Host: Allen Morris
{Ace Abbott utilizes the archives of his 36 year aviation career that took him to 44 countries for his aviation-themed interviews. His layover venues varied from tents in Korea, to five-star hotels in Paris, and jail cells in Venezuela. After a 5 ½ year career in the Air Force that allowed him to fly F-4 Phantom fighter jets throughout the Far East, he returned to civilian life to become a Learjet charter pilot.
His many flights from South Florida to nearly every island in the Caribbean and most of the Latin American countries was complemented with his chauffeuring of the rich and famous. He flew such celebrities as Jack Nicklaus, John Glenn, Evil Knievel, Jimmy Buffett, Helen Reddy and Olivia Newton-John, as well as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He also smuggled Bob Marley from Kingston, Jamaica when Marley’s life was in danger.
Ace spent his final 22 years as a Boeing 727 Captain for numerous airlines, most of which went out of business. His 10 airlines in 10 years is likely an unenviable record. The subtitle of his book, The Rogue Aviator is: “in the back alleys of aviation.” Ace’s book provides an insider’s view of a professional pilot’s life on the other side of the tracks.}
Ace Abbott’s Aviation Affair with Allen Morris
Ace Abbott spent his youth on a hardscrabble-farm in upstate New York. Upon graduation from college at SUNY (Cortland) in 1965, he entered the U.S. Air Force and served as an F-4 Phantom fighter pilot based in the Far East. In 1971, he left the Air Force and became a Learjet charter pilot in South Florida. The next eight years his experience as a Learjet Captain offered many diverse and challenging situations, including extensive operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In 1980, through a fortuitous bounce of the airplane employment ball, he became a Boeing 727 Captain. The next 22 years, until mandatory retirement at age 60, Ace was employed as a 727 Captain with several airlines during the unstable airline post-deregulation era. His 727 adventures took him to most of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with assignments to Cairo, Egypt, Malta and Belgium. Ace retired in 2002 after traveling 44 countries with 25 employer changes.
Upon retirement he became a golf instructor and returned to his roots in the scenic Finger Lakes of Upstate New York. Since launching his writing career in 2008, he now keeps busy with book marketing activities which include: book presentations at aviation events, airshows (including the Oshkosh Air Show as a featured author), fly-in pancake breakfast events, along with events at book clubs, libraries and book stores. He is a “snowbird” and spends his winters in Delray Beach, Florida where he also stays busy with book promotion activity. When The Rogue Aviator makes the NY Times best seller list he intends to return to the golf course.