As a kid, I grew up under the pattern to Wold-Chamberlain Field (now it’s the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport) and fell in love with all things flying. I am hooked on aviation. I flew free flight and later RC models. In September of 1996, I moved to the real deal learning to fly gliders, sailplanes and motorgliders. I thrived on cross-country flying and aerobatics. Over the next 23 years, I accumulated more than 3,000 hours of pilot in command. Sedona Airport has been home for a long time, and I flew sailplanes from it beginning in 1997. Fascinating people and aircraft are present every day. Among them is my friend, Betty Uhrig.
Betty began her aviation career as a radio woman and a navigator in a Coast Guard C130. She was later a pilot of the C130 and ended her career in the Coast Guard as a pilot for the commandant in his Gulfstream G-III. Following The Coast Guard, she flew for Chevron Corp in the Gulfstream series G-III through the G-550. She accumulated more than 14,000 hours, visited 113 countries and retired to Sedona, where she keeps and flies her Bonanza V-35B. She also was inducted into the Pioneer Hall of Fame of Women in Aviation International.
Betty Uhrig.
In the image at the top of this page, a Marine Osprey is air taxiing to the ramp at Sedona. Sedona has a fueling contract with the federal government and provides refueling for many military aircraft and helicopters. Law enforcement agencies also stop here, and in three is a customized aircraft owned by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) that has imaging capabilities. My friend Rich, who was the chief pilot for the CHP, was flying it.
Strange things can happen too. In this image, my feline buddy Katie has hijacked a Cessna Citation and is on her way down the runway.
Ted Grussing.
This photo has me standing next to Mariah, my Lambada motorglider, which was my aerial tripod for more than 13 years.
Above is a photo of a private Gulfstream 550 departing from Sedona. The caption on a large photograph of the runway I did for a friend is “A mile of highway will take you a mile. A mile of runway will take you everywhere.”
