02-13
After five to six months of planning a special edition of Piper Flyer with its ever-so-cool genealogy pullout chart, Jen and I were on a plane to corporate headquarters of the world famous Piper Aircraft to celebrate the company’s 75th anniversary.
Smooth flying set the stage. Landing at Orlando International (KMCO) we were welcomed by a cool, brisk wind—comforting after a four-hour flight from the West Coast. Forty-five minutes later we arrived to beautiful accommodations at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. (Thanks, Piper Aircraft.)
On the Piper grounds
We’re not strangers to the Piper facility. Years back, we were in Vero Beach after Hurricane Frances hit and caused substantial damage to a few of Piper Aircraft’s manufacturing buildings.
Today the grounds look beautiful and the hangars are outfitted with the latest hurricane brace technology, as pointed out by Simon Caldecott—the CEO of Piper himself!—as we looked at the ceiling in admiration. Caldecott, we discovered, has time for everybody and is phenomenal with names. He is very approachable.
This first-class, two-day event started with familiar faces and friends setting up booths at the perimeter of this gorgeous building. Jacqueline Carlon, Elizabeth Groom and Alba Walcott from Piper’s marketing department were at hand to help and assist those with questions.
As usual, I started setting up my booth… only to get sidetracked talking to Vern Rodgers of Parker-Hannifin, and Mark Seaver at the Vantage Plane Plastics booth. Feeling guilty, I hustled back to help Jen finish the task at hand.
The big day
The next morning we arrived and were ferried from the parking lot to the events hangar by golf carts sponsored by Hartzell. After a delicious catered breakfast provided by Piper, I was happy and ready to go.
All around us, friends of Piper past and present filled the huge hangar. Folks were gathering in the main building to visit Piper’s supporters and see the wares.
Factory tours took place throughout the day—and the factory, I must say, is a sight to see. The WOW factor when watching an aircraft being assembled by the hands of skilled technicians is like watching the fabrication of a personalized Rolls-Royce made to your specs, with your color combinations. Talk about engineering!
I wandered out to the field to take a few photos of the planes and found myself in a sea of Cub Yellow neatly tied down. There were other Piper models there, too—and even an errant “C” type or two. I felt like a professional photographer trying out cool angles and shots. I am by no means a photographer, but I did have fun.
Time to go eat again. Don’t get me wrong, I was not there to eat all day, but I just couldn’t resist. (Did I mention the food was great?) After lunch, I found myself waiting and waiting for Simon to cut the cake so I could dive into it. Many raffle drawings later, it was time for dessert.
Looking forward
I guess celebrating a milestone such as this, we can either get lost in a deep one-on-one conversation or look at the big picture and just enjoy everybody around us. Throughout Piper’s 75th anniversary celebration and fly-in, Jennifer and I found ourselves doing both of these things.
After seeing the past and present generations of aircraft, I can’t help but wonder what the future Pipers might look like. I don’t know, but I can rest assured with Simon Caldecott at the helm and with his team, Piper’s vision will be fulfilled.
A round of applause must be given to those of the Piper team that spent their weekend with us, from the gentleman at the parking gate to top brass. We thank you for all your hard work and look forward to your next landmark celebration.
Kent Dellenbusch is vice president of the Piper Flyer Association and director of sales for Piper Flyer. Send questions or comments to editor@www.piperflyer.com.
