Captain Arlie J. Nixon has been a frequent visitor at the Ponca City Aviation Booster Club fly-in breakfast for the past four years. While some of you may have spoken with him, many are unaware of his remarkable history, both in and beyond aviation.

He grew up on a farm near Merrimac, OK
He was the first naval aviator from the state of Oklahoma
He was one of three members in the naval aerobatic team 1937 - 1939
He was a pilot for TWA for 36 years and a captain for 33 years
He was the 5th pilot in the world to fly the Boeing 747

Professionally on the following commercial prop planes he was:
Co-pilot on a Ford Tri-motor, which carried 10 passengers
Captain and co-pilot on the Douglas DC2
Captain only on the Douglas DC3 and Boeing 307
Captain only for the following Lockheed Constellations: 049, 069, 701, Super G and Super H and 1649 (Jetstream)
Captain on the following jets: Boeing 707 and Boeing 747

Arlie owned and flew a Johnson Rocket (and other private planes too numerous to mention). He said that 16 Rockets were built and 15 of them killed their owners. Arlie’s Rocket killed the man who owned it after Arlie.

During his career he narrowly averted major airline catastrophes on three separate occasions. During one incident, engine failure nearly resulted in the incineration of the city of Paris. Follow this link to an article of that event, which appeared in Readers Digest.

On your next visit to the breakfast, feel free to stop by Arlie’s table and say ‘Hi’!