IN MEMORY
Ron (Ronnie) Caraway
1937 - 2011
Covina High School - Class of 1955 - Reunion Coordinator - Pilot
IN MEMORY
Ron (Ronnie) Caraway
1937 - 2011
Covina High School - Class of 1955 - Reunion Coordinator - Pilot
High Desert - - - Friday, January 27th, 2012
Apple Valley bids farewell to pilot. By Rene De La Cruz
Ron Caraway spent most of the past 30 years in the skies above Apple Valley and will be remembered by his friends as a natural pilot who could fly anything with 2 wings. Caraway, who died December 27, was an avid aviation enthusiast, test pilot, flight instructor and aerobatic barnstormer who called Apple Valley Airport his second home. “I knew Ron for about 30 years and he was one of the best pilots that I’ve ever flown with,” said fellow aviator and author Norman Goyer, 85. “Some people have to think when they fly, but Ron was like a bird - - -he just knew what to do in the air.” Goyer said Caraway, 74, was one of the few formation pilots he trusted during photo shoots, as Caraway flew near the author trying to get the right shot. “It is so dangerous and I’ve only met 3 or 4 people that I’ve trusted. Ron was one of them,” Goyer said. “When you’re hanging out of a Cessna 180 with a camera, you better have the best.” Born in San Antonio, Texas, Caraway got his first taste of aviation in the 1950s as an Army mechanic in Korea, then went on to earn his private and commercial pilot’s license via the GI Bill when he returned home. “My dad had a hard time reading, so we bought him the Evelyn Wood Speed Reading Program and that helped him get through school,” said Caraway’s son, Darrell, who lives in Northern California. “He’s worked on engines, built planes and knew how to fly - - - he was special.” After working in Oregon, Ron Caraway moved his family to California where he worked at Lockheed Martin before moving his family to Apple Valley in 1978. According to Al Scott, manager of Midfield Aviation, Ron Caraway was a mainstay at the airport, helping pilots in the air and on the ground. “Ron was also a highly respected test pilot for new airplanes,” Goyer said. “Ron knew his way around an aircraft and he could fly anything with 2 wings. He was a superb pilot and everyone knew it.” Darrell Caraway said his father loved to travel, taking trips to various flyins across the country and even helping a pilot to fly across the Atlantic in the mid-80s, leaving New York on their way to Spain. “He flew aerobatics with non-aerobatic planes. It was fairly safe aerobatic stuff, but there was still a chance that something could go wrong.” Darrell Caraway said. “He told me that he even had a close call when both wings touched. Nothing could keep my dad on the ground.”
A celebration of life is scheduled for noon Sunday at the Apple Valley Airport, 21600 Corwin Road.
======================== Ron's Class Reunion Self Bio =================
Marital Status: Divorced
Education: CUHS, Aircraft Mechanic U. S. Army
Occupation: Self employed General Contractor most of my working life. I worked for and retired from Lockheed, after 13 years, as a supervisor on various aircraft but mostly on C-130 Special Ops airplanes.
Children: 2
Grandchildren: 1
Since High School: I enrolled at Mt. SAC in the Aircraft and Powerplant program but the Army recruiter cam along and said “Boy, you can join the Army, get the same training you are getting here and fullfill your military obligation at the same time.” I bit! I enlisted for 3 years to get the fixed wing schooling I wanted. After basic I went to San Marcos, TX for “Helicopter?” training. Joyce was dead set on getting married so she followed me to TX and we were married on April 25, 1956. We were married for 32 years, it just didn’t work out. I spent half my military career in San Francisco at the Presidio and the other half in Korea on an island just across the Han-gang River from Yongdungpo.
We had a beautifid 20-acre place in Brownsville, Oregon for 1 1 years. Then Joyce wanted to move to Apple Valley to be near her twin sister Janet. Janet got cancer and passed away in 1990, Joyce decided to make a lane change and I should have stayed in Oregon. But what the heck, I can be happy anywhere.
Diane Roberts has been my main squeeze for the past 17 years. We have traveled all over the World Singapore, Bab Rawa (South China Sea), Mexico, The Yucatan, British West Indies, and the USA just to name a few. Diane and I have had a ball; she is ready to go anywhere at a moment’s notice. I flew with a formation aerobatic team, with a wing walker, for 7 years and Diane was always in the fiont cockpit of the Stearman when we were on the ferry flights. I still instruct in both airplanes and gliders. I fly about 200 hours a year, drive a ‘28 Model A hot rod, ride a Harley Sportster, have participated in several airplane races and restore vintage aircraft. Life is good, I have never been happier.
And there is always an “Oh by the way:” I have written at least one article a month for several different aviation magazines for the past thirteen years. Miss Loose would absolutely faint dead away if she heard this news.
“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - WOW-What a Ride!!!”