Twister Frost
Well-known member
I thought this was a really great story--Dwayne and Zona are wonderful people, and they have always done a lot for the sport of rodeo.
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/07/26/sports/local/doc4a6cd3a35dd90177637762.txt
Flying the friendly skies
The fly 'em cowboy helps South Dakota rodeo stars
By Joe Kavanaugh, Journal correspondent | Sunday, July 26, 2009
Dwayne Vig is a man who has been around, a career as a United Airlines pilot saw to that. Three decades spent in the cockpit might be enough to send one back to the childhood ranch in Mud Butte, S.D., ready to do nothing but put up some hay and take it easy.
However, for Vig, 67 and retired from United since 2001, there was another call waiting, a chance to honor his sense of South Dakota values by helping out a younger generation of South Dakota cowboys. Vig found a way to accomplish that end by providing his plane — with himself as the pilot — and transporting South Dakota cowboys between rodeo venues all over the country.
Vig, who last week flew area cowboys Cody Taton and Jeff Willert back from Spanish Fork, Utah, said the attraction to being a part-time cowboy pilot is continuing the long heritage of the sport.
"Rodeo is the No. 1 sport in Western South Dakota," Vig said. "It's a sport that identifies with ranching and our lifestyle here in South Dakota. And that is something that I find important. I don't watch most other sports anymore because I don't much care for the lifestyle glamorized by those athletes. I've got 14 grandkids and I'd prefer they didn't idolize those people. These young rodeo cowboys are athletes and neighbors that probably compete on the roughest sporting field there is, and yet they remain some of the most sincere, pleasant, positive and upbeat bunch of guys you can imagine."
Vig hadn't really planned to be a pilot when he joined the Navy and signed up for the submarine service. Not much blue sky available down there.
"Maybe it was a reaction to that," he said. "The Navy did not teach me to fly. I learned to fly on my own in 1962 partly because my dad and my brother always had some sort of airplane around the ranch since it is a handy tool."
Vig went to South Dakota State after his stint in the Navy, graduated in 1969 and began his long career with United Airlines. A people person, Vig loved not only the flying but providing a service to thousands of people. Only his last days on the job remain an unpleasant memory.
"Mandatory retirement was 60 years old then, so I quit in 2001. I didn't get to fly my retirement flight because I was scheduled to fly my final flight on Sept. 12," Vig said. "Everybody knows what happened on Sept. 11. Some of my friends went into the tower."
So given his ranch background and his years of service as a pilot, it is perhaps not surprising that Vig would find a manner in which to perpetuate the memory of those values dear to him.
"We are all stewards of what we do," said Vig, who with wife, Zona, raised five children on a ranch near Mud Butte. "And since I have considerable expertise in flying and am comfortable with what I do, I know I can help these young cowboys by getting them around quickly and safely and help them out."
A couple of flights and word spread quickly among South Dakota cowboys that Vig was a man willing to help cowboys make ends meet.
"I don't charge anything for my time," he said. "That makes it workable for them to do. They just pay for the gas and the cost of the airplane. I've flown cowboys off and on since the early 1970s, going back to Tom Miller, Billy Etbauer, Danny Mortenson. I've had an opportunity to fly them all."
Nor does Vig find his service to be much of a burden, which perhaps speaks to the lifestyle and temperament of a man who takes great pleasure in helping others.
"It's a people thing really," he said. "Thirty-two years at United taught me that, serving people and getting there on time. And I always enjoy getting the cowboys to their rodeo on time."
On Friday, Vig began his day at home by raking and swathing some hay, then driving to Faith where his airplane was parked. Following a flight to Cheyenne, Wyo., and a 2 p.m. arrival, he took a short nap while waiting for the cowboys to complete their Cheyenne Frontier Day performance. Nor did he find the schedule hectic at all.
"I've long ago learned that if you are comfortable with what you do, nothing is too difficult," he said. "I actually relax in the airplane more than I do in a car. It's very satisfying to be able to serve those young guys and the older I get the more I like young people. The story isn't really about me, it's about them and the people of South Dakota and how we treat each other and how we help each other. And it's about helping friends really since these guys have become personal friends of mine."
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/07/26/sports/local/doc4a6cd3a35dd90177637762.txt
Flying the friendly skies
The fly 'em cowboy helps South Dakota rodeo stars
By Joe Kavanaugh, Journal correspondent | Sunday, July 26, 2009
Dwayne Vig is a man who has been around, a career as a United Airlines pilot saw to that. Three decades spent in the cockpit might be enough to send one back to the childhood ranch in Mud Butte, S.D., ready to do nothing but put up some hay and take it easy.
However, for Vig, 67 and retired from United since 2001, there was another call waiting, a chance to honor his sense of South Dakota values by helping out a younger generation of South Dakota cowboys. Vig found a way to accomplish that end by providing his plane — with himself as the pilot — and transporting South Dakota cowboys between rodeo venues all over the country.
Vig, who last week flew area cowboys Cody Taton and Jeff Willert back from Spanish Fork, Utah, said the attraction to being a part-time cowboy pilot is continuing the long heritage of the sport.
"Rodeo is the No. 1 sport in Western South Dakota," Vig said. "It's a sport that identifies with ranching and our lifestyle here in South Dakota. And that is something that I find important. I don't watch most other sports anymore because I don't much care for the lifestyle glamorized by those athletes. I've got 14 grandkids and I'd prefer they didn't idolize those people. These young rodeo cowboys are athletes and neighbors that probably compete on the roughest sporting field there is, and yet they remain some of the most sincere, pleasant, positive and upbeat bunch of guys you can imagine."
Vig hadn't really planned to be a pilot when he joined the Navy and signed up for the submarine service. Not much blue sky available down there.
"Maybe it was a reaction to that," he said. "The Navy did not teach me to fly. I learned to fly on my own in 1962 partly because my dad and my brother always had some sort of airplane around the ranch since it is a handy tool."
Vig went to South Dakota State after his stint in the Navy, graduated in 1969 and began his long career with United Airlines. A people person, Vig loved not only the flying but providing a service to thousands of people. Only his last days on the job remain an unpleasant memory.
"Mandatory retirement was 60 years old then, so I quit in 2001. I didn't get to fly my retirement flight because I was scheduled to fly my final flight on Sept. 12," Vig said. "Everybody knows what happened on Sept. 11. Some of my friends went into the tower."
So given his ranch background and his years of service as a pilot, it is perhaps not surprising that Vig would find a manner in which to perpetuate the memory of those values dear to him.
"We are all stewards of what we do," said Vig, who with wife, Zona, raised five children on a ranch near Mud Butte. "And since I have considerable expertise in flying and am comfortable with what I do, I know I can help these young cowboys by getting them around quickly and safely and help them out."
A couple of flights and word spread quickly among South Dakota cowboys that Vig was a man willing to help cowboys make ends meet.
"I don't charge anything for my time," he said. "That makes it workable for them to do. They just pay for the gas and the cost of the airplane. I've flown cowboys off and on since the early 1970s, going back to Tom Miller, Billy Etbauer, Danny Mortenson. I've had an opportunity to fly them all."
Nor does Vig find his service to be much of a burden, which perhaps speaks to the lifestyle and temperament of a man who takes great pleasure in helping others.
"It's a people thing really," he said. "Thirty-two years at United taught me that, serving people and getting there on time. And I always enjoy getting the cowboys to their rodeo on time."
On Friday, Vig began his day at home by raking and swathing some hay, then driving to Faith where his airplane was parked. Following a flight to Cheyenne, Wyo., and a 2 p.m. arrival, he took a short nap while waiting for the cowboys to complete their Cheyenne Frontier Day performance. Nor did he find the schedule hectic at all.
"I've long ago learned that if you are comfortable with what you do, nothing is too difficult," he said. "I actually relax in the airplane more than I do in a car. It's very satisfying to be able to serve those young guys and the older I get the more I like young people. The story isn't really about me, it's about them and the people of South Dakota and how we treat each other and how we help each other. And it's about helping friends really since these guys have become personal friends of mine."