A flier through it all

Newport Beach resident Bob Benish spent much of his career in the

air, carrying cargo for businesses and passengers for pleasure.

He was known in Orange County as the man behind SanTana

Helicopter, a one-person company that took on specialty flying

missions.

“He flew every day,” said Dola Miller, who was married to Benish.

“It was something he loved.”

Benish’s family moved from Iowa to Long Beach, where Benish

attended high school and community college. Miller said her husband

was the first person from his community college to volunteer for the

military in World War II.

He joined the Army Air Corps, where he earned the rank of captain.

During the war, he was a pilot who flew aircraft missions overseas.

Benish remained in the service after the war. He flew B-29 bombers

stationed in Florida to military bases, mostly on the West Coast.

After he left active duty in 1946, Benish began a wholesale candy-

and tobacco-supply company in Palm Springs with his childhood friend,

Lincoln Ball.

“He was an outstanding person, a very good athlete and an

all-around nice guy,” Ball said.

They had to sell the profitable company when the Korean War began

and Benish was called back into service by the United States Air

Force.

As Ball remembers, Benish had 30 days to report for duty. He

followed orders and was relieved of duty because of an asthma

problem.

Benish and Miller were married in 1952. Eleven years later, he

opened the helicopter business and set up shop at the Orange County

Airport.

From the airport, he ran a flight school where he trained people

to fly private helicopters. He also flew missions where he hovered

above events trailing a banner for local businesses.

Benish moved his operation on numerous occasions, once to the west

side of the airport and then to the control tower building, according

to an airport newsletter.

In the early 1970s, the airport served about 1.5 million

passengers each year. The facilities were far from desirable, Miller

remembers, and many employees worked out of trailers.

“Compared to today, it was primitive,” Miller said. “You could

walk right up to the planes, and there was hardly any security.”

Benish is credited with helping get support for new airport

buildings, which were finished after his death in 1975.

Miller said her husband was involved in the local Rotary Club and

in his church, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Newport Beach.

“He was giving of himself,” Miller said.

For Christmas, he dressed up as Santa Claus and took Girl Scouts

and other children on helicopter rides. He also flew his family

around the area, including his daughter, Barbara Benish-Kalny, who

lives in Europe.

“I was never a flier,” Miller said. “But he always put me at ease.

He was a very good pilot.”

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