Growing up in Pueblo, Rocky DeVencenty was the kid at the airport fence watching his father take flight from the old Pueblo airport by the state fairgrounds, dreaming of the day he could become a pilot himself.

Not only did DeVencenty achieve that dream, he started a successful aviation chartering business that first took off 40 years ago. On Saturday, he topped off his career with an induction into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.

“It was an honor beyond belief, especially when I looked at all the inductees in past years and these are astronauts and space shuttle pilots and names I’ve grown up with that were just giants in the industry,” DeVencenty said. “It was the most humbling experience to join this distinguished group of folks.”

Reflecting on the journey that brought him to the induction, DeVencenty said he is “standing on a lot of shoulders” of those who helped him. It was his father, Aldo, who first sparked his interest in flying.

Fresh out of the U.S. Navy, Aldo participated in the Civilian Pilot Training program through the Pueblo Community College. He didn’t work in aviation but went on to be a blue-collar worker and supervisor at the brickyard.

From "being the kid at the airport fence" to a 1975 Pueblo County High School graduate who made his first solo flight at the age of 18, DeVencenty said he was determined to make his hobby a business. He started out working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and fueling planes for a company called Pueblo Air.

That work allowed him to snag a credit card with a $300 limit, which he soon maxed out after seeing an ad in the Thrifty Nickel that read, “Learn to fly for $15 an hour.”

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How DeVencenty's charter flight business took off

By the time DeVencenty was 21 he earned his first pilot’s license. He and his high school sweetheart, Jamie, then embarked on the journey of opening their business, Travelaire Service, offering charter flights out of Pueblo Memorial Airport.

DeVencenty soon learned by the glazed eyes and sliding-behind-the-desk posture of bankers that, as a 22-year-old, he wasn’t going to get a loan to buy his first airplane.

Enter Dr. Ralph Kelly, an orthopedic surgeon, who agreed to cosign with DeVencenty on his first turboprop airplane.

The DeVencentys also got a boost from the late Raymond Monroe, who, as airport director, agreed to help by renting them an 8-by-8-foot office in the terminal free of charge their first year in business in 1982.

By 1995, Travelaire Service grew in leaps and bounds when Sam Brown became a partner and bought five Learjets to add to the fleet.

“At one time we had seven Learjets from probably 1997 to right before the COVID pandemic hit,” DeVencenty said.

The business also operated out of a 10,000 square-foot hangar at Pueblo Memorial Airport. Its first customer, Ray Kogovsek, a Pueblo congressman who served in the state House and Senate before going on to represent Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives, really helped the business.

"Through Ray Kogovsek we ended up flying the likes of Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Ben Nighthorse Campbell. We’ve flown a lot of stars like (singers) Neil Diamond and Toby Keith,” DeVencenty said.

He vividly recalls flying comedian Jerry Seinfeld to New York City the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As one of the few civilian pilots allowed to fly at that time, he recalls the rubble of the twin towers was “still smoking.”

But perhaps his most important work has been as a contract pilot on Flight for Life missions.

For 15 years, he served as a fixed-wing pilot for Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, helping to fly premature babies from rural airports south of Denver to north of Albuquerque to neonatal care units.

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He also cherishes the days he can slap a magnetic sign on his plane that reads “Hero on Board” as he flies military veterans from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana for medical care on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Along the way, DeVencenty got a helicopter pilot’s license and flew on search-and-rescue and other missions for the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office. "(Sheriff) Kirk Taylor wrote a beautiful letter of support for my nomination,” DeVencenty said, pointing out that it was letters like Taylor’s that made him realize “you have no idea how far you’ve come.”

DeVencenty’s family members have been integral to the business. He taught his brother, John, and son, Brock, to fly and both have flown with him commercially. He even taught his wife to fly and although she doesn’t pilot charters, she “has been my wingman all the way — she's done all the hard work to keep the business going,” he said.

Now, DeVecenty's daughter, 22-year-old Natalia, also is a pilot and helps out with the business. These days Travelaire Service is down to two aircraft and the DeVencenty’s also recently sold Flower Aviaton, a fixed-base operation they'd run since 2014.

“It’s been the trip of a lifetime, a great run,” DeVencenty said of his career.

He's thrilled it was capped Saturday by a chartered bus trip to Denver with 50 friends and family on board to partake in the banquet and celebrate his induction. DeVencenty was the fifth Pueblo pilot to be inducted into the hall of fame.

When DeVencenty and other pilots reflect on why they love to fly, he said they tend to mention reasons like, “It’s freedom, or they love to be able to see the Earth from up there or to get closer to God. It resets your compass."

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame inducts first pilot from Pueblo