What’s more perfect? Ross Perot Jr. gives Dallas Police a new helicopter
Ross Perot Jr. flies toward Reunion Tower on the way to a police department news conference. Photo by Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Last week, Ross Perot Jr. donated a new helicopter to the Dallas Police Department. It was a dramatic and much appreciated gesture. This gift so perfectly fits the family’s heritage.
Always go big. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said Perot approached him a year ago and said he wanted to “do something big for Dallas,” according to Dallas Morning News reporter Kelli Smith’s story.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson thanks Ross Perot Jr. for his generous gift of a helicopter to DPD. Photo by Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
That fits because the Perot Doctrine, if there is one, is to always strive for “world-class,” to go big, whether it’s an oversized holiday greeting card, a party where everything is perfect or a top-notch science museum. Big is best. It’s the Texas credo. Donating an up-to-date new chopper to the police, and flying it in yourself, is the definition of big.
Air travel is in his blood. Perot Jr. is an airman as much as he’s North Texas’ leading developer. He expresses himself through his air travel, whether it be serving as an Air Force pilot, using helicopter tours to promote ever larger ALLIANCE, Texas or investing in personal transport flying taxis. His flying in the gift helicopter with his wife Sarah for personal delivery to a police news conference is captured in an iconic photo taken by my colleague Elias Valverde II at The Dallas Morning News showing the couple approaching Reunion Tower.
Twenty-five years ago I rode with Perot in his helicopter in a personal tour of the Alliance region. It was clear that the man was in his element.
Ross Jr. flying above Alliance in the early days. Photo by William Snyder/The Dallas Morning News
Police support is in the genes. Back many decades ago, Ross Senior took an interest in helping Dallas police battle crime. Senior was known for providing top-notch medical care, if needed, for injured law enforcement officers, too.
Junior’s donation of a helicopter obviously enhances police abilities.
A thank you gift to Ross Jr. - a helicopter blade. Photo by Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Ross Perot Jr. giving you a helicopter is like Dale Earnhardt giving you a car. Junior flew around the world in under 30 days, a record at the time.
Thanks to reporting by Dallas Morning News columnist Cheryl Hall, here’s how that project began. It started with a conversation between father and son about a story in 1982 in The Morning News about another pilot who was going for the round-the-world record.
“Did you see the article?” Senior asked his son.
“Yes.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Dad, I want to beat him.”
“Initially,” Hall writes, “his dad was gung-ho, but a few days later he had second thoughts, saying it was too risky for his only son.”
Junior told him, “Dad, this is how you raised me. All my life I’ve watched you do these things. You go to Vietnam. You go to Iran. What do you expect me to do?’
Junior said, “I kinda shamed him into saying OK.”
Obviously, that plan worked out. That’s why the donation of a helicopter couldn’t be more perfect.
For those of you who know the stories of the Perot family, this latest one fits perfectly with some of the main family themes I honor in my new book, Searching for Perot: My Journey to Discover Texas’ Top Family.
Ross Jr., triumphant after his round the world record setting flight with co-pilot Jay Coburn. This hangs in his late father’s office.