A CLOSE CALL
For a while, Arnold Palmer never tried any overseas trips on his Citation III because it didn’t have a great deal of range. Once he flew commercially to Asia on a business trip, but for the return he decided to have his friend and co- pilot Lee Lauderback fly the Citation III to Hawaii to meet him in Honolulu halfway. The computa- tions looked fine flying from the West Coast to Hawaii, and it was fine going there. But on the way back to San Fran- cisco they encountered strong headwinds and began to get concerned with the fuel supply. It got so serious that they rerouted to Monterey Airport near Pebble Beach, which was the nearest airport on dry land. Luckily, they land- ed without delay. When they looked at what fuel was left, they realised they wouldn’t have had enough fuel for a go- around. That’s how tight it was and the closest call he ever had. – DOC GIFFIN
TRICK OF THE KING As his assistant for more than 50 years, I flew a lot with Arnold Palmer. In the early days, I had a habit of going to the cockpit and kneeling in the aisle right behind the pilot and co-pilot to watch what was going on. During one occasion in his first plane, the Jet Commander, Palmer played a trick on me. He was in the left seat, flying the plane, and without warning pulled the controls fully and did a 360. Whoop – I never moved off the floor. That’s how fast it happened. Then he just looked back at me and smiled. I think all I said was, “Whoa.” I got a real kick out of that, but I think he loved it more. He once pulled the same trick on his manager, Alastair Johnston. As Johnston recalls, “I was sitting in the back reading the Wall Street Journal, and I saw Palmer sort of lean over and say something to the co-pilot, so I knew something was up. Over we go, and I never looked up from the news- paper. I pretended like nothing had happened. I wasn’t going to react for him.” – DOC GIFFIN
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 71
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
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