HDBRbuilder Posted May 4, 2002 Share Posted May 4, 2002 Ok, Folks...here is another one: There are a number of different personality types in this world. The ones I have always held great admiration for are those who sincerely believe in the addage: "Where there's a will, there's a way". These personality types are what have made this country great...from the early pioneers all the way up to the inventors of modern times. PWK lived his entire life based on this addage. As I have previously related in this forum, during the time I worked at Klipsch, all the employees took great delight in hearing yet again of our beloved Mr. Paul having "pulled-one" on somebody, or "put one over" when encountering a situation where many not as crafty as he would have found themselves against the proverbial "brick wall". All too often, when I would arrive at the plant before work, there would be a group of employees standing around together drinking coffee and relating Mr. Paul's most recent "good one"!! One morning I arrived and a large group was standing around having a laugh at the expense of the "powers that be" of the Hope, AR airport. The Hope airport had originally been built at the beginning of World War II as a military airport for the Army ammunition proving grounds at Oakhaven, just north of Hope. Oakhaven was also the location of the plant, which had originally been part of the proving grounds' property. Over the years, the survival of this airport had been "iffy" at best, and without the efforts of PWK, I sincerely doubt it would have lived very long! Since a young man, PWK had always been an avid aviator. And he still was. His involvement in aviation is legendary to those who know its history...especially in the applications of radar and LORAN. Even his donation of his patents on radar and such to the government during the war is pretty well-known in aviation circles. He has also been heavily involved with the Confederate Air Force over the years...from "day-one", as a matter of fact! He found a great kinship in the members of that organization and their efforts to aquire, preserve, and fly primarily military aircraft from the World War II era. Anyway, for some odd reason, PWK had been banned from using the runway facilities at the airport anymore. It seemed that the administrators of the airport had either initiated or raised a runway use fee that PWK felt was either unfair or exhorbitant, and therefore refused to pay! And this led to his being banned from flying in and out of the airport. But his airplane was stored there, and apparently there was no problem with that...only his use of the runway!!! Around the airport was a barbed-wire fence, and beyond this fence lay open pasture-land. This fence followed the perimeter of the airport and ran adjacent to the airport storage area and the aircraft staging area concrete pads. This fence also happened to be on the private property and NOT on the airport property!! Well, PWK wasn't gonna let a little thing like "being banned from runway usage" keep him from flying whenever he wanted, so he purchased the land adjacent to the airport!! Then he cut an opening in the barbed-wire fence adjacent to the staging area, that was wide enough for his airplane to taxi through...put up a gate, and chained and padlocked it closed. Whenever PWK wanted to fly, he just drove out to the airport, parked his car, got his airplane, taxied it to that gate, went through the gate and took off and landed on his own damned property!!! After landing the plane, he taxied back through the gate and parked his aircraft in his storage area at the airport, got in his car and left!!! Well, this just tickled the hell outta the employees, but it really "pissed-off" the "powers that be" at the Hope airport, and they attempted to have PWK's pilot's license "pulled"! What those "powers that be" at the airport didn't figure into the equation was how the "powers that be" at the FAA had been on a first-name basis with PWK for many years, so...since there wasn't anything illegal about what PWK was doing, his license was never revoked! As a matter of fact, I imagine those folks at the FAA got a good laugh outta PWK's application of "Where there's a will, there's a way"!! The employees at the plant sure as hell thought Mr. Paul had "pulled off a good one", yet again!!! ------------------ If you want to send a private message, or have already done so, be aware I have not as yet been able to retrieve them. Send e-maill instead, please...just note Klipsch forum in the heading so it doesn't get deleted. This message has been edited by HDBRbuilder on 05-04-2002 at 02:25 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 HDBR I did not realize Paul was so into Aviation. Good Story. I remember a friend of mine said he saw Paul at the EAA fly here at Oshkosh, gosh it must have been 20 years ago. I'll have to look him up to see if he was a member? The field I fly out of will be sold sometime within the next 5 years. The old owner has died and the son sees the development potiential... Cant say I blame him. Do you know if he was still flying? Steve Whitman - the famous pilon racing pilot died in a crash at the age of 92. He raced and still WON at the ripe old age of 88. I know this is an audio forum - but Im sorry, my other passion is flying... I was also sad to learn today that Paul died. He was a great man. You are lucky to have known him personally. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted May 5, 2002 Author Share Posted May 5, 2002 JM, When I left Klipsch, Mr. Paul was still flying at the age of 71. I don't know when he stopped piloting an aircraft, but I am sure it had to be over two years ago, due to his physical health beginning to finally seriously fail on him at that time. But, one thing I am sure of, is that whenever he felt that his ability to fly was hampered at all by his own health, he very grudgingly hung up his wings...he was that kind of man. I also know that around 1980, the "powers that be" in the company, decided to purchase a "V" tailed aircraft...if I remember correctly, it was a Beechcraft Bonanza? (sorry, I have never been very "up" on many of the civilian aircraft) Mr. Paul was not as quick to extole the virtues of it as the others who flew it, though. Another thing that I didn't exactly understand at the time I worked there(but now do) was the FAA was NOT the original issuer of Mr. Paul's pilot's license, because it didn't even exist when he first began flying...as a matter of fact, there was NO internationally-recognized issuer of pilot's licenses in the United States when Mr. Paul was first licensed, but instead, he was licensed through the French Societie d' Aeronautique (sic)!...from what I had been told, anyway...and he definitely WAS one of the original founders of the CAF!!! That day we had such a long chat, once he found out I had been a paratrooper, he immediately inquired as to which different aircraft I had gotten a chance to jump out of. As I mentioned the different ones, he had comments about each and every one...the man definitely knew his aircraft!!...But when I mentioned jumping from a C-5A Galaxy as a member of a mass-tactical parachute-drop test group in 1973, his ears perked up and he wanted to know all about it!!! He really got tickled at that!!! Mr. Paul had many other interests, too. He not only was an avid miniature railroad hobbyist(electric trains), but he also hand-built many exact miniature replicas of old steam engines and such for his set-up at home, using copies of the original working drawings of these engines in order to do so accurately!! In addition to that, he was a very serious shooter and fan of firearms, especially rifles, and in particular, small-bore and military rifle competition! And many who worked at the plant hunted with custom re-loads that Mr. Paul had himself worked-up and loaded specifically for their particular rifles!!! He even offered to work up a variety of different game-specific/range-specific loads for my rifle when he found out I hunted with a Ruger M77 in .300 WinMag!! His assignment at Hope, AR during World War II at the ammunition proving grounds was directly related to improvement of existing small arms cartridges for military use! If I remember correctly, he retired from the Army Reserve as a Colonel!! I am sure that he had even more keen and varied interests and hobbies of which I am unaware. He was definitely a Renaissance Man trapped in the 20th Century, but adapting to the conditions around him and excelling in everything he attempted!!! Go with God, Mr. Paul! You will be sorely missed!! ------------------ If you want to send a private message, or have already done so, be aware I have not as yet been able to retrieve them. Send e-maill instead, please...just note Klipsch forum in the heading so it doesn't get deleted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barista Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 HDBRbuilder, I want to say thank you for taking the time and effort to share such wonderful stories. I know personally Klipsch has a deeper meaning for me. Especially when hearing such wonderful stories of it's wonderful founder and many dedicated employees. Since I was a child Klipsch was always my favorite, I think mostly because I lived a grew up in that part of the country (About an hour south of Hope in Texarkana). It was always a neat feeling knowing such innovative products could be designed and built by a bunch of "Good O'l Boys" from my part of the country. I've spent a lot of time in Hope, and surrounding cities (errr, towns?), but never been to the Klipsch plant. People in that area are some of the most pleasant folk I've met, and if I'm going to drop a lot of cash, I feel justified that it is going to pay such a dedicated group of people. I'm not sure if this is a touchy subject or not, but what exactly will happen to the Hope plant and people when the new plant is done? I think a lot of what "Klipsch" is, is due to the spirit of the people who build the products. I would hate to see Klipsch loose sight of it's roots and heritage simply for profit. ------------------ Barista T. Bill My Rig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 Keep those stories rolling, HDBRbuilder ... if ever there was a time for it, the time is now! For PWK was a man even greater than his speakers... and you are one special voice that brings out things we can't find in PWK's excellent biography. For years I was active in the Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth, Texas that restores vintage aircraft to flying status... and many of our members are also Confederate Air Force Colonels (i.e., every CAF member is automatically designated a Colonel)... and so some of PWK's flying exploits reached us years ago. Too bad I can't recall them with enough clarity... but most of them were humorous as I recall. And while PWK may be gone... the power, insight and majesty of anecdotes of his life should not be forgotten! -HornED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted May 8, 2002 Author Share Posted May 8, 2002 Barista, I sincerely doubt that the Hope factory will close anytime in the near or far future. A new warehousing complex was just completed there..and the powers that be would not have made that investment just to move the plant. I believe you are confusing the moving of the research and development for Klipsch speakers to Indiana from Hope with a new factory being built. Only the research and development portion is being moved...to corporate headquarters in Indianapolis, IN. ------------------ If you want to send a private message, or have already done so, be aware I have not as yet been able to retrieve them. Send e-maill instead, please...just note Klipsch forum in the heading so it doesn't get deleted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 Barista- What HDBR said is what I heard when I was down there in Hope for the PWK book signing. Tony Reed and I got to tour around the area with Paul's grandson Lee, and while we didn't get to go in the factory, he said the factory will be there for a looong time. We also drove by the new distribution complex just up the road from the factory. Huge facility there which was just completed. I'd bet a pair of K-horns Klipsch will stay in the area for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BobG Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 Not only is Klipsch staying in Hope, we are expanding the factory. The space that was taken up by shipping/receiving, warehousing etc. has moved to our new 46,000 sq. ft. distribution facility down the road. All of that space in the factory building will allow us to install lots of cool new machinery, set up better space for constructing Heritage (yea) products and some other cool stuff I cannot share at this particular juncture. Leaving Hope? Heck No! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barista Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 That is terrific news BobG! It's all to often these days where companies do things with little interest in their employees. It's the American way to focus on the bottom line. Problem is, there is no bottom line without happy, quality employees. It's nice to know Klipsch hasn't lost sight of it's roots. ------------------ Barista T. Bill My Rig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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