ARNOLD PALMER RETIRES FROM PILOTING OWN PLANE

FROM THE ESPN.com WEBSITE
By BOB HARIG
BobHarig@gmail.com.
Arnold Palmer, 81, long known for piloting himself to golf tournaments for decades, will take the controls for the last time tomorrow, according to GolfDigest.com.
"I'll still be flying in my plane as much as always, just not in the cockpit," Palmer told the website.
"Flying has been one of the great things in my life. It's taken me to the far corners of the world. I met thousands of people I otherwise wouldn't have met. And I even got to play a little golf along the way."
Palmer set the round-the-world speed record in 1976. Flying a Lear 36, Palmer circumnavigated the planet in 57hr, 25min and 42sec. The record still stands.
"The people there when Arnold took off were still there when he returned," Doc Giffin, Palmer's long-time assistant and chronicler of Palmer's aviation exploits, told GolfDigest.com.
"The stops were brief, but Arnold had time to ride an elephant in Sri Lanka, and in Manila he was given a gift from President Ferdinand Marcos that he still has."