“FROM OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE
OF THE WESTERN SKY…”
Mention the name Sky King to just about
all pilots over 50 and chances are a smile
will come to their faces as they begin to
tell you about how, as a child, they
watched the show on weekend television
and dreamed of flying someday.
September of 2011 marked the 60th
anniversary of the television series first
airing. Many a pilot was inspired to fly by
the radio and television adventure series
Sky King. The story featured Arizona
rancher and pilot Schuyler “Sky” King who,
on the weekly show, chased black-hatted
“bad guys” and helped “good guys” in his
Cessna T- 50 Bobcat Songbird, registered as
N67832, with the periodic assistance of his
niece, Penny, or his nephew, Clipper, who
were both also pilots.
The series originally ran, off and on,
from September 16, 1951, until March 8,
1959, but continued with reruns until the
late 1960s.
What is not generally known is that
the fictional exploits of Sky King paralleled the real-life deeds and adventures of
Orville Jackson “Jack” Cones, known
locally as “The Flying Constable of
Twentynine Palms” in California from
1940 until his death in 1960.
MIDWESTERN ROOTS
Born and raised in Missouri, Jack
received only a grade school education
before enlisting in the Texas National
Guard in 1917. From the Midwest, he went
on to serve in France during World War I
where, in the 17 months he served there,
he became the personal motorcycle dispatch rider for Gen. John Pershing, the
commander of the American
Expeditionary Forces, and was also
wounded in combat.
After the war, he moved to Southern
California, where he met his wife, Clara.
The couple decided to become homesteaders in the Mojave Desert in 1929. An
experienced tractor operator, he helped
build many of the early roads in San
Bernardino County.
In March of 1932, he was appointed
the second constable of the small township and was reputed to be able to “make
a tin can dance in the sand with his gun.”
Initially, he patrolled the more than 2,800
square miles of his jurisdiction on horseback or automobile. A skilled marksman
with his well-worn six-shooter, he preferred to handle crises with words and
conversation before resorting to gunplay,
earning himself the moniker “The Last of
the Peace Officers.”
