a local engine expert was needed. So, Daryl started to specialize in engine work and repair.”
“When Daryl bought the business he began
growing it, starting with two other employees
and working up to employing 25 people at his retirement,” says Patricia.
Patricia started at the family business helping out with the bookkeeping, and eventually
became Chief Financial Officer, then Human
Resources Manager.
She jokes that even the deliveries of both
children were managed with a trade-out generated from
within the family business.
“In the spring of 1967 Daryl and I were expecting the arrival of our first child. One day at work our family physician,
who was a member of the flying club, was getting an airplane
out of the club hangar to go flying. He did not realize that the
club had changed the mechanism on the overhead door and
he opened it, ran it up beyond the limits and wrecked it, leaving a pile of bent tin and snapped wood. Daryl heard the noise
and ran up to the hangar to see what was wrong. He and the
doctor discussed the situation, and the doctor asked Daryl
if he would fix the door for him. Daryl said yes. The doctor
Photos from far left:
Daryl Middlebrook sitting in the Penn Yan Aero office
in 1957. Eagle showing Daryl’s kindergarten class an airplane
in 1949 at the Penn Yan Airport. Patricia Middlebrook with
another 180HP Penn Yan Aero SuperHawk. 50th Anniversary
Company photo. Reece Patrick Middlebrook sitting on Dad’s
