Yes, you read that title correctly. I recently discovered photographs of my father with two other men standing before a Cessna T50 after a pheasant hunting trip. At least 12 birds are hanging from both propellers, so it was a very successful day, not including the few hanging from the center airspeed indicator! I don’t…
With the holiday season hastily approaching and little time remaining to complete our gift shopping, some of us decide to partake in the shopping mall experience for convenience. So naturally, I try to avoid the malls due to the sheer conglomerate of people hustling and bustling to complete their lists. Sure, it’s nice to have…
The loveable amphibian. This modified aircraft design opens our travel by flight, with many more options to safely land our beloved companion. For example, we can choose a traditional paved runway or feel adventurous and choose an exciting water landing! Let’s be honest. The latter is why we are so fond of the amphibian! Reading…
Mike Steffen was Tony’s flight instructor when he learned to fly at Burgard Vocational High School in the early 1930s while attending night classes. The two developed a pretty unique relationship and remained good friends throughout my father’s aviation career. Tony graduated on February 26, 1935, after enrolling in Burgard’s three-year evening vocational aviation course….
Tony had heard that Republic was hiring for test pilots to fly their newly developed P-47 in the summer of 1942, and he knew that he couldn’t let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass by. Two years have gone by since he first opened his Gardenville airport, and he felt this could be financially beneficial to expand…
From the hundreds of pictures that I have of my father, Tony, I decided to assemble a short timeline to better illustrate his life but not bore you with an extensive family photo album. I have chosen the most relevant ones starting with him as a young man until his passing in 1976. I’ve divided…
Tony had many scrapbooks, but his favorite is the one he started around 1930 using his father’s hardcover book “The Home” that he glued newspaper and magazine articles into that he found meaningful about aviation. Little did he know, or maybe he did, that he was preserving aviation history so the stories would always be…
My father was born in Italy on October 31st, 1911. He became a US citizen in June of 1920 along with his parents, my grandparents, Michele and Anmina Riccio. He would have been 108 years old. He passed away on February 5th, 1976. I remember as a young kid that Halloween wasn’t a day he…
