Gooch was a member of the Kansas Commission on Civil Rights, 1971–74; member of the Wichita City Council, 1989–93; and a Kansas state senator (D-Wichita, 29th District – central-northeast Wichita) from 1993 until retiring in January 2004 as the state's oldest serving senator, at 80.

[5][6][7] However, despite earning his wings, Gooch couldn't find full-time aviation work because he was black.

In 1951, Gooch moved to Wichita, Kansas—a major aviation industrial center known as the "Air Capital City"—where he began to work for Boeing Airplane Company.

After battling racism at Boeing[8][9] while working as a Boeing inspector in the 1950s,[10] he decided to start his own flight business, one of the first black-owned modern FBOs (general aviation fixed-base operations) in the U.S.,[11][12] which provided a stepping stone for a number of other black pilots.

[10][4][5][6][16][12][15][17][18][19][20] The loss of government contracts after the end of the Vietnam War -- and the sale of the airport after the death of owner Herb Rawdon -- led to the closure of Aero Services in 1976.

For two weeks every summer, he takes selected youth off the streets and gives them the opportunity to travel to Tuskegee, Alabama.

He has served on the Aviation Advisory Committee of the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Air Museum Task Force and the Wichita Airport Authority, and he is a member of the Kansas Aviation Museum Board...[4][7]Gooch logged 20,000 flight hours (over 18,000 as pilot-in-command).

[4][1] Gooch served on the Kansas Commission on Civil Rights[23] from 1971 to 1974,[4] as an appointee of Democratic Governor Robert Docking.

[24][16][13][14] One of the few African Americans elected to the Wichita City Council, he served from 1989 to 1992, including two one-year terms as Vice Mayor.

[34] In 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration presented Gooch with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.