Rewind: Mike Nolan retires

One of the privileges I had while contributing to Don Barrett's LARadio.com was the opportunity to interview the people who made the Southern California airwaves so incredible. One of my favorite interviews (and favorite people) was Mike Nolan, the retired traffic pilot better known as "KFI in the Sky." He's now happily retired, enjoying the warm weather of Peoria, Arizona. We revisit his story, first published in December, 2014.

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For many, Southern California evokes images of Hollywood, the beach, Disneyland, Beverly Hills, the mountains and the deserts, and all points in between. Yet local residents know getting to these different places can be a major hassle – even a nightmare –due to the dreaded phenomena of crowded Southland freeways. For years, Mike Nolan, perhaps better known as “KFI in the Sky,” provided a friendly airborne voice guiding commuters each weekday through the SigAlerts and traffic jams. After a 28 year run, Nolan has decided it’s time to click off the microphone and enjoy the ride for himself.

Growing up in the Valley, Nolan and his friends literally ran on the freeways – well, sort of – exploring the open land near Victory and Van Owen boulevards which later became the Hollywood freeway. “I used to hang on the fence at the Hollywood-Burbank Airport. One day, Tom Roberts allowed me to meet (KMPC pilot) Captain Max Schumacher, and eventually got to ride in the copter with him.” Nolan graduated from North Hollywood High School and initially did street sales for the Herald Examiner newspaper. “My brother signed up for the Marine Corps Reserve, but decided to go full-time into the Corps. So I took his place.”

 “One of the Captains of my unit was Bob Bononomi, a sales rep and account executive at KMPC. I asked him about radio and he told me about the Don Martin School of Broadcasting,” where Nolan studied broadcasting while working as a frozen food clerk at the Ralph’s Market in Sherman Oaks.

Jim Hicklin

By then, Jim Hicklin became the next “KMPC Airwatch” traffic reporter. “(Hicklin) was my mentor, I flew with him a lot. I wanted to someday work at KMPC.” Nolan was attending a class at Don Martin when he learned Hicklin had been murdered by a stalker aboard a cruise ship.

Ten months into his broadcasting coursework, Nolan received a call from KTRT in Truckee, where he worked for the next nine months as a disc jockey. He headed back south and was on the air at KORJ in Orange County and KREL, “a station in Corona and a city where I still live today.” Nolan then took time off from radio and drove an 18-wheeler before he returned to Northern California.

“I was the all-night jock at KOWL in South Lake Tahoe. The big station there, KTHO, heard me and made me an offer to move over,” where Nolan worked for three years. “A highlight was I got to emcee the Bicentennial Air Show, featuring the Thunderbirds.” He then decided to make the transition into sales and moved back south. “I was interviewed by Lotus Communications and (ironically) returned back north to Reno.”

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“While I was in Reno, I suddenly became really ill. My right ankle swelled up and my elbow locked up. I got myself to an ER, where they found a spot on my kidney. The diagnosis was Reitor’s Syndrome, once the blood clot was OK I haven’t had any problems since,” said Nolan. During his hospital stay, a visiting colleague brought a book entitled A Gift of Wings, written by Richard Bach (also author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull). “I hadn’t flown in years, but after reading the book, I realized I belonged back in the sky.”

 He returned to sales, once again working at KTHO. “The station had a feature called ‘Skywatch,’ where a pilot flew around Lake Tahoe and described the area and its sites, talking about everything but traffic. I cleared my physical and took over the plane and ‘Skywatch,’ my first time back in the air in ten years.” Nolan recalled the memorable fete of a young man with muscular dystrophy who wanted to raise money for the Jerry Lewis Telethon by riding around the perimeter of Lake Tahoe. “I got to describe his ride overhead. It took a struggle, but he did it.” Nolan convinced KTHO to allow him to offer weekend traffic reports from the air to help travelers with the drive to local ski resorts.

In addition to radio, Nolan’s friends got him involved in a local production of The Wizard of Oz. “I met this beautiful young lady who was right behind me in the play. Nine months later, Laurie and I got married.” The couple celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in September.

“My news director at KTHO was Stan Bunger (now at KCBS-San Francisco). He left KTHO for KXRX in San Jose. They needed a new traffic reporter, so he arranged an interview for me with Don Schrak, who actually was once at KFWB.” Almost immediately, Nolan was given an offer from KXRX and KSJO/fm and worked there until a format change in 1981. 

He was busy doing marketing work when Nolan heard of a job opening for a traffic reporter at KOY-Phoenix. “It turns out Don Schrack knew the KOY news director, so he wrote a letter on my behalf. I fly down to Phoenix on a Friday, and got an offer after that weekend.” Nolan worked at KOY for five years. “Back then, it was basically one freeway with different names – the Black Canyon and Maricopa Freeway. I primarily covered the traffic on the surface streets.”

Bruce Wayne

In 1986, legendary KFI pilot reporter Bruce Wayne was killed in a plane crash during takeoff at Fullerton Airport. “(The station) was looking for a replacement and Laurie was getting homesick for Southern California. But I wasn’t sure if I was good enough for L.A. I went ahead anyway and sent a tape, KFI sent a ticket, the weekend after the interview the station made me an offer.” Nolan later learned KFI was looking for a new traffic reporter who knew the local freeways, but had to be currently working outside of the Los Angeles market. He fit the bill perfectly.

 “I had a great respect for Bruce Wayne. You can’t replace him, you could only succeed him,” said Nolan. He proudly refers to a letter he still keeps at home, “where Jhani Kaye (then KFI pd) said that hiring me was one of the best decisions he ever made.” 

Jhani Kaye

Kaye offered his remembrance. “Mike had big shoes to fill with the passing of Bruce Wayne, and he did that with grace and a superb talent that earned him an equal right to the title ‘KFI in the Sky.’ These two traffic reporters were among the most recognizable voices in LA Radio.  They were trusted by many, and respected by all of us in the industry.”

 The death of Wayne was just one element of the station’s turmoil. “Lohman and Barkley had split, the station’s gm Don Dalton unexpectedly died from a brain aneurysm, and then the tragedy involving Wayne,” recalled Nolan. The station’s ratings were sagging, with programming best described as inconsistent. “The music was interrupted by a midday talk show…a good joke at a party would get a bigger audience than KFI".

 The station would start the road to recovery, with the addition of Gary Owens and Geoff Edwards to their lineup. “KFI was becoming the KMPC that I always wanted to work at, it was a full-service station with great talent and a strong news department.” In addition, Nolan provided reports to a revamped KOST. “No matter what the format was at KFI, I was basically part of the news department. But at KOST, it was different. I’d worked KSJO when it was a music station, still I was strongly coached by Jhani (who was also KOST pd), he wanted a certain style. It was the biggest adjustment I’ve ever made.”

Mark Wallengren

“Mike has consistently been one of the finest broadcasters I’ve ever worked with,” offered Mark Wallengren, KOST morning man for almost three decades. “Traffic reporting was never better with eyes like his actually on the scene. He painted pictures that can only be imagined by those covering traffic in front of computer screens. I’m proud to say that Mike was an extremely important ingredient to the Mark and Kim Show on KOST 103.5 for more than 20 years.”

 Nolan was once offered a job in Phoenix to be a telecopter / pilot. “I was doing audio-only reports for KPNX / Channel 12. The helicopter pilot, Jerry Foster, was going to retire, but after I got the offer from KFI I couldn’t pass it up.”

 “The problem with tv news is if there’s no picture, there’s no story. There’s been pursuits I’ve covered on the radio that weren’t seen on tv because there were no pictures to offer… I’m glad I stayed in radio, it worked out better for me.”

Mark Denis, Mike Nolan

Nolan also offered a pilot’s perspective with breaking news. “During the riots after the Rodney King verdict, KFI abandoned ship from their Koreatown studios, so I was a primary source as a reporter. Looking towards the westside, I could see smoke rising, it looked like a scene from the Middle East…people asked me if I was concerned for my safety. If somebody did shoot at me, no one hit me.”

Other events include a heavy rainstorm, “so severe that I could see Topanga Creek challenging the ocean flow.” In 1994, Nolan took to the air on the day of the Northridge earthquake. “It was all dark at first, I didn’t realize an entire building and parking structure had collapsed, nor was I immediately aware of the damage to the Newhall Pass and the Santa Monica Freeway,” recalled Nolan. 

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“On the day of the North Hollywood bank shootout in 1997, I was at the station and getting ready to take the rest of the day off. It was all over by the time I was overhead in the plane, but at the time they didn’t know that the gunmen had been killed during the shootout. The police tried to shut off the entire Valley. Using the cliché, the ‘needle’ was the gunmen, the ‘haystack’ was the San Fernando Valley.”

Then there was the story Nolan missed covering. “When O.J. Simpson was in a slow-speed chase with the police, it was on a Friday afternoon before I was going on vacation. I had taken the plane apart to give my plane a safety inspection. Realizing that by the time I put the plane back together, the story would probably be over, so I watched the story on tv while enjoying pizza and a beer in Corona.”

Tom Leykis, Bill Handel, John Kobylt, Ken Chiampou

Nolan has high praise for the talent he’s worked with over the years. “I like Tom Leykis, we actually first met in passing while we were both in Phoenix. He’s still a friend, I admire how he’s reinvented himself…I had the chance to work with (radio) idols such as Gary Owens and Geoff Edwards, something I previously could only imagine.” Of his current colleagues, “Bill Handel is a great guy, he’s the same on and off the air. He probably doesn’t want people to know he’s a very loyal individual.” As for the afternoon duo of John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, Nolan said “I always enjoyed their company, the experience was absolutely fantastic…I used to enjoy breaking John up with a sarcastic comment on the air.”

Commander Chuck Street; Pamela McInnes, Mike Nolan, Rhonda Kramer 

Two years ago, an engine malfunction resulted in a plane crash where Nolan suffered a broken clavicle and three broken ribs. He’s still thankful that Commander Chuck Street, who was the first person at the hospital, helped take care of Nolan and his family during the recovery period. He also appreciated the visits and support from KOST’s Wallengren, former KGIL / KMPC pilot Pamela McInnes, and Total Traffic reporter Rhonda Kramer, among many others. Once out of the hospital, Nolan’s first thought was “when am I going flying again?” Several weeks after his discharge, Nolan was back in the air with his son Jeremy, also a pilot.

 Overlooked is the tenacity and endurance of Nolan’s work at KFI and KOST, working both morning and afternoon drive. “Mike made a split shift over two decades seem easy,” said Kaye, his former boss. “Believe me, it was not.  That’s one of the hardest shifts in modern broadcast and Mike delivered consistently, day after day, year after year.  He will be missed by many LA commuters who have relied on his voice to guide them through their commutes.  Be well, my friend, and it’s time for you to get some seriously good sleep!”

Nolan family at Mike's retirement with KTLA's Ginger Chan

Once he leaves the local airwaves, Nolan already has plans for the days ahead. “I have a SAG card so I can work as an extra. I also plan on riding my (Harley-Davidson motorcycle) with a group known as the Patriot’s Guard. They attend funerals for indigent veterans to ensure they receive the proper respect, they also blocked off Westboro Baptist Church protestors trying to interfere with services for military personnel.” 

Hearing Nolan describe memorable scenes while flying helps explains why he states “I will never not fly – I’ll always fly.” He recalled a morning when “the moon was on one wingtip, the rising sun on another. Nowadays you might capture that scene on a panoramic camera, but I still can picture it.” Nolan was flying over Downtown Los Angeles when he saw “a wall of clouds, then a 747 punch right through and emerge. And I’ve seen wind turbulence from the plane disturbing and redistributing the fog on a different morning.” 

“I don’t consider myself in the same league as Captain Max, Bruce Wayne, John McElhinney, or Jim Hicklin, (but) 35,000 hours of flying, 50 years of working, 34 years in AM / PM drive, the last 28 at KFI / KOST…if you had told me I’d be doing this when I was taking classes at Don Martin, I’d never have believed you. I’m lucky to have had an incredible career.”