December 1968

“Continental 427, You are cleared to land”

“Continental 427”

“I sure hope they did not lose my bags this time”

“Yeah me too”

“United 56 Heavy, descend and maintain one, two thousand”

“United 56”

“Ladies and Gentleman, On Behalf of Braniff let me be the first to welcome you to Denver, Colorado”

“Lear 25 November Bravo, taxi to the Combs Gates ramp”

“November Bravo”

“Do you see that Convair at four O’clock?”

“Sure would not want to land there”

“Winds calm, Aspen you are cleared to land”

The conversations between the tower and the aircraft were as easy to understand as the passengers talking to one another.  Keeping it all straight was a mystery to everyone in the camper that night, except for me as I was the one saying it all.

Some people just “ramble” when they talk in their sleep but not me, at least not when I was young.  Every year around Christmas my family would load up the car or camper and go to Denver for a Christmas shopping extravaganza.  Sometimes we would stay at the old Hotel Denver on Speer Boulevard and other times we would stay in an RV park out on West Colfax.  In 1968 we took our pick-up camper and stayed on the west end.

As my mom used to like to tell the story, that night in the camper I started talking in my sleep and proceeded to “control the skies over Denver.”  Not only was I the control tower but I was also the pilots and the passengers.  Over the span of my rant I successfully landed a number of aircraft, lost no baggage, kept an eye out for other aircraft in the pattern and prevented a few “near misses.”

In looking back on my life, I spent considerable time listening to the aircraft scanner as a child.  From our house I could pick up the Aspen Airport Tower as well as Denver Center which controlled the airspace over Colorado and parts of Utah.   I even picked up the airline’s private frequencies and listened to the pilot’s conversations.  I guess if you listen long enough you begin to pick up the “lingo.”

Sleep tight, the skies are safe tonight!

Aspen Airport – Summer 1974

The Learjet caught my attention as it touched down across from me on runway 15.  Even in the 1970’s Aspen received a number of private jet landings every day.  On this day we witnessed one of the first Learjet 35A’s ever made.  This model of Learjet had been in production less than a year and only a few customers had them.

In 1974 I was spending my summers and some of the school holidays working for Monarch Aviation.  Monarch was the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) for the Aspen Airport at the time.  It was owned by the Pabst Family and was based out of Walker Field in Grand Junction.  The job was fun as I was allowed to drive vehicles on the airport ramps even though I was too young to legally drive.  I towed aircraft around with the tugs, fueled them, heated up their engines and even got to use the external Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) to help the turbine engines get started on occasion.  Ramp work was dangerous but it also provided an opportunity to be around aircraft of all types and it was worth the risk.

As the new Learjet 35A taxied towards me I held out the bright orange batons indicating where the nose of the jet needed to be.  As the jet pulled up in front of me I instructed the pilots to make a hard right turn and come to a stop.  Parked and with the engines shut down, the fuel truck pulled up in front of the plane.  Due to the fact that most Learjet’s have wing tip tanks; they must be fueled up on both sides at the same time.  If only one side gets fuel or gets more fuel, the aircraft could easily tip onto its wing causing extensive damage.  The Learjet 35A is equipped with these tip tanks.  My next job was to take one of the fuel lines and fill the left side of the jet.  Coordination is key and as the other ramp worker and I started the fueling process we paid close attention to how much fuel was being put in the jet.

While standing there fueling the Learjet, a gentleman that could not be a day over 35 exited the aircraft.  He looked at me and said, “Hey boy, call me a cab.”  Without thinking I replied, “Alright, Poof! You’re a cab.”  I went about finishing up the fueling process and then alerted another ramp worker of the jet owner’s request for transportation.  Not giving it another thought I went on with the tasks of ramp operations.  About 20 minutes later I was called into the FBO ramp manager’s office. I do not remember his name but he was one of the nicest people around and had a great sense of humor. At the time, Eddie Dropla was the General Manager, but I am not sure he ever caught wind of my comment or how the customer responded to it.  Anyone who knows me well, knows I have a very healthy sense of paranoia and being called to the office made me panic.

As it turns out the owner of the Learjet did not find my comment very amusing, and he asked that I be “fired immediately!”  The FBO remp manager was in no mood to be told what to do by anyone, especially a condescending individual who treated everyone like he owned them.  Agreeing that my comment was funny but maybe a little inappropriate, he asked that I keep my distance the next time I see the jet owner.  Luckily enough, I do not recall ever seeing him or his jet in Aspen again.

Summer – 1976

Aspen’s airport sits at 7,815 feet above sea level.  That is a geographical fact.  For aircraft operating out of the airport, the meteorological altitude can change based on the humidity, dew point, barometric pressure and air temperature, this is known as Density Altitude.  Density Altitude can affect how an aircraft performs especially during landings and take-offs.  I give this brief lesson as it affects the rest of the story, please read on…

It is the summer of 1976 and Aspen is experiencing abnormally hot weather.  The airport is busy with the usual Jet traffic as well as the Glider Operations that were in full swing.  It was a busy place to say the least.  While delivering some Hertz customers back to their aircraft I observed a Gulfstream II exiting the runway having just landed.  I recognized this aircraft as belonging to Greyhound Corporation.  As it turned out my next pickup was John Teets, the CEO of the company.  I gave him the keys to the car and asked if I could have a look at his Gulfstream.  As he drove away he told the captain to give me a “full tour” of the jet.

As I headed up the stairs into the Gulfstream, the Captain met me at the top and told me I had to leave.  He had never flown out of Aspen in the summer and as he said, “The altitude was rising by the second.”  Complying with his boss’s orders, he started to give a tour; but, I could tell he was nervous and I politely excused myself much to his relief.

Barely reaching the bottom step, the jet’s engines began to spool up.  In less than five minutes the Gulfstream II was taxiing to the runway.  It was about 11:00 in the morning and the temperature was already 75 plus degrees.  The density altitude at that point was probably approaching 10,000 feet but this was a Gulfstream! 

The speakers out on the ramp where you could hear the tower and aircraft communicating suddenly crackled with the panicked voice of the Gulfstream Captain.  Requesting an expedited departure, the Captain indicated that they would do their “engine run-up” at the end of the runway.  He was going to waste no time getting out of here.

The Gulfstream sat on its brakes while the engines came up to full power.  You could hear this Gulfstream anywhere in the valley as its brakes struggled to hold it in place.  Suddenly, the jet lurched forward as it began its take-off roll.  By now the engines were exceeding the 100% power setting as the pilots rushed to get enough speed to take-off before running out of runway.   At the time, the runway was just over 5,200 feet in length with a slight downhill angle for departing aircraft on runway 33.

With the amount of power the Gulfstream was producing, the nose lifted off the runway in just over 1,200 feet and was airborne in less than 2,800 feet.  This Gulfstream was gone!

About a week later the jet and crew were back to pick up Mr. Teets.  This time they were much more relaxed and I was given a great tour of the jet.