This document summarizes a family's history in business and aviation over multiple generations. It describes how the narrator's father and uncles worked in his grandfather's printing business. It then discusses how the father and brothers purchased and operated laundromats together. It focuses on the father's involvement in the Albany Aero Club, taking his sons flying regularly. A key part of the story is how the father organized a large air show in just six months to increase the club's membership and allow them to purchase an additional plane. The air show was a success thanks to the father's persistence in obtaining top military air performance teams to participate.

1. a family
legacy

4. My dad worked
in my
grandfather’s
printing
business after
school while he
was in high
school.

5. One day my dad announced to
my brothers and I that we were
going into business together.
We all got in the car and drove
over to look at our new
investment. He had purchased
a Laundromat in a really
bad neighborhood.

6. When we arrived, he informed us
that my brothers and I were going
to do all the work and he was
going to keep the change. And
that is how it played out. At its
peak, we owned a total of 8
Laundromats.

7. My grandfather bought a VW van
and paid for the gas so my dad
and my uncles could clean the
Laundromats for him every night.

8. My brothers and I went
everywhere in that van and we
used it for a lot more than just
to clean Laundromats if you
know what I mean. That van
was pretty famous during those
days.

9. My dad was a member of the
Albany Aero Club. He often
took my brothers and I flying.
Our favorite destination;
Dog Island.

10. My dad would come into our
rooms on Saturday mornings
and say, Hey boys, wake up.
We’re flying down to Dog
Island!

11. The island was just over an
hour flight from Albany.

12. We often talked
about how crazy
we were to go
swimming at the
beach after seeing
all of the sharks
swimming off the
coast on our
approach.

13. I remember my dad as being
an extremely safe and boring
pilot. He always climbed to
altitude, maintain that altitude
until it was time to
descend and land.

14. One time we were about
300’ after the tower cleared
us for takeoff…

15. and we found ourselves looking into the eyes of two
DC-9 pilots who had been given clearance to land
on the same runway that we were departing from.

16. We got close enough to read the
lips of those two pilots just a split
second before my father rolled the
plane out of their flight path.

17. Hey dad, did the pilots
look like this?

18. There had been two fatal crashes
just weeks before this happened.
Hey… if we had collided we
wouldn’t be giving this
presentation.

19. In 1976 The Albany Aero
Club had two club planes,
Cessna 150
Cessna 172

20. There was a board meeting in
my grandfather’s office.

21. At that time, the club had 18
members. Six members never flew
the planes. One of the board
members made a motion that the
club down size by eliminating the
six inactive members and sell
one plane.

22. My grandfather objected. He suggested that
they keep both planes and build the
membership.

23. According to my dad the meeting
lasted another hour and a half while
they vacillated between the two
opinions. Finally my dad was
tasked the membership drive with
the goal of increasing membership
to 30 members which would be
enough to sustain two planes.

24. One of the members
volunteered to organize a fly-in
with a bomb drop and a spot
landing contest.

25. A bomb drop and a spot landing
contest.
That sounds so lame.

26. My dad and another member got motivated and
began to travel around researching air shows.

27. They attended
a few air shows and the two
men
quickly decided that having a small fly in with a
bomb drop contests and spot landing contests were
not going to do much to
increase membership.

28. They went back
to the board
and made their
pitch.

29. get rrrrrrrrr done!

30. My dad decided that he was going all out. I’m talking
Blue Angels and the other military air show teams. He
had six months to put it all together.

31. Six Month
Countdown
So you’re saying that
he had 180 days.

32. Yep. But he had two major problems.
He didn’t have an airfield or anybody to fly in his
airshow.
And one more thing.

33. red tape

34. Traditionally it took two to three years to line up the
government controlled and funded military air show
performers. My dad had less thant six months.

35. Within the Albany city limits there was a closed Navy
Base. Turner Air Field was perfect. The runway was
12,000 feet long, 300 feet wide and the concrete was 18
inches thick. At that time open and closed military air
fields were operated and maintained through GSA.

36. Turner Airfield was under the charge of Retired
General Ran Fairburn. My dad enthusiastically called
General Fairburn and asked him if he could use the
airfield.

37. No!

38. My father invited the Blue Angels marketing team to
Albany.

39. Once in Albany the question was posed to the scout
team that IF there were going to be an air show in
Albany, which air field would be the best option for
them?

40. The team looked at the closed military base runway
and the City of Albany airport. They concluded the
obvious location was the closed air base. And what
did General Fairburn say?

41. No!

42. My dad decided that he wasn’t going to let the retired
General stand in his way so he contacted the GSA and
spoke to the Lieutenant in charge of the base.

43. you have your base

44. One man in the Pentagon made the decisions to give a
green light or not. Colonel Eugene Fudge was that
person. My dad got his contact information and gave
him a call.

45. you want the blue angels?
Colonel Fudge

46. absolutely not

47. My dad was determined
to bring the Blue Angels
to Albany. He
relentlessly continued
contacting Colonel
Fudge.

48. When my dad found out that the Colonel would be
attending an air show or an aviation related event my
dad would fly there and make an effort to confront the
Colonel for an answer.

49. Last stand
My dad flew up to the
International Counsel of Air
shows in Wisconsin.

50. The last morning there was a brunch and then the
convention was over. My dad went up to get his food.
The only person in the food line was Colonel Fudge.
My dad was still so mad at him for the way he had
been treating him that he cold shouldered the Colonel
at the food line.

51. bitter sweet victory
the most tenacious person I have ever
met. You can have your Blue Angels and
anything else you want.
Colonel Fudge spoke
to my dad and said
Pat you are

52. The air show was a huge success, made a lot of money
for charity, and the flying club's membership grew to
52 as a result, which enabled the club to add another
airplane, a new Cessna 172. The end.

53. Hey dad, Wasn’t the presentation
supposed to be about the airshows?

54. There weren’t any computers
available back in 1976 for
graphics artist to produce
artwork with so art had to be
created by hand. This is a picture
of the original oil painting used to
create the airshow poster.
artist unknown

55. My father’s printing presses were
too small to print the posters so
they were outsourced. This poster
was signed by many of the airshow
pilots. There would have been more
if we had thought of it earlier. It
was framed and wrapped with clear
plastic in a Ginza shop outside the
Navy Base in Yokosuka Japan in
1977.

56. This is a copy of the cover of
one of the original souvenir
programs. The idea was to
print the price of $25.00 on
them to make them seem
more valuable. The
programs were sold for a
dollar each.

57. Remember the original
purpose of hosting the
airshow was to increase
membership so they could
sustain the 2nd airplane. The
membership goal was met and
they were able to add a third
plane.

58. This page shows the field layout and the position of the airshow planes. My
dad positioned his business advertisement on the runway. He knew that
everyone would look at the field diagram.

59. I was walking around the field on the first day of the show and
a man I had never seen before walked up to me and asked me if
I was Pat Buckles son. I said I was. He asked, do you want to go
flying today or tomorrow. I asked him who he was and he told
me his name was Pat Epps and he was one of the airshow pilots.
I smiled and said tomorrow. We agreed on a time and place to
meet.

60. Sunday morning at 11:00 I arrived at the spot and he Mr. Epps
was there waiting on me. We got in his plane and he ran
through his entire aerobatic routine with me at 7,000’. I felt
nauseated but didn’t loose my breakfast if you know what I
mean. We landed and taxied to his position on the field in
front of thousands od people and I felt so cool when we got out
of his plane and walked off the field.

61. Pat was the first person I reached out to when Dillon and I
decided to put this presentation together. Pat sent an
autographed picture addressed to Dillon.