Golf Legend Says Goodbye to Cockpit

Arnold Palmer, who appeared on the February/March 2010 cover of BJT, piloted what he said would be his last flight on January 31 when he flew his Cessna Citation X from Palm Springs, Calif., to his home in Orlando, Fla. Palmer, 81, flew for almost 55 years and logged more than 20,000 hours in the cockpit.

He has owned 10 airplanes, progressing from his first, a 1961 Aero Commander 500, to his current ride, a Cessna Citation X twinjet he bought in 2002. A 50-year friendship with former Cessna chairman and CEO Russ Meyer made Palmer arguably the world's most famous Citation customer. In 1969, he piloted a Boeing 747 before the airplane went into commercial service. In 1976, he set a round-the-world speed record that still stands. Taking off from Denver in a Learjet 36, Palmer circumnavigated the globe in 57 hours, 25 minutes and 42 seconds with stops in Boston, Paris, Tehran, Sri Lanka, Jakarta, Manila, Wake Island and Honolulu.

Today Palmer is a passionate champion of business aviation, appearing in print and Web ads for the National Business Aviation Association's "No Plane, No Gain" advocacy campaign.