Capt. J. Y. "Jimmy" Davidson had a flying career that spanned 52 years from 1946 to 1998 accumulating 17,000+ hours of flying time. He had a commercial pilot's license with single, multi-engine and instruments ratings. He had been a member of AOPA since 1946. In early 1970 he acquired a part 135 certificate to fly passengers and cargo for hire.

Jimmy was a true Cable TV Pioneer. In October, 1948 he hooked up the very first cable television subscriber in Tuckerman, Arkansas. Then in 1949 he moved to Batesville and built his first cable system along with the first cable TV supermarket, DAVCO Electronics Corporation, to sell equipment and supplies to build and maintain cable systems. He used his airplanes to build turnkey systems in many states and sold equipment and supplies to customers in all 48 states and was known as the "Flying Cable Pioneer" from Arkansas. He considered his planes to be important tools in his business to transport construction crews, tools, materials, engineers and test equipment to several states in one day enabling him to engineer cable systems and deliver equipment and supplies to his customers who ultimately became personal friends throughout his life.

In 1998 a celebration was given in his honor to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of hooking up the first cable TV subscriber. Customers, friends, family, Cable Museum historians and reporters flew in or drove to his home in Cabot, Arkansas for the event. One friend even flew here from Sharnbrook, England.

Jimmy had a wonderful 50 year career of flying. Once he found and helped a lost plane find its way to an airport safely. Another incident was when a pilot had an emergency landing in a field and could not get the plane out. Everyone said "It can't be done" but Jimmy proved/them wrong by flying the plane out without incident. He also flew water and food to survivors and workers in Biloxi, Mississippi after Hurricane Camille hit the coast. One of his employees had a heart problem while in another state on a cable job and Jimmy flew his plane to the town, picked the employee up, flew him back to Arkansas to the hospital and saved his life.

During WW-II Jimmy was in the Signal Corps and kept the airplane radios working and left with a commendation which stated that no aircraft were ever grounded due to radio failure during his 16 month tenure and he received another citation for having developed an earphone part which was adopted and used widely.

Jimmy is an entrepreneur. Along with cable TV and flying he has been an electronics engineer, a Coast Guard Captain, is a Shriner, a custom jewelry designer, a photographer, a movie projectionist, theater manager, radio repairman, appliance salesman, commercial artist, writer and publisher. He is now retired and doing cable and personal historical work and traveling.