Clark flying high after receiving national honor
Larry Clark, longtime Holmes County Airport Authority manager and pilot, doesn’t fly airplanes and jets because he has to. He flies them because he loves the sheer joy of taking to the air and soaring above the clouds.
Clark was recently on Cloud Nine after being honored as a 2025 recipient of the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, presented to pilots for having accumulated more than 50 years of flying with no accidents, incidents or violations.
This is the highest award the Federal Aviation Administration presents, and it takes a lot of experience, knowledge and care in transporting the most precious of cargo, people.
Since he began flying at age 17, Clark has exhibited all those characteristics and more as he flies the friendly skies, taking people on flights that range from exotic locales on vacation to time-sensitive family situations, board meetings, safari hunts and more.
“I’ve actually been flying for 56 years,” Clark said.
Clark was nominated for the honor by a fellow pilot, and part of the requirement is the pilot must be an upstanding citizen in his or her community and in the aviation community, along with needing three other letters of recommendation from fellow pilots.
“I’ve had a lot of people help me along my journey to whom I owe a lot of gratitude,” Clark said. “It’s been a long journey filled with a lot of travel all over the world.”
For Clark, the leap into the world of aviation came at a young age.
Clark said as a young teenager, his brother was always interested in the Air Force and was constantly bringing home pamphlets. Thus, Clark got into the Civil Air Patrol, and during a CAP search and rescue procedure, instructor Steve McNabb showed the group around the Millersburg Airport.
Clark was smitten and signed up for ground school.
That was in 1968.
Clark was 15 years old.
“I basically started flying before I could drive a car,” Clark said. “I got my pilot’s license at 17. I actually got my driver’s license just before my pilot’s license, and the only reason I did that was so I could drive to the airport.”
Thus, flying has been in Clark’s blood for many decades, and it has never gotten old or boring for him, and he still fondly remembers his first solo flight.
“It’s like stepping out on a limb and being told to jump off,” Clark said.
What does the veteran pilot enjoy the most about his work?
Clark said it isn’t really work at all.
“For me, the joy is meeting so many different people from all walks of life,” Clark said, noting he has flown famous politicians, music artists, prominent business leaders, professional athletes, Christian entertainers, actors and everyday people in his plane.
All of this having flown basically out of Millersburg.
“I love the relationship part of this job,” Clark said. “I have met so many incredible people who have shared their lives with me. I have flown on mercy trips where I’ve brought loved ones back to Ohio to be able to see loved ones in their final days of life. It’s been a very rewarding and meaningful experience.”
He said it is rewarding to know he is able to help people not only find quick and safe transportation to other cities and destinations, but also recognizing much of what he does is bring people together for meaningful times in their lives.
“In a sense I’m a first responder because people call me at a moment’s notice because they’ve got to be somewhere in an emergency, when people are in accidents, or someone is being placed in hospice across the country and they need to get there quickly,” Clark said. “Connecting people in moments that are meaningful to families is really touching.”
He has done it often enough that he has been called a “guardian angel” by some who can never express enough gratitude for his ability to quickly bring people together under trying circumstances.
Then there is the simple joy of taking flight, soaring high into the heavens and experiencing the peacefulness of being up in the clouds.
As busy as he is, Clark still finds great joy and peace in taking flight simply for the sake of flying. He said oftentimes his schedule sees him fly people to a destination, turn around and come home by himself.
He said as much as he enjoys getting to know others, those moments are still a highlight.
“Up there, there’s this incredible peace,” Clark said. “It’s late at night, and there’s all these stars, or I’m flying along witnessing God’s creation from a very unique viewpoint that many people don’t get to enjoy. There are no two sunrises the same, and it’s a very different perspective that you almost have to see to believe.”
This honor is something he truly cherishes because it means that for more than five decades, people have felt comfortable putting their lives in his capable hands. People all over the nation have made a habit in calling Clark rather than someone closer to home because they trust him and enjoy his easygoing personality.
As for his favorite spots, he said the Cayman Islands rank as his favorite, but he said experiencing many different exotic locales and rugged countrysides are all exciting.
Oftentimes, he and his wife Holly will fly together, transporting people to resorts, beaches, ski resorts and many other vacation spots, and they’ve enjoyed many impromptu vacations while flying others to their destinations.
“I get paid to go on vacation,” Clark said. “I’ve told people that when you can find someone to pay you for your hobby, you never go to work,” Clark said. “So I haven’t worked in many years.”
Not only that, the Clarks are treated like family by many of those he transports, so their family continues to expand as he soars upward each week.
Clark said he has even had moments where people ask him to help them through personal struggles, which speaks volumes as to how close Clark is to people.
“There’s a personal side to what I do,” Clark said. “It’s nice that they don’t see me as just a pilot or someone providing a service. They consider me a friend,” Clark said, noting he has been able to share his faith with people in meaningful ways when people open up to him.
With his head in the clouds, Clark is finding great joy in his life, doing what he loves while helping people along the way.