Taxiing down a runway became a trip down memory lane on Sunday as the curious, history buffs and pilots gathered to bid adieu to a Conifer landmark.
About 300 people gathered at Norm Meyer’s home on U.S 285 to see his Cessna 180 leave Conifer for its new home in Hotchkiss on the Western Slope.
“It’s wonderful to have everyone here to help me kiss my baby goodbye,” Meyer said.
Before most people arrived for the event, Meyer slowly stepped up to his plane — and literally kissed it goodbye.
“Norm’s probably a little nostalgic,” said pilot Dave Callender of Arvada. “There’s a lot of history here.”
Meyer shared stories of flying adventures, and others offered their memories of the Cessna and their history with Meyer. Still others came to photograph and preserve the historic event — the moment the Conifer landscape changed.
“It’s been here for 40 years. I can scarcely believe it myself,” Meyer said.
The plane, housed at the Meyer home, has caught the attention of drivers on U.S. 285 for many years.
“You can talk to anyone, and they know this airplane,” said pilot Keith Serkes of Erie. “It’s kind of a hard day for Meyer.”
Meyer asked Serkes and Callender to fly the Cessna 180, tail No. N3490Y, to Erie, and from there new co-owner Ron Rouse flew it solo to Hotchkiss.
“I’m one of the few people who’s flown in and out of this airport,” Serkes said. “For a one-way airstrip, it’s fine, but it’s no place for an amateur or beginner.”
Bill Bredar of Denver, a former Navy pilot, said Meyer was a member of the UFOs, the United Flying Octogenarians, a group of more than 80 pilots who, to qualify for membership, must fly as a command pilot on or near their 80th birthday.
“The time has come, and Meyer can handle it,” Bredar said.
Fellow pilot Graham Witherspoon said it was sad to see the plane fly away. He enjoyed all the trips he and Meyer flew together.
“It’s a happy/sad event, having flown in the plane so many times,” said Meyer’s son, Norm Jr. “Having the plane is just like people. It’s a little bit transitory. What a great community that something like this will bring us all together. Let’s find more things to do just that.”
Friend Tim Horgan of Bailey helped prepare the plane for departure and was melancholy as he watched the Cessna take off and fly to the east of Meyer’s Yellow House. He said he’d flown several hundred hours with Meyer and saw the plane’s departure as the end of a chapter.
“Twenty-five years of flying with him,” Horgan said. “It was fun.”
“We’re sad to see it go, but an airplane needs to be flown,” said Meyer's daughter, Sharon Rouse.
As the Cessna’s 230-horsepower engine thrummed to life, Denver resident Ron Dreyer provided a bagpipe serenade of an old Irish tune, and as the red-and-white Cessna flew past the crowd, the air was filled with the Air Force theme song, “Wild Blue Yonder.”
The crowd cheered as the plane circled the historic property twice and disappeared over the mountains. Leaning on a split-rail fence, Meyer, who has logged 30,300 flying hours, watched from the ground as his flying career came to a close.
According to Meyer, new owner Ron Rouse called after making the flight from Erie to Hotchkiss and said the trip had been interesting.
“ ‘I didn’t realize how touchy that airplane really is,’ ” Meyer said he was told.
This story ran in the August 25, 2010 issue of the High Timber Times
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