Billy Graham Trivia: What Prompted Billy Graham to Leave Cash Under a Car’s Windshield Wiper?

By   •   October 6, 2016

Q: What prompted Billy Graham to leave cash under a car’s wipers?

A. To cover the cost of siphoned gas.

In June 1949, Billy Graham was preparing for a Youth for Christ rally when he learned his uncle had died. He left others to direct the rally and headed home the next day with George Beverly Shea.

But transportation proved to be an initial issue in this small Midwest town. It was a small airport and a single engine plane with a student pilot was the best that could be done on a Sunday morning. Upon takeoff, the young pilot realized the plane didn’t have any fuel so he landed quickly and proceeded to siphon gas out of a nearby vehicle. Billy Graham stood there watching, amazed, and hastily pulled some money from his pocket and placed it under the car’s windshield wiper, hoping that would be enough to cover the gas and the inconvenience.

Enjoy the following excerpt from Billy Graham’s autobiography, Just As I Am, where he details the first leg of their entertaining adventure. Rest assured, they arrived at his uncle’s funeral safely.

Airborne again, I noticed that the engine seemed to be asthmatic, wheezing when it should be whirring. I leaned forward and asked the pilot a simple question, “Is car gasoline good for a plane engine?”

“It can’t hurt,” came the reply.
“It can’t hurt,” repeated Bev with a nod.
We soon flew into a rainstorm. To cover my anxiety, I talked to the pilot again.
“What do you do for a living?” I asked him.
“I lay carpet.”
“He lays carpet,” repeated Bev with another doubtful nod.
The worse the storm became the more I talked.
“By the way, how long have you been flying?”
“Well, I’ve been working at it, off and on, for six months,” he said proudly.
“I supposed you have your pilot’s license?”
“Oh, yes, sir. I have my pilot’s license,” he assured me.
“And you have your license to carry passengers?”
“Well, no sir. I don’t have that yet,” he admitted.
“Don’t have that yet,” repeated Bev, nodding in my direction.
“Have you ever flown this plane before?” I asked, suspecting the answer.
“Not this plane,” he said.
“Not this plane,” repeated Bev, this time shaking his head.

Bev and I would have jumped if only we could have found the chutes.