He was 25 years old, then, piloting his dad's single-engine Cessna, doing instrument training out of Sauk Prairie Airport in Prairie du Sac, Wis.
"I still get goose bumps as I think about it," Alan Klapmeier says, recalling an incident from what seems like more than half a lifetime ago.
The sun was low on the horizon as Klapmeier and a flight instructor took off. They never saw the other plane, the one that was below the nose. They hit wing to wing, and the other plane spun to the ground, killing the pilot. All Klapmeier could do was get control of his plane, remain calm and bring it home.
"That was a Friday night," Klapmeier said. "We went flying on Monday. The instructor and I said, 'We have to go flying.' "
Aviation is Klapmeier's passion and his business, to make flight safer and easier for those who yearn to take to the sky. He's 53 now, and embarking on his biggest air venture yet.
Nearly four years after leaving Cirrus Aircraft, the Duluth-based firm he founded with his younger brother, Klapmeier has returned to this corner of Lake Superior to start up another airplane company, Kestrel Aircraft.
The facilities aren't built, and the fuselage is still in the mock-up stage, but Klapmeier has big plans to turn Kestrel Aircraft into a big player in the general aviation industry.
He knows everything is on the line.
His cash -- he says he has put more than $1 million into the venture.
His time -- he has spent hours recruiting talent, courting potential customers and investors, and perfecting the design.
And his reputation -- Klapmeier has been called "the Steve Jobs of aviation" for his energy and vision.
"It would be a really bad day if this failed," Klapmeier said.
If all goes well -- "if" is an important word in a notoriously volatile industry -- Kestrel could create up to 600 jobs.
And it's all hanging on Klapmeier's ability to bring to market a six- to eight-seat, single-engine, composite turboprop plane that is designed to be easier to fly, less expensive to operate and able to land on shorter runways.
Anticipated price per plane: Somewhere around $3 million. Planned delivery of the first planes: by the end of 2015.
As he sat in a mock-up of the airplane, a sleek fuselage shaped by engineers, Klapmeier talked of the future.
"We think when we're done with this, people will have that pleasant sigh -- it looks right," he said.
But there is still a long way to go.
Earlier this year, Kestrel moved to Superior, Wis., after a somewhat rocky split from Maine, where the firm was due to set up manufacturing at a former naval air station in Brunswick.
Klapmeier said officials in Maine couldn't provide enough financial assistance. But some in Maine questioned whether Kestrel was a solid bet.
Peter DelGreco and Matt Jacobson, the current and former CEOs of Maine & Co., a private nonprofit that helps firms relocate to Maine, wrote in the Bangor Daily News: "When a company with expansion or growth plans comes along and their first question is about how much money Maine can give them -- either in the form of cash or tax incentives -- they are most likely not a viable opportunity, and, at the very least, we should proceed with caution, if at all."
To lure the company to Wisconsin, state and local officials put together a package of financial assistance. The incentives included the creation of an enterprise zone to provide $18 million in tax credits and a commitment to help the firm obtain a $30 million allocation of New Markets Tax Credits, a federal program designed to assist businesses that locate in low-income areas.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. also provided a $2 million loan.
The city of Superior and Douglas County are providing assistance worth $6.5 million, which includes the land value for two sites to be used for manufacturing and assembly, as well as loans.
Make no mistake: The deal was done because of Klapmeier.
"If it was someone without any sort of track record, it would have been very significant trepidation. Alan has proved himself," said Paul Jadin, CEO of WEDC.
With his brother Dale, Klapmeier helped found Cirrus Aircraft in 1984. Their original plane was the Cirrus VK-30, a single-engine kit aircraft.
Their landmark plane, which took years to develop, was the Cirrus SR20. It was equipped with a parachute -- for the plane.
"The perception is that what made (the plane) was the parachute," Klapmeier said. "That becomes the metaphor of all the new things on the airplane. ... Our goal wasn't to build the fastest airplane -- it was to build this really well-rounded airplane. It has comfort, safety, ease of operation and performance."
Cirrus became a large manufacturer in Duluth. But the company, like the rest of the aviation industry, hit turbulence with a sales slump in 2008.
Klapmeier left Cirrus in early 2009, a few months after being removed as CEO. He is tight-lipped about the matter, saying there was a difference of opinion between him and the firm's majority investor. His brother remained with Cirrus and is now the firm's CEO. Klapmeier says he hasn't talked to his brother in several years.
"I'm very comfortable with the facts but won't discuss them on the record," he said.
Ask him if he is fueled by anger, Klapmeier said the answer is no, but conceded, with a smile, "some psychiatrist will say it can't possibly be true.
"So there are all of those past issues, and then there is Kestrel and business and economics and so on," he said.
Cirrus was acquired by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. in June 2011. Dale Klapmeier was named CEO.
Alan Klapmeier said Kestrel is in Superior because it's a great place to do business and because the Kestrel design team was already working in nearby Duluth.
But it is a great tale, too: Klapmeier looking for redemption, setting up shop across the St. Louis River from his old firm -- with state aid from Wisconsin to counter a competitor in Minnesota.
The payoff for Superior could be big.
"These are high-paying jobs," said Mayor Bruce Hagen. "Those jobs will beget other jobs.
"I have a lot of respect for Alan," the mayor added. "Can you take that to the bank? No. But I believe in him and his people."
Klapmeier was born in Illinois but has firm roots in Wisconsin, where his parents own a farm. He graduated from Ripon College in Ripon, Wis., in 1980.
He started flying in his teens.
"I always told people I wanted to start an airplane company," he says.
Some fly for freedom, he says, others for utility.
"You can take off and go anywhere, every single direction, look down and see things, every inch of the world," he said.
The team he has assembled has great respect for the boss.
"Alan has been flying forever," said John Myer, who is the fuselage designer. "There is no doubt that he will leave his trademark on this aircraft. He has a very pilot-centric view of the world."
Kerri Hinton, director of certification and air worthiness at Kestrel, said she has faith in Klapmeier's vision. "He tries things that say, 'No, you can't do that.' The paradigm says you can't do that. He showed pushing the envelope is possible."
Klapmeier is pushing hard these days. The firm is moving workers across the river from Duluth to Superior, taking space on the ground floor of the old federal building.
He can see the project take shape. And he's eager to get more people flying.
"It's not hard," he said of flying. "It's not that special. If I can do it, anyone can do it."
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