The next morning we would go with the father to the Souk (market) and he would buy rugs and I mean a lot of rugs. We would be at max gross weight with all the rugs at takeoff even with a light load of fuel, It was only about a 40 min flight returning to Kuwait.

Large trays could be purchased for $100 at that time. He would buy these trays like the were going out of style. Perhaps some of the rugs and trays were gifts for his friends. I have one hanging in my family room along with two paintings of the Kuwait Towers and the Royal Palace. They are paintings of very fine quality.

On occasion, we would fly into Esfahan, the medieval city with a bridge crossing the river with 14 arches for support, with each arch made out of hand-hewn stone from the mountains to the North. Today it would be no challenge to build that bridge, but in those days it was a miracle and an undertaking that was far from easy. Esfahan is 5,315 ft. elevation about 200 miles South of Tehran. The fast-flowing river that flows thru Esfahan is the Zayandeh River. It is formed in the high Zagros mountains melt-off and flows to an oasis. The river, in full flood, is 20 miles wide and 40 miles long. Its rapid travel thru Esfahan apparently is what created all the vast caverns under the city itself. Esfahan is known for its fine carpets and metals works, chiefly silver filigree, copper etc. At one time the population was 600,000 until 1723 when the Afghans invaded and killed off most of the population. It was occupied by the Russians shortly afterwards. When I was there, the airport was an Iranian helicopter assembly facility, all provided by the United States. There were 130 American-built helicopters in place the last time I was there. They were distributed by the military to different areas of Iran for service as the Shah saw fit.

The Souk was almost all underground in the caves created from the river. They were enormous and lengthy. Cool too. All kinds of goods were available there. Large trays were what the father was shopping for. They are made of a soft metal with all kinds of engraving, using silver and copper inlays. These trays are made by apprentice workers starting at about 12 years of age. They continue to do this type of work and eventually they will inherit the shop from the father. So on down through the family.

What a memorable place. I was on a personal basis with the Chief of the Iranian Air Force who liked Hang Gliding. He was an avid fan. I mentioned to him that flying one of those kites were very dangerous. His reply was, “No Sweat, I've done it so many times that I lost count.” I said, “Hey Pal, don’t do it anymore”. Two days later he misjudged the wind currents and was lost. Allah Allah, have mercy.

We also made flights into the city of Shariz, located in the southern part of Iran. It had an airport with runways 12,500 ft long. It was laid out like a SAC base in the United States with underground fuel pits. It made me feel as though I had stepped back in time flying RB-47s again.

In the fall of 1974 while waiting for release for departure at the Rhein Mein International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany, we were cleared into position and hold. It was only a short time later that a big beautiful Lufthansa Boeing 747 was overhead and landing on the same runway that we had been cleared onto and hold. It was a grand sight for just a split second, then we realized that they darn near landed on top of us.

You can just imagine how a Learjet model 35 would come out in a collision with a Boeing 747 — something like a squashed bug. It took a while for us to compose ourselves before we could accept release. There was a very weak feeling to overcome before actual take off. We pulled over to the taxi strip and advised the tower that we had done so. We also advised them of the situation and they stated that the B747 had landed on the wrong runway. The conversation was time consuming as we clarified the circumstances of this near miss with the traffic controllers. We did have a schedule to maintain returning to Kuwait and were soon off and on our way. The paperwork on this subject flowed into Kuwait like a dike that just broken. It was finally determined that the ground controller and the tower did not coordinate sufficiently. Thank you Dear Lord, once again.

The beginning of my international piloting services, while based in Kuwait, had begun in 1974. It had been 4 years of wonderful and exoitc flights that will remain in my memory for as long as I live. But, the transient lifestyle was beginning to wear on me and my family. I longed for a change of pace and time to put down some roots we could call our own, once again. I came to believe that it was time to relax and do something else. In April of 1975 I had purchased 40 acres of land in DeLand, Florida for devolopement at a later date. DeLand is the home of Stetson University. It is located about 30 miles Southwest of Daytona Beach, Fl. During the races at Daytona Speedway when the wind was from the East, the roar of the engines could be heard. Once again it was off to the races, or something like that, for the Myers family. I resigned my position and we were soon on our way back to the States.