ribbing or remarks to be ornery.  He told me many times he was going to take me up in his airplane but I was required to carry a bucket so I would not mess up his plane when I threw up.  That means blowing chunks or tossing up my lunch or whatever you need to get the picture.  Well I always tried to get him back by making jokes about all the hair he did not have.  Finally one day during the end of the summer we were working over by Copan hauling hay for the Mulendore Family (read the book about the Cross Bell Murders or Mullendore Murder Case) and I had worked to the last day possible before football practice started.  Paul was going to fly me home for football my junior year in high school.  Well Paul was really looking forward to getting me shook up.  He tried everything before we got in the plane but after we got in the plane was amazing for my first ride.

Paul cranked up the engine (prop job) and I would bet you he did not go 100 yards and he started going straight up.  He delighted in watching me get scared.  With all the blood in the back of my head he started to level out the plane and then he turned it hard to one side then to the next so that I thought we were going to go upside down.  He scared the crap out of me but this is not the worst.  Next he turned off the engine, yes turned it off and the prop stood still.  He explained how you could glide along for a while.  But then he said,".. and the way to start it back up is to turn the switch and DIVE", yes DIVE.  This time the blood was gone from my body and my eyes were in the back of my head and the ground was getting closer FAST.  Of course he pulled it out and leveled the plane and we flew on into home.  It was an amazing ride, especially for my FIRST ride in an airplane and I never missplaced my breakfast or lunch or whatever I had eaten.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Don't make fun of the pilots bald head!
• Memories make a wonderful life, not a lot of money
• Sometimes we need to get outside of our box and take on a little adventure
• I wish everyone could experience the joy of living in the Osage

Now part of why I told this story today is that Paula Jones, Paul's daughter, is going to write some stories and publish them here with me.  So please look forward to hearing from Paula.  

And by the way who is from Sweden that is following this blog everyday?  Write a letter and let me know your connection to the pioneer man, the Osage or if you just like the stories.  In fact I would love to hear from anyone about your connection and what are your favorites.

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com