Chuck and Judy Aldrian
“Buy a Maule,” Bob Gillette said to his friend Chuck Aldrian when Chuck retired from his Milwaukee-based architectural firm. Chuck had been regularly flying his Cessna 310R to oversee his projects all over the country, from groundbreaking, through the ribbon cuttings. Chuck’s wife Judy points out that the twin was a wonderful way to take the family to faraway places for vacations, as well.
“I had 2,500 hours in the 310, and I credit it for the success of my architectural business,” Chuck says. ”I’d get a call, and take one or more of my staff to make a site visit. We’d be home by dinner,” he added.
Chuck earned his private pilot license in 1967, and muses, “Two days afterwards, I loaded Judy and our two young children in a Cessna 150 and flew into Billy Mitchell Field. Can you imagine four people in a Cessna 150 among the DC3s and DC6s? But we were all lightweights then.”
When Chuck and Judy no longer needed their 310 for business, they wanted to relax and enjoy a different kind of flying. “So we bought a brand new Maule,” he said. Chuck took the mountain and canyon flying course in McCall, Idaho and the couple started flying to backcountry airstrips. That began their new form of exploration, and distance didn’t seem to matter.
“In addition to out West, we took it to Key West, Eastern Canada, and twice to Alaska,” Chuck says. They flew commercially to Australia and joined a guided group in C172s, logging 40 hours over the continent Down Under. “One day I asked Judy if she wanted to see some polar bears, and we flew up to Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay.” The huge runway was built for defense during World War II, and the Aldrians found it amusing to see their little Maule alone on the tarmac. They loved their four days there, and were rewarded with views of the bears and beluga whales.
They learned about “a little grass strip near Glacier Park,” from RAF co-founder Chuck Jarecki, and they landed at Ryan Field even before the RAF became fully involved. They enjoyed knowing Ben and Butchie, and flew out for several Ryan Fly-ins and became RAF supporters.
Both Judy and Chuck are well into their eighties now. They’ve sold their expansive northern wooded property and vacation home that Chuck designed and built near their dear friends the Gillettes’ Lakewood Lodge. Chuck and Judy enjoyed 1,200 hours in their beloved Maule before selling it and its hangar. As Chuck reflected on their last flight, there was deep emotion in his voice. “It was October 2016. We flew to Lake Superior for lunch, over the beautiful fall colors and our house in the woods.”
Chuck and Judy remain active in their EAA chapter. Thanks in part to his dedication flying 458 Young Eagles, and his over 50 years of safe flying, Chuck earned the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.
“Flying, and the RAF brought so much fun and joy into our lives,” Judy says, “We will remember it forever.” Chuck added, “ We have met so many wonderful people, it has enriched our lives.”