Addison & Wendy Pemberton

Addison Pemberton started flying in 1969 in his father's Cessna 170B with missionary pilot instructor Don Evans. A love for the old stuff grew out of the great airplanes owned by the airline pilots based at our then home airport, Gillespie field, in San Diego. Stearmans, Wacos, Travelairs, Howards, Staggerwings (one of the very same we owned until recently), Fleets and all the great ships were a common sight. Now with 10,400 total time (10,000 in tail wheel aircraft), the Com/Inst/CFI/SES/SEL/MEL ratings are used for antique instruction and checkout. Most of the flight experience to date has been in Stearmans, Cessna 185s, a North American AT-6, and other antique aircraft. One of his most prized treasures is a "FAA Letter of Authorization for the North American P-51". An Inspectors Authorization (IA) is invaluable for building and maintaining the currently owned aircraft. One of his greatest joys has been teaching his two sons Jay and Ryan and wife Wendy to fly with good skill and judgment. The antiquer pilots' motto: "If your ego can't handle 1 bad landing in 5, stay out of antiques, and buy a Bonanza."

Wendy started flying in 1977 with then family friend Addison. Wendy soloed in just 14 hours at a cost of $8 per hour. After many hours in the small aircraft environment, cute girl outfits and shoe laces with sparkly stuff weighed heavy on Addison's mind. Slow flight, stalls and wind correction angle problems turned to romance. Wendy received her Private ticket in the spring of 1978, and Addison and Wendy were married in the summer of 1978. Wendy quickly realized that the aircraft fleet was growing, so two sons were put into the works to solve the pilot shortage problem. Wendy has also acquired a wonderful skill with dope and fabric and does a lot of the fabric work on our projects. She is a wonderful companion and aircraft tolerant wife. Wendy has made several coast to coast and Alaskan flights with Addison over the years.

Ryan & Taryn Pemberton

Ryan Pemberton soloed a power airplane on his 16th birthday.  He currently has over 800 hours, and only 4/10 of an hour is in nose wheel aircraft.  It should also be noted that the sole nose wheel airplane that he has logged time in is a Consolidated B-24 Liberator.  Ryan played a crtical role in the restoration of the Boeing 40 project.  Ryan has a Private Pilot Certificate with SEL and SES ratings.  He is also the family photographer and has taken many of the pictures on this site.

Taryn Pemberton learned how to fly in her family's Piper J-3 Cub, which she soloed at the age of 16, and earned her Private Pilot Certificate in 2005. She met Ryan in 2004 at the Antique Airplane Association's fly-in event in Iowa, where Ryan gave her her first Stearman ride. They were married on August 25, 2007. Taryn's family has their own airport in Missouri, where they keep the Cub and their Waco YKS.

Jay & Elin Pemberton

Jay Pemberton soloed a Switzer 2-33 at 15 years old in 1997. He has since logged over 2,700 hours and currently holds a Commercial Pilot Certificate with Seaplane, Multiengine and Instrument rating. He is also a Certified Flight Instructor.

Elin Pemberton was married to Jay on October 21, 2007. They met in the spring of 2007, and on their second date went seaplane flying. When Jay proposed to Elin in July, he (and the rest of the family) had developed an elaborate plan for Addison and Elin's father Jeff to parachute her engagement ring from the Stearman, to where Jay and Elin would be waiting on the Super Cub, parked at a pre-arranged location on a local lake. The plan was executed flawlessly, including the rendezvous, drop, and recovery, but then Jay dropped the ring in the lake while presenting it to Elin. Luckily, she still accepted. Elin spent most of her time growing up in Europe, as her father is a Chaplain in the USAF. She is currently a student pilot.

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