Bill Clapp
Well-Known Member
A dedication to a pilot father... or to Bill Clapp from Bill Clapp....
It has been 46 years that I have been involved in aviation in one sort or another. When I was born I had the privilege to be born into a pilot's family. Dad had been flying since he was a teenager. As a young teen he had hear about five missionaries that had been killed in the Jungles of Ecuador ... it was on his 13th birthday. Jan 1965. He decided then to become a pilot and serve as a missionary pilot. With his life goal geared in that direction he bought a Cub before he could drive a car. He learned to fly and used to fly to school and land in the back field. When he married, mom and dad went to Moody Bible Institute's Jungle Aviation Program in Chicago and continued his flight training there. When I came along it was just before we moved as a family to my dad's first mission field as an MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) pilot. Of course at that time I was just a year old but had been around and in airplanes already. In 1969 we moved to Mexico where dad got the keys of a new Cessna 180...XB-LER (Mexican Registry). He would fly that airplane there for about three years...then we moved to Colombia for a couple years (different airplane C-185)...then on to Shell Ecuador for eight years....then to Honduras for a couple more years. We returned to the States in 1985 where our family took some time to be with our grandparents before their passing and get us finished in school. Mom and dad returned to the mission field after that a for a few more years of flying. Since retiring Dad does some short stints in various countries from time to time to help out...mostly with maintenance now.
Watching my dad through these years with flying in a mission environment has been interesting. I have learned a lot about integrity, hard work and trust through his example. I asked him once, "Dad, you have thousand of hours, single engine, over jungle, with no incidences....to what do you attribute that?" His response was three things. "First - Prayer. Know who you are, who God is, and understand that He is in control of all. Second - Good Maintenance. Do the hard work and put in the time to be sure what you are flying is safe. Learn good techniques and methods. Third and hardest of all - The ability to say "NO". Being able to look into the eyes of the parents of a dying boy and having to say "NO...I cant fly him to the hospital due to weather or ...." and knowing or watching him die that night. Being able to live with that."
I didn't understand that until I personally saw him have to do that. We were on vacation in a small jungle village in the south amazon. We flew the 185 in as a family and went tubing with friends at a local river. That afternoon a family approached us with a 2 year old girl that had gotten a snake bite from a venomous snake - right in the chest. Even though the weather looked great where we were at it was impassable at the mountain range. Dad had to say no. She died that night. Listening to the wailing all night long was heartbreaking. The next morning all was quiet. The family buried their little girl and life went on quietly. Never was there any ill will toward my father but maybe some understanding that if he attempted to break the rules and fly he could loose not only their daughter but a pilot and plane - as well as the ability to help hundreds of others for months or years to come. Not an easy lesson to comprehend when I was only 10 years old but watching my dad tearfully say "NO - I can't" lives with me still.
After we came to the States and my graduation from High School, I decided to go the aviation route. I applied and was accepted to the Jungle Aviation program with Moody as well and graduated with my degree and various tickets in 1993. One of the joys of not only understanding the kind of flying my dad did was to also fly with some of the guys he flew with and seeing the quality of pilots and knowledge they had. It was a great experience. It was about this time that mom and dad, while living in Wisconsin were looking for an airplane project and came across a damaged 180 in Mexico that MAF would sell them. It was XB-LER. It had been ground looped and torn up a bit. Dad drove to Oaxaca Mexico and picked it up on a trailer and brought it back. After a few years of work, rebuilding gear boxes, a wing, and much more we were able to get it back in the air. It was great to work on this plane together that once was his mission plane. I have a picture of me standing at the tail when I was 2. And several years later dad is in the left seat, I am in the right seat at the end of the runway ready for the first engine break-in flight (chrome cylinders). That was a memorable flight. Dad still had the 180 sitting in the hangar and anytime I am there we take it out to go do touch and go's - in the grass of course. He lost his medical a bit back but still has his CFI so he signs me off. Thinking of that brings chills down my spine at times. Dad gets to sign my BFR's in a plane that has touched the lives of countless people and we still enjoy it today in its retirement. Of course, dad still teaches me a thing or two about flying as we go out and have fun.
Dad is still building planes....He built one of the first Experimental in South America when I was a boy. A KR2 built in the shop above the MAF hangar in Shell Ecuador. First flew on Thanksgiving day, 1981. After I graduated flight school dad gave that little KR to me....(explains a little about me...) We also rebuilt a C206T together, a couple Super Cubs and he is working on another Super Cub now...as well as Model "T"s.
So Dad - if you read this....thanks. Thank you for opening a world to me. And what a world it is. Showing how you can be passionate in aviation as well as for the lives and souls of people. Showing that it can be done safely and wisely. We have lost many friends and learned lots of hard lessons through the years but it has been a pleasure to live life .. watching you. I hope to learn from you for many more years and eternity to come.
A grateful son...
It has been 46 years that I have been involved in aviation in one sort or another. When I was born I had the privilege to be born into a pilot's family. Dad had been flying since he was a teenager. As a young teen he had hear about five missionaries that had been killed in the Jungles of Ecuador ... it was on his 13th birthday. Jan 1965. He decided then to become a pilot and serve as a missionary pilot. With his life goal geared in that direction he bought a Cub before he could drive a car. He learned to fly and used to fly to school and land in the back field. When he married, mom and dad went to Moody Bible Institute's Jungle Aviation Program in Chicago and continued his flight training there. When I came along it was just before we moved as a family to my dad's first mission field as an MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) pilot. Of course at that time I was just a year old but had been around and in airplanes already. In 1969 we moved to Mexico where dad got the keys of a new Cessna 180...XB-LER (Mexican Registry). He would fly that airplane there for about three years...then we moved to Colombia for a couple years (different airplane C-185)...then on to Shell Ecuador for eight years....then to Honduras for a couple more years. We returned to the States in 1985 where our family took some time to be with our grandparents before their passing and get us finished in school. Mom and dad returned to the mission field after that a for a few more years of flying. Since retiring Dad does some short stints in various countries from time to time to help out...mostly with maintenance now.
Watching my dad through these years with flying in a mission environment has been interesting. I have learned a lot about integrity, hard work and trust through his example. I asked him once, "Dad, you have thousand of hours, single engine, over jungle, with no incidences....to what do you attribute that?" His response was three things. "First - Prayer. Know who you are, who God is, and understand that He is in control of all. Second - Good Maintenance. Do the hard work and put in the time to be sure what you are flying is safe. Learn good techniques and methods. Third and hardest of all - The ability to say "NO". Being able to look into the eyes of the parents of a dying boy and having to say "NO...I cant fly him to the hospital due to weather or ...." and knowing or watching him die that night. Being able to live with that."
I didn't understand that until I personally saw him have to do that. We were on vacation in a small jungle village in the south amazon. We flew the 185 in as a family and went tubing with friends at a local river. That afternoon a family approached us with a 2 year old girl that had gotten a snake bite from a venomous snake - right in the chest. Even though the weather looked great where we were at it was impassable at the mountain range. Dad had to say no. She died that night. Listening to the wailing all night long was heartbreaking. The next morning all was quiet. The family buried their little girl and life went on quietly. Never was there any ill will toward my father but maybe some understanding that if he attempted to break the rules and fly he could loose not only their daughter but a pilot and plane - as well as the ability to help hundreds of others for months or years to come. Not an easy lesson to comprehend when I was only 10 years old but watching my dad tearfully say "NO - I can't" lives with me still.
After we came to the States and my graduation from High School, I decided to go the aviation route. I applied and was accepted to the Jungle Aviation program with Moody as well and graduated with my degree and various tickets in 1993. One of the joys of not only understanding the kind of flying my dad did was to also fly with some of the guys he flew with and seeing the quality of pilots and knowledge they had. It was a great experience. It was about this time that mom and dad, while living in Wisconsin were looking for an airplane project and came across a damaged 180 in Mexico that MAF would sell them. It was XB-LER. It had been ground looped and torn up a bit. Dad drove to Oaxaca Mexico and picked it up on a trailer and brought it back. After a few years of work, rebuilding gear boxes, a wing, and much more we were able to get it back in the air. It was great to work on this plane together that once was his mission plane. I have a picture of me standing at the tail when I was 2. And several years later dad is in the left seat, I am in the right seat at the end of the runway ready for the first engine break-in flight (chrome cylinders). That was a memorable flight. Dad still had the 180 sitting in the hangar and anytime I am there we take it out to go do touch and go's - in the grass of course. He lost his medical a bit back but still has his CFI so he signs me off. Thinking of that brings chills down my spine at times. Dad gets to sign my BFR's in a plane that has touched the lives of countless people and we still enjoy it today in its retirement. Of course, dad still teaches me a thing or two about flying as we go out and have fun.
Dad is still building planes....He built one of the first Experimental in South America when I was a boy. A KR2 built in the shop above the MAF hangar in Shell Ecuador. First flew on Thanksgiving day, 1981. After I graduated flight school dad gave that little KR to me....(explains a little about me...) We also rebuilt a C206T together, a couple Super Cubs and he is working on another Super Cub now...as well as Model "T"s.
So Dad - if you read this....thanks. Thank you for opening a world to me. And what a world it is. Showing how you can be passionate in aviation as well as for the lives and souls of people. Showing that it can be done safely and wisely. We have lost many friends and learned lots of hard lessons through the years but it has been a pleasure to live life .. watching you. I hope to learn from you for many more years and eternity to come.
A grateful son...
