In a Vintage 1935 Waco, “Miracle On The Hudson” Pilot Jeff Skiles to Fly For Phillips 66® Aviation
/Near a grass runway in rural Wisconsin sits a restored, bright red, 1935 WACO biplane, newly painted with a logo as familiar to aviators as the owner of that vintage aircraft is to cable news viewers.
With his antique bi-plane, Jeff Skiles – First Officer for the famous Miracle on the Hudson flight – is returning to his roots in aviation, where he started as a 16-year-old pumping Phillips 66® Aviation avgas into single-engine planes.
The Wisconsin-based pilot is flying for Phillips 66 this summer and fall, the brand’s white, winged logo standing out against the WACO’s red fuselage. Skiles will attend fly-ins, EAA and aviation events with his plane, plus continue other appearances for Phillips 66.
“I guess I’ve come full circle with my aviation career,” Skiles said. “I like the idea of flying a vintage airplane decorated with the legendary logo from a brand that was part of my initiation into aviation.”
Skiles’ reunited with Phillips 66 last fall, when the venerable aviation brand invited the famous first officer to regale the crowds at the National Business Association of Aviation’s (NBAA) annual conference. His harrowing and frank account, peppered with Skiles’ wry Midwestern humor, delighted the NBAA attendees and inspired a brainstorming effort to see how Phillips 66 might support the pilot’s role as co-chairman of EAA’s Young Eagles program this year.
A lifetime of preparation as pilots, said Skiles, helped he and Captain Chesley Sullenberger save a plane-load of passengers from disaster when a gaggle of geese hit the engines of US Airways flight #1549 on a cold January day in 2009. Skiles said it made sense that he and his vintage plane flew for a brand known as “The Most Trusted Wings in Aviation.”
“Flying is a serious job with serious responsibilities,” Skiles said. “You have to be on top of your game at all times, because you have a responsibility to the people in the back of the plane. You never know what moment your entire career, your entire life could be judged.”
Phillips 66 is delighted to have Skiles flying the brand colors and logo on his classic 1935 WACO, says Rod Palmer, General Manager, Aviation, ConocoPhillips. “Phillips 66 has a storied history in aviation, sponsoring pilot explorers like Art Goebel in his victorious 1927 Dole Pineapple Race across the Pacific and Wiley Post on his record-setting 55,000-foot flight in 1934. We are honored to partner with Jeff Skiles, a consummate, professional pilot who embodies the idea of trust.”
For Skiles, flying with the wings logo keeps fresh the memories of a long-ago summer, when he pumped fuel from Phillips 66® Aviation tanker trucks shimmering in the sun and dreamt of being a pilot. Now, some 20,000 logged flight hours later, Skiles is eager to share his enthusiasm for aviation.
“People get the aviation bug when they see me pull up in that 1935 WACO,” says Skiles.
Upcoming Jeff Skiles Appearance for Phillips 66 Aviation
2010 AirVenture Oshkosh (Oshkosh, WI): 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 28, Tent #304