Here's an example of how good life was before the malaise era of the 70s, and the hyper inflation of the 80s and since... in 1956 you could get a Piper Cub and a pilots license when making only $150 a week.

In 1956, Roy Clark obtained his pilot's certificate and then bought a 1953 Piper Tri-Pacer (N1132C), which he flew for many years.

By the way, Carroll Shelby had a Tri Pacer too... wonder who has it now, and does it matter to them that Shelby owned it?  (Answer? Jim McCloud, Foothill Aviation, and he knows Shelby owned it)

This plane was raffled off on December 17, 2012, to benefit the charity Wings of Hope.

Roy donated this plane to Wings of Hope because he loves children, and had heard the Nobel Peace Prize nominated charity works throughout the Midwest transforming the lives of kids with profound birth defects. Roy learned to fly with this plane; it has a special place in his heart – but helping kids get to the medical treatments they would otherwise do without – that means much more to him,” says Douglas Clements, Wings of Hope President.

Wings of Hope is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization headquartered in St. Louis. It operates more than 150 bases in 45 countries, providing every manner of assistance so the poor reach a level of sustainability. More than 1 million people are served annually. Founded in 1962, it is the largest and oldest volunteer aviation charity in the world and the largest volunteer charity in the Midwest. In 2011, Wings of Hope was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2015, Wings of Hope was in possession of the plane again, as the raffle winner had passed away, they listed it on Ebay, and it did not get the reserve of 10k. Probably, because it needed more than 20k in repairs and maintenance just to be licensed to fly.

He owned other planes, including a Mitsubishi MU-2, Stearman PT-17 and Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond 1A business jet.

If you're young, and not into guitar players, or the 1960s... here's a sample of Roy Clark with a Martin, he learned at age 14, his dad played guitar and his mom played piano.



By age 17, he had won his second National Banjo title, and in doing so appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. This brought him exposure to some well-known acts, and he was soon hired as back up guitarist for banjo player/comedian, Stringbean https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/06/country-music-star-david-stringbean.html

By the early 1970s, Clark was the highest-paid country music star in the United States, earning $7 million ($46,100,000 in 2019 dollars) a year.

he was a direct descendant of John Clark, Masters Mate and pilot of the Mayflower

https://generalaviationnews.com/2012/01/26/winner-of-roy-clarks-tripacer-named/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Clark
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=1132C
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/74900145/person/252167449760/facts