Phil Grisham is justifiably proud of
this Olympic torch presented to him
for his contribution to the 1996
Olympic flame cross country trip.

Phil Grisham has been a member of Chapter 59 since about 1989 and he and
his lovely wife Anne started and have hosted the annual Veterans Day Fly-in ever since.
Phil has had many health problems in the past few years. In fact, we have often told him
he could save a lot of surgical costs by having zippers installed in all critical locations of
his body. Recovering now from a stroke, we wish Phil well and present this sketch of his
flying experiences over the last fifty or so years.

Phil and Alton Boyett visit during a fly-in

Phil Grisham was raised in Smithville, Texas. In 1947, at the age of 15 he got his first airplane ride. It was a Stinson 108-2 owned by the family of a school friend, whose family had a car dealership in town. When Phil graduated from high school in 1951 he joined the Air Force. Asked if it was for the love of aviation that he joined, Phil said “No, it was because I couldn’t get a job!” No one would hire him with the draft and the Korean War hanging over his head. He joined the Air Force, went to Airframe and Powerplant school and jet engine school, then to his first duty station in Georgia.

While there he met a co-worker with a Taylorcraft BC-12D and started flying with him often. They were both transferred to Perrin AFB back in northern Texas and Phil helped him fly it back here. I think you could say that the Taylorcraft was probably the airplane responsible for the start of airplane fever Phil has since suffered from.

Phil gave Anne Botsford a ride she will probably never forget.

When he was transferred to Carswell AFB in Ft. Worth in 1954, he got involved in the air base aeroclub and started working in earnest on his private pilot license. Phil soloed in the club’s Piper J-3 and also flew their PA-12 and Cessna 175. One flight he will never forget was that first solo in the J- 3. No one ever forgets his fist solo flight! However, he got his private license here in Waco in 1954 flying a Cessna 140 his
father-in-law, Cecil Scott had purchased. Skeet Eason, a local instructor and flight examiner, signed Phil off as a Private Pilot.

Phil was based here in Waco at James Connally AFB from 1959 to 1961, where he continued to fly the Scott family C-140. Next he was sent to Clark Air Base in the Philippines where he worked in the jet engine shop for the F-100, F-102 and T-33 aircraft based there. There was an active aeroclub on the base with a Tri-Pacer and a PA-18. Flying the Tri-pacer gave Phil a memorable fight one day when, with a heavy passenger in the backseat, a pilot Phil was checking out stalled the airplane, jammed in full right rudder putting the plane into the beginnings of a nasty spin.
Phil managed to smoothly recover from the resulting dive heading the opposite direction. After his tour in the Philippines, Phil was reassigned to Webb AFB in Big Spring, Texas. At this Air Force pilot training base Phil worked in the engine shop for the T-33, T- 37, and T-38 aircraft based there. He was active in the base aeroclub and flew their Cessna 172, but also bought his first airplane in this time period.

I said he gave her a ride didn't I?

It was a 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D purchased near Hillsboro for $950 with a fresh annual inspection. That was a lot of money, but he was able to take out a loan and make the payments. One of Phil’s most exciting flights was in this airplane when a young Airman in the engineshop asked for a ride in his airplane.

He told Phil he had flown on many occasions but it soon became apparent he had never been in an airplane before. Phil asked if he had seen a stall and the answer was “sure, plenty of them.” Phil demonstrated one and the guy panicked so badly that he grabbed the yoke, pulled it all the way back, and put the airplane in a fully developed spin before Phil could get him unfrozen from the controls. Before leaving to his next duty station he sold the plane to Waco flyers Bob Brashear and Marshall Green.

Phil & Anns beautiful Scott Field.

In 1965 Phil was transferred to Kelly AFB in San Antonio where he started his assignment as a Flight Engineer on the C- 124. The aeroclub there had a Cessna 150, a Cardinal, and a Cessna 210. Phil was very active in that flying club as a checkout pilot and doing maintenance test flights. While at Kelly, Phil also earned his commercial and CFI ratings. With many heading west to Southeast Asia in 1968, Phil lucked out and was assigned not-so-far west to Hawaii for his last assignment before retirement from the Air Force. In Hawaii Phil spent many hours giving flight instruction in a Cessna 150. While there, Anne taught school and Phil had a side business renting cars and this provided them with a nice nest egg to get their retirement home back in Waco started.

While on leave in Waco in 1970, Phil found a good deal on a Cessna 150 in Oklahoma with only 507 hours total time. He bought it and gave many hours of instruction in that plane over the years. After owning it over 30 years, this is the C-150 Chapter 59 member Jeff Orr now flies. Phil retired from the Air Force in January of 1972 and Anne started teaching here immediately while Phil started work on their beautiful home at Scott Field. Phil spent the next 25 plus years in the construction business and was extremely busy those first few years. He still flew his 150 but finally took time to purchase a new Cessna Hawk XP in 1979, which he owned for about 10 years.

Here’s Phil receiving his plaque for service as Chapter 59 Technical
Counselor in January of 2003, from Pres. Emmette Craver.

Here’s Phil Grisham with a big smile, flying Big Red, his 450 HP Stearman bi-plane.

Phil’s collection of aircraft has grown and taken a variety of forms over the years including a nice little Smith Miniplane he bought a couple of years after Big Red. Then he added a Champion 7-EC to use as a tailwheel trainer for his students. That airplane now awaits completion of its restoration. Phil also had a Stinson 108-3 for awhile which he restored and several years later purchased a Mustang 2 homebuilt, which he still owns

Several other Cessna 150s passed through Phil’s hands over the years, with the last airplane acquired being the very nice RV-8 he now has. At the Chapter 59 membership meeting Phil or Jim Warren (I can’t remember which) gave an interesting account of their adventure picking that plane up in Washington State. It was a Canadian airplane from across the border and the beautiful flight back across the Rocky Mountains was something Jim and Phil will never forget, I’m sure. Did Phil and I both forget that he also has a Citabria, as we went through the list? Wouldn’t surprise me if there are others forgotten also.

When Brent Boyko and Rebecca New got married they asked Phil to bring Big Red over for the wedding.
Naturally Phil accomidated without much hesitation.

On the mantle of the fireplace in Phil and Anne’s living room is an Olympic torch they are particularly proud of. This isn’t a souvenir copy either. It’s the real thing and impressive to behold.
It was presented to Phil after he had the honor of carrying the Olympic flame from Waco to Bryan- College Station in 1996. If you were in Waco at that time, you saw great coverage of that event and Phil’s flight taking off under the power lines on University Parks Drive. Phil has a great story to tell about that memorable event to which the length of this article just can’t do justice. Another article in a future issue might be appropriate to tell that tale, or maybe we’ll get Phil to retell the story at a future Chapter 59 meeting.

Phil and Anne Grisham’s involvement in Chapter 59 and their contribution to aviation in our part of Texas bring home the great “family” and value this organization provides us all.

Phil with his RV-8

He served also as Chapter 59 Technical Counselor and Young Eagle Airboss for many years. Whether we are simply airplane lovers, owners, builders, or have been blessed with a variety of aviation experiences, sharing this lifestyle with our good friends is made possible in great part due to our involvement in the EAA. Sounds like a good deal to me. Thanks, Phil and Anne!

-McMains