Shortly after moving to Alaska in 1947 to live out a childhood dream, Thomas (Cliff) quickly realized that aviation was an integral part of the Alaskan experience. During a Christmas trip back to his hometown of Richmond California, he took flying lessons out of Vallejo Sky Harbor Airport, which is now long gone and replaced with houses.

Returning to Alaska, he gained his pilot's license and began a decade of his Alaskan bush pilot dream. In 1950, he traveled to Lock Haven Pennsylvania to pick up a brand-new Pacer. Flying back to Alaska took 2 weeks. Evenings in the summer were spent flying up and down along the Alaska Railroad corridor to numerous bush locations, hunting, fishing, and gaining hours. As he grew more confident in his piloting abilities, he began to explore other areas of the vast expanse of the Alaska Territory. As with any pilot during that era, when another fellow aviator went missing, assistance was rendered without a second thought. A notable search that Cliff participated in was the August 1951 search for Glen Hudson out of Talkeetna.

That Pacer played an integral part in wooing his future wife, Joan. Coming from a small town in Minnesota, she thought that anyone with an airplane had money - little did she know! After marriage in 1954, his Alaskan flying adventures continued and were shared with his lovely wife.

Unfortunately for his flying, with the advent of children, the plane had to go. After selling his airplane, Cliff was able to continue to satisfy his flying passion by joining the Anchorage chapter of the Civil Air Patrol. There he took part in many searches over the years for overdue pilots throughout south-central Alaska. He also participated in bringing the de Havilland Beaver into the inventory of the Civil Air Patrol. These planes went on to play a vital role in providing assistance to communities cut off from normal supply routes by the 1964 Alaskan earthquake.

With a growing family, and the increasing parental obligations that ensued, Cliff finally ended his flying career on March 9, 1968 with a final search for an overdue aviator.