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U. L. "Rip" Gooch
Member of the Kansas Senate
from the 29th district
In office
January 11, 1993 – January 2, 2004
Preceded byJim Ward
Succeeded byDonald Betts
Personal details
Born(1923-09-13)September 13, 1923
Ripley, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedNovember 24, 2021(2021-11-24) (aged 98)
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAugusta
ResidenceWichita, Kansas
OccupationPilot, businessman
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1943–1946
Battles/warsWorld War II

Ulysses Lee Gooch (September 13, 1923 – November 24, 2021), often known as Rip Gooch, was an American pilot, aviation entrepreneur, and politician in Kansas. Gooch was a member of the Kansas Commission on Civil Rights, 1971–74; member of the Wichita City Council, 1989–93; and a Kansas state senator (D-Wichita, 29th District – central-northeast Wichita) from 1993 until retiring in January 2004 as the state's oldest serving senator, at 80. Gooch was one of the first inductees to the Black Aviation Hall of Fame.[1][2][3]

Early life

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Gooch was born in Ripley, Tennessee, the son of rural Tennessee sharecroppers and the grandson of emancipated slaves, Gooch was orphaned at age four and fended for himself growing up in the 1920s and 1930s under the shadow of Jim Crow. Working in fields while watching airplanes fly overhead, he dreamed of escaping to a better life. While in high school, in 1943, during World War II, Gooch joined the Army, and was eventually shipped to the Philippines as a sergeant supervising a construction operation; he was discharged after the war in 1946. He graduated from his hometown's Lauderdale High School while in the military.[4][5][6]

Aviation career

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Gooch subsequently began taking flight lessons on the GI Bill, earning his private pilot's license in 1947, and continued with advanced flight training at a private flying service. About this time, he met and married Augusta Fields (their marriage would last until her death 48 years later). While studying veterinary medicine at Tennessee State University (then Tennessee A & I University), Gooch continued his flight training, eventually becoming a commercial pilot and flight instructor. He became a part-time stunt flyer with the legendary airshow impresario Bill Sweet.[5][6][7]

However, despite earning his wings, Gooch couldn't find full-time aviation work because he was black. In 1951, Gooch moved to Wichita, Kansas—a major aviation industrial center known as the "Air Capital City"—where he began to work for Boeing Airplane Company. After battling racism at Boeing[8][9] while working as a Boeing inspector in the 1950s,[10] he decided to start his own flight business, one of the first black-owned modern FBOs (general aviation fixed-base operations) in the U.S.,[11][12] which provided a stepping stone for a number of other black pilots.[4][5][13][14][7]

In the late 1950s, at Wichita's Rawdon Airport,[15] Gooch became owner/operator of its FBO, Aero Services, Inc. It provided flight training, charter flying, aircraft rental and storage, and sold used aircraft.[10] Eventually, Aero Services became the Mooney Aircraft regional distributorship for Kansas and parts of Missouri (ironically right across the street from the factory of Mooney's chief rival Beech Aircraft).[10] Gooch, with partner Dan La Master, extensively modernized Rawdon Field during 1962–1966. Gooch's enterprise, by 1972, had grown to operate an extensive government-contract air taxi operation, using a fleet of twin-engined Beech 18 transports and other aircraft, moving classified information between U.S. military bases in 17 states. Another section of the business overhauled military helicopter parts.[10][4][5][6][16][12][15][17][18][19][20]

The loss of government contracts after the end of the Vietnam War -- and the sale of the airport after the death of owner Herb Rawdon -- led to the closure of Aero Services in 1976.[10]

Following his 17 years of operating Aero Services., Gooch continued for 20 years as a freelance charter pilot, flight instructor and FAA-designated pilot examiner. For four years, he was a consultant to leading business-aircraft manufacturer Raytheon Aircraft (the name used for Beech Aircraft when under control of Raytheon Corporation).[4][6][7][1]

In 1993, Gooch was the recipient of the annual Kansas Governor's Aviation Honor Award. The citation noted his involvement "on the Kansas Department of Transportation's Aviation Advisory Committee [and as] a member of the Aviation Museum Task Force, Wichita Airport Authority, Negro Airmen International, Tuskegee Airmen and Black Army Aviators."[7][21] It further cited his role in providing flight training opportunity to young people:

He has given youth, particularly African-American youth, an opportunity to explore aviation up-close and personal. He operates a scholarship fund in memory of his son, Kerry Gooch. For two weeks every summer, he takes selected youth off the streets and gives them the opportunity to travel to Tuskegee, Alabama. There they participate in an aviation program that includes a solo performance at the controls of a Cessna aircraft.[7]

In 2001, Gooch was inducted into the National Black Aviation Hall of Fame.[4][1][22]

A Kansas Senate Resolution, honoring him in 2013, notes that:

Senator Gooch was instrumental in the formation of the International Black Aerospace Council, an umbrella organization of five major black aviation organizations. He has served on the Aviation Advisory Committee of the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Air Museum Task Force and the Wichita Airport Authority, and he is a member of the Kansas Aviation Museum Board...[4][7]

Gooch logged 20,000 flight hours (over 18,000 as pilot-in-command).[4][1]

Political career

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Gooch served on the Kansas Commission on Civil Rights[23] from 1971 to 1974,[4] as an appointee of Democratic Governor Robert Docking. His tenure coincided with the sharply increased enforcement activism of the KCCR.[24][16][13][14]

One of the few African Americans elected to the Wichita City Council, he served from 1989 to 1992, including two one-year terms as Vice Mayor.[4][6][16][13][14][1]

Gooch was elected to the Kansas Senate in 1992 as a Democrat, serving from 1993 until 2004, representing the 29th Kansas Senate District—an inner-city area in central-northeast Wichita.[25][4][13][14][1]

The 2013 Kansas Senate Resolution honoring him reported that:

His committee assignments have included service as ranking minority member of the Federal and State Affairs and Transportation Committees plus membership on the Elections and Local Government, Administrative Rules and Regulations, Local Government, Commerce, Economic Development and Governmental Organization Committees. He also served on the Joint Committee on Rules and Regulations and the Joint Committee on Economic Development...[4]

In 2003, citing frustrations with the lack of progress in the shortest Kansas legislative session in decades, Gooch retired from the Kansas Senate, a few months from turning 80 years of age, as the oldest serving Kansas senator.[25][6][26] He was succeeded by State Representative Donald Betts (D-Wichita).[27]

Gooch successfully urged his daughter Bonita Gooch[28] to assume leadership of Wichita's leading black newspaper, The Community Voice,[29] which she subsequently operated for decades.[6][30][31]

Gooch's grandson, Kerry Gooch, served as Executive Director of the Kansas Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017.[6]

Retirement and death

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In 2006, with journalist Glen Sharp (New York Times, Newsweek), Gooch self-published his autobiography: Black Horizons: One Aviator's Experience in the Post-Tuskeegee Era,[5][32][33][6]

In 2008, Gooch was the subject of a documentary film, From the Bottom.[34]

In 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration presented Gooch with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.[35] for a half-century or more of piloting and aircraft operations.[36]

In 2012, he was presented with the 2012 Trailblazers Award from the Kansas African American Museum in Wichita.[4]

In 2013, as he approached age 90, the Kansas Senate issued Senate Resolution No.1770: A Resolution congratulating and commending Senator Ulysses Lee "Rip" Gooch,[4] and Gooch, with friends and supporters, organized a 90th birthday party for him that drew hundreds to a local theater.[37][38]

In May, 2014, he was elected Sergeant at Arms of the Jayhawk Chapter (Kansas) of the Black Pilots Association.[21]

Gooch died on November 24, 2021, at the age of 98.[2][39]

In May 2023, the Kansas Aviation Museum, of which Gooch had been a board member, posthumously established the Rip Gooch Black Aviators Exhibit, showcasing Kansas-connected black aviators, including Gooch and Tuskeegee Airmen George Boyd and Dr. Don Jackson, among others.[40][41][1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Rip Gooch Memorial," Kansas Aviation Museum, retrieved May 9, 2023
  2. ^ a b Newton, Ryan (November 25, 2021). "Former Kansas state senator, Wichita city councilman, and Army pilot dies (Kansas State Network)". ksn.com.
  3. ^ Gooch, Bonita, editor: "Rip Gooch, Who Stood Strong for the Community, Passed Away," November 25, 2021, The Community Voice, retrieved May 9, 2023
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Senate Resolution No.1770: A Resolution congratulating and commending Senator Ulysses Lee "Rip" Gooch" (PDF). Kansas State Senate. 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e Gooch, U.L. "Rip"; Sharp, Glen (2006). Black Horizons: One Aviator's Experience in the Post-Tuskeegee Era. Wichita, KS: Aviation Business Consultants. ISBN 978-0-97867-620-9.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harris, Richard (2016). "'Black Horizons: One aviator's experiences in the Post-Tuskeegee Era' by U.L. 'Rip' Gooch" (PDF). AAHS Flightline. No. 192. American Aviation Historical Society. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Kansas Governors Aviation Honor Awards: U. L. 'Rip' Gooch". Wings Over Kansas. November 12, 1993.
  8. ^ Johnson, Judith R.; Torbenson, Craig L. (1998). "Stories from the Heartland: African American Experiences in Wichita, Kansas" (PDF). Kansas History. 21 (4). Topeka, Kansas: Kansas Historical Foundation: 221–223.
  9. ^ Based on interviews with subject, and information about him (and honors received) from websites of the National Society of Black Engineers, award remarks "Golden Torch Awards Winners: Lifetime Achievement In Government: Wayne Jones, Ph.D". National Society of Black Engineers. 2004. Archived from the original on July 20, 2007.; and University of Oklahoma College of Engineering bio: "Board of Advisors: Wayne Jones, PhD". University of Oklahoma College of Engineering. 2000. Archived from the original on March 14, 2005.
  10. ^ a b c d e Sharp, Glen: "Gooch Celebrates 93 By Flying and Visiting His Former Business Site" September 28, 2016, The Community Voice, retrieved March 28, 2023
  11. ^ "Who Is Rip Gooch And Why Do We Owe Him? 80-Year Old Aviation Pioneer Feted In Wichita". Aero-News Network. September 15, 2003.
  12. ^ a b Weems, Robert E. Jr. (February 6, 2013). "Past and Present Wichita's Black Entrepreneurs". KMUW-FM.
  13. ^ a b c d Hanna, John (May 30, 2003). "Legislature ends session with nod to senator". Lawrence Journal-World. Associated Press.
  14. ^ a b c d "Senate Honors Oldest Member Before 2003 Adjournment". Salina Journal. Associated Press. May 30, 2003. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b Freeman, Paul (February 29, 2012). "Kansas, Wichita". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. Archived from the original on 2013-07-09. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  16. ^ a b c "U.L. "Rip" Gooch – Legislator, aviator and activist". Kansas African American Affairs Commission. September 13, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  17. ^ "New Products: A Vote for the Remote Compass". Flying. March 1968. p. 111. Retrieved October 29, 2014 – via Google Books.
  18. ^ Tihen, Edward N. "Tihen Notes From 1962 'Wichita Eagle'" (PDF). Wichita State University Special Collections.; citing Wichita Eagle, Tuesday, February 6, 1962, page 5A.
  19. ^ "Service Firm Diversifies Under Federal Contract". OMBE Outlook. 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Minority Business Enterprise: 4. 1972 – via Google Books. U. L. Gooch, right, president of Aero Services, Inc., talks with line employee at Wichita, Kan. plant. The plant was tooled to handle repair and overhaul of UH-l Bell Helicopter rotor hubs under a $100,000 Federal [contract]...; Prior to 1970, Aero Services, Inc. of Wichita, Kan., dealt mostly in air charter...
  20. ^ Gooch, U.L. (May 1960). "Letter: Smitty the Jumper". Flying. Vol. 66, no. 5. p. 8.
  21. ^ a b Noble, Horace (September 2014). "Jayhawk at Skyhook 2014" (PDF). BPA ATIS. Pine Bluff, Arkansas: Black Pilots of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2014.: Notation that Gooch was an original member of the black aviation organization "Negro Aviation International, Inc.," before transferring to the BPA, and notes his attendance at "Skyhook 2014" – "premier event of Black aviation." Reports his May 2014 election as Sergeant-at-Arms of the Jayhawk Chapter of the BPA.
  22. ^ "Gooch and Johnson honored as aviators". Wichita Business Journal. September 6, 2001.
  23. ^ "Records of the Kansas Commission on Civil Rights". The Kansas Historical Society.
  24. ^ "State Rights Commission Aggressive Force". Garden City Telegram. Associated Press. May 6, 1971. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ a b "Oldest state senator leaving post". Topeka Capital-Journal. Associated Press. December 20, 2003. Archived from the original on 2015-12-09.
  26. ^ Moon, Chris (May 30, 2003). "Lawmakers wrap up short session: Senators honor oldest member of Legislature with resolution". Topeka Capital-Journal.
  27. ^ "Betts to replace Gooch in Senate". Topeka Capital-Journal. Associated Press. January 13, 2004.
  28. ^ "Bonita Gooch". Facebook.
  29. ^ "Home". Community Voice.
  30. ^ "Bonita Gooch". The HistoryMakers. August 31, 2002. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  31. ^ "Black History Month Profile: Bonita Gooch". Missouri Valley USTA. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014.
  32. ^ Gooch, U.L. "Rip"; Sharp, Glen (2006). Black Horizons: One Aviator's Experience in the Post-Tuskeegee Era. Wichita, KS: Mennonite Press. ISBN 978-0-97867-622-3.
  33. ^ "U.L. Rip Gooch". Amazon.
  34. ^ "From the Bottom". IMDb.
  35. ^ Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award certificate to Gooch, September 2009, Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved May 11, 2023
  36. ^ "Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award" Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved May 11, 2023
  37. ^ Plumlee, Rick (September 6, 2013). "90th birthday party planned for Rip Gooch". Wichita Eagle.
  38. ^ MyPictureman (September 14, 2013). "Rip Gooch 90th Birthday Gala". SmugMug.
  39. ^ "U.L. "Rip" Gooch". thejacksonmortuary.com.
  40. ^ "Rip Gooch Black Aviators Exhibit Grand Opening at Kansas Aviation Museum May 19," May 7, 2023, The Community Voice, retrieved May 9, 2023
  41. ^ "The Matty Project," Kansas Aviation Museum, retrieved May 9, 2023
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