When Dave Kahley’s parents took him to an air show in Harrisburg, he fell in love with the world of aircraft.
Decades later, Kahley has racked up more than 50 years of experience in the air.
Kahley, 68, of Greensburg got his pilot’s license when he was 16. He joined Air Force ROTC and served in the Civil Air Patrol.
Though a reduction in Air Force staffing in the wake of the Vietnam War prevented Kahley from serving as a military pilot, he kept his passion as a hobby.
“It’s a privilege to fly them. It’s fun to be up in the air,” he said. “You get up there and there’s really not much of any other people around.
“It requires some skill. It requires continual training,” he said. “That’s fun to try to be the best you can at anything you do.”
Kahley — president and CEO of nonprofit economic development lender The Progress Fund — began storing his aircraft at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity 15 years ago. He has done flyovers at memorial services, sporting events, high school graduations and the Flight of the Flags ceremony during the 2023 Shop ‘n Save Westmoreland Airshow.
For Kahley, the air show — slated for this weekend — is about inspiring the next generation of pilots.
“Early, people nurtured my interest, and that’s great,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why we have the air show — get kids out here to see what it’s like and enjoy the airplanes. It’s a fun passion and it’s a great career. You can have one or the other or both.”
Related:
• Flights, county fair coincide with Westmoreland Airshow this year
‘This is a museum piece’
Kahley’s current aircraft is riddled with history, he told TribLive Thursday as 1940s swing music echoed off the walls of a Unity airport hangar.
Kahley purchased a 1942 T-6G plane in 2018. It was used to train Air Force pilots to fly fighter jets during World War II — where his father served in the Air Force.
The plane was delivered to the Army Air Corps on Dec. 7, 1942 — exactly one year after the bombing of Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor naval base, Kahley said. It was among 30 training aircraft of the same make and model used by the Air Force when it was formed in 1947.
Though the aircraft’s engine, cables and tires have been replaced over time, its metal skin has remained untouched for more than 80 years.
“This is a museum piece that we keep flying,” he said.
