Dick Janitell, EAA Lifetime 421415, was recently inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame and is set to receive his Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award on Thursday. Dick has reached some lofty heights in aviation, and it all started when some of his father’s friends were looking for a better deal.
“We were ranchers and farmers just south of Colorado Springs, and my dad had some friends who were pilots who used to fly out and land in our pasture,” Dick said. “On Sundays my mother would cook them breakfast. That eventually led to them saying, ‘Hey, Colorado Springs [Airport] is charging us $15 a month to tie our planes down, we’re out here all the time. Why don’t we just keep them out here in your pasture?’ That led to us starting an airport by the name of Pikes Peak Airport, and that’s how I started flying.”
Living on an airport tends to offer flight training opportunities. So, when Dick’s cousin got certified as an instructor, Dick started flying lessons. Dick learned the old-fashioned way in a Piper J-3 Cub, as have his kids and, soon, his grandchildren.
“My cousin broke the ice, he went and got his instructors rating and taught all of us,” Dick said. “Matter of fact, he’s 84 and still instructing; he’s on about the fourth generation of pilots now.”
Since getting his certificate, Dick has flown more than 9,000 hours without an accident or incident. That time was spent in a variety of aircraft including types like the Cessna Citation and Hawker Sea Fury. In total Dick estimates he’s flown 60-70 different types, with some of the more exotic ones coming because of his work as a distributor and at an FBO.
“We’re in the aircraft sales business and the FBO business here at the Colorado Springs airport, so I’ve been in aviation my whole life,” Dick said. “It beats a real job.”
Dick said he found the process of moving up through ratings and types rewarding, and the company he kept in aviation made the whole process a good time.
“I learned in a J-3 Cub, I still have the original Cub I learned to fly in,” Dick said. “To start at the bottom and work your way up through — I never thought I’d see a multi-engine, let alone a jet. It’s just been great, the process. The biggest thing is the folks I’ve met in aviation through the years. You get a bad apple here or there, but the vast majority are really neat folks.”