Capt. Gene McClure (Spirit)
Thanks, Mom & Dad
I don’t recall my first flight on June 22, 1957, with my mom in my parents’ Tri-Pacer. I was just a little more than eight months old. I do, however, vividly remember my first solo. That was in our Cherokee 140 on my 16th birthday at 6:00 a.m. before I went to school. In all, I soloed eight airplanes that day.
My parents, who operated several mom-and-pop FBOs from 1951 to 1985, gave me the fantastic gift of flight. My mother was my flight instructor and the best pilot I knew. She was an original charter member of the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the 99s and was accepted into the Women Airforce Service Pilots just before it was disbanded. She watched my first solo on that crisp October morning with, as she told me many years later, a tear in her eye.
It was awesome to share that experience, and my entire aviation career, with both her and my father, who was also a pilot and an inspection authority airframe and powerplant mechanic. When my mom passed away in 2007, she had 23,000 accident-, incident-, and violation-free hours. I am soon to start my 19th year at Spirit Airlines and have more than 20,000 flight hours—but am still trying to catch mom’s 23,000 before I retire.
I truly thank them both every day for their great gift of flight. Aviation was their lives and has been my life and my career, and I feel truly blessed.
Capt. Gene McClure on the nacelle of his parents’ Piper Apache in 1961.
Capt. McClure about to take his second solo flight in a Cherokee 140 (it was too dark to get photos before his first flight).
This Cherokee 180 was one of the other aircraft Capt. McClure flew the day of his first flight.
Capt. McClure at age six, about to take his first glider ride in a Schweizer 2-22.
Local media covers Capt. McClure's first flight.