Bill Pancake can tell you the exact date his life course was set: Sept. 6, 1946.
That’s when he took his first airplane ride at just 6 years old.
“That really got things going,” says Pancake, whose very life has been defined by aviation.
The lifelong aviator has amassed a variety of honors, including the latest, the General Aviation 2018 National Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year.
His is a tale of times gone by, when a young boy could escape hard times at home, make his way to the local airport, wash planes and mow grass to earn a dime to buy a balsa wood model airplane.
As he got older, he’d do chores at the airport in exchange for rides on planes at Keyser Airport in West Virginia, then started working on the planes.
A story he tells of the early years personifies Bill Pancake.
“On Sunday, the sixth of June in 1954, there was an airplane taking off from the field and it had engine failure. Bill Long was the pilot. He put the airplane down on a football field, which was adjacent to Potomac State College, which is part of West Virginia University here in Keyser. He wiped the right landing gear out and bent up the right wing tip and did some fabric damage.
“We were repairing the airplane. I was 14 at the time. The last Wednesday of each month the CAA (the predecessor to the FAA) would come around and make their monthly visit to these small airports. If anything needed done or they saw what needed corrected, they’d surely let you know.
“Well, we forgot it was Wednesday, and it was in the summer, and school was out. I was behind a hangar working on this airplane. I saw these two gentlemen walking up, and they had on a suit and tie, and at the age of 14 I knew that wasn’t good. They started talking to me, and their names were John Gibson and Bob Bell. I got to know them later on, they were two real fine gentlemen, but they got upset about an unsupervised kid doing aircraft maintenance.
“At that time, they were out of Washington D.C., and on their way back to D.C., they decided they needed to kick butt, so they wrote a two-page, typewritten letter to Stanley Dantzic, who was the airport manager at that time, about unsupervised kids working on airplanes. Well, we had to lay low from then on, just make sure that the wrong people didn’t come around that way.
“Anyway, I finished up the patching on the wing tip, and a few other minor things, and then they had another gentleman do the welding on the landing gear. I still remember the N number of the airplane, N1397E. That airplane is still flying today. It’s in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Anyway, that’s how I got started working on airplanes.”
His encyclopedic memory for dates, names, and numbers is one of the first things you notice when talking to Bill.
Aeronca Expert
Bill is known as the man to go to for all things Aeronca, honing his skills in the early days at Baker’s Airport in Burlington, West Virginia, which boasted an Aeronca distributor that offered sales and service.
“At that time, Aeronca wasn’t making airplanes, but we were maintaining them. That’s how I really got a start on Aeroncas. We were covering five or six airplanes a summer.
“I got to know the airplane real well,” he adds, then casually mentions that he has more than 5,000 original Aeronca factory drawings.
“I’m pretty well known worldwide for this particular airplane,” he says, noting that he’s had 13 award winners at Oshkosh, including six Grand Champions.
“I knew what to do to get a grand champion, because I knew what they looked for,” he explains. “Most of the people that I was helping with their projects, a lot of them started their project, and then couldn’t get it finished. Then they brought it to me to finish.”
Although best known for his restorations of Aeronca airplanes and Continental engines, he has also maintained older Pipers, Cessnas, Wacos, Pitcairns, Mooneys, Maules, Ercoupes, Republic Seabees, Stinsons, Staggerwing Beeches, Stearmans, Rearwin Cloudesters, and Bellancas. He’s worked on a variety of engines, including Jacobs, Warners, Wrights, Pratt and Whitneys, Curtiss OX-5s, Lycomings, and Franklins.
He’s also received FAA approval for five Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for modifications to vintage aircraft to make them safer and easier to maintain, including a starter system that eliminates the need for hand propping, and an improved method for attaching fabric to structures.
Life took a different turn for Bill in 1960 when he began working for West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company (Westvaco) as an electronics technician. However, during the 42 years he worked there, he never lost his passion for aviation.
In 1973, a full 29 years before he retired from Westvaco, he opened his own restoration shop, Pancake Aviation.
Word soon spread that Bill was back in the airplane business, and what started as a side gig grew into a successful company.
Bill spends most of his days now helping aircraft owners and mechanics. It’s not unusual for him to get phone calls and emails from people across the world — Russia, Chile, Brazil, Canada, and most of the 50 states — asking for his help. He’s always quick to invite those who need his help to his shop in Keyser, West Virginia.
The pilot
People often ask Bill how long it took him to solo.
“Oh, I had 50 or 60 hours before I soloed,” he would tell them. “They said, ‘Why so many?’ I said, ‘I had to wait until I was old enough.’”
He soloed on his 16th birthday, Feb. 9, 1956, and earned his private pilot certificate on his 17th birthday, passing his written test with a score of 100%.
“It was the same way with my oldest grandson, Michael,” Bill says with pride. “He had a good bit of time when he soloed. I soloed him on his 16th birthday, on the same field I soloed on my 16th birthday.”
Bill soloed Michael on July 4, 2004, and his youngest grandson, Curtiss, on Oct. 30, 2008, both on their 16th birthdays from Miller Field, the same airport that Bill soloed from on his 16th birthday in an Aeronca Champ.
“It gave me a real nice feeling when those two guys took off,” he recalls. “I watched the wheels leave the ground and I just had goosebumps all over me.
“Now I’ve soloed a lot of other kids on their 16th birthdays, but I never had the feeling that I had when I soloed Michael and Curtiss,” continues Bill, who holds commercial, instrument, multi-engine, and Certified Flight Instructor ratings, as well as Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic (A&P) with Inspection Authorization (IA) ratings.
He’s now helping one of his grandsons build a Van’s RV-8, while he looks forward to teaching his granddaughter, Hannah, to fly soon.
His middle grandson, Robert, is the family’s “car guy,” according to his grandparents. A chef by trade, Robert enjoys auto cross racing — and Bill enjoys helping him with his Porsche restoration projects.
Reaching the next generation is critical, adds the veteran aviator.
“There’s so many other things today to take the interest of younger boys and girls away from aviation,” he notes.
He adds that pancake breakfasts and Young Eagles flights, like the ones offered by his EAA Chapter 426 in Wiley Ford, West Virginia, are a big help.
“That brings out a lot of kids,” he says.
Another entry point: School science fairs. Bill has been a judge at these fairs for years.
In fact, four years ago the West Virginia Eastern Regional Science Fair established an award in Bill’s honor. The Bill Pancake Aviation Award is given to the student whose project exemplifies an aviation-related subject. The year’s winner, Joey Gentile from Jefferson High School in Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia, was able to go to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this year as part of the EAA Air Academy.
“I think that’s real nice — they get kids started back looking at airplanes again, instead of looking at video games,” he says.
His greatest aviation memory
When asked about his greatest aviation memory, Bill immediately thought of the two days he soloed his two grandsons. Then he quickly changed his mind, asking to “back up a bit.”
“My greatest memory?” he says. “There was this girl peeping out of the window of the school bus. Then she started hanging around the airport in Burlington, West Virginia. She was friends with my cousin, but all I could think is ‘what’s that little skinny brat hanging around here for?”
A friend at the airport took Bill aside and told him, “Pancake, you better get your head out of that airplane and look up — she’s here after you.”
This June, Saundra and Bill Pancake celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in Middletown, Ohio, at the National Aeronca Association Fly-In.
“We’ve had a real good marriage thanks to the airplanes,” Bill says.
The couple have one daughter, Dr. Stacey Boggs, who is a math professor at Allegany College in Cumberland, Maryland, and Potomac State College, which is part of West Virginia University.
Awards
In 2006, Bill received the FAA’s two highest awards — the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award and the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award — given for being an aircraft mechanic and a pilot for 50 years without any infractions, violations, or accidents. At the time Bill received these awards, he was one of only 40 pilots in the U.S. to receive both awards, and the only West Virginian.
In 2008, Bill was inducted into the EAA Vintage Hall of Fame at Oshkosh.
In 2010, Bill and his wife Saundra started working on creating a West Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame when they discovered that the state was one of only 14 that didn’t have one. Four years later, in 2014, the Hall of Fame became a reality, and Bill was among the first group of inductees, along with Gen. Chuck Yeager, astronaut Captain Jon McBride, and other notable West Virginian pilots.
Great article and what a wonderful life you Bill have had with your great work in general aviation. my story…1963 moved to the. bush country in Alaska….haven’t learned to fly yet and at this time purchased a 7AC Champ C85 Hp only remember the last 2 tail numbers 87Y paid $2500 for it learned to fly wheels or skis great performance. Loved it hauled many loads of hunt kills.. But one must state beware of cross winds. Have great memories with this jewel. Thanks for your story.
I learned to fly 45 years ago in an Aeronca 7ECA. After owning 7 different aircraft starting with my first J3, I am in the process of purchasing an Aeronca 7AC with a C-65. Scares the hell out of me with the wood spar AD and I am just now discovering that many of these old spars were laminated which in itself is not a problem but does make one uneasy when you spot a glue line that you’re not sure is a crack or not. Nice to now there are people like Mr. Pancake in the world who are so knowledgeable about such aircraft. I have not reached out to him but think that perhaps I ought to.
Thanks for a great article!
Bill & Saundra Pancake are a real team! Bill is an absolute genius when it come to out Aeronca’s, however behind him is a very dedicated wife who keeps the records & answers the phone calls & types out the STC applications etc. Married for over 55 years, it all started at the airport! A wonderful couple & friends. This is a great article about a great aviation team! Thank you Bill & Saundra!
That engine that Bill is standing behind in the first photo of this article is my A-65, now bolted to the front of my ’46 11AC Chief. It’s given me over 500 trouble-free hrs since Bill overhauled it in 2012 and I still smile every time I open the cowling during a preflight or annual. Bill and Saunie are wonderful people that I am honored to call my friends.
I had the pleasure to speak with Mr Pancake several times. I had no idea of his occomplishments untill easing this article. He is such a personable guy. I had questions regarding a ’41 Chiefs lift struts, but ended up shooting the breeze about everything, including airconditioning. Great individual. Thank you Mr Pancake if you see this.
My name is John Borchin…I flew the N3474E 7-AC for 30 years….out of CA….My brother and i got it flying after a wing was rebuilt….in the early 1960…..Then my Dad sold it…..I moved to OR. with INTEL CORP….GOT A VANS RV3 flew it for 4 yrs.. then got a vans RV6 FLEW IT FOR 6yrs….also had ball in it…Then got another champ….N 2171E…My flying was from Dad,,,,,He is gone now…but never forgot……He soloed me at 16…..my brother at 13…..The plane i soloed in was my Dads PIPER PA-20 PACER N7744K…I wanted that air plane ….but as one person said to me…sh— happens…..and i did not get the plane of me dreams….OH WELL…I GOT OVER IT……..SAFE FLYING TO YOU ALL……….
My Dad owned the Champ that Bill talked about N1397E. He was flying it up until 2016. When he passed away in 2017 it became mine. I hope to get it annauled this year and start flying it again
I now have a total of 65,000 hours…30,000 Navy, 35.000 airline. My first solo was in a Champ…I’ve loved them ever since! FUN airplane! Enjoy!
I had 9 champs loved them all.Irecoverd them all.then sold them.the best air plane I ever owned.
Bill Pancake is an aviation treasure. Our early introduction to the world of flight was quite similar- at age 12 after two years of pleading, my Dad and I took our first flight in 1947, sitting in the back seat of a Piper J-5 cruiser. named Muggsy. The aviation bug bit clean through me. Membership as a Civil Air Patrol cadet a year later, followed by airport line boy at Bolton Airport, MA. Soloed a T-Craft just after my 16th B\D, with five hours and 30 minutes dual from four ‘disinterested’ GI Bill flight instructors. Private pilot license on skis in an Aeronca Champ in 1952. As a 17 year old high school senior I scrounged up $150.00 to buy an unlicensed (and unloved) 1936 J-2 Taylor Cub. 40 HP, no brakes, and a complete spare engine in a crate completed the deal.
After that, Bill became a very special part of the G/A maintenance scene, and particularly an Aeronca Guru. On my first trip to Osh in 1986 I saw Bill giving one of his countless presentations on Aeronca Maintenance. I met Bill again, at an Aeronca gathering at Middletown, OH, some years later, and after becoming the owner of a pristine totally rebuilt 1945 7 AC Champ, complete with an 85 HP. C-85-12, full electric and a beautiful green and white paint scheme.
I would call Bill during a complete top overhaul with questions. It was then that I decided to pay a visit to him. He is such a personable guy. A tour of his shop and his little grass airstrip on a hillside filled a whole day of enjoyment. On top of all of his talent he is a real gentleman, a quiet unassuming nice guy. He certainly deserves all the recognition he has received, and I am sure more will be forthcoming.
Captain Bob Trumpolt, TWA
A a little easier to fly and more forgiving than the J-3 Cub, and about 10 knts faster!
Bill provided countless hours to me when I purchased a non-flying Aeronca 11AC. Twenty -one months later it was back in the air. I obtained my license in that plane. I will always be thankful to Bill for his expertise and friendship.
Jay Manor
NC3685E
Wow what a guy. enjoyed the story
Myself being and old pilot from WV I soloed in a 7AC out of a short grass field and completed my cross country flights in that aircraft, I found your story heart warming, good job
Great story, Janice!