Eagle-eyed flight trackers spotted a special Cayman Airways name on the radar on Monday night as local pilot William McTaggart switched his flight call sign to ‘UnclBill’ in honour of his grandfather William ‘Uncle Bill’ McTaggart.
“It was a heartfelt tribute,” William McTaggart, who was named after his grandfather, told the Cayman Compass on Tuesday as he spoke about renaming his call sign.
The senior McTaggart, a well known businessman and father of Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart, passed away on Sunday night at the age of 87.
He was the owner of Uncle Bill’s Home Improvement Centre on Eastern Avenue and was also a member the Rotary Club.
As news of his grandfather’s passing spread, many in the community have been paying tribute to the local businessman so McTaggart said he wanted to do something in his own way.
He said as he was making his final flight of the day he decided to change the flight call sign to honour his grandfather in his own way.
The senior McTaggart, he said, had a deep love for aviation and inspired him to become a pilot.
“Aviation was strong in our family. My dad is a pilot [as well as] two uncles,” McTaggart said.
In fact, he reminisced about the stories his grandfather would share of the times he would tender passengers in Grand Cayman when the PBY Catalina planes would land in the North Sound back in the ’50s.
“He would take his small boat to meet the passengers from the plane and transport them to the shore. He always had that love of aviation,” McTaggart said.
He fondly remembered taking his grandfather on trips to his condo on Little Cayman as captain of the Cayman Airways Twin Otter flights there.
“I miss him,” McTaggart said of his namesake.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce Council and staff has expressed condolences to the McTaggart family on the passing of the business icon, who was Opposition Leader and past president of the Chamber Roy McTaggart’s father.
“McTaggart, better known as Uncle Bill, was the founder of Uncle Bill’s Home Improvement Centre, a family business that he established in 1964. From humble beginnings utilising his life savings to purchase 20 gallons of paint, 10 windows and becoming the distributor for Phillip Morris products, Uncle Bill persevered in the early years, becoming a distributor for several international brands in the hardware and consumer products areas. As the business expanded so did Mr. McTaggart’s passion for serving the community,” a Chamber statement to the Compass said.
McTaggart, the Chamber said, was a lifelong member and a past president of Rotary Club of Grand Cayman, “contributing both his time and resources to supporting community projects and initiatives”.
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