DEKE CLARK

DEKE CLARK

Biography

Deke Clark was one of the FIRST HUMANS TO FLY IN FORMATION WITH WHOOPING CRANES. When he retired, he volunteered with Operation Migration, a non-profit organization to fly the trike and lead Whooping Cranes on the migratory route which existed many years ago, these are currently the Whooping cranes in the Eastern Flyway in over 100 years.

Deke Clark (DeWitt Allen Clark), was born in Middlebury, Vermont on September 11, 1937. He was the oldest of seven children and was raised on a farm near Otter Creek in Waltham, Vermont. His father became a licensed pilot and dedicated a small portion of the 500-acre farm to build a grass strip, so he could pursue his love of flying.

Deke’s passion for flying began as a toddler when he and a younger brother would squeeze into the seat next to his father while they flew over the rolling hills of Vermont farmland. Deke had a remarkably interesting career in aviation.

At the age of 18, Deke left the farm to follow his passion of flying and enrolled in the Air Force. He flew various Air Force jets, which were the venerable T-33, Shooting Star, the F-89, Sabre and his favorite, the F-86.. After the air force, he was hired by United Airlines and flew several airplanes, the 727, 737, 757 and 767. Deke progressed through the normal process of advancement to Captain, He was based in Denver Colorado, originally. He then made the move and transferred his base to be at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

After several years, he moved on to serve his fellow pilots on the United ALPA Negotiating Committee. After more than 4 years in that position Deke returned to his first love, flying airplanes. He moved into the more modern, glass cockpit airplanes, the Boeing 757 and 767. After flying both airplanes domestically he transitioned to international flying and then moved on to become a Check Airman in both aircraft. The international flights were to Paris, London, Scotland, Germany, Spain and other countries. He loved French cuisine so he enrolled in a one year course in French cuisine in Washington D.C., He also enrolled in a photography course where he met his other half, Rebecca Cohen-Pardo, who was his living partner and friend for 29 years.

Deke Clark and Rebecca

Deke and Rebecca

Deke thouroughly enjoyed exchanging knowledge with all the pilots, both Captains and First Officers he checked out and qualified for passenger service.

United Airlines was the first U.S. carrier to add the Boeing 777 to its fleet and Deke became a member of a select group of company pilots who were involved in the certification process. He flew many missions with Boeing test pilots and was one of the instructors who taught the United Triple Seven (777) flight crews This involved many flights with Boeing test pilots in the certification process as well as working with many United Instructor Pilots assigned to the program. All the pilots involved in the original project became Check Airman on the B777 to assist in qualifying other pilots for passenger service.

Deke flew the round trip inaugural passenger flight on the B-777 from Washington‘s Dulles Airport to Heathrow in London. He remained a Check Airman on the B-777 until his retirement in September 1997. Deke was well respected by all the flight crew he worked with and all the pilots he mentored throughout his 33-year career with United Airlines.

Deke Clark

Deke Clark - Trike pilot who flew in formation with the whooping cranes

Deke Clark flying in formation with cranes

DEKE CLARK AND OPERATION MIGRATION

Before his retirement, Deke heard about a small Canadian non-profit that was working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that hoped to reintroduce endangered Whooping cranes into the Eastern United States. Whooping cranes are the tallest birds in North America and learn to migrate by following their parents along traditional routes to ancestral wintering grounds. But those routes were lost when the population of Whooping cranes was down to only 16 individuals. By the time Deke retired, the numbers had increased enough to try to reintroduce them into their former range. However, there was no way to instill migratory behavior or to teach them the route, until Operation Migration learned to be surrogate parents and use ultralight aircraft to lead the way.

Deke volunteered when the idea was being formulated and Operation Migration was still working with non-endangered Sandhill cranes to prove the concept and develop the methods. Deke soon learned to fly an ultralight aircraft known as a trike and became a trusted pilot. He worked long hours all summer helping to train the birds and then accompanied the team on an experimental flight leading the Sandhill cranes from Port Perry, Ontario, to the Tom Yawkey Center in South Carolina. The success of that experiment was enough to convince the Fish and Wildlife Services that the idea had merit and Deke helped with the negotiations between Operation Migration and its seven partners within the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership.

To test the new and much longer route between Wisconsin and Florida, Sandhill cranes were again used in 2000. In the spring those cranes returned to Wisconsin on their own. In 2001, everything was in place and Deke, along with two other pilots, led a flock of eight Whooping cranes over 1,200 miles on their first migration south. Each year a new generation was added and that flock grew to become the Eastern Migratory Population. They were the first wild, migratory,. Whooping Cranes in the Eastern Flyway in over 100 years.

Deke was one of the first people to fly in formation with Whooping cranes and his name is embossed on the nose of the Operation Migration trike that hangs in the Museum at the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Deke had a stroke in 2002 that left him debilitated, unable to speak properly and unable to fly with Whooping Cranes again. He died on April 20, 2020. Deke was a great man, a leader of birds and a dear friend to many people.

Deke and Joe Duff

Deke and friends