Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse under the Metromedia Restaurant Group. The names of the restaurants were derived from the classic TV series "Bonanza", which was set at a place called Ponderosa Ranch. In 1963, Dan Blocker, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on "Bonanza", started the Bonanza Steakhouse chain. The first Bonanza opened in Westport, Connecticut. Sam Wyly and his brother Charles Wyly bought the small Bonanza restaurant chain three years later. The company grew to approximately 600 restaurants by 1989, when the Wylys sold it to Metromedia. In 1965, Dan Lasater, Norm Wiese and Charles Kleptz founded Ponderosa in Kokomo, Indiana, moving the headquarters to
Flying S Ranch Airport Flying S Ranch Airport Flying S Ranch Airport is a private airport located approximately northeast of Caliente, California. During World War II it was a United States Army Airfield, known as Caliente Flight Strip. It was one of the many Flight Strips which were built by the USAAF during the war for the emergency use of military aircraft. The Caliente Flight Strip was listed on a table of Second Air Force Flight Strips which indicated that construction of the strip was completed in 1943. The strip was described as consisting of a 6,400' paved runway, adjacent to the south side