Editing Arnold Palmer (section)

===Pilot===
[[File:Zenos Frudakis Arnold Palmer Legioner.jpg|thumb|right| Arnold Palmer statue unveiled at Laurel Valley Golf Course, Ligonier, PA, on September 10, 2009, in honor of Palmer's 80th birthday. Pictured: Arnold Palmer with sculptor [[Zenos Frudakis]].]]
Palmer's early "fear of flying" led him to pursue his [[Pilot certificates|pilot certificate]]. After almost 55 years, he logged nearly 20,000 hours of flight time in various aircraft.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.flyingmag.com/blogs/fly-wire/capt-arnies-final-flight |title=Capt. Arnie's Final Flight |magazine=[[Flying (magazine)|Flying]] |first=Stephen |last=Pope |date=February 1, 2011 |access-date=October 1, 2015}}</ref> His personal website reads:

{{blockquote|Next to marrying his wife, Winnie, and deciding on a professional career in golf, there's only one decision Arnold Palmer considers smarter. Learning how to fly an airplane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arnoldpalmer.com/aviation|title=Arnold and His Love of Aviation |website=arniesarmy.org}}</ref> |author=|title=|source=}}
On Palmer's 70th birthday in 1999, Westmoreland County Airport in Latrobe was renamed [[Arnold Palmer Regional Airport]] in his honor.<ref name="nytime-death" /><ref name="redncnws">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=USwiAAAAIBAJ&pg=4420%2C5557455 |newspaper=Reading Eagle |location=(Pennsylvania) |agency=Associated Press |title=Air facility named for golf great |date=September 11, 1999|page=B5}}</ref> According to their website: "[The airport] started as the Longview Flying Field in 1924. It became J.D. Hill Airport in 1928, Latrobe Airport in 1935 and Westmoreland County Airport in 1978. Complementing a rich history rooted in some of the earliest pioneers of aviation, the name was changed to Arnold Palmer Regional in 1999 to honor the Latrobe native golf legend who grew up less than a mile from the runway where he watched the world's first official airmail pickup in 1939 and later learned to fly himself."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.palmerairport.com/html/about.html |title=Arnold Palmer Regional Airport – About the Airport (LBE) |access-date=October 22, 2012 |archive-date=October 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019232623/http://www.palmerairport.com/html/about.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> There is a statue of Palmer made by [[Zenos Frudakis]], holding a golf club in front of the airport's entrance, unveiled in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zenosfrudakis.com/sculpture/arnold-palmer-latrobe/ |title=Zenos Frudakis – Public Monuments and Portrait Sculptures: Arnold Palmer, Latrobe |website=ZenosFrudakis.com}}</ref>

Palmer thought he would pilot a plane for the last time on January 31, 2011,<ref name="nytime-death" /> and flew from [[Palm Springs, California|Palm Springs]] in California to Orlando in his [[Cessna Citation X]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/golf/news/story?id=6079262 |title=Arnold Palmer in cockpit for last time |work=ESPN |date=February 1, 2011 |access-date=June 1, 2012}}</ref> His pilot's [[Medical certifications for pilots|medical certificate]] expired that day and he chose not to renew it. However, public FAA records show he was issued a new [[Medical certifications for pilots|third-class medical]] in May 2011.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}