Viewpoint: Bob Ellis transformed Air Zoo into community treasure

How wise Suzanne and Pete Parish were in 1975 to choose a lanky, young airplane mechanic to head their new collection of Warbirds. When opened to the public in 1979, the community met handsome CEO Bob Ellis, who was to head the endeavor until 2013.

Bob presided over a veritable transformation: a small collection of planes in a hanger to a family entertainment destination in Portage and Kalamazoo. Largely a volunteer operation, Bob had to earn the loyalty of selfless plane restorers and docents. He motivated his troops so well that yearly air shows became a hallmark of the Air Zoo, aptly named for their beautifully restored and flyable Grumman Cats, Bell Cobras, Curtis Hawks and more dangerous predators.

Bob was the ideal plane captain, being a civil aviation flyer himself with a plane at the airport. Scores of planes, single and multi-engine, flew in for the weekend show starting on Thursday evening. The visiting crews enjoyed outstanding hospitality in Kalamazoo with their food, transportation, and lodging needs met under the guidance of the plane captain. The show really didn’t make money. Only a handful of employees were paid. Generous donors made up the difference.

The show started each year with a thrill. Sue Parish came screaming out of the sun in her pink Curtiss P-40E with the sound system playing Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America.” Her plane was a cosmetic masterpiece, combining the shark’s mouth on the radiator with the eye mascara lines over the teeth painted on.

In general, we enjoyed “Bob Ellis perfect weather” for most of the shows. Bob’s hardworking assistant, Kim, believed that Bob had special influence with the Man upstairs. In the rare cases of lightening and thunderstorms popping up, plane captains risked their lives to get canopies closed. Above all, we prayed for clear skies for the climax of the show that only Kalamazoo could produce. As the sound system blared the Navy hymn, the electrifying flight of the Grumman Cats with the big F-14 Tomcat in the center of the formation drilled a hole in the sky to produce a “missing man” formation over the field, led by Bob Ellis’ virtuoso Navy pilot brother, John Ellis, flying the Tigercat. There were few dry eyes in the house after John Ellis’ flyover.

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