“What kind of bird is this?” That question inevitably comes from the recesses of the gray matter when this author boards an airliner. That line, like so many others – “I shouldn’t have done that,” or “We did it, Astronaut Becky” – is etched into the brains of many of us who watched the Real Wheels series, written and produced by and starring Dave Hood.
It is probably fitting that the bearer of the news of Dave’s passing last February would be my pilot son, who grew up watching There Goes an Airplane. In that video, the character Dave was an aspiring Southwest Airlines pilot.
He played a dual role in this series. As narrator, he would explain how things work in terms kids (and parents) could understand. His alter ego was a fictional character who acted like a big kid, say, fantasizing about being a pilot. Like any kid, he would run into roadblocks, make mistakes, and learn lessons along his 25-minute-or-so journey. Besides learning about how vehicles work, the fictional part imparted subtle lessons in morality, perseverance, and humility.
As Dave explains in the above video, he saw an opportunity to make programming that both kids and their parents could enjoy. He was channeling the shows he watched as a kid, such as Hop-Along-Cassidy and Sky King. As such, it was one children’s video series that was OK to have on constant repeat, as the whole family enjoyed watching it multiple times.
Always Watch the Credits
It was early summer 2003, and a speaker who was going to provide the perspective of an independent producer had cancelled his appearance for an upcoming conference. The particular session was going to be about directly connecting independent video producers with independent telephone and cable companies, bypassing the studios.
If memory serves, the bad news about the speaker cancellation hit while watching one of the Real Wheels videos. Fortunately, the credits had information about how to contact Dave Hood. Imagine the surprise when someone answered the phone. It was Dave’s spouse who explained that he was in New York, but would return my call.
A few days later, fresh off an appearance on The View, the phone rang and, to my surprise, it was Dave Hood.1 It was a great conversation, as he understood the industry. His father was a retired General Manager for independent telephone companies in Ohio and Oregon. That conversation was the foundation for subsequent ideas, meetings, and appearances at various Viodi events through the years, such as:
- A Day with Dave
- Dream Big, Work Hard, Have Fun
- A Closing Keynote Question and Answer with Dave at the CTA (Dave had a special video opening that I was able to play a small part in- unfortunately, we didn’t record the session).
- At some point, DHE and Viodi worked together on proposals for promotional and educational content for independent operators.
Dave was incredibly generous with his time and with sharing his knowledge of how the film industry worked. It was a joy to work with him, even if all the dreams of bringing his content to the heartland didn’t work the way we hoped.
Make a Wish
Real Wheels was just one chapter of a lifelong career in media that started as a disc jockey in the 1970s Portland market. He moved on to hosting P.M Magazine, a hybrid local-national lifestyle, celebrity, and “ordinary people doing extraordinary things” television show. He continued to produce videos post-Real Wheels, including the Accessible Adventures in the Pacific Northwest series.
In one of our conversations, he recounted how the best reward for his work was being asked to be part of a couple of different Make-A-Wish dreams. It was a tangible way for him to see the impact of his work on the people who loved what he did. I saw that care for others firsthand as he took a real interest in my own boys.
I’m sure he would be proud to know that, in some small way, he probably influenced the path of one of those kids. Although the fictional character, Pilot Dave, was never elevated to that title in There Goes an Airplane, Dave Hood has surely earned his wings. Rest in Peace, Dave.
- Thanks to the Wayback Machine for archiving this page showing his appearance on ABC’s The View. ↩︎