Over the next several issues, Wingtips will profile the members of the Texas Aviation Advisory Committee. The six members are appointed by the Texas Transportation Commission for six-year terms and assist the Texas Department of Transportation with its aviation development programs. Committee members also work with members of the legislature on various aviation issues. Members must have at least five years of experience in the field of aviation and a strong interest in supporting Texas’ general aviation program.
In this issue, we profile Vice Chairman Gordon Richardson.
Most of us can’t point to just one event in our lives that helped shape everything else we do. But Gordon Richardson can. In business and pleasure, his world revolves around it. His wife jokingly refers to it as “a terminal illness.” But for Richardson, it just sounds a lot like the definition of aviation.
Richardson was born in New York City but later grew up in Canadian Army camps. His father was one of only about 5,000 Americans to join the Canadian Armed Services. (Ogden Richardson fought in World War II and survived a four-year stay inside a German prisoner-of-war camp.) In Canada, young Richardson took up ice hockey, which eventually led to an athletic scholarship with Boston University. After college, he accepted a job with a Houston, Texas, life insurance company.
Richardson met and married Judy Williams in 1967. They decided to move to her small hometown of Caldwell, Texas, about 100 miles away from his work. Because Richardson was driving back and forth, he decided to take flying lessons at College Station’s Easterwood Airport. By 1971, he was a licensed pilot, and his flying habit was about to become a full-blown addiction.
With license in hand, Richardson became an independent insurance agent. “Flying allowed me to live in a small community and build a significant statewide clientele,” he explains. “If a friend in Corpus Christi needs life insurance, I’m able to Hy down and back the same day and still have time to work in the office.”
During his distinguished insurance career, Richardson’s passion was slowly taking over. He bought and restored airplanes and joined numerous aviation associations, including the Experimental Aircraft Association Warbird Community and the Seaplane Pilots Association. He attends the major national air shows like Oshkosh and Sun ‘n Fun, and even attends formation classes with his sons, Gordon II and Randall. Both of his sons are pilots.
Richardson has had several planes over the years, including a PT-19, Beechcraft Bonanza, Harvard Mark IV, T-28, T- 6 and his floatplane, a Piper PA-18 Supercub.
During the summer, Richardson and his wife can be found in the state of Maine feeding his addiction. If flying is his illness, then his Supercub is his enabler. “Maine has a lot of remote lakes which are only accessible by floatplane. It’s a combination of boating and Hying and there’s nothing else like it.”
The couple spends the months hopscotching from one remote lake to the next, being sure to avoid the moose and crosswinds.
Wingtips: Flying might be a big part of your life, but isn’t your family encouraging your addiction?
Richardson: Actually, they share my addiction. Both sons are pilots and my wife has logged 2,000 hours by my side. So, yes, they encourage me because they love it as much as I do. And that makes it extremely satisfying.
Wingtips: What was your motivation in accepting the appointment on the Texas Aviation Advisory Commission?
Richardson: My great love for aviation, firstly, but I also saw this opportunity to be involved in the goal of helping general aviation prosper in Texas.
Wingtips: Was there a memorable experience that you can share that has occurred during your term?
Richardson: My first trip to an airport (Mt. Pleasant) to see the results of TxDOT’s aviation partnership with a local community to grow an aviation facility. It told the story of why Texas has the finest airport system in the U.S.
Wingtips: What are the biggest challenges you see for general aviation going forward?
Richardson: I see two challenges: one, to educate the young people in Texas about what a great opportunity there is to learn to fly and become involved in a career in aviation; and, two, to keep the importance of general aviation in the minds of our legislators.
Wingtips: What would you like the public to know about general aviation in Texas and why non-pilots should care about it?
Richardson: That general aviation in Texas is a valuable segment of our transportation system and the state’s business prosperity. And that entire communities in Texas that don’t have airline access depend on general aviation for growth.
