Saturday, January 29, 2011

One of My "Interesting" Plane Rides As An Economic Developer

"The pilot of the plane I chartered is ill and cannot fly, but I'm working on getting another plane." the manager of the newly established Broyhill plant in Arcadia phoned me.  We were to go to Baton Rouge to  appear before the board of Commerce and Industry  in support of Broyhill's spplication for a ten-year tax exemption. We could have flown commercial, but the plant manager did not want "to waste a day in Baton Rouge waiting for a plane."   

I was waiting at Shreveport's Downtown airport when an ancient Piper Cub landed.  I found out this was to be our transportation.  Navigation to Baton Rouge wasn't a problem; the pilot followed Red river until it joined the Mississippi and then followed that river on to Harding Field.  We landed and took a taxi to the meeting.  We were late but it did not matter because our application had not come up.  Approval was just a formality as I knew it would be, but I did not want to leave anything to chance.  Persuading Broyhill to locate a plant outside of the home state of North Carolina was one of my proudest accomplishments.

Flying home was adventurous because darkness caught us, but eventually I was deposited at the Downtown airport and the Piper and passengers headed for Athens.  I was familiar with the home pasture, because that's what it was, and I was thankful I wouldn't be landing there.  The landing area was short and had to be made to end up under some power lines.  They made it okay, and I had another ride in a small plane to add to my many experiences.

No comments:

Post a Comment