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Texas Standard: February 3, 2020

Bloomberg delivers a surprise in Texas. We’ll look at why the former New York mayor and billionaire is scoring so highly in a new survey. Also, Texans don’t often express an interest in doing things like they do it in California, but firefighters in central Texas are eager to make an exception right now: we’ll hear why. And amid record setting violence in Mexico, reasons for optimism? A security expert in Mexico city says yes. Plus a super bowl win for Texas last night? Maybe more than many in the Lone Star state realize. All those stories and then some today on the Texas Standard:

Dr. Timothy M. George, MD. (Ep. 9, 2020)

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents an interview recorded in 2013 with the late Dr. Timothy M. George, who passed away in November 2019. Dr. George had been Medical Director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Center of Central Texas at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas.

Intro Music [00:00:01] This is an archive edition of an interview with Dr. Timothy M. George. Dr. George died on November 10th, 2019. He was 59.

Announcer [00:00:15] From the University of Texas at Austin, KUT Radio, this is In Black America.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:00:22] I don’t look at myself as being this big person. I don’t think I am. You know, one great thing about going to New York, you learn you’re never the dumbest, you never the smartest, you never the ugliest but you never the prettiest either. You never the shortest, but you never the tallest. So one thing I like to say, I look at myself as being a normal person. And also I knew growing up that normal people weren’t doing the things that I’m doing today, that wasn’t in the cards. So I really wanted to be able to show that, you know, a normal person like me and nothing different anybody else can do these things. So if I can do it, you and you can do these things also. So that was really my drive to be a part of it. I don’t look at myself as being this enigma or a superstar. I think too often in the media, you know, I think Blacks are often, you know, the ones who do so well are either they seem to be special, almost like super gods, something above and beyond normal people.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:01:20] Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D., medical director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Center of Central Texas Dell Children’s Medical Center, located in Austin, Texas. In 2006, Dr. George moved to Austin from Durham, North Carolina, where he was the associate professor of neurosurgery, pediatric and neurobiology at Duke University. Joining Children’s Hospital of Austin as chief of surgery and pediatric neurosurgery center of central Texas. He brings his breadth of knowledge and expertise in pediatric neurosurgeon as he’s develop and oversee pediatric neurosurgeon programs at the hospital. Dr. George has always been fascinated with the human body and science, but he admits that it was a long time before he connected the fascination of becoming a physician with the help of his basketball coach. He was fortunate to be recruited by several universities to play basketball, but decided to attend Columbia University because others said he couldn’t get in. I’m John L. Hanson Jr. And welcome to another edition of In Black America. On this week’s program, Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D., chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Dell Children’s Medical Center, In Black America.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:02:33] I grew up really in the sixties, so I have a sixties heart and mentality. So when I was applying for colleges, I always had interest in medicine. I did. I had pretty good scores on my SATs. But yeah, when I was in high school, my guidance counselor, I’m not going to mention her name, So my guidance counselor would encourage me. Well, I know you’re interested in either do one of two things, use the basketball connections to get recruited someplace, or maybe you may think about physical therapy or some allied health profession. I think I got sort of pissed off and said, No, I my goal, I think I could be a doctor. I think I can help people. I really didn’t know what it all meant to do that, but I felt I could do it. And I said, No, I’m going to go for it. So my basketball coach actually helped me out by doing two things. One, he only allowed colleges to recruit me that were really strong academically that could get me there. He you know, I would love to play for UCLA. I may not have been good enough. I don’t know, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t gonna get recruited by them anyway because he was going to block them. But if it was Johns Hopkins or if it was Holy Cross or if it was even Wake Forest, he would allow those schools to talk to me.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:03:44] Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D., has more than 22 years experience in neurological surgery. He completed his medical training at New York University. His residency in neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine and his pediatric fellowship at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, his childhood was no different from those in the neighborhood. He believes the difference between himself today and the guys you grew up with lies not in his talent, skill, intellectual ability or sense of community, but in a direction he embraced. That direction was derived from his father. Though his father, Plummer had only an eighth grade education, he took care of his neighbors needs. He looked after the well-being of the guys who worked for him. Many times his father would work until the evening or on weekends to help provide extra money for his workers so they could provide for their own children. Dr. George developed an interest in pediatrics while still in high school work with disabled children, made him realize that there were children that had problems worse than he is. Attending Columbia University was a rite of passage. His self-worth was challenged as he went to class with students from the upper crust of society. Through it all, he learned something about himself. He had the right stuff.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:05:00] I have an old soul. I really even I was born in 1965 or a soul, probably a little older. So I was sort of really I grew up really in the sixties, so I have a sixties heart and mentality. So when I was applying for colleges, I always had interest in medicine. I did. I had pretty good scores on my PSATs and SATs and. But yeah, when I was in high school, my guidance counselor, I’m not going to mention her name, so my guidance counselor would encourage me. Well, I know you’re interested in either do one of two things, use the basketball connections, and give recruiting someplace. Or maybe you may think about physical therapy or some allied health profession. I think I got sort of pissed off and said, no, in my goal. I think I could be a doctor. I think I can help people. I really didn’t know what it all meant to do that, but I felt I could do it. And I said, no, I’m going to go for it. So my basketball coach actually helped me out by doing two things. One, he only allowed colleges to recruit me that were really strong academically that could get me there. He you know, I would love to play for UCLA. I may not have been good enough. I don’t know, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t gonna get recruited by them anyway because he was going to block them. But if it was Johns Hopkins or if it was Holy Cross or if it was even Wake Forest, he would allow those schools to talk to me. And then after that ended up, I end up going to Columbia University ultimately. And the reason was that my guidance counselor told me, You never get into Columbia. So I had try to I’m getting pissed off and I applied anyway. My coach actually signed my letter on my recommendation letter because she wouldn’t sign it. And somehow I got in and the rest is history.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:06:43] Your guidance counselor wouldn’t sign the…

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:06:45] She just thought I would be in for a big disappointment. In over my head I just didn’t feel that way. And neither did he. And he just said, well, look, if it doesn’t work, it’s not going to work. So my attitude was not going to work, I’m okay with that. Even when I went to school, I said, well, if it doesn’t work, I’m okay with that, but I’m just going to put my best foot forward and see what happens.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:07:07] As you say that, you know, one would want to become a physician, but once you get to school, tell us about that process. And was there any point that you said, well, maybe I’m maybe in over my head and maybe this was not really a good decision to make?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:07:25] Yeah, but when I first went out there for the interview, my father took me up there and this was in New York City, and I grew up around the city my entire life, but it’s a totally different world. I never really experienced that world before. So as I walked on campus, I could feel it was palpable.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:07:40] Under the arch, That big arch?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:07:42] Oh, yes. And then I walked out of college, walk between the big low library up the steps, I felt, and I was entering a whole new world. My interview was amazing. I remember my interview like it was yesterday because the building, the gist of the interview was our goals are to help you teach you how to think and be a leader. And I was saying everything like, Oh, I want to do is learn how to think and be a leader. That’s what our exchange was. And it clicked. When I got there, I came in and was introduced a whole new culture of people. I mean, I never really, on a daily basis, even knew people who went to some of these elite boarding schools in the Northeast and or or whose families were worth millions and billions. And so, again, sort of reflecting back to my early days and growing up, I wasn’t afraid of that because I always zero base. I decided, oh, we’re all here. I guess we all figure out how to work together. But there were times where I felt like I knew I had to learn a lot more about them than they had to learn about me. And I had to adapt and learn how to deal with them, but still maintain who I was as a person. So I adapted to that a bit and a couple of ways. I have to admit I ended up playing basketball there, but also I also no one knew I was pre-med. I sort of kept that behind because it was such a culture of aggressiveness for the pre-med at Columbia that I didn’t want to get caught up into that little bit of a rat race where 60% of the kids were pre-med at Columbia when I was there. That was very competitive, very smart kids, and I didn’t want to get caught into that. And so I guess I dealt with it by not being caught up into the rat race part of it. But I still was there. They still saw me in organic chemistry and and people really I think it really sunk in probably in my junior year when I finally took my MCATS. They were like, You’re really pre-med. Really I am. But I always did everything about staying. I just didn’t want to get caught up into that part. I guess that’s how I coped with my own internal potential, even fear of failure. I didn’t want to put myself out there too much and maintain elements of me because it was it was a cultural awakening for me to be there.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:10:00] How did your partners treat you? Were they encouraging towards you in completing his goal?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:10:06] My friends, yeah. And oh, again, I’ve lived a blessed life. My friends have. They would not just encouraging, they would come up and hang out with me and I’d. Go out and see them sometime. And but people would really totally support me. I mean, to the point that we had a good time. I also found, you know, we did some partying at Columbia. It wasn’t just all stuff. We had a good time. I was I became a little bit of a deejay there, so I hooked up. I also was fortunate. I said, I think I’ve been looked after. So a friend of mine I used to play basketball against. We were in junior high. We competed again in the city championship in junior high, and I missed them for four years. And he shows up on Columbia’s campus, walk across college, walk. And I look at him. We nicknamed him JC because he could jump. He was five, nine could jump as we ever said, Jesus Christ. So. So we nicknamed him JC and I walked across and I look JC, what are you doing here? And I didn’t think I see anybody I ever knew. Right. And I think that was a big help for me because we just clicked and we were best you know, we were just best friends. Who’s going to Columbia undergrad? And I think that was another coping thing. So then we both clicked and the world of our friends, an extension into Brooklyn and more in the New York area just exploded. And I never felt isolated because of that, too. And we were we were just brothers ever since and this is amazing.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:11:35] Of all the specialties to select, why neurosurgery?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:11:39] Well, I’ve always really you know, I guess probably initially it was picked on. I did say what I told you. My mother told me I didn’t think about brain transplants. I did see kids who had really more neurological problems. Most of the mental and physically handicapped kids were really cause some something affecting the nervous system. And then also I just had an interest about the brain. I always wanted to understand, I guess, what made people tick, the soul. I felt the soul had to be housed somewhere up there. And so I figured one day I’d have a chance to figure out how the soul was integrated into this physical thing called a brain, but then also realized I learned scientifically over the years, you know, a little bit in high school and definitely in college about the nervous system I just really just became enamored with is its its its potential as a as a as an organ, but also a relative lack of understanding of what it did. And I thought, well, hey, this is a great growth opportunity to learn more because we don’t know everything about the brain. It’s the most complicated organ. And I felt that there was so many things to learn and everything. When I was there, when I was initially a student, everything was so new about our understanding of the brain function that I felt I was just on the edge of something new. And and it was exciting. It wasn’t just old. Information was always new. Every year, every couple of years. It was always something new about it. My great professors that instilled that way of thinking about the brain and that that’s one thing that piqued my interest on the nervous system. And neurosurgery, I think, is another thought. I really always thought that neurosurgery, because again, I was having to do a brain transplant, surgeons to do that. So I had to do it. But also, I think that as I got exposed to it, the surgical part, it was so direct. You had a chance to really make a direct effect on how the nervous system function. And I had great mentors who, you know, when I got to know some neurosurgeons later on more, and that’s medical school. They really were. We had one great one when I was in New York University. He really has such a great personality. He loved the patients. He loved the kids. He was a pediatric neurosurgeon. That was when I was there, pediatric neurosurgeon. He was a new discipline, really been around really for him for a couple of years. And and he really loved kids. He embraced them, but he was a pioneer. And and he also embraced me as a person who really allowed me to get close to it. Not just your student corner. I know you’re here. You’re one of my partners now. He would introduce me like I was one of the doctors with, and I get a chance to be with the families and kids just like him. So he really showed me what it was like. And I think that had a large impact. Clearly, what drove me to neurosurgery.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:14:21] What intrigues you the most? The process of trying to figure out what’s wrong with children, because children at that age really can’t express what they’re feeling or what’s wrong with them.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:14:34] What what intrigued me most about kids was that they just a lot of disease of nervous system are devastating to them in their lives and to their families. The thing that intrigued me most was how amazing they did in spite of the odds being against them. I felt like, wow, instead of adults who are just complaining and whining all the time, these kids embraced that. Their families rallied behind them, and I just could always rally behind that. So as far as really came down to taking care of those kids, they were amazing. Whether they had tumors of the brain, bad nerve injuries, strokes, whether they had some something congenital or something they were born with that affected them in their lives. Kids running around in wheelchairs. All their lives. Who would do a more amazing things? And I knew people who were totally, you know, totally fit physically. And yet they’ve been dealing with this their entire lives. I mean, and that gave me something to rally for and how to families embrace them and how, you know, if they saw me having a bad day today, why don’t you smile? I hear these kids devastated and then worry more about how I’m doing. Come on, I’ll hold your hand. You need to be cheered up. And later on in my life, as I became a champ, a little bit came more in practice, had kids show up. And I guess maybe they thought I was overburdened because this is a hard job and a hard life and maybe they would see me. I had kids come to my clinic or office visits with and in costumes because they wanted to cheer me up. They wanted to make sure I was having a good day. Just have fun. Never go off to see other kids. But they wanted to make sure they showed me so I would be a part of it. So when you have that spirit and that heart behind it, I rally behind it. I think I got I always say sometimes I think I get more out of it than I give to them.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:16:19] Were you practicing physician when you were at Duke University when you were associate professor?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:16:23] Yes. Yes, I was. That was a job I took after all my training and after the many years of, you know, medical school of college, medical school, residencies and fellowship. So you get specific training in pediatric component of neurosurgery. And then I went on and joined the faculty at Duke, where I got a chance to explore some my research interest in neurobiology. And also I was part of the obviously, Department of Surgery and neurosurgery and also pediatrics.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:16:52] And you’ve been here in Austin since 2006, and you’re the chief of pediatric neurosurgery here at Dell Children’s Medical Center.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:17:01] That’s why I got recruited here to do. And then I made the biggest mistake.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:17:05] You get a signing bonus?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:17:06] No, I said yes. And then you say yes to stuff two much. Now I have four jobs, which really you know, I came here for two reasons. One, one was to to be a part of the new hospital’s opening up and develop this pediatric neurosciences, but also really be a part of the future for how health care was being changed here with the new potential medical school. The new medical school has been talked about for years. It’s not new in concept. And when I got recruited here, that was really the forefront of discussion. And at that point in time, my career in life, even at Duke, I thought being able to come in and be a part of something new in a city as dynamic as Austin at the ground floor is just an opportunity that doesn’t exist. It really only exist in two places in the country, which was probably Austin and Pheonix, and I thought also was a better place in Pheonix to try to build it. And not just because I have something against Pheonix, but of course also had the elements that were here, had the big university here. It already had a a burgeoning, you know, hospital and health systems. It had the community which rallied behind it. They put their money into it and seeing all that and people wanted it so bad to me, it was a no brainer to be a part of that.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:18:20] Give us an idea without being too technical. Okay, You chief of pediatric neuroscience here, but you’re also a practicing physician. So obviously there’s a management part component that you oversee, but also that you are a practicing physician along with other physicians in pediatric unit.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:18:40] Yeah, but they go hand in hand. Okay. That’s a long story. So, yes, I want to be chief of something that means that your your your job is to help set policies and procedures. Okay. Okay. But I also am CEO of the Physician Corporation. So we have multiple disciplines. So not just neurosurgery, neurology, ophthalmology. I also run that, too. Okay. And I’m also one of the vice presidents in the in the health systems and also on faculty duty. So I have a lot of hands and but all they all fit together. How do you set. So the goal really is how do you set how do you set the vision and goals for really what you want to do is delivering health care. To do that, you need to develop excellence in clinical care. So I need to do that by being in on it. I need to be a part of it and take care of kids, be at the forefront at the front lines, but also be a part of saying. Then you can see, Hey, we need to change these ways. We’re doing it and make adjustments and adaptations and change the policies we need to also a component that we need to. We find those gaps and what we can do that requires, I think, more research to understand what those gaps are and investigate. Though she had to be investigative on top of that, you can’t be sustainable. Sustainability is twofold. Sustainability is partially making sure you’re financially whole. But the other part of sustainability and when it comes down to even just waste basically by not taking care of somebody, is training others to build a legacy, train them how to think, and they build a legacy that sustains itself also. So you want to educate. You want to care for kids and other patients and all patients and you need to be investigated and thought and never lose that. You need to do research across the whole dimension of what you call research. That’s what it really means.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:20:28] You mentioned research. So what research are you currently engaged in?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:20:32] My my my…specific areas scientifically I’m what is called a developmental molecular cell biologist.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:20:43] Okay. Speak English.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:20:44] Yes. So I want to know, like kids are developing, they’re growing. Things are being formed, put together, connected together and wired. I want to know how that happens, okay? I wanna know what causes that, Not just looking at it from at the level of a big brain, but I want to know how the cells work. I want to know what controls those cells. I need to know the molecules. The molecules thing that control those cells, whether it’s the genes or proteins or whatever it is. I want to know what controls those cells and what. And therefore, the big part of that clearly is when it goes wrong, what happens. And so that’s that’s my so I use that term of a developmental molecular cell biologist because that’s really how I think about the nervous system. I want to know how it develops. And particularly I always have a more bent toward kids. So this is wonder how it develops. I want to know what controls it and therefore when something impacts it, whether it’s a you know, something they’re born with, some thing that grows like a tumor or whether it’s where they’re injured, how that affects that, all those processes.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:21:49] If you’re just joining us, you’re listening to In Black America. I’m John L. Hanson Jr., and we’re speaking with Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. He’s the chief of pediatric neuroscience at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas. We mentioned earlier, when I mentioned earlier how I came in contact with you were in a book called Real Role Models by Louis Harrison, a professor over at the University of Texas. Why is it important for you to participate in that book of letting African-Americans know that there are Dr. Timothy M. George’s out there and what’s possible, what has been possible for you is also possible for them?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:22:25] Well, first, I really appreciate it. I was honored again and appreciate being in that book. The main reason why I’ve even agreed to be in the book was that I don’t look at myself as being this big person. I don’t think I’m you know, one great thing about going to New York, you learn you you never the dumbest, you never the smartest, you never the ugliest, but you never the prettiest either. You never the shortest, but you never the tallest. So one thing I like to say, I look at myself as being a normal person. And also I knew growing up that normal people weren’t doing the things that I’m doing today that wasn’t in the in the cards. So I really wanted to be able to be able to show that, hey, you know, a normal person like me, I’m nothing different than anybody else can do these things. So if I can do it, you, you and you can do these things also. So that was really my drive to be a part of it. I don’t look at myself as being this enigma or a superstar. I think too often in the media, you know, I think Blacks are often, you know, the ones who do so well are either they seem to be special, almost like super gods, something above and beyond normal people. You know, they’re either they sing too well, they don’t too high, or they seem to do something so special that nobody else can do. And that’s why they recognize so people, they respect them, they revere them, but they don’t really feel that they can really follow those paths. And I think that for me, I want to show people they can do those things. They can be CEOs of corporations, they can be a neurosurgeon, they can be a scientist, I can be a rocket scientist. I can fly to the moon. And that’s all good. And they can be a neurosurgeon. And that’s there’s nothing that’s not possible about that.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:24:07] On your off days, I understand now that you’re professional racecar driver.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:24:11] Yeah, I got my professional license. Well, I did say I played basketball, so I have a little competitive spark to me. But as you get older, you have starts hurting, your knees start hurting. You can’t play ball and it doesn’t work anymore. Even if your mind thinks you can do it, you just can’t do it. So I could find I did find I can fit in a race car.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:24:32] And to have that experience, it’s amazing is that you go up to 200 miles an hour. How fast have you driven.

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:24:39] Who knows? There’s no speedometers in there you go as, no, you go as fast as you need to go. I mean, I’ve gone probably got 170 and 180. I don’t know. But the the real thing. One reason why I also like, besides competitive nature of it, is that is the one thing I can do that I don’t think about anything else while I’m doing it. So there’s there’s a moment where it’s very peaceful for me. I don’t think maybe playing golf is okay, but I think I don’t even play golf because I think I think too much. I really think too much as it is on a daily basis. I need things that allow me to remove from thought so I can just focus on one thing. And and enjoy that. And it’s much more physical than anybody ever thought. Think I never thought it was as physical as it is. I mean, you really get a workout. I come out of a car even after 20 minutes, I’m drenched with sweat. And and so it’s really a blast. It’s really a blast.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:25:31] Any final comments, Dr. George?

Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D. [00:25:33] Well, this has been an amazing experience for me, so I appreciate you and all the work you’ve done. I’ve heard a lot of your interviews. So this is an extreme honor for me. I’m humbled and just sort of blown away. I think that again, I really say a person like myself, I am not special. I know tons of kids. When I was growing up, I felt were just as smart or smarter than me. I think the only thing I’ve had I’ve had a lot of blessings, but I think I also was courageous. I was where I was. I had I did have something unique and that I was courageous enough to do things to outside of my comfort zone. And and I wasn’t afraid to say if I didn’t if it didn’t work out and I failed at it, do something else. And I tried a lot of things. I wasn’t successful. And I never felt that. And I never felt at any time that my inner confidence was ever shaken from just because I wasn’t successful at something, who I failed at something. So I just encouraged people to, you know, not in a very sort of out of touch way, follow your dreams, but go after things and don’t be afraid to go after them and no matter what they are. And but it does take a special quality of confidence. It does also take a little introspection, know yourself, know your true skill sets. My skill set is not being a neurosurgeon. My skill set is loving people. My skill set is embracing kids. My skill set is being able to be lead, to lead people and to think bigger than than my little brain would want to think. Those are my skill sets. And with that, the platforms I use of neurosurgery or leading organizations or whatever that might be, or just trying to be a father and a husband, those platforms are just ways I can use those skills. So I just say, you know, I just always want to encourage people to use their inner talents and but you got to take time to find those in their talents. And they’re really to the characteristics of who you are.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:27:36] Dr. Timothy M. George, M.D., former chief of pediatric neuroscience at Dell Children’s Medical Center, located in Austin, Texas. Dr. George died on November 10th, 2019. He was 59. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, ask your future In Black America programs. Email us at In Black America at kut.org. Also, let us know what radio station you heard us over. Remember to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or of the University of Texas at Austin. You can hear previous programs online at kut.org. Until we have the opportunity again for technical producer David Alvarez, I’m John L. Hanson, Jr. Thank you for joining us today. Please join us again next week.

Announcer [00:28:31] CD copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing In Black America CDs, KUT Radio, 300 West Dean Keeton St. Austin, Texas. 78712. This has been a production of KUT Radio.

KUT Weekend – January 31, 2020

New data showing black and Latinx drivers are increasingly more likely to be stopped by Austin police. Plus, the story of a Central Texas man’s deportation to Mexico and how it affected his children, who are U.S. citizens. And the Austin History Center celebrating a newspaper that’s chronicled black life in Austin since 1973. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

KUT Weekend – January 24, 2020

The Austin City Council tries to decriminalize low-level marijuana possession, but the police chief says officers will still bust pot smokers. Plus, rural counties in fast-growing Central Texas hustle to prevent being undercounted in the 2020 Census. And the Last Man on Rainey Street vowed to stay, but now he’s glad he left. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

Texas Standard: January 24, 2020

Houstonians shaken overnight by an explosion. We’ll explore the details. Also, we remember PBS host Jim Lehrer, the national star who spent years in the Lone star state died Thursday. Plus perceptions of U.S. troops stationed in Ukraine amid the president’s impeachment trial. And is this hemp or is it marijuana? Well, if in Austin there’s no need to fret if carrying small amounts. Also, adding and subtracting with Texas Instruments, the brand that brought us the calculators of the past is making news. All of those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

What Happened To The Last Man On Rainey Street?

A year ago, we answered a question from an ATXplained listener: Where did all the families that used to live on Rainey Street go?

One man was still there. But now, even that has changed. Audrey McGlinchy has this follow-up.

KUT Weekend – January 17, 2020

Paying for new trains and buses in Austin could involve a joint venture and new taxes. Plus, as the Caddo Mounds State Historic State reopens, tornado survivors heal together. And teens in Texas react to U.S.-Iranian tension. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

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KUT Weekend – January 10, 2020

Five Austin students describe what it’s like not to know whether your school is going to close. Plus, a photographer makes it his mission to capture East Austin’s “essence” before it disappears. And reporters from Kazakhstan explore what makes Austin weird. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

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KUT Weekend – January 3, 2020

How a new state law makes it harder to open voting stations on college campuses. Plus, UT-Austin students want university officials to do more to fight for affordable housing. And how a scarcity of parking in Austin makes it hard for some businesses to hire. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

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Glen Crawley (Ep. 3, 2020)

This week, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Glen Crawley, co-owner, with Kenny Garth, of ATX Hello Tours, a rare African American-owned helicopter tour service, located in Pflugerville, a suburb of Austin, Texas.

Intro music [00:00:08] The In Black America theme music, an instrumental by Kyle Turner.

Announcer [00:00:08] From the University of Texas at Austin, KUT Radio, this is In Black America.

Glen Crawley [00:00:23] The high school that he went to was Air Force ROTC. So he did that. I got to see him come home in his uniform. And then when he went off to to the academy here in San Antonio, he sent back a picture of him standing next to a fighter jet. And in my mind, he was a superhero. You know, I’m I’m still in junior high. He’s he’s standing next to a fighter jet and I’m like, oh, my God, my brother’s awesome. So he kind of set me on that path to want to be, to leave the ground basically in class, something.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:00:52] Crawley, co-owner of ATX Heli Tours, located in Pflugerville, Texas, a northern suburb of Austin, Texas, and 2017, Crawley, along with his partner Kenny Goff, opened the helicopter tour company. Crawley and Goff both met while they were in flight school, preparing to take their flight test before receiving their licenses. Their instructor thought that they might pair up and split the cost of the flight. Crowley had always wanted to fly because of his brother and Goff’s partner, who was an aircraft mechanic, trash-talked his way into the sky. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than 3% of the nation’s commercial pilots are African American. Both of them hope to change this by showing their passion for flying. They want to encourage others, especially young people, that they, too, can become pilots. I’m John L. Hanson Jr. And welcome to another edition of In Black America. On this week’s program, ATX Heli Tours with the co-owner Glen Crawley, In Black America.

Glen Crawley [00:01:57] We wanted to lease a helicopter one day. I had spoken to the owner of the business and he said that I could and then the message didn’t get back to the school and the school wouldn’t allow us to take one of the helicopters. And then Kenny kind of got upset about that. He was like, look, this is the last time we’re going to have to ask anybody to borrow anything. So let’s just buy our own helicopter. And in my mind, I’m thinking we can’t afford a helicopter, but they are super expensive. So he was like, we’re going to figure it out. So we just started looking around and we met this really nice business guy who who owned his own helicopter, but he just didn’t have time to fly it. And now he’s a really good friend of ours. And his name’s Ed Mouser. He pretty much let us pay a third of his helicopter upfront. And then he said he would self-finance the rest of it. So he already owned it outright. And so he self-financed the rest of it. And that’s how we were able to get this helicopter..

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:02:46] ATX Heli Tours offer a view of Austin, Texas never seen before. They say one should never have to sacrifice durability for beauty and comfort. They helicopters have a closed cockpit with air conditioning and leather seats. Open in 2017 Crowley and his partner, Kenny Goff, have flown hundreds of customers since then. Their tours range from 10 minutes to an hour long tour all across the city. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. Glen Crawley is an engineer with Freescale in XP. His partner, Kenny Goff, is an aircraft mechanic. They met in flight school. Little did they know one day they will own their own helicopter to a company. In the beginning, they were reluctant in fear that the public might not respond knowing the company was owned by African-Americans. That fear has been laid to rest. As the company grows, they want to establish partnerships with schools with the intent on exposing young people to the joys of flying. Recently In Black America spoke with Glen Crawley.

Glen Crawley [00:03:53] I was born in Memphis, Tennessee. I grew up primarily in Montgomery, Alabama, and so I spent most of my formative years in Montgomery, Alabama. And after college, I moved down to Florida to start my first job in the high tech industry, where I still work part time today. And so I I’ve worked in this industry for almost 29 years, and for the last two and a half to three years, I’ve had this helicopter tour business that I do because I have three or four days off per week and I’m able to to operate the business on my off days. I have a business partner as well. And so we we kind of share duties. So when I’m working, he takes care of the business and when I’m off, I cover the business and we work together. So that’s what I do. But yeah, primarily I grew up in in the South and I’ve been in Texas, here in Austin for about 25 years. So I always say that I’ve been here long enough to consider this home. I’ve lived in Austin longer than anywhere else, so I’m an Austinite, I would say.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:04:52] Any brothers and sisters?

Glen Crawley [00:04:53] Oh, yeah. I’m the youngest of five. I have one brother and three sisters. So I’ve, you know, I’ve been fortunate enough to be the younger, you know, some people. I mean, I see that as a benefit, but it was rough, I could say that. But I have had the opportunity to watch my siblings do things and learn from what they did some good, some of the mistakes they made, you know? I didn’t have to make a lot of mistakes myself. I was able to learn from others mistakes, so they didn’t make a lot of mistakes. I mean, we were raised pretty well. But, you know, I learned how not to get into trouble. But my brother, seven years older, he was really my I would say my mentor source always, because he never did anything wrong. I mean, he he did everything right. I mean, he’s you know, it’s hard to follow this guy, but he did everything right. So I had no excuse really for doing anything wrong because he never showed me that. He only showed me what was right. So I had, uh, I had my brother to look up to and follow behind. He went the route of, uh, the Air Force. He was in Junior ROTC in high school. The high school that he went to was Air Force ROTC. So he did that. So I got to see him come home in his uniform. And then when he went off to to the academy here in San Antonio, he sent back a picture of him standing next to a fighter jet. And in my mind, he was a superhero. You know, I’m still in junior high and he’s he’s standing next to a fighter jet and I’m like, oh, my God, my brother’s awesome. So. So he kind of set me on that path to want to be to leave the ground, basically, and fly something.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:06:23] And what college did you attend?

Glen Crawley [00:06:25] I went to a tech school and I’m in Birmingham, Alabama. You know, I went there at at a tech school there and the University of Alabama in Birmingham as well. So I knew I wanted to do education because growing up in my household and just everyone around, they knew that after high school they would have to go do something right. There was no just get out of high school, hang around a neighborhood because that wasn’t the best environment, you know, to be hanging around in. And so we knew that after high school we would have to go do something. And so I couldn’t wait, really. I wanted to get out of town. So I went to Birmingham, Alabama, to school there, and then straight out of out of out of school. I went straight to Florida and the Palm Bay Melbourne area. Right. And started my my career in the high tech industry. So Motorola brought me to to Austin. So I started working here for Motorola. Then the name change to Freescale, then in XP. So, um, but I’ve always wanted to fly. It’s been my passion forever, just wanting to, uh, to fly a helicopter. So I got the opportunity to do so and I haven’t looked back.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:07:33] Oh, I heard that. How did you and Kenny meet?

Glen Crawley [00:07:35] I met Kenny in flight school, actually. Kenny’s my business partner. Of course he, uh, he he is a chance, I’d say he’s a chance taker, but he definitely saw something we wanted. First of all, we were leasing helicopters after we finished flight school. We were leasing helicopters from the place where we went to school. And so we would lease helicopters and go do flying around, just personal flying. And then he one day said that, uh, we should buy own helicopter, and it wasn’t because he thought that we could. It was because we wanted to lease a helicopter. One day I spoken to the owner of the business and he said that I could and then the message didn’t get back to the school, and the school wouldn’t allow us to take one of the helicopters. And then Kenny kind of got upset about that. He was like, look, this is the last time we’re going to have to ask anybody to borrow anything. So let’s just buy our own helicopter. And in my mind, I’m thinking we can’t afford a helicopter, but they are super expensive. So he was like, we’re gonna figure it out. So we just started looking around and we met this really nice business guy who who owned his own helicopter, but he just didn’t have time to fly it. And now he’s a really good friend of ours. And his name’s Ed Mouser. He he pretty much let us pay a third of his helicopter upfront. And then he said he self-financed the rest of it, so he already owned it outright and so he self-financed the rest of it. And that’s how we were able to get this helicopter. Our hats off to Ed Mouser couldn’t couldn’t couldn’t be here without him.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:09:00] Give us an idea what the flight instruction and training looks to fly a helicopter.

Glen Crawley [00:09:06] Well, to fly a helicopter, I could tell you, is difficult. It’s difficult. It is. It’s not very similar to flying an airplane. I mean, the communications over the radio is the same, but all of the controls inside the helicopter is totally different. It’s a lot more intense, I would say, to fly a helicopter because you’re using all of your extremities, your right foot, left foot, right hand, left hand. They’re all doing something different and all simultaneous. So you’re doing all these things based on what the winds are doing and what the weather conditions are. So when you just trying to hover right above the ground, that’s the most intense time for a helicopter pilot because it’s a heavy workload, trying to keep the helicopter stable in an aircraft. You basically for an airplane, you just need forward air speed and, you know, you lower the flaps or whatever if you come in for a landing and then and then it comes down. Once you’re on the ground, you’re pretty much, you know, having to do a whole lot with the controls. You just you control the throttle more or less just to move it forward. But a helicopter is very, very intense in the training and it takes a long time. There’s a lot of a lot to learn. And depending on how much free time you have to put in the study time, it could be extended out for quite a bit of time to get the the training in, to get to where you get certified.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:10:16] That was my next question. How long did it take you all, take you, to obtain your license?

Glen Crawley [00:10:22] Well, for me, it took a while because I had a I had a kid right in the middle of it so the expense to do it, I didn’t have because I had child care. You know, $1,000 a month primarily. And so I didn’t have the extra money to continue the training. So I had to stop training for a while, then go back to it and finish it later. So for me, it took a few years to finish it. But you can finish, I would say, if you had time to dedicate two or three flight training sessions per week, you probably could finish it in about 6 to 8 months, I would say.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:10:54] I understand that Glenn is an aircraft mechanic?

Glen Crawley [00:10:58] No, Kenny is an aircraft mechanic. He’s a certified AMP mechanic and he’s also a pilot. So he works on aircraft, but it’s more of a civilian style of aircraft, But he works on the aircraft that supplies, I guess, gear supplies to the military. So he’s in Afghanistan for two months out of the year, about two months, and he comes back for two months. So he’s out of the country for two months and he comes back. But while he’s over there, he works on aircraft that helps with the support for the military. So he’s flying in supplies for the military, but it’s not a military aircraft. So he works over there as a civilian on aircraft that supply things for the military. And so he’s a he’s a helicopter pilot as well, and he’s a amp mechanic so he can work on our helicopter. So saves us quite a bit of money having someone who’s also a mechanic and a pilot so we don’t have to really go outside and pay someone else to work on the aircraft because we have our own in-house mechanic for that.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:11:54] I understand. If you’re just joining us, I’m John L. Hanson Jr., and you’re listening to In Black America from KUT Radio. We’re speaking with Glen Crawley, co-owner of ATX Heli Tours, located in Pflugerville, Texas. Glen is one thing to, you know, fly a helicopter leisurely on your spare time, but it’s another thing to open up a business. What led you all to this endeavor?

Glen Crawley [00:12:19] Well, for one, we wanted to bring Austin something that they didn’t have. Okay. There was I think there was another helicopter tour company here. But what we wanted to provide was something that was a little bit different, a little bit better, and a little bit more, uh, luxurious, I would say. So what we offer is something that’s a little bit better. Our customer service is most important to us. So we come in, we want to make sure that the customer is happy and we want their tour experience to be the very best that it could possibly be. So we make sure that we give them a little bit more than they expect. So for anyone wanting a tour, it doesn’t even matter which tour you select. If you choose to have champagne or you need flowers for your mate or whoever, you just let us know that ahead of time and we’ll make sure we get those for you. There’s no extra charge for that. We just wanted to be the very best to experience. We had a guy call us up and he said, Hey, man, I don’t I don’t really have much money, but I love my I love my girlfriend and I want to treat her special I don’t have much money. So we have a tour for $59 per person. He bring her out for that tour. We’ll have chocolates for her, we’ll have champagne for you guys. And we’ll have flowers. So we don’t charge you for that. Just bring her out. We’ll make her feel special. So he brought her out. We gave her all those things. And of course, he got high fives and kudos all day because he’s the best boyfriend in the world now. Right? But he only had $120 to spare. But he still got all of that with his $120 tour package. So that’s that’s kind of what we do. That’s an entry level tour that we have at $59 per person, and it goes up as high as $300 per person. But, you know, we just want everyone to feel special. So we want the the experience to be the very best that it could be. So that’s what we brought to this town, that it didn’t have.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:14:04] What are the other type of tours that you all provide?

Glen Crawley [00:14:07] Okay. We provide the the the entry level tours that we have as a tour that goes over Pflugerville. Since we are located in Pflugerville, there’s a lake right there in Pflugerville. And so we fly primarily from our airport in Pflugerville to Lake Pflugerville, and it flies over. That’s about a 8 to 10 minute tour, and that’s the one that is $59 per person. And it flies over lake Pflugerville and then over Typhoon, Texas. There’s a little water park over there. So just to get the initial feel for what it’s like to be in the helicopter, that’s that’s our entry level flight. And then we have our next level flight that goes over to downtown Austin, and that is a 20 minute flight. It goes over downtown Austin, Mount Bonnell over to the Penny Becker Bridge and then back to Austin, executive. And that tour is $125 per person for a 20 minute tour. And then we have the next tour that goes out to Lake Travis. So it goes over the same places as a 20 minute tour, but then it extends out to Lake Travis over the Oasis restaurant, and it flies over Lago Vista and then over Mansfield Dam and then back to to, uh, an executive airport in Pflugerville. And that tour is like I say, that’s. A 30 minute tour, and that tour is $175 per person. And then we have another tour that is a 1 hour tour. And that tour is 20, I mean, to $299 per person. And it does all of those same things, but it stays out over lake Pflugerville for a much longer time. It goes all the way out to almost Pace Bend Park, almost to the end of Lake Travis out there. So it goes out for a long ways and you’re out. You’re in the air for exactly one hour. And as to $299 per person for that tour. So we try to have a tour for whatever your budget is and for whatever you need. We just want to want everyone to be happy.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:15:54] What makes these type tours special? Hovering over over the city.

Glen Crawley [00:15:59] To get the vantage point of, uh, of a bird more or less, just being the bird’s eye view over the city. It’s really hard to explain how how beautiful that is. I mean, I just flew a tour yesterday for two people who had never been in a helicopter before. And there it was, the guy’s birthday, and his girlfriend was surprising him with the tour. And she just kept saying from the back seat, she just kept saying, this is unbelievable. This is just unbelievable. And she said, I know, I know you’re tired of hearing me say this, but is this true? I cannot believe how beautiful this is. And I said, like, I hear this all the time. I never get tired of hearing it. So I just say it as many times as you feel you need to. But it’s just a bird’s eye view that you can’t get any other way. It is beautiful when you’re flying above, when you’re flying above it all, and you can just look down to see everything so clearly. I mean, the helicopter, you can fly much lower, so you get to see everything. We tend to fly about 1000 feet to 1200 feet above the ground. So you can see everything clearly.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:16:55] Are there communications between you and, I would assume the the towers at Bergstrom International and the one at at Pflugerville as far as air traffic control?

Glen Crawley [00:17:08] Yes. Yes, sir. We have to communicate with air traffic control constantly. And that’s the only way to stay safe in the air. I know there are some pilots who prefer to fly where there is not a tower so they don’t have to talk to air traffic control. But speaking with air traffic control is the best way to to to say safe. But that way you can hear all of the aircraft, I mean, aircraft traffic and you can you can stay in constant contact. When you when we depart from Austin Executive, we switch over to Bergstrom air traffic control and call approach and we tell approach that we were going to fly over downtown Austin. They’ll give us what’s considered a squat code. You put that particular code in a transponder, and then you show up on their radar and you like a little beacon flashing on their street, on their screen so they can see exactly where you are. And not only that, but they’ll tell you where all the other aircraft are. So the aircraft is in your pad or heading in your direction, air traffic control will tell you that. They’ll tell you whether to climb in altitude or to go down or to go left or right or whatever. So it’s best to be on with air traffic control all the time. And that way they’ll keep you safe. So I talked to them from the time I depart Austin Executive Airport until like five miles out from Austin Executive. Then they’ll tell me to switch over to Austin Executive Tower and then talk to them until I hit the ground. So. So that’s what we do every time.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:18:26] Why a Pflugerville location was more convenient for you all.

Glen Crawley [00:18:31] Well, this funding available hangar space is an issue around here. So, you know, I got lucky enough that the previous owner of the aircraft already had it hangar and not an executive airport because you can’t even get hangar space out there. There’s so many guys wanting hangar is out there. They can’t get it because no one gives it up. Once you get it, you better keep it even if you don’t have an aircraft. Because if you think you may want to have aircraft again, you will never get that space back if you give it up. So we got lucky and we basically just took over the same hangar space that the previous owner had. So the aircraft never left. It stayed in the same spot. We just traded keys, I guess, but we, we still have the same hangar space at Austin Executive, it’s a beautiful, beautiful airport. So if you ever go out there, you’ll feel like you’re in a luxurious setting because Austin Executive airport is really, really nice compared to Bergstrom. I mean, it’s day and night difference.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:19:25] Obviously, the aircraft makes a difference. So what type of helicopter do you all fly?

Glen Crawley [00:19:30] We fly what’s considered the number one tour helicopter in the world. Its the Robinson R-44, Raven two. And the Raven two basically means that it has a fuel injected engine and usually has leather interior and it has air conditioning. So all of those things, you kind of need to be in Texes because for one, I couldn’t even imagine flying a helicopter with no air conditioning. But there are tons of helicopters out there without it because at the $20,000 option. So most most people don’t want to spend that. But I could tell you that if you had to bake in a helicopter, you wish you had that $20, $20,000 to spend, for sure. But yeah, we uh, we our helicopter is is a very reliable helicopter. There’s a lot of them out there. So there’s always available parts, you know, for this type of helicopter whenever you need to do service work done to. It’s easy enough to find the parts because there’s so many of these helicopters manufactured. And Robertson is an American helicopter maker out of California, so it’s easy enough to get parts for them any time you need them.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:20:27] How do you divide your time between your job and the helicopter business?

Glen Crawley [00:20:34] It really kind of, they kind of morph together whenever I’m at work and then I have any time away from the job, be it on breaks or whatever, I take the messages from the business, and if I need to return calls, I return calls. But whenever I’m off work from the the corporate job, I spend pretty much all of my time doing the the helicopter work. So the helicopter work is what I’m planning to do in the next phase of my working career. So as the business grows, once it’s able to replace the salary from my corporate job, I’ll phase out of the corporate job because my passion is helicopters. So I like dealing with people. I like meeting new people. And I just love flying helicopters. I absolutely love what I do. So for what I do, you must love your job. And that’s what I just I couldn’t imagine doing anything more.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:21:25] I understand. Speaking of of the future, where do you see the business maybe 5 to 10 years from now?

Glen Crawley [00:21:33] Well, what we see is being off site. Eventually, we would like to be offsite from Austin Executive Airport and have our own location where we have our own building and we have more control, you know, where we’re able to, you know, have toy helicopters for the kids, you know, give T-shirts away, sell T-shirts or sell merchandise or maybe even have like a bar there with food and alcohol or whatever. See, right now, we can’t do any of that because on their facility, it is not allowed. So we would like to be in a situation where we have our own control. So we would like to have our own building with multiple helicopters. Right now we only have one helicopter. We have access to another one that is not ours, but we would like to have at least five helicopters at some point and have them pretty much just flying all day long. So that is our goal. And if you’re going to dream you dream big, right, right. That’s what want.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:22:23] As a pilot of these tours, what are some of your favorite landmarks or location you like to show customers?

Glen Crawley [00:22:29] I love flying over downtown Austin and people love to see the stadium, the UT Tower and flying over the Capitol building. So it’s a phenomenal building, right? So people love to see it. And that’s where most of the pictures are taken over downtown Austin. And then when I fly out to Lake Travis, you know, it’s just mind blowing when you fly out there straight over the Oasis restaurant, over the major part of the Lake Travis, right there by Mansfield Dam. It’s the waterway opens up. And it’s just a beautiful, beautiful sight, especially when you’re flying out there around sunset. And that’s one of the tours that we offer as a sunset tour. Of course, there’s only one of those per day, so they tend to sell out pretty fast. But I just love flying over Lake Travis and I love flying over downtown also. I always say that Lake Travis kind of beats out downtown Austin just a little bit just because of the sheer magnitude of the lake. When you’re flying at about 2000 feet and you see the lake, you can see how large it is. Most people only get to see it from right there at Lake Travis, right there by the oasis. But we had 2000 feet. You could see all of it. And it kind of snakes and winds its way out quite a ways.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:23:29] When you open the business, obviously you need a helicopter. But what are the things that needed to be considered to open you alls enterprise?

Glen Crawley [00:23:37] Well, you have to have, uh, certain certifications with the FAA. You have to have what’s considered a letter of authorization that can only be given by the FAA in order to do helicopter transport and to charge passengers for it. So you couldn’t just buy a helicopter and say, I’m going to fly people around to get paid. Yeah, you can’t you can’t do that. So you have to go through the FAA. They have to come out and inspect your helicopter and look at all of your books and go through all of your records to make sure the helicopter has been safe and cared for. And then they’ll give you, if you’re lucky, they’ll give you what’s considered a yellow A or a letter of authorization to to transport poor people for for money. And so we had to go through that process. And it was a lengthy process, of course, something that we didn’t even know how long it would take. We thought it’d be like we’d call them up and next week they’ll come check out the helicopter and we’d be flying. It took them eight months to finish this process. So just imagine you buy a helicopter that costs a ton of money, you can’t make any money with it for eight months and paying out of pocket to have it. I figured that I would get tours to cover the cost and it wouldn’t cost me anything. But for about the first year, a year and a half, we were paying out of pocket to have the helicopter. We weren’t making enough money to cover the cost. So had it not been for my other job and my 401k, there’s no way we could have had this helicopter. No way.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:25:01] All right. What has been the most difficult thing that you had to learn in becoming a pilot?

Glen Crawley [00:25:07] I would say I’ve always been a people person. I mean, I’m a licensed realtor also. So just knowing how to deal with people and communicate well and keep people calm. You know, that’s been has been paramount for me because, you know, people come out, they’re nervous, they’ve heard stories, you know. So you always want to keep them calm. What we do that no one else does is we provide like if you have a certain artist, whatever type music you like, we can play that. Right. We have Spotify on aircrafts. So I’ve found that when you play music for people and it’s something that they like, they’re calm right away because for one, they’re focusing on the song and they’re not focusing on anything else that might not be deemed favorable to think about while you’re flying. And so they they get into a kind of a groove. They’re listening to the music and they’re looking at the sights and everyone is calm. Within 5 minutes, everybody’s happy that they’re up there, you know? But I just I just love giving them what they what they want, you know? And I just love seeing happy customers leave.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:26:04] Do you see yourself being mentors or opening up the field to other individuals that may have not thought about becoming pilots?

Glen Crawley [00:26:15] Yeah, that’s that’s one of the things we, we, we kind of toy around with whether we want to do instructions or not. When you’re doing instruction, it takes a lot of your time and you really have to focus in on each individual, uh, student. And that’s not our forte as far as what we, what we try, what we’re trying to achieve right now. If someone were to come to me, I’m fine with it, if anyone want to come over and be introduced to flight, I can come over, I can show them all the controls, maybe take them out for a short flight so they can see exactly what it takes to to fly an aircraft. But as far as the teaching, you need to go somewhere where they do that nonstop in order to get the best instruction you need to be where they teach. I mean, you go to the university to learn. You wouldn’t go to speak to somebody who already graduated. Say, teach me something. You would go where they teach every day. So I would I would push them to go towards a training school where that school is more focused on training pilots every day because they’ll get the very best instruction under that condition. I mean, that’s where I had to go to get it. So I didn’t want to talk to some other pilot who had flown already to teach me anything. I rather go where they teach. And so I would say that’s the best place to go to become a pilot. But if you want to just come over and check out a helicopter and see how the controls look inside and maybe go on a short flight or something. Yeah, I’ll come. I’ll do that all day. I want everyone, especially all the young people, to be introduced to aviation in their lives because it changed my life.

John L. Hanson Jr. [00:27:41] Glen Crawley, co-owner of ATX Heli Tours, located in Pflugerville, Texas, a northern suburb of Austin, Texas. If you have questions, comments or suggestions about the future In Black America programs, email us at In Black America at kut.org. Also, let us know what radio station you heard us over. Remember to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of the station or of the University of Texas at Austin. You can hear previous programs online at kut.org. Until we have the opportunity again for technical producer David Alvarez, I’m John L. Hanson Jr. Thank you for joining us today. Please join us again next week.

Intro music [00:28:31] CD copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing to In Black America. CD’s, KUT Radio, 300 West Dean Keeton St, Austin, Texas 78712. This has been a production of KUT Radio.

KUT Weekend – December 20, 2019

Religious groups step in to provide contraception as Planned Parenthood gets sidelined in Texas. Plus, how does Austin’s school district move forward after its equity officer called a school closure plan racist? And who started the tradition of residents stringing up hoards of lights on a stretch of 37th Street? Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

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KUT Weekend – December 13, 2019

Austin is one step closer to getting a contentious set of new rules that determine what can be built in which parts of the city. Plus, how narratives and not facts often drive news coverage of public opinion surveys. And who is the chatty guy who works at the post office in East Austin? Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

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Texas Standard: December 12, 2019

Blocked at the border: a judge in El Paso puts the brakes again on part of the president’s border wall project, although parts of the wall are still going up. We’ll have more on the latest legal challenge to the president’s effort to fulfill his campaign promise of a border wall from the Gulf to the Pacific. Also, a battle in the Texas Capitol City over changes to the code may be the shape of things to come for the rest of Texas, we’ll hear why. And 2019, a good year for cyber security? Our tech expert Omar Gallaga gets us up to speed and more today on the Texas Standard:

KUT Weekend – December 6, 2019

The Austin City Council orders an extensive investigation into allegations of racism and bias in the Austin Police Department. Plus, a pediatric brain surgeon in Austin who died in a car race is remembered for his biggest wins off the track. And Rainey Street will be closed to cars and trucks on weekends. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

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Megan Thee Stallion & The Grammys

This week on The Breaks:

  • In his Unpopular Opinion segment, Fresh explains why he thinks Megan Thee Stallion wasn’t nominated for a Grammy in the “Best New Artist” category.
  • Confucius and Fresh talk to Austin’s Eazy Boi about his new record “Griffin,” fatherhood and his thoughts on the city’s hip-hop scene.
  • Confucius implores people to stop complaining about how there’s no good music being made today in his Confucius Says segment.
  • Confucius and Fresh interview the organizers of  the Down South Love – Black Friday Show Texas Hip Hop ShowcaseThe show which features acts like Milkweed, Vontay Galaxy and DJ Confucius Jones, will be from 7pm – 1 am at Come and Take It Live.

Listen to this episode of The Breaks

Listen on The Apple Podcasts App, Spotify or Stitcher

Hear the music from The Breaks played on their Saturday Night Hip-hop show

Omarion & Pettiness

This week on The Breaks:

  • Confucius explains why he’s a fan of Omarion’s pettiness towards Lil Fizz.
  • Confucius and Fresh discuss Lil Uzi Vert’s twitter rant about his record label, Generation Music Group.
  • Austin artist Jake Lloyd talks about his headlining show at Stubbs on December 7th and his views on being an urban artist in Austin, Texas.
  • Fresh explains why GoldLink’s comments on Mac Miller and the Grammys made him uninterested in supporting the artist.
  • Confucius asks people to let their successes be the narrative of their lives in his Confucius Says segment.

Listen to this episode of The Breaks

Listen on The Apple Podcasts App, Spotify or Stitcher

Hear the music from The Breaks played on their Saturday Night Hip-hop show

KUT Weekend – November 29, 2019

A last-minute loophole could undermine a Texas law against surprise medical bills. Plus, Hill Country landowners say the energy company Kinder Morgan is lowballing them on land for a natural gas pipeline. And some Texas farmers going all in on hemp. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

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