It's time for Positively Kansas coming up.

History is made once again in the air capital of the world.

Well journey, along with a world record flight that took off and landed in Wichita also.

Friends and neighbors gather in McPherson to honor one of the town's most famous celebrities.

He's a one eyed wonder with a life lesson to share with all of us.

And in our Kansas Wild Edge report, we'll learn about the fastest animals in the Western Hemisphere.

And they live right here in Kansas.

I'm Sierra Scott.

Join us for a half hour of information and inspiration right now on Positively Kansas.

Wichita becomes the beginning and ending of a great around the world record setting flight.

Five aviators set out in a Wichita built Learjet to recreate the first around the world westerly flight.

Chris Frank has the story of the century mission flight celebrating that 100th anniversary.

See you.

Wichita will be back in a couple of days.

And after some last minute hugs, kisses and goodbyes from friends and family.

Five aviators bought the Learjet model 36 say the time is closing in on midnight when Wednesday night, April 3rd will turn to Thursday morning, April 4th.

Mark Gray, shown here on the flight deck with copilot Joshua Partridge, prepares to start engines while local media and onlookers stand by.

The door closes and won't be reopened in Wichita until the crew returns Saturday evening.

And as the five on board, four pilots and one observer settle in before takeoff, let's take some time to appreciate how such a trip required a great deal of planning to reach this point if the timing works out.

The team has had several preflight meetings, some virtual, some in-person going over the details.

This is the 10th crew meeting.

Mark Gray heads up discussions as the instigator of this circumnavigation of flight.

There are 11 refueling stops to plan for, gray points out to crew members.

The necessity of meeting strict in and out times at those stops to stay on schedule.

I think we can be a little ahead of schedule and be sitting in pulao, planning to take off to land in Singapore at the exact minute that that 4:00 window opens.

These pilots are experienced flying international and have experienced some of the upcoming stops.

So this Learjet is owned by Global Jet Care.

It's a worldwide air ambulance service.

Mark Gray is company president co-owner, the cabin is normally outfitted with the patient's bed and two flight attendant seats.

Those were removed and a custom made mattress added for this flight.

Now, the plane draws a lot of attention from those attending a preflight party.

That celebration at the Li aerospace hangar at the Benton Airport, where flight memorabilia was sold as a fundraiser for the Learjet 2303 restoration.

Okay, great.

I will check it out.

This whole community is like a quilt.

This is a great event, and it's a, you know, a world record attempt and everything.

But the main purpose for doing all this is to raise funds for our 23 003 here in Wichita.

Webber makes reference to this Learjet model 2303, which was featured in an earlier Positively Kansas Story.

It is unique as the first customer delivered Learjet.

The classic Lear Jet Foundation is raising money to restore 003, and this century mission around the world.

Flight is doing the same by drawing attention to the Lear jet's restoration.

Webber is a jet pilot, but his role on this flight is as official witness.

And though Webber says he's looking forward to the flight.

There's an aspect of it that makes him nervous.

I'm very apprehensive about spending that much time over the water.

It's something that even though I love airplanes and I love boats, I usually don't try to mix the two.

So.

For now, his apprehension is put on hold as the excitement builds in Wichita with the plane taxiing away from the Bombardier Lear Jet delivery center.

The crew that I'm going with has so much experience to do this.

They do it every day.

The three global jet care pilots are used to flying overseas on medical flights.

And then there's pilot John Boehm, who's flown Learjet since age 20.

The retired Delta Airlines pilot has flown around the world twice.

Once easterly, then westerly in his Cirrus plane.

He knows what to expect.

I think our biggest threat for this, this flight, is fatigue.

And it's so long, even though there's four of us going and we've got some rest facilities, we're still going to be 55 hours if it goes as planned.

And the Learjet makes a low pass as it takes off from Eisenhower Airport to begin its mission to better appreciate this century mission flight.

It will serve viewers well to learn about that first world flight that began April 6th, 1924.

In the early 1920s, several countries were competing to become the first nation with a flight crew to circumnavigate the world.

The U.S. Army Air Service put together a team of eight pilots and mechanics, using four airplanes to make an attempt.

You know, hats off to those guys.

They were the pioneers of the circumnavigation.

They, of course, had nothing to go off of.

They were figuring it out as they went.

Consider some of the differences between what those 1924 aviators had to deal with, and what today's aviators will deal with to circumnavigate the world.

What's amazing is to think about all the spare airplane parts, which had to be placed around the world in advance for that 1924 flight.

The Navy, the Coast Guard, the Bureau of Fisheries, I think, you know, I mean, all these people, months in advance, were setting up supply depots.

The spares included 15 extra engines, 14 extra pontoon sets and enough spare parts to build two more airplanes.

It took that army team 175 days, nearly six months, to complete their journey.

They had 74 stops and covered 27,550 miles.

The majority of places they were flying an airplane had never been.

Those 1924 Army aviators didn't have any services at their stops around the world.

But the hardest part is definitely the logistics.

Definitely getting everything set up.

every country and every place we fly over has their own little quirks.

you know of the timing from Wichita?

The century crew makes its first stop in Salinas, California.

From there, it's on to Hawaii, then the Marshall Islands and then Palau.

Crew members record video updates along the way, which get uploaded at each stop so followers can keep track.

We're enroute now from Palau, which is in the Republic, to pull out on their way to Singapore, minimizing ground time was a challenge at some of the stops.

So many places are just not in a hurry to do anything.

So, and to try to try to get them in a hurry when they just want to hang out with us a little bit was was tough.

And then there was a request to sing Happy Birthday to Bart Gray in the early morning hours of April 6th one.

Okay, today is Bert's birthday.

Happy.

Happy birthday.

hey.

It's Sicily.

The crew is often asked, why go west into the wind?

Instead of flying east with the wind?

Gray says because a Learjet already holds the eastbound record, but not a westbound record.

Until now, after Singapore, they had refueling stops in India, then Dubai on the Arabian Peninsula.

Here we are at 38,000ft.

We just passed on Riyadh and Saudi Arabia.

Next stops Alexandria, Egypt, then Italy's island of Sardinia, and on to Portugal's Azores Island in the Atlantic.

They were warmly welcomed on the Portuguese island, making the news in print and television.

After showing you off since even physically made a circumnavigation from the Caesars, they crossed the Atlantic to Canada, their last stop before their final destination, Wichita.

Their official landing was 7:16 p.m. April 6th.

Wichita was living up to its windy reputation that evening.

A large, welcoming party greeted their arrival back where they started two and a half days earlier.

They were celebrated for their achievement.

We had a plan and we stuck to it.

I mean, everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do and we had a great time.

Gray's preliminary trip status say it took 54.5 hours to fly 20,008 miles.

Add in the ground time for a total of 66 hours.

At zero maintenance issues the whole way.

And my husband to work that I knew better.

So what took months?

Several planes, numerous engines and other plane parts to accomplish in 1924 took a few days in 2024.

We joked when we taxied in, we said, well, we beat.

We beat them by 172 days.

So not bad for 100 years of progress.

And now this crew and their supporters continue their overall efforts to raising funds for the restoration of Learjet 2303.

And to see that the legacy which started in Wichita continues.

This is Chris Frank reporting for Positively Kansas.

The last Learjet built was delivered on March 28th, 2022.

Of the 3000 made, 2000 are still flying.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and species for that matter.

Friends and fans recently gathered to celebrate a major milestone in the life of a furry, four legged Kansas hero.

His name is wink, the one eyed wonder.

Jim Gray shows us why Winx life has had such an impact on the lives of Kansans of all ages.

A simple truth of life is that nobody's perfect, in spite of what the graduation speakers say.

Every spring, our town's pretty average.

It's also true that you don't have to let your imperfections hold you back.

Jim Anderson has a bad ear that doesn't keep him from playing on the football team.

Gary champions.

Glad you do.

Everybody has something to overcome.

Whether you're a person, Dorothy Westerly has a tooth that needs fixing, but she's in good health.

I'd say hey.

Or a pet.

Let's go for a walk.

We're going to go for a walk in case you've never come across him.

This is wink, the one eyed wonder.

You're one eyed wonder.

Honey, you're a one eyed wonder.

It is his 16th birthday.

The party is beginning.

Yeah, this is quite a milestone, considering that wink may not have even seen his first birthday, were it not for in that car to make the front page above the fold.

Now that's you know, that's just something.

And veterinarian Mark handling wink was And a litter of puppies and he was born with a small I would call it micro ophthalmic.

so it's a nonfunctional eye.

The breeder not seeing any market for such an imperfect dog, gave the miniature poodle to Doctor Handling, who removed the eye and then called Carr a longtime client of his.

I had lost my dog in January, and I was not interested in puppy dog.

In fact, I really never liked French poodles.

And, you know, Marx and I to meet this dog, and I did, and you know this, I just fell in love with him.

So just like that wink of home.

But Carr, who's a massage therapist, didn't want to leave the puppy home alone during the day.

So she started bringing him to work because he had he was coming to work with me.

He had a he had a hole in her little fan base and that's that's when it got started.

And then then more and more people got to know Lincoln.

And he was just he became a little celebrity.

And then that's when that's when, this friend had had suggested that I write the book about him for children's book wink.

The one Eyed wonder tells the story of Winx disability and his adoption, and into a loving home.

For years, Carr has been taking wheat to elementary schools and other gatherings to teach an important life lesson.

I would tell the children about about Lassie and how Lassie was a hero.

And I said, well, you know, would you want wink to pulling you out of a burning building?

Oh, no.

And so then I, you know, then I would read the book and I would listen, learn how he is a hero by his self-acceptance of himself and telling others.

Kids relate to animals.

So I think they really relate to wink and winks message.

Kids compare themselves to each other, and if there's something about them that's even slightly different, they feel like maybe they're not quite as good as.

And I think wink messages.

You don't have to be perfect.

It still takes the right messenger, though, and wink took on the responsibility like a champ.

He's been a good sport.

I mean, we've gone to schools where one time when you we spent the morning and there was about 200 children that came up and patted him.

Now, not every dog would be that available.

While they're not as big as celebrities as wink, Doctor Hanlin has rescued several other dogs since that live happy lives with disabilities.

Some are easy to spot, others are not.

His cockapoo, Taylor, was born with only one ear canal.

Hamlin says tater is no less a great pet than the most pristine specimen, and he does just fine with one functional ear.

Well, unless he doesn't want to answer me.

And then there's he's like a child here.

He ignores me.

But, life is good if you're my dog.

And for 16 years, wink has lived his best life and encouraged others to do the same.

Wink is an inspiration to everyone.

Yes, I know with the I love you too!

Wink is an inspiration to everyone.

He just exudes joy and happiness.

But I always say that wink is just some manifestation of a man.

Her spirit is in this dog because a man has joy and peace and kindness in her heart, and she just spreads it around to everyone and only one person ever has asked me is wink how much of a wink story is my story?

And when I was a child, I was hit by a car and I had an I had a brain injury which led to epilepsy.

I learned that even though I wasn't perfect, I was loved and I was worth a million.

And that message has been shared with class after class of youngsters in the McPherson area.

I run into people, adults who we visited their class and you know, I it's it blows me away.

It just blows me away because they'll come up and they go and think, oh, I love wink.

And how do you know when you know, like, oh, you were in my second grade class.

And I mean, these are these are adult working adults.

It's a message as important now as ever.

So take yourself as you are.

And instead of expecting yourself to be perfect, sometimes it just takes a one eyed wonder to make people see that no matter their flaws or disabilities, they are worth a million in McPherson for positively Kansas, I'm Jim Gray with at 16, wink has outlived the average lifespan of French poodles, which is 13 to 15 years.

He and Annette still do occasional public events, but he is now mostly retired.

Well, if you saw the PBS Kansas documentary Kansas From Above Cities and Towns, you know how the city of Derby exploded and growth in the 1950s and 60s.

As a result, there's very little left of the little old town that it once was.

An exception is the original public school, which is now a museum.

It's turning 100 years old.

Anthony Powell shows us how this anniversary is an opportunity to shine the spotlight on Derby's interesting history in this fast paced world in which we live, there is something very calming and of course, nostalgic about visiting a good old fashioned, sturdy brick building like the Derby Historical Museum.

Step inside and you'll find a very festive atmosphere, with 2024 marking a very special birthday for this landmark.

The building that we're celebrating was actually built in 19 2324.

They finished it, had the first classes in the building, and in 1924 it was the school for Derby High School was upstairs, grade school was downstairs.

The last high school graduating class here was in 1952.

Because by that time McConnell Air Force Base was under construction, Derby was growing and a new high school was built.

The Impact Aviation and the military has had on Derby is reflected throughout the Historical museum.

On the day we visited, a military room was open to the public.

This was, a 1/32 scale.

We also got a presentation by longtime Derby resident and aviation enthusiast Jim Miller, who discussed his passion for building model airplanes.

Well, giving out tips for anyone interested in the hobby, and you often have to do a little filing.

Nail file Emery board.

Back in 2023, Miller donated his World War Two model airplane collection to the museum.

He started constructing the models in the late 70s and kept on building for the next 45 years or so, Miller says.

The model airplane hobby is one that teaches discipline and tenacity.

When you start out, you have a box, full of plastic parts.

some it's also instructions.

It's also provided him a way to celebrate a passion that began as a very young boy, when I was about four years old, we lived about five miles west of the Hutchinson Naval Air Station, which was quite active during World War Two, and after that for a number of years.

And I used to be out playing in the yard and see these cadets flying over in their Stearman biplanes, which at that time were little yellow biplanes with tandems in it, and I would shoot at them with my little Tommy gun and they would waggle their ways at me.

On this day, we also learned so much about Derby's evolution as a city.

It's now more than 150 years old.

It does have a long history.

It was it was scratched out on the prairie in 1871.

And so the first 80 years of its existence, however, it only had about a 200 population.

So it was a very, very small farming community.

Of course, it was the aviation industry and the military that changed all of that, beginning with Boeing, Wichita, Boeing got a contract to build the B-47 and they decided to build that at the Wichita plant.

So in order to do that, they had to bring about 20,000 people to town to staff their apartments.

There was no place to live.

Nothing had been built for decades.

Seeing that need Derby leaders stepped up and paved the way for their city to grow, starting with McConnell, that was constructed as a training facility for pilots of the B-47 in 1950 and 1960.

Derby's population multiplied by a factor of 12, which made it the fastest growing community percentage wise in the country at the time.

Today, it is the state's 17th largest city, so from learning about the historical Museum's role as Darby's first school to the impact aviation and the military has had on Derby, making the city one of the fastest growing in all of Kansas.

You can find it all here at this treasured building, people from all over the Sunflower State, across America, and even a few overseas visit here annually.

But coming here means the most to Derby natives who celebrate the building special birthday while reflecting back on a very important time in their own lives.

What we find is that people that have been in Derby for a good number of years, a lot of them went to school on this building.

So there is a very intimate, personal connection to the building.

They walk in and they say, oh, yeah, that was my classroom over there in Derby.

I'm Anthony Powell for Positively Kansas.

The Derby Historical Museum is open on Saturdays from 10 to 2 April through October.

Admission is free.

Do you know the fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere can be found in Kansas?

And did you also know that it's closely related to the giraffe?

Mike Blair takes us on a Western Kansas safari for an up close look.

When you think of Western American wildlife, elk, mule deer, and Rocky Mountain sheep might come to mind.

But don't forget about the continent.

Speedster, the pronghorn antelope.

This prairie dweller lives in plain view.

But due to the vastness of grasslands and its nomadic tendencies, it's often hard to view close up.

And its ability to cover lots of ground in just a few moments can quickly take it out of easy viewing range.

Pronghorn are curious, but they're also skittish and quickly move away from cars and potential threats.

They live in wide open spaces where they're excellent vision comparable to eight hour binoculars.

This is nothing.

They can see moving objects as small as a man from four miles away.

Western Kansas is home to pronghorn, where they live on the high Plains.

Their societies are basically female driven, where those with their phones may join together at times in herds with noticeable pecking orders.

Bucks tend to be solitary until mating season, which occurs in early fall.

Then the largest males fight and gather harems of those.

In September.

Later they may join with large wintering herds until spring.

Pronghorn are the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere.

With oversize hearts, lungs, and wind pipes that allow astonishing, sustained speeds, they have been clocked at more than 60mph in short bursts, and they can maintain speeds of 35mph for up to four miles, far exceeding the abilities of any other land animal.

African cheetahs may be faster, and 100 yard dash would have no chance to catch a pronghorn except in the blind ambush.

Pronghorn.

Handsome tan and white animals with black horns make a wondrous sighting on the Kansas landscape.

Weighing about 120 pounds, they relish forbs and weeds, choosing these even above succulent winter wheat and crops.

Despite their speed, pronghorn have little jumping ability.

This puts them at odds with ranchers and farmers, as they typically cross through or under fences, sometimes forcing repairs.

Pronghorn is another peripheral Kansas resident where East meets West in America's heartland.

I'm Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

Well, that's a wrap for this week.

Positively Kansas at 40 is our email address.

If you have a question, comment or story idea.

I'm Cierra Scott.

Thanks for watching.

Well see you again soon.