With the holiday season hastily approaching and little time remaining to complete our gift shopping, some of us decide to partake in the shopping mall experience for convenience. So naturally, I try to avoid the malls due to the sheer conglomerate of people hustling and bustling to complete their lists. Sure, it’s nice to have unlimited options, both in consumables and edibles, but I’ll save this for a “last resort.” Although, I do fancy a warm cinnamon roll or hot pretzel while shopping!
Have you ever stopped to think about what businesses will do to get our attention with hopes that we will divulge in shopping at their stores? It’s the time of year when the retail sector needs to make a profit, and they will do anything to grab our attention! My next story, although not during the holiday season, is still a marketing campaign that involved my father, Tony, a Cessna 150, and the old Sattler’s “998” store at the Boulevard Mall in Amherst NY.
I don’t know if Sattlers contacted Tony with the idea or the other way around, but it was a brilliant pitch and a perfect pairing! The idea is to land a small private airplane in the mall’s parking lot, dissemble the wings to maneuver it inside, and then reassemble the plane for the presentation. Afterward, the process repeats itself, and Tony successfully takes off from the same parking lot headed back to Buffalo Air-Park.
Although I only have five photographs from the event without any dates, it was in the late 1960s, to the best of my belief. A 1965 Cessna 150F, N8179S, is used, and it astonishes me that Tony can pull this off! Can you imagine getting ATC clearance now for this stunt? You may get a visit from the FAA with a lot of questions. It’s funny how times have changed!
I checked the registration number of that 150F, click here, and the airplane is still active! That’s very interesting, and I would like to know if the owner knows the history!
Also, here’s a link to the history of Sattlers written by forgottenbuffalo.com, and check out their short video on YouTube below!
Leave a comment if you have more to share, and I hope you enjoyed this short story! Happy holidays, and see you in the post!
Buffalo Air Park 
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