Most people dream of getting paid for doing what they love.

Hartley Westbrook has been living that dream for years.

Westbrook, known as “Hap,” has made a living out of aviation.

Currently, Hap serves as the president of Hap’s Air Service, based out of the Ames Municipal Airport.

The primary services of the business are charter flights and flight school.

About 90 percent of the service’ charter clients are businesspeople who need to attend a meeting at a certain time, or need to leave at a certain time, said Christa Holden, Hap’s granddaughter.

About 40 students go through the flight school to get their private license each year, Holden said. The private license is only one of the many different ratings that Hap’s Air Service offers.

He is certified as a flight examiner, and has ratings for single- and multi-engine planes, instrument certification, instructor’s certification and even a helicopter license, Hap said.

The service also offers more advanced training in instrumentation, multi-engine and commercial licenses, Holden said.

The service’s most interesting regular charter is a yearly flight each spring to Oklahoma, chartered by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Holden said.

The chartered plane flies down to pick up containers holding about a million fish that are used to stock Iowa lakes, she said.

Hap currently owns 13 planes. The fleet consists of two- and four-seat planes for training and multi-engine planes that can hold up to eight passengers and two pilots.

Sept. 11 has had an effect on all of the aviation industry, especially on the charter business, Hap said.

That day “shut us down,” as all air traffic was ordered to the closest runway, Hap said.

Hap estimated it cost him $3,000 a day to be out of operation, because he still had to retain and pay his crew, maintenance staff and other personnel.

Since the Ames airport was shut down for about 30 days, Hap’s Air Service lost $90,000 to $100,000 until the Federal Aviation Administration gave them the OK, he said.

Once he was back in business, the first several months were downhill, because people were hesitant to fly, Hap said.

Now the charter business is actually rising again.

Holden said there has recently been a slight increase in business, but there is usually a seasonal pickup over the spring and summer months.

However, Hap and Holden both agree that things should logically pick up as people overcome fears of flying.

Hap believes the primary reason for the increase in business is convenience.

“[Charters] are easier to go through,” Hap said.

Hap’s Air Service’s charter service is like a private airline, and can be tailored to the customers’ needs, Holden said.

“You don’t have to worry who else is on the plane with you, or what is in their luggage,” she said.

Customers essentially buy the plane, so if customers have a full plane, it can be cheaper and more convenient than flying through an airline, Holden said.

The downside to the increase in charters is the increase in FAA regulation, Hap said. He feels the FAA has been “blundering” into the new regulations that are being enforced at the request of Congress. They’re “feeling their way” into these new rules and “don’t know how to go about it,” Hap said.

Living and operating his business in the Midwest hasn’t stopped Hap from seeing the world.

“My name is in log books in five continents,” Hap said. “Plus Japan.”

If people happen to be flying over Ames that know Hap, they often say hello over the radio.

Several of Hap’s most memorable experiences occurred during World War II.

Hap enlisted in 1942, and graduated from training with actor James Stewart, star of the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

When flying B-24s in bombing runs, Hap had another brush with Hollywood fame. Clark Gable was one of his gunners.

On his 17th mission, Hap was shot down over the frigid water of the North Sea, and somehow survived three hours until he was, at last, rescued by a fishing boat.

He was rescued by the enemy, however.

Hap was taken to the Stalag Luft III prison camp in Poland.

As the war was ending and prisoners of war went home, Hap came back to Iowa and returned to the air.

Hap earned his pilot license while at the Iowa State Teacher’s College, and has since signed the licenses of about 1,500 others.

Hap’s license is only one generation of pilots away from the Wright brothers. His license was signed by Jon Livingston, whose certificate is inked with Orville Wright’s signature.

Though he doesn’t have any records of how many people he has taught to fly, Hap estimates the number is more than 5,000.

After the war, while other men were struggling to find work, Hap had a job come to him.

On a muddy Sunday, a paperboy came to him with his load of Sunday papers that he couldn’t deliver because of the road conditions, and asked if Hap could deliver them.

Hap agreed, loaded up the papers, and flew the route, dropping papers onto the rural customers’ front lawns from 500 feet above.

The next week, a different paperboy came to Hap and asked him to air-deliver his papers as well. For the next three years, Hap had three planes out early Sunday mornings to deliver the newspapers.

One man, tired of retrieving his paper from the front lawn, asked if Hap could aim it closer to the front porch.

The paper struck the porch and bounced through a window, shattering the glass as it landed at the customer’s feet on a brisk winter day.

The man later laughed about the incident, but his wife was not pleased, Hap said.

Hap operated airports in Guthrie Center and Atlantic before coming to Ames.

He has been a Cessna dealer for 52 years. As of 2001, Hap was second in Cessna sales worldwide.

He was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame in 2000.

Hap was also made an honorary director of the museum, though he admits he knows nothing about running a museum.

Despite his age, Hap uses his business not only to make a living, but to stay young and be active.

The main goal of the family business is to educate people about aviation, Holden said.

“We start at the family level and keep moving on,” Holden said. “It’s the only way to keep general aviation going.”