THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE CONVENTION UPDATE 1935 - THE YEAR OF RECORDS, by Ed Betts IN MEMORIAM THE GRAPEVINE WICKENBURG ROUND UP REPORT
THE ACTIVE RETIRED PILOTS ASSOCIATION OF T WA Editor: A. J. (Al) Clay, Jr.
MARCH 1986
Grapevine Editor: R. M. (Dick) Gullian
Officers and Directors of the Association R. G. Derickson, President C. Ritchie Beighlie, First Vice President J. S. McCombs, Secretary Robert H. Gwin, Treasurer
D. W. Richwine, Vice President, East W. S. Cooper, Vice President, Central W. H. Johnson, Vice President, West George A. Hinton, Director R. S. Hamilton, Director
St. Louis Skyline
J. B. Weiss, Director K. L. Palmer, Director Wayne L. Haggard, Director Jesse Flagler, Director
TARPA IS LUCKY TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST CONVENTIONS TO ENJOY LET'S MEET THERE! THE NEW ADAM'S MARK HOTEL.
TARPA TOPICS March 1986 issue Editor: A. J . (Al) Clay, Jr. Grapevine Editor: R. M . (Dick) Guillan
The Active Retired Pilots Association of TWA
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE The time is drawing near - in about two and one half months we will be meeting in St. Louis for our next Convention. Sam Luckey with his sports and entertainment Committees is planning to roll out the red carpet for all of you. Come to St. Louis and join in on the fun and excitement. The 1987 Convention will be in Anaheim, California. Phil Hollar is the 1987 Convention Chairman. Lou Cook is investigating a site for 1988 and the TARPA Board of Directors plans to firm up the site and date before we leave St. Louis. Rich Flournoy, Chairman of the Award of Merit Committee, is assisted by Ole Olson and Ed Betts„ They are now in the process of preparing a list of nominees to submit to the Board of Directors for a final vote by secret ballot, per TARPA policy. Lyle Spencer and Charlie Strickler have been working on overhauling TARPA By-Laws and Policies. Their recommendations will be reviewed by the Board of Directors and then presented to the Convention body for consideration. In reference to a lump sum option in the TWA Pilots Trust Annuity Plan Bob Sherman, Dave Richwine, Ed Hall and Al Clay have agreed to serve as the committee to research information and proper procedures in order to take a meaningful and proper survey of our membership when and if it becomes necessary to do so. Al Clay is Chairman of this committee. The past experiences and present positions of these four gentlemen in TARPA, RAPA and the TWA MEC Investment Committee places them in good stead to carry out this assignment. I will serve as an ex-officio member of the committee and will assist them in any way I can. This issue, as you know, was thoroughly explored in the December 1985 issue of TARPA TOPICS. Joe McCombs has reached max cruise with the centralized computer plan. (See Secretary's message - this issue). Joe is making tremendous progress in the plan and this is going to be beneficial to TARPA's other functions as well as to the Secretary/Treasurer. The only problem seems to be that the computer may outdistance Joe. If this does happen, Jean McCombs is standing by to re-program Joe McCombs. We are looking forward to a big crowd in St. Louis May 27-30. See you then! Kind regards,
Russ Derickson TARPA TOPICS
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TARPA S T L 86 May 26-30 DON'T MISS IT!!!
The convention will be at the new Adam ' s/Mark Hotel directly across from the Arch and close to the river. Very close are the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn excursion boats, and the Goldenrod Dinner Theater boat. The Admiral (former excursion boat) is docked nearby. It is converted to theaters, shops and restaurants. Laclede ' s Landing, also close by , is an old restored area. It contains fifteen restaurants and bars as well as other shops. Historic Union Station is about a mile from the hotel. It has been converted to a luxury hotel, shopping area and restaurants. Busch Stadium (home of the National League champion Cardinals) is three blocks from the hotel. The Houston Astros will be there Monday the 26th, Tuesday the 27th and Wednesday the 28th. The Arch has an interesting museum and elevators to the top. The Adam ' s/Mark Hotel will be only months old when we convene. They have indoor, outdoor swimming pools, a racket ball court and an exercise room. We have been promised that most sleeping rooms will have a river view. We plan a tour of the Anheuser Busch Brewery (the world ' s largest) for Wednesday afternoon. Be sure to note on the questionnaire if you are interested. We have the same hotel rate for three days before, and three days after the convention. There is too much to see and do in the free time during the convention. Why sweat a last day flight? Come early and have some fun with your free time. If you plan or even dream that you will have an auto, please indicate that on your hotel reservation; otherwise you pay for expensive parking. The music for the banquet will be presented by that famous disc jockey, Orville Olson. He has a selection of Big Band music from the thirties and forties. Glen Miller, Artie Shaw and such masters will be featured. This has been very well received at one of the Senior ' s parties. You can rent a car from the company of your choice, but we have a rate from Enterprise of $22 for compact and midsize, full-size $25, and vans or wagons for $29. Call their office collect for reservations, (314) 472-7757. GOLF: Joe Brown has arranged for golf at the Columbia Golf Club. It is just east of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. The bus will leave early from the hotel, in order for the golfers to be back for the business meetings at 1:30. Golf will be both Thursday and Friday. Joe is trying to arrange a continental breakfast at the golf course. Please send golf reservations to Joe. TENNIS: Larry Girard has contracted for indoor courts at the Forest Lake Tennis Club in St. Louis County. Please return reservation form to him.
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TARPA 1986 STL CONVENTION SCHEDULE
Monday, May 26 Early hotel registration as desired
Tuesday, May 27 5:00 P.M.-7:30 P.M.
Board Registration Hospitality Bar - Governor ' s Suite (18th floor)
Wednesday, May 28 9:00 9:00 1:00 5:00
A.M. A.M.-5:00 P.M. P.M. P.M.-7:30 P.M.
Board Meeting - Governor ' s Suite TARPA registration - Promenade Floor Brewery tour Hospitality Bar - Governor ' s Suite
Thursday, May 29 6:30 8:00 8:00 9:00 9:00 1:00 1:30 5:00
A.M. A.M. A.M. A.M. A.M.-11:00 A.M. P.M. P.M. P.M.-7:30 P.M.
Golfers ' bus departs Tennis bus departs Shooters depart Bridge - Governor ' s Suite Late TARPA registration Ladies ' entertainment or luncheon General Session - Junior Ballroom Hospitality Room Free evening
Friday, May 30 6:30 8:00 8:00 9:00 1:30 5:00 7:00 8:00
A.M. A.M. A.M. A.M. P.M. P.M.-7:00 P.M. P.M. P.M.
Golfers ' bus departs Tennis bus departs Shooters depart Bridge - Governor ' s Suite General Session - Junior Ballroom Hospitality Room open Cash Bar in Junior Ballroom Banquet - Junior Ballroom
Saturday, May 31 Check out as desired * * * * * * * * * * * *
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PANAMA CANAL CRUISE TARPA, TWA SENIORS, 1985 By Bill Townsend Eleven members of TARPA and their wives and four associate members, along with 21 other TWA Seniors, enjoyed a cruise through the Panama Canal during the first part of November. The TARPA members were: Jim Hendrix Sam Luckey George Toop Babe Vance Joe Brown
E. C. "Lum" Edwards Russ Bowen Frank Fitzgibbon Reg Plumridge Bill Townsend Larry Girard
The trip was arranged by our Seniors' President, Lum Edwards, and, of course, escorted by him and his lovely wife, Bette. The trip began at LAX, with an exciting and scenic bus ride to the harbor to board the SS RHAPSODY, of the French Paquet line, with stops at Acapulco, Mexico, then to Balboa and on to an eight hour daylight cruise through the Canal to the Caribbean Sea. At Acapulco, of course, we had to see the divers as they dove from the 130 foot cliffs. It is a daring feat and a fabulous sight. We then visited the famous Princess Hotel, on the ocean - hotels throughout the world should be envious of its location and decor - a truly beautiful place. We then completed a tour of the city. The passage through the many locks of the Canal was most interesting and awe inspiring , an engineering marvel, to be sure, and well worth staying on deck to watch. After passing through the Canal, the ship stopped and we went by tender to a village of the San Blas Island group (136 islands) where we watched the Indian women make their famous "molas" by hand, a The Cuna Indians who inhabit these islands reverse applique embroidery. are as near to pure blooded aborigines as can be - outsiders are taboo, Of course, they sell their as far as inter-marriage is concerned. to be taken, and, as in all other parts handwork and charge for pictures of the world, they covet the U. S. dollar. Children say "money" and hold out their hands. It's great fun to watch the youngsters dive for money, near the islands and around the ship. They never seem to miss in recovery,
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Our next stop was in Cartagena, Colombia. Some took a city tour by bus, and others, taxis with guides. We did the latter, and stopped at many places - shopped, saw interesting views, a 16th Century Monastery and chapel, and the famous Fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, with its dungeons and ancient walls. At the Hilton Hotel, we had a lovely lunch on the veranda overlooking the sea. This is a sight to remember. (By the way, rates are still reasonable at the hotel). Then we were off to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, after an all night cruise, and found the sea was too rough and the ship couldn't make safe anchorage, so we sailed on. It is reputed to be a great shopping place, so we all saved money. Jamaica will have to wait for another visit another time. Then, after cruising all day and all night, we came into Port Everglades at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the early morning, and went on our separate ways. Food aboard ship was excellent - a bar and food table seemed to be always within reach - this was proven when the scales at home were strained a bit. Some of our fitness and health addicts possibly evaded gaining pounds cruising the decks - by running or fast walking, or whatever fit their programs. I'm sure Reg and Lum travelled more miles than we did on the cruise of fourteen days and 4474.5 nautical miles or 5145.6 statute miles. There were activities and amusements of all kinds - even good shopping right on the ship. A "Knobby Knees Contest" was won by one in our group - a runner-up from the TARPA group (I don't even dare mention his name - he's a good friend - his wife won't even let him wear a swim suit! In another contest, Joe and Eliese Brown seemed to know more intimate details about each other than any of the other couples questioned, so they were awarded a bottle of champagne. Of our group, I found the target most often in the trap shooting. Larry Girard never gave up-they just ran out of shells. Babe Vance seemed to be the cribbage champ (watch him if you have to sit across the table). Russ Bowen came in second - they are both tough to beat. Alva and I took lessons in backgammon and are still learning, but she beats me, too. The horse races in the big lounge left Larry and Phylllis Girard at the gate, and Sam and Marge Luckey, too, but you'd never know it from their excitement. And, of course, the Bingo game each day had a full house, with a $1200 pot for the last game. Several of our group won smaller amounts. We had a great time. The accompanying picture is of the whole group. A very carefully posed picture of the TARPA members met with a run-in with "Murphy's Law ", and was with the only pictures that did not develop. My apologies. * * * * * * * * * * * * TARPA TOPICS
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TARPA members in the above picture are: Bottom row, left to right, Frank Fitzgibbon and Lum Edwards. Third from bottom, left to right, Babe Vance, Reg Plumridge, Jim Hendrix, Larry Girard, Russ Bowen, Sam Luckey and George Toop. Half-way up stairs, Joe Brown, and at the top, Bill Townsend.
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PILOTS ON THE MOVE By Ed Betts
January of 1986 saw a number of present or former TWA pilots on the move with new jobs and titles. Captain J. William (Bill) Hoar was named Vice President-Labor Relations, reporting to President Dick Pearson. Bill will direct all TWA labor negotiations, arbitration, grievance procedures and policy, and will maintain liaison with bargaining units and other departments. Bill was hired January 19, 1968 and has spent most of his TWA career in the offices at 605, although he did manage to find time to check out as Captain on the Boeing 727. His former job was as the Director of Flight Crew, Technical and Contract Liaison. * * * * * * * * * * Bill Hoar
LAX General Manager of Flying Brad Berg took early retirement to accept the position as Chief Pilot for Five Star Airlines, based at Boston. Five Star flies to the Caribbean using Lockheed L1011s and during their off season leases a few to TWA. Brad started his TWA career on September 22, 1952, as copilot on the Martin 404, and in later years was supervisor pilot on the L1011 at LAX. He was promoted to GMF in September, 1981, follow(also early) the retirement of John Rhodes who had accepted a management position with Jet America. * * * * * * * * * * * * Also in January Lawrence M. Hecker was named Vice President of Flight Operations for Western Airlines. (Earlier, former TWA VP Robin Wilson was named President of the company. Larry started with TWA on November 2, 1953 and retired (early) in December of 1981. Larry was a supervisor with the Saudi operation, and at the time of his retirement, was head of training at JFK.
Bradford Berg
Larry's picture is on the next page. PAGE 9
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Succeeding Brad as the GMF at LAX is Fred R. Van Hoosen. Fred, a native of Albany, Oregon, got into flying early at the age of 16 with light planes. At the time he was working on a farm in Oregon, and in later years he attended both the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. He joined TWA on December 9, 1963, one of the original group of "new hires" who were pilot qualified and assigned as Flight Engineers on the Connies. A year later Fred was assigned as F/E instructor on the Connies, based at MKC. In 1966 he was back on the line, flying copilot on He started his Captain upgradthe Boeing 707's. ing on the 707 in late 1967 and in 1969 was flying Lawrence M. as Captain on the B727, based at LAX. Hecker At the time he was living in Oregon and divided his time between flying Captain in the summer months and as copilot on the Pacific operation in the winter, In 1976 it was back to MKC as an instructor on the 727's and 707's, and he was soon a check airman. Fred was very active with TWA's research program with regards to wind sheer and stall recovery and helped to develop many of the training aids and video programs for ground school, simulator and flying to combat this problem. In 1979 he was back at SFO, this He time as a flight manager for the B707's and later the L1011s . remained as a resident flight manager (after the domicile was closed) until November of 1984, when he transferred to LAX in a similar capacity. Although not married at this time, Fred has been busy raising three sons, ages 15, 19 and 21. When not busy at the office or in the cockpit, Fred likes to jog and one of his favorite pastimes is joining his sons for rides on the desert with their "threewheelers". TARPA members extend their congratulations to these men and their new jobs or careers, and continued success in their various fields of aviation. * * * * * * * * * * * *
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FRINGE BENEFITS REPORT By W, A. Dixon
The sad financial state of TWA and the "early out" exodus of many familiar faces make it difficult to do anything but hold on to what we have. This fact of life applies to many other airlines as well. At last reading, TWA is threatened with an even heavier loss than anticipated because of the severe terrorist impact on travel to Europe and the Middle East. But there are a few things we can do. We can continue to try to get the active pilots to realize they, too, will face retirement. As the TV special on "Growing Old in America" concluded: "The old are us. It's our future selves, you and me." It is reasonable and fair that a person's seniority date should carry through to death. Each person would thus be affected in like manner from employment date onward. Adding a "R" to the Class 7 pass at retirement, placing retirees behind all Class 7 pass holders, is an unwarranted penalty on TWA's retired employees . Giving a Class 6 vacation pass once a year to active employees, as is already being done, is enough. Most employees, certainly the pilots, machinists, and flight attendants expect to retire from TWA. It would seem apparent, therefore, they would appreciate the desirability of a permanent seniority number for pass purposes. There are many former ALPA officers, committee members and devoted union supporters in TARPA. Perhaps they can exert some influence with the association they served so well, and convince its national officers that retirees deserve more consideration than they have received to date. COLAS are out of the question now, but pass equality isn't. Another big problem which affects employees and retirees alike is the "Frequent Flyer" group. They make it virtually impossible to ever move up to First Class or even Ambassador, and they pay no tax on their free and upgraded travel. And it is the new tax law and IRS ruling that caused the airlines to delete the 50% positive pass discounts. Each sale would have required a report to the Treasury! You are urged to write your Congressmen pointing out that "Frequent Flyers" are receiving what should be taxable awards, and are even selling their free coupons to brokers and escaping tax on this as well. The best thing that could happen to the airlines and to us, would be for these freebies to be ruled illegal, or at least subject to tax. The paperwork would put a quick halt to this circus. TARPA TOPICS
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At the same time, complain to your Congressmen that pass privileges we worked for and expected to continue in retirement have been taken away from us. For example, to secure passes for parents now, the employee must pay taxes on the "fair value" of the tickets. Making the 50% positive discount tickets taxable has not brought in one cent of tax revenue, since the airlines simply eliminated the provision. It is time we fought back, both within our airline and with our government representatives. You associate members of TARPA have some clout with ALPA. Ask its leadership for help on this lamentable pass and "Frequent Flyer" situation. I'll end this report with this recent newspaper quote: "Coupon (frequent flyer) brokers make most of their money from the long-distance first class tickets, which they sell for between 50% and 70% less than the airlines", said Alan Gross, 49, the owner of AGCO. "AGCO is the oldest coupon broker in the U. S. With every airline involved in this ridiculous game, none profits above the other. They all lose. Deregulation has reached the heights of insanity!" This is my last report, I have submitted my resignation to TARPA President Russ Derickson. It is time for a new face to review possible future options in the area of fringe benefits. * * * * * * * * * * * * ON THE LIGHTER SIDE With a sigh, the husband put down the suitcases and gazed out the window at the departing plane. "Honey, if you hadn't taken so long to pack, we could have been on that plane." "I know," his wife replied sweetly. "But if you hadn't rushed me so, we wouldn't have to wait so long for the next one." * * * * * * * * * * * * For Father's day, they gave him the most comfortable chair they could find. At least, he thinks it is the most comfortable chair - his wife, dog, and grandchildren have been sitting in it ever since! * * * * * * * * * * * * Woman reporting on a recent vacation: "It took a trip to Scotland, but believe it or not, my husband has finally stopped chasing the first thing to come along in a skirt." * * * * * * * * * * * * TARPA TOPICS
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4200 El Cederal Ave. Las Vegas, NV. 89102 January 18, 1986
Capt. A. J. Clay, Jr. 410 Harbor View Lane Largo, FL 33540 Dear Al: I wish to thank you for providing me with this opportunity to comment on the problems confronting your committee in conducting a meaningful and proper survey of the retired pilots. My immediate reaction is that a survey is not necessary. Nor is the termination of the "B" Plan necessary in order to make a lump sum available to the retired pilot. Each individual retiree can hire a tax attorney and pursue a lump sum rollover under Section 402(A) (5)D of the Internal Revenue Code, however, he should understand, that ten year averaging is not and never will be available to him. The "B" Plan lump sum option now exists for the retiring active pilot. He will have a choice of taking cash and paying taxes using ten year averaging, rolling it into an IRA account or remaining in the "B" Plan. Each retiring pilot will have to assess his personal needs and act accordingly. It will not be an easy decision to make and he should study it very carefully. There are two different philosophies at work here. One group wishes to spend their retirement years free from care with sufficient income to maintain a high quality of life. The other wishes to manage their own investments and save a meaningful estate to leave to a beneficiary. There is no guarantee for either approach but I think the first approach has by far the better chance of succeeding. Remember, investing your own money can be a stressful occupation for some people and, your health is the single biggest factor in the quality of your life. The "B" Plan is an endless supply of an ever increasing amount of money. The older you get the more you get. At the beginning of 1976 the Value of the Unit of Interest stood at $14.512. At the end of 1985 it stood at $33.812. That is an increase of 9.854% compounded annually. The people who retired in 1976 would now be 70 years of age and I estimate they have an average of 400 company units. If we project our past ten years forward, the "B" plan will pay each of them, in the next ten years, $221,783.91. If instead, at the age of 70, the retiree rolled his equity into an IRA and tried to maintain the quality of life enjoyed by the "B" Plan recipient, assuming their investment experience to be equal, he would be broke in less than ten
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years. His "B" Plan counterpart, however, would receive $35,865.75 income in the following year. The Paine Webber brokerage house has a slogan that I will have to paraphrase - the quality of your life might just depend on the quality of your investments - for example: anyone who retired the beginning of 1981 has probably already drawn out all the monies that he invested in the plan through company contributions. And he has the rest of his life to continue drawing an ever increasing amount of income. I consider that a quality investment. You may feel that I have digressed from the question before your committee and I would have to agree that you are probably right. However I spent many hours with my computer ferreting out the financial facts upon which I have based my statements and, as long as I have done the work, I felt that I should share my observations with you. Not long ago I was following a large expensive motor home down the highway and a bumper sticker caught my eye. It read "I am spending my kids inheritance". Shakespeare couldn't have said it better. Throughout my working life I earned a productive and rewarding retirement and I am going to live it. I will not trade in my "B" Plan equity for the IRS and someone else to squander. I can squander with the best of them. My best as always.
Eten * * * * * * * * * * * * NEVER GO TO BED ANGRY - STAY UP AND FIGHT! * * * * * * * * * * * * Question: Answer:
Which do you think is the worst - ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care. * * * * * * * * * * * *
WELLINGTON'S LAW OF COMMAND: does the scum.
The cream rises to the top. So
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Retired Airline Pilots Association
1722 Ponce De Leon, Coral Gables, Florida 33134 (305) 444-1687 The Federation of Retired Airline Pilots Associations RAPA CONVENTION REPORT The Retired Airline Pilots Association held their annual convention at the Sheraton Twin-Towers Hotel in Orlando, Florida December 4,5,6, 1985. Representatives of 14 airline retired organizations were in attendance during the business sessions. Ed Hall, TARPA'S liaison and Al Clay, Vice-President of Pensions for RAPA represented TARPA. Charles Fulford of Airlift International was elected President in 1984 for a two year term, however, due to personal reasons and health problems, resigned prior to the convention. This resulted in several chaotic situations during the business sessions. Considerable discussion was on Insurance. Dave Richwine. TARPA'S Insurance Chairman will cover the subject separately. Committee reports from a commission appointed by the President in 1984 were submitted and accepted, but no action was taken on the recommendations. Prior to the official opening of the convention, each delegate is offered the opportunity to speak on any subject of his the various choice. Here is a brief outline from representatives. Airlift: Calvin Keith of PAA as proxy. Fulford not present. No report. Braniff: Bill Root, Vice-President RAPA Insurance, excellent presentation on Insurance possibilities, Medical, Life, Home Owners, Auto and Medicare.
made an covering
Continental: George Corbett Delegate. No report. Flying Tiger: Stu McMahon, Delegate. Rumors of a merger retirees concerned because of their Insurance coverage.
has
Frontier: Jim Hanson, Delegate. FAL now is part of People Express. The merger will be complete in four years. Employees attitude is optimistic. Attitude has changed because they feel the new management is more realistic. Their pension plan is overfunded and reported in good shape. PAGE 15
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National:Bill Amos, Delegate. Bill indicated they didn't have a problem. Northwest: Mel Kuehn, Delegate. NW does not hold conventions but have luncheons in various cities each month. Wives are invited once a year. Pan-Am: Calvin Keith, Delegate. Keith reported that their 'A' pension plan has been sold to Prudential. The plan was underfunded by 448 million. Republic: Dick Downs, Delegate. Retirees are battling ALPA the Company on Pension surplus monies.
and
Seaboard: Ed Mitchell, Delegate. Retirees concerned over health insurance and a merger. TWA: Ed Hall, Delegate. Extended appreciation to all who answered questions on the lump sum issue. Thanked Bill Root (BNF), and Don McDougall (WAL), for their lengthy reports which proved to be very informative. Gave a brief outline where TWA ( TARPA) is on the lump sum issue. Reiterated our position with RAPA and our dissatisfaction with RAPA's progress the past two years. United: Bill Moore, Delegate. UAL is one billion dollars overfunded in their pension plan. Bill also gave the membership an explanation of their retiree organization. Moat belong to an all employee group similar to TWA's Seniors. United has 1448 retired pilots, but only 288 are dues paying members of the pilots retired organization. USAIR: Don Washburn, Delegate. Their problem is the two tier pay scale which affects retirement plans. They are presently working on passes for widows and survivors. Western: Don McDougall. Delegate. Their pass benefits have been diluted. The biggest problem with their retiree organization is communications. Many pay their dues but never show up at meetings. Hawaiian: Hawaiian Air did not send a delegate, but a letter from Bob Maguire, President of RHAP, indicates concern over Public Law 98-369, Section 132 (a) (1) which lists those eligible to receive fringe benefits (passes). Included are retired and disabled employees, spouses and dependent children, but excludes widows.
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Alaska Air: Alaska is not a member, but they sent an observer for evaluation. RAPA's acceptance of a 1986 cruise program with a deadline date of 1-20-86 was published too late to be included in the December TARPA TOPICS. Three resolutions were drafted during the business sessions. One authorized expenses for a representative to appear before Congress and explain our views on ERISA law loopholes that has permitted the closing down of pension plans and the skimming off of pension benefits. The second was a recommendation to the FAA to install 'Terminal Doppler Radar', and the third supporting ALPA in the improvement of Air Traffic Control procedures. In conclusion your representatives are of the opinion that RAPA has a long way to go to fulfill its stated purpose. We will be monitoring this years activities very closely and will then make recommendations best suited for TARPA's future participation.
Ed Hall TARPA Liaison
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INSURANCE COMMITTEE REPORT By Dave Richwine The following insurance information is quoted from Ed Hall's report on the 1985 RAPA Convention: "There are two major changes in insurance that need an explanation. "1. The introduction of a Major Medical plan that was mailed out to all members of the various airline organizations prior to the convention. This is the one Bill Root has been working on for some years. This plan offers coverage for those under 65 who need it. The brochure mailed out fully explains the coverage so I won't go into detail. It is a comprehensive Major Medical insurance policy. The plan offers a $1,000,000.00 max benefit and a low five hundred or one thousand dollar deductible option. If one is covered with this plan, he or she will at age 65 automatically move into the Supplemental plan without any waiting period. Prescription drugs are a part of this new plan. "2. There is also a tentative proposal to include prescription drugs into the RAPA Medicare Supplemental plan. It must be 100% participation and is not a selective option. If accepted, there would be no waiting period and no clauses on previous usage. Estimated additional cost to the Supplemental plan varies from $6.50 a month to $9.00 a month. Other factors still on the drawing board are a deductible clause on drugs with a possibility of three choices: $100.00 deductible based on a 80% of $1,000.00, or $100.00 deductible based on a 80% of $500,00, or a $100.00 deductible based on 50% of $1,000.00. This is all tentative until some indication is made on participation. "Bill Root, in his committee report, indicated that a survey would be made regarding the need or desire for home owners insurance, auto insurance, etc. "He reminded us that all persons should check their insurance policies fine print to see if dependants are covered if you die, or remarry. There have been reported problems in this area. "Discussion by Bill Root on options available if you are in the hospital and they want to discharge you, even though you disagree. The patient should receive advance notification, so that you could appeal to your peers for additional stay. It may require you to pay the bill and then appeal to Medicare for a refund. "Satisfactory Insurance supplement for those under the age of 65 is most difficult to find.
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"Howard Wincele of Alexander and Alexander stated that although the RAPA Supplemental insurance maximum is $20,000.00, the possibility of using it up is non-existent. This maximum payment is the "overcharge". Example: You have a $1,000.00 Doctor bill. Medicare approves $700.00. They pay 80%, or $560.00. RAPA pays $440.00. The OVERCHARGE is $300.00. If through some quirk, you did use up the $20,000.00, RAPA insurance will still pay the 20% supplemental. "Another comment is that RAPA Medicare Supplement will pay you REGARDLESS of what you collect from other insurance companies. They do not coordinate with other companies and he cited several cases that he was aware of where the patient was making money from being ill." NOTE: The new MAJOR MEDICAL policy mentioned above is for members under the age of 65. After 65, all members would have need for RAPA or some other type of Medicare supplement policy. Since most airlines do not have the same extension of basic medical insurance coverage to age 65 that TWA has, this is a valuable policy for many RAPA members. However, since TARPA members are already covered by the company's basic group medical policy which is extended at no cost until age 65, the new RAPA policy would be redundant for us. Further, while RAPA's present Medicare Supplement policy is "non-coordinating" and pays regardless of other policies held, the new MAJOR MEDICAL policy, like TWA's, does have a coordination of benefits provision so that covered persons cannot receive more than the actual medical expenses incurred. Some members have expressed interest in TWA's Over 65 Major Medical policy in conjunction with RAPA or some other Medicare supplement policy. This policy has an $1150 per year deductible before you can collect 80% of the basic benefits and you must ha e incurred $1950 out of the pocket expenses before becoming eligible for 100% of the policy's coverage. It also has a coordination of benefits provision. Further, you must sign up for it no more than 90 days after your 65th birthday or lose your eligibility permanently. Those eligible and interested are advised to study its provisions carefully to ascertain its cost-effectiveness, which, of course, will depend largely on what kind of Medicare supplement you intend to carry after age 65.
GROUND RULE FOR LABORATORY WORKERS: you are doing, do it neatly.
When you do not know what
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YOU CAN TELL IT'S GOING TO BE A BAD DAY WHEN:
Submitted by Richard E. Ludwig TARPA TOPICS
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RETIREMENT PLAN DEVELOPMENTS By R. C. (Bob) Sherman
Since our last report, a lump sum option for the B Plan has been negotiated for working pilots. Mr. Icahn's attorneys would not accept the exclusion of mortality reversions, thus the full Present Worth will be computed for lump sums. Except for the start up period beginning 1 January 1986, a one year notice will be standard. Shorter notice with a physical will be acceptable under certain conditions. In all cases the pilot must be on flying status the day of application and the day before the proposed retirement. All of this to guard against adverse selection. Lump sum for the A Plan ("...at no cost to TWA"..,) has been stymied by a recent IRS regulation concerning Present Worth computations. The result in this case would require TWA to pay a pilot about $50,000 more than they actually pay the insurance company for the annuity. Back to the drawing board. Some selections of unaudited year-end B Plan data follow. Although the net assets are 26.8% greater than last year, the application of the 3% assumption and other required adjustments will result in a lesser gain. The value of a Unit of Interest may well be over 35. Unquestionably our next quarter checks will be the highest ever. FUND MGR. MORGAN PUTNAM SSR&M MELLON G.I.C.s L.O.R. BOS.SF. TOTAL B
NET ASSETS $179.2 M 190.7 252.0
PART OF TOTAL 21% 22
57.5 150.5 21.4 3.0
29 7 18 3 -
854.4
100
QUARTER 15.6% 20.2 19.4
CHANGE SINCE LAST: 6 MOS. 12 MOS. 10.8% 26.3% 17.4 39.7 11.8 35.6
17.2 2.4
12.4 5.4
31.8 11.9
12.9
9,8
26.8
Refer to the December issue for full names of above abbreviations. Only three stocks are now owned by all three equity managers: IBM, CITICORP and Allied Signal, and 21 stocks are now owned by at least two managers. Despite the phenomenal market rise, losses are sure to follow. One item on the Investment Committee agenda for late February is, "Should our gains be locked in by raising the floor of the insurance?" The premium for this protection would further limit our gains in rising markets. Cost vs benefit will be decisive. TARPA TOPICS
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SOME EXAMPLES OF SINGLE PREMIUM ANNUITIES From: 1985 Life Insurance Rates & Data A National Underwriters Publication, Cincinnati, Ohio
COMPANY
60
65
Premiums for $100.00 ACACIA
70
75
of Monthly Annuity for Life
$1299
$1122
$964
$802
AMER. LIFE (NY)
1335
1168
1012
852
BANKERS LIFE (IOWA)
1028
953
859
751
CONN. GEN.
1322
1166
999
834
EQUITABLE
969
909
832
739
FIDELITY & GUAR.
935
868
788
698
JOHN HANCOCK
1122
1020
915
794
METROPOLITAN
1056
995
914
817
PENN. MUTUAL LIFE
1040
954
856
752
STATE FARM
988
926
846
751
U.S.A.A. GP.
961
894
813
719
LIFE CO. INS. of NORTH AMERICA
959
889
800
696
* * * * * * * * * * * * FLASH!
We have just received word that, as of December 31, 1985, the value of the unit of interest was 36.656. This is approximately a 22% increase over the same period last year. Present plan assets now exceed $900,000000.00. * * * * * * * * * * * *
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In Memoriam Captain Harley L. Brubaker Retired Captain Harley L. Brubaker died December 30, 1985. Harley, like thousands of other airline pilots, learned to fly on small aircraft out of small airports throughout the country. Over the years he flew ever larger aircraft up to and including Jumbo Jets. His 33 years with TWA included flying the DC 2, 3 and 4, Boeing 307, Convair Series, Lockheed 49 series, ending the last year before retirement flying the L-1011. Besides flying the domestic routes, his years of flying duty included flying the International routes throughout Europe, and as check pilot in Chicago. His love for the airplane soon overcame that for the desk, He returned to flying the Harley L. Brubaker route until retirement to the North Woods near Hayward, Wisconsin in 1973. He received the Flight Deck Man of the Year Award in 1963 in Chicago. He and his family were proud of his Gearus Non Downum plaque presented for the incident which occurred in July of 1961, and also a rudder pedal from Convair 880 #8802 last flown by Harley on June 22, 1972. His brother, Wes, On Flight 265 out who stated he had cellent pilot and
flew from Tulsa on TWA to be with the family. of St. Louis, he met Captain Denny Franco flown with Harley, and said of him, "An exa great guy."
He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Jane, son Stephen, daughter-in-law Sandy, granddaughter Jamie, one brother and one sister. Submitted by Joe McCombs * * * * * * * * * * * *
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In Memoriam CAPTAIN HARLOW B. GROW Retired Captain Harlow B. Grow passed away on October 30, 1985, at the age of 78. Harlow was a native of Salt Lake City and received an engineering degree at the University of Utah. He earned his wings and commission in 1929 at Kelly Field and a year later, while based at Crissey Field, near San Francisco, he was married. After his tour of active duty he worked at Douglas, then producing the DC-2's. He joined TWA as a Glendale-based copilot on May 1, 1935, but during a later furlough period he once again returned to Douglas as an engineer. During WWII he was on active duty again, first with the Air Transport Command, based at St. Joseph, and then at Wright Field as the head of At that time they were developthe Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ing the JATO (jet assist takeoff) program for piston aircraft. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Reserves. Following his return to TWA he was based at MKC and LAX before taking early retirement in June of 1965. He continued with his engineering interests, held several patents and was a strong proponent on the value and possibilities of the Northrop "Flying Wing" for both military and commercial use. Burial was at March Air Force Base. Harlow is survived by his wife, Lucille, sons Craig and Bruce, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Submitted by Ed Betts * * * * * * * * * * * *
CAPTAIN STUART F. UPDIKE 1917 - 1985 * * * * * * * * * * * *
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In Memoriam
FLIGHT ENGINEER MARK W. OUTHWAITE 1911
-
1986
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MARK W. OUTHWAITE
The following is an article about F/E Outhwaite by Ed Betts.
Retired TWA Flight Engineer Mark W. Outhwaite passed away at his home in Woodland Hills, California, on January 8th. He would have been 75 in May. A memorial service was held on January 15 that was attended by many of his friends, fellow employees and crew members. Several men gave tribute to Mark, described as the type of man who easily made friends and got his assigned job done, no matter how difficult the challenge, in a very quiet and positive way Mark left his hometown of Cawker City, Kansas, for Kansas City to study dentistry, However, after a few flying lessons he knew that a dental career wasn't for him - he wanted to be a pilot and mechanic - a good prerequisite for owning your own plane or for operations into remote and primitive areas where you have to do your own maintenance in order to survive. He was hired by Ray Dunn on May 20, 1941 and was soon assigned to the company's "Eagles Nest" training division, based at Albuquerque. This is where Mark first exhibited his patience and talents as an instructor in the classroom or in the air, training crews on four engine equipment that would soon be ferrying aircraft to our allies in Europe. It was also the beginning of a life-long friendship with Al Brick, his room mate at the time. When the USAAF took over their own training, Mark was assigned to the company's ICD operation, based at Washington, D. C., again as an instructor. On July 28, 1943, he was checked out as Flight Engineer on the C-54 and C-87 aircraft, flying troops and supplies to Europe and Africa. These were the days when the engineer not only worked the flight, he was usually busy on the ground taking part in the repairs or servicing of the aircraft, During his off TARPA TOPICS
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duty hours Mark continued to build up his pilot time and proficiency by flying his own Luscombe out of nearby Winchester, Va. Toward the end of 1945 he was given what was then considered a very odd assignment - part of a three man team on loan from TWA to the King of Saudi Arabia to help him get his prized DC-3 in the air, and to help set up an airline. The plane, an executive type with plush seats, lounge and desk for military brass, was a gift from the late President Roosevelt when they had met in May of that year and was parked at Payne Field, Cairo. As a background to the situation at the time, Bob Springer gave an excellent account in the September 1985 issue of the TOPICS on the origination of the Middle Eastern Airlines, including Saudi Arabia, that was spearheaded by General T. B. Wilson, then chairman of the Board of Directors. TWA was working with the State Department helping a number of these still impoverished nations set up their own air transportation systems and a group, headed by Wilson, were headquartered at the old Shepherds Hotel at Cairo to make the preliminary arrangements with the various Kings, Potentates and heads of state, etc. It was hoped that Cairo would be a "hub" for TWA with connections to these proposed airlines. TWA had established a maintenance base at Payne Field using a former military hangar that would service its own planes when its international division flights began as well as an overhaul base for the proposed new airlines. Many hundreds of TWAers, as many as 700 at one time, have enjoyed the assignment to Saudi and have assisted with their airline's growth into one of the world's leading international carriers. Today the airports and facilities at Jeddah (also spelled Jedda, Jidda, Jiddah and Juddah on certain maps), Dhahran and Riyadh are among the largest and most modern in the world. Forty years ago it was very poor and very primitive and not what would be termed a choice assignment for living and flying, but a challenge. Outhwaite reported to the TWA training center at KC on January 1, 1946 for ground school and transition on the DC-3. A month later he reported to Ray Wells, the operations manager for TWA's MidEast division based at Cairo, along with Joe Grant, the pilot assigned, and Zed Lockhart, the radio operator. All three were veterans of international type flying with the ICD Division, but little did they realize what was in store for them for the next two years (three for Mark). TWA had inaugurated its first official international flight from DCA/LGA on February 5th to Ireland and France. On February 27th Joe, Mark and Zed departed Cairo with the King's silvery DC-3, #6318 , a C-47B, on the 800 mile trip to Jedda (all times, dates, etc., concerning Mark are taken from his logbook). Although the entire country was poorly mapped, finding Jedda was no problem just follow the east coast of the Red Sea. The airport was just a spot on the desert near the town with one small hangar, a tent and the airport boundary outlined with 50 gallon oil drums painted TARPA TOPICS
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white. This was to be their home away from home, although for a while they were the guests of the King in his summer palace. As a number of TWAers such as Otis Bryan, then Vice President of the International Division, Ray Wells, Bob Springer, Grant and Outhwaite learned, King Abdul Aziz al Saud (he had a much longer name, but was better known as King Ibn Saud), his staff and advisors still needed much briefing on the necessity and value of an airline system as well as how one should be operated. The King, born in 1880, was a tall and heavy man (6'4" and about 240 pounds) with a keen sense of humor and little knowledge of anything mechanical. Although there was a large fleet of cars for his own and entourage use, the camel and horse were still the prime method of transportation. There was only one railroad established at the time and roads between towns or camps of Arabs were few and far between. Here was a nation, about the size of Texas, with an estimated 8,000,000 inhabitants with practically no means of communication except by CW (Morse Code), radios and camels. Setting up an airline was no easy task. The only airway type aid was a low frequency range and beacon at Dhahran. TWA began service to Dhahran on July 2nd of 1946. Flights were not permitted near Mecca, Medina and Riyadh, (the latter's "airport" was located about 40 miles from the palace and gardens), and it usually took the King's personal release for any aircraft to fly - he was the dispatcher and if he happened to be asleep or otherwise unavailable, the flight was delayed. For the first several months the flying for Joe, with Mark as copilot, was a combination of survey flights to locate prospective airports, transporting supplies or transporting the King and his party. Locating a new airfield or a place to land was a simple process: with the wheels down you glided down for a landing--if the sand was too soft after touching down you went around, otherwise you landed. Landing near an oasis or a camp of Arabs with the King aboard could be an experience. If he happened to be wealthy at the time, he would toss out hundreds of Riyals, as there was no paper currency, to the poor. Suitable airports were outlined with white limestone rocks for future identification. You could usually land and take off in any direction. While not busy with the flying or maintenance of the airplane, Mark was supervising (or doing the work) with the construction of their quarters located near the hangar. Like the palace, it was made of mud and straw, but with Mark's ingenuity it had A generator made lights and air some "modern" conveniences. conditioning possible, a septic tank was dug for sanitation and a good old American toilet (with seat) was installed. Running water was still in the future, water had to be brought in
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by goatskin pouches. Flies, mosquitoes and dysentery were constant problems, as was malaria. There were two choices of food supplies: local meats and vegetables could be bought early in the morning, while it was still fresh, and then soaked in water along with scrubbing with a detergent. Flour had to be finely sifted and even the bread had a rancid flavor. The safest meals were from canned goods, usually brought in Cairo when there on a business or maintenance trip. Ray wells tells of a feast he had with the group while they were still sleeping on cots in the hangar--canned tuna, peas and carrots, prepared by the houseboy. A second C-47 was delivered to Cairo by Hal Blackburn and, after conversion by TWA, was added to the King's fleet. Joe checked out Mark to first pilot status and his new license signed by the Administrator of Aviation was one of the first ever in Saudi. On August 20, 1946, Mark took his first trip out as captain. Both he and Joe were now using Saudi copilots who were very inexperienced but eager to learn. A Saudi radioman was also part of the crew to help with communications as well as the interpreter--at first there were no words in their language for such necessities as airplane, aircraft, airport, etc. The usual weather forecast was hot and dry, the biggest problem could be a Shamal wind condition, a sandstorm blowing from the northwest. Flying in these conditions was prohibited, it could ruin the engines. If the storm couldn't be avoided, you picked out a hard spot on the desert, landed, and awaited improvement. Flying was pretty much within the country although there were exploratory flights to Ethiopia and Syria, A typical journey for Mark (from his logbook) was as follows: 2/10/47 2/12 2/12 2/13 2/13 2/14 2/14
Jedda to Dhahran Dhahran to Al Hufuf Al Hufuf to Riyadh Riyadh to Al Hufuf Al Hufuf to Dhahran Dhahran to Riyadh Riyadh to Jedda
4:40 Flying time :30 1:10 1:05 :35 1:35 3:35
Overnight layovers were often sleeping on a cot with mosquito netting, under the wing of the plane. Many of the enroute stops were just large Arab camps on the desert to deliver supplies. One reliable source states that the Saudi Arabia Airlines was first formed in late 1946 and began regular service on March 14, 1947. According to Joe, the inaugural flight was delayed 22 hours by the armed guard stationed at the plane, awaiting release from the King. At that time, there were four more C-47's added to the fleet. Former military pilots had been recruited by Ray Wells for the operations, with Saudi pilots in the right seat. It was still pretty much of a non-sched operation, as the King or his staff would frequently requisition part of all of the fleet for TARPA TOPICS
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"government use" This could be a hunting trip. During the height of the pilgrimage to Mecca period it was an around-theclock flight operation for days. During one such period the Jedda area was closed due to a severe Shamal wind and sand condition. One or two flights were unreported, but they had landed on the desert and came flying in the next day. In July of 1947, Mark departed for Los Angeles, and some fresh food, etc., to take delivery of the seventh C-47. With Hal Blackburn the pilot, they flew to MKC and LGA where Ray Jennings took over as pilot. Some of the enroute legs to Cairo are pretty long for a DC-3: 9:50 Gander to Santa Maria, Azores; 7:00 Lisbon to Rome and 8:00 Rome to Cairo. Joe Grant returned home in late 1947, leaving Mark to help run the operation - flying, supervising the maintenance and some administrative work. One clerk, hired by Mark, was Kamil Sindi who later became the Director General of Civil Aviation for Saudi Arabia. Mark's final flight was on December 31, 1948 and at that time he had logged a total of 1269:40 hours as captain and 94:35 as copilot on the C-47's. Upon his return to the USA, he was first based at New Castle and then MKC as flight engineer on the Constellations. It was during this period that he met Genevieve (Gen) Nolan and in 1951 they were married. Al Brick was the best man. That same year he transferred to LA and the young newlyweds purchased some property in Woodland Hills. Typical of Mark when he wasn't flying the line, he was busy supervising the construction of his new house, and with Gen did many of the finishing touches, painting, etc. When it came time for TWA to give flying lessons to all of the A and A-1 flight engineer group, Mark saved the company a lot of training expense as he already had a multi-engine rating, ATR and instrument license. However, he was over the age 42 maximum and could not bid copilot or pilot advancement, Besides the B707 he flew the B747 which was introduced a year before he retired in May of 1971. At that time he was commuting to JFK and flying the international flights. Retirement for Mark was the opportunity for some travel, but most of his time was spent working in his shop located in a section of the garage. It was a complete shop with large metal lathe, drillpress, welding equipment and other tools. He could, and did, fix many a neighbor's bike or build a part from scratch. The old King Ibn Saud died in 1953. By that time the Saudi Arabian Airline was a fast growing and expanding concern. In 1966, after twenty years, they were flying 26,610 unduplicated miles with a fleet of 9 DC-3's, 10 Convair 340's, 3 DC-6's, two B720's and 3 DC-9's. The total personnel numbered 3,000.
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In 1977 Joe and Mark were the honored guests of the Saudis when they celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of their airline with They (Zed had since passed away) a reunion and other festivities. could reflect with pride and memories with regards to the part they had played in the initial development of this modern world carrier, back in the days when money was scarce and to make certain of your position, or a camp's location, you took a five star celestial fix at night. Mark is survived by his wife, Gen, and daughter, Emily Outhwaite. * * * * * * * * * * * *
We regret to report that Captain Harry Campbell passed away on February 22, 1986. He was 82 years old. He is survived by his wife Evelyn. No further details are available at this time.
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PAGE 3 0
The Concorde, aviation's most advanced transport, engaged in aviation's oldest profession of barnstorming at the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual Oshkosh, Wisconsin fly-in. The Concorde streaked from London to the eastern US at Mach 2.2 ( more than 1,375 mph), then at a casual subsonic 525 mph to the lush Wisconsin heartland of Oshkosh. Scores of aviation enthusiasts lined up to take 20-minute rides in the Concorde during its stay. As with everything else, the more things change , the more they stay the same. Cover photo by Nick Anderson and Greg Fitzsimmons, courtesy EAA. Photo this page by Car lSchupe, courtesy EAA.
SUPERSONICA LLY TARPA TOPICS
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BAX SEAT
CAPT. COOK'S VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
(From FLYING/November 1985 )
Concorde at Oshkosh rekindled our imaginations/Gordon Baxter
"HERE HE COMES!" Hundreds of thousands of eyes turned and stared into the summer skies to the south. The sharpest ones saw a black speck, coming, coming. There was a subtle jostling, a pressing forward of the packed mass of humans, as if a foot or two closer would be better. Lenses were raised, a battery of more long barrels than ever defended London during the Blitz, all swung toward that fast growing black speck in the sky. "There he is!" A flash in the heavens—the sun on bright paint was my first thought—then I realized I was looking into the still-miles-away beams of powerful landing lights. Now we could see the nose-up delta shape. No airplane in the history of flight ever landed before such a sea of people as did Concorde when it arrived at Wittman Field, Oshkosh, for the 1985 EAA Convention. At Le Bourget in 1927, Lindbergh wrote that he first thought the dark mass was night shadow on the landing field, then he realized it was a shifting tide of humans. He said he was concerned about finding a safe landing space, that he was astounded. He had been aloft 33 hours, alone. Capt. John Cook at the controls of Concorde had left London before lunch, cleared Customs in New York and was now landing at Oshkosh in the
TARPA TOPICS
American Midwest for afternoon tea. There had been a half-hour delay at JFK because ATC misplaced the flight plan. It didn't matter. We would have waited all night to see him come in. We were a solid mass of standing humans from the exhibit buildings out to the edges of the flight line. When we sighed, we sighed together. The 6,701 feet of Runway 36 would be one of Concorde's shortest landing spots. Now the great deltoid shape was in clear view rushing toward us, beak down, hungry eyes on the runway, the talons of the undercart dangling, like some giant bird of prey. My mind was racing to record forever all the details for later telling; the surprising white flash of reflected concrete off the underside, the cloud of tire smoke curled up into his wingtip vortices and ripped away. My God, such an airplane. Our heads swung to its onrush, pilots among us thinking, "He's too high, too fast." I worried in silence it seemed, time standing still as the utter beauty of this white ballerina filled my eyes. Then came the crash of sound. Women gasped, children fell, cameras were dropped at the chest-shaking roar of Cook selecting afterburner. "Oh Lord, an abort, please let him make it." And just as suddenly as Concorde filled our heads with its arrowed vision and thundering sound, it was gone, arcing away in a steeply banked climbing turn away from the crowd. It was not an aborted landing, it was Capt. Cook doing a touch-and-go. Or, as they say in England, "circuits and bumps." In Concorde yet! Oh Cook, you master. He made three more low passes to the huge enjoyment of himself and every spastic shutter finger. I'll bet there were enough 35mm frames of film burned with Concorde's image to bridge Lake Winnebago. Now I knew Cook was on his real finale. The flapless wings flared before us. To me he seemed a little lower, a tad slower. His intent was to put her on the numbers. Later he asked, "Did I make the numbers?" Just like any other pilot. On approach to touchdown at 170 mph he was faster than my airplane will fly wide open. The puff of smoke looked on the numbers to me. When he sizzled by us he had enough runway left to turn off in a leisurely
34
manner and take a bow. The moment of it all swept the crowd. I wanted to laugh or cry or hug somebody. All of us were caught up in the joy of this great airplane. I would have led the rush to carry Cook away on our shoulders, just as they did Lindbergh. Oh hear this, all ye criers of doom and gloom in aviation. There were more here, just to see an airplane land, than Pickett had at Gettysburg. A simple thing. Traffic was jammed over half the county far into the evening. The talk of it filled our mouths all that night. See aviation? Here it comes. Just a speck, coming, coming. Only the sharpest eyes can see it. Oshkosh—which has become the one word for the EAA Convention—continues to grow each year; 1985 was a record year of interest in aviation, in sharp contrast to the present slumped sales numbers from factories. But factories do well at Oshkosh, too. Mooney sold a swell of five, and Dorothy Feris sold the factory. With tears on her cheeks, her voice low, hardly able to speak, the Grande Dame of Taylorcraft spoke of the only reason she sold: "To continue production of my beautiful little airplane." Things happen at Oshkosh, the largest convention of any kind in the world, a true grass-roots movement of America, reflecting our need to be near the ideas of aviation—yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's. And where better? The EAA was founded on the standards of excellence of homebuilders and the mid-America manners and morals of Paul Poberezny and carried forward by son, Tom. Oshkosh, a portable, fly-in suburb that fills Wittman Field to capacity for a week and then is gone without a trace. Oh, the hunger there is to fly, to talk flying, to be with fliers. More so than ever before, it's pushing up through the grass at Oshkosh. "What is Oshkosh?" nonfliers have asked, as I come home still babbling about it. Oshkosh is the honesty of a million or so people, truth in new airplane designs. More that has been lost in aviation is being found again at Oshkosh than most people realize. Here it comes, only a speck, only the sharpest eyes can see it.... ❑
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TRAVEL NOTES By Bill Dixon Having taken our last photo safari in Kenya in 1973, we found nothing basically changed when we flew into Nairobi on Kenya Airways on October 22, 1985. This modern city is larger, but just as fascinating as ever. We stayed at the Nairobi Hilton, which has an outstanding restaurant in its Amboseli Grill and features danceable music each night. Service and food were top-notch. All kinds of good shopping are within walking distance of the hotel. Never pay the price asked. Wood and stone carvings, paintings, batiks, jewelry, hand woven baskets, decorative Masai beadwork, are all among the best buys. Shops vary from the elite to sidewalk stalls and strolling vendors. You can use credit cards, in the stores, but better prices are quoted for cash (Kenya shillings). What brings people to Kenya is the wild game, and the country won't disappoint you. Our first stop this trip was Masai Mara National Reserve, a vast game sanctuary in the high country whose southern border joins Serengeti National Park on the Kenya/ Tanzania border. Together they form an ecological system without peer for wildlife.
These three lions in Amboseli National Park ignored us. They were bedding down for a snooze after a wildebeeste lunch: however, should we have ventured from the van, we may have been their dessert!
"The Mara", as it is known, encompasses 9600 square miles, populated by more than 90 species of mammal and 450 birds. Here we sat in a van less than 30 feet from a pride of lions feasting on a wildebeeste. It was exciting and unbelievable!
You are close enough, glares this rhino Hey there! in Masai Mara National Reserve. After two days there, we were back to Nairobi for one night and then off to Amboseli, and Tsavo East and West game reserves, for three more days of pure enjoyment. One negative thought - the roads are rough, rough getting to the parks. Vans are traded in after about 18 months, shock absorbers last 3000 miles, and the 8 ply tires not much longer. With not the best back in the world, I still made it okay. I skipped the early morning game drive in Amboseli because the roads there were really rocky. Most of the driving is right across the savannas (plains) and is smoother than the graded (more or less) roads. Our Kenyan driver/guide was very good. During the five days in the bush, staying in comfortable, well staffed lodges, we saw hundreds of wildebeeste and zebra, over 100 elephants, dozens of lions and giraffes, many deer, hyenas, jackals, rhinos, hippos, eagles, storks - you name it! We were close to all of these and particularly enjoyed at first hand a gorgeous cheeta and her three cubs. Photography from the fliptop vans was a breeze.
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Though near the equator, the weather was excellent, The "short rains" (late October to early December) were just beginning and we enjoyed a couple of night time showers that laid the dust, The crystal clear air was free of pollution and one could see forever, Take your binoculars! The temperature in the game country never went over 80 degrees which was perfect for short sleeves. A light jacket is needed for the evenings and early morning. Avoid the "long rains" in March and April. We made our own arrangements through WILDLIFE SAFARI, Orinda, California, covering the entire twelve days in Kenya. If you are interested, call toll free 800-221-8118, In California, 800-525-3637, Identify yourself as a TWA employee or retiree for a good discount and special tours. Trevor Fernandes heads the office, which is associated with his father's SAFARI WORLD in Nairobi. We couldn't have been more pleased with our handling. We flew TWA to London and back from Paris. We departed Kenya from Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean. The weather there was not to our liking - hot and humid - but it was an old city and intriguing. Two days were plenty. It has been brought to my attention that Interline Holiday has tours to Kenya, but I am not personally familiar with the company. They do include positive space from London. Their address is P. O. Box 3445, Flushing, N. Y. 11386. * * * * * * * * * * * *
WHAT ONE MAY AND MAY NOT CALL A WOMAN You may call a woman a kitten, but you must not call her a cat, You may call her a mouse, but you must not call her a rat. You may call her a chicken, but you must not call her a hen. You may call her a duck, but you must not call her a goose. You may call her a vision, but you must not call her a sight. Anonymous * * * * * * * * * * * *
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EDITOR'S NOTES We are sorry that Bill Dixon has retired from the job of Fringe This is a thankless job, because both the Benefit Chairman, times and the fact that we can only ask, and not demand, makes the work frustrating. Bill did the best job possible. Thanks, Bill * * * * * * * * * * * * Both President Russ Derickson and Secretary Joe McCombs received a letter from Louise Vestal thanking TARPA for the contribution to the TWA Pilots Foundation made in Leon's name. Louise said she also appreciated the letters and other expressions of sympathy she received from TARPA members and hopes to attend some future TARPA functions. * * * * * * * * * * * * Next issue we will have lots of convention news and also lots of The forms have been coming in at a gratipersonal experiences fying rate and we think you will find these experiences interesting. * * * * * * * * * * * * HISTORIAN NEEDS HELP Mr. Ole G. Nordbo of Norway is doing research on Ethiopian Airways for a history he is writing for the airline in connection with Mr. Nordbo the celebration of the airline's fortieth anniversary. is particularly interested in obtaining a picture of a TWA DC-3 (C-47) with Ethiopian marking, but would like to have any other facts about the operation. If you can help this historian, his address is: Siv.ing Ole G. Nordbo N 1340 Bjerkelundsveien 65 Bekkestua Norway * * * * * * * * * * * * CONVENTION IN MAY Sam Luckey and his committee are planning a great convention for us in St. Louis. Come join the fun and the pleasure of seeing your old friends. We are expecting a large turnout and the transportation should be easier than in some years past. * * * * * * * * * * * *
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THE HERNDON AND PANGBORN PACIFIC FLIGHT By Ed Betts Captain Larry Trimble wrote a fine article in the March issue of the TOPICS identifying the late Hugh Herndon as the pilot of the TWA DC-3 (C-47) that located and assisted in the rescue of four RAF airmen who had crashed landed a "Dakota" on the Libyan Desert in January of 1948. Larry also mentioned that Herndon, along with Clyde Pangborn, had made aviation history by making the first non-stop trans-Pacific flight from Tokyo to the USA. Their flight was the culmination of a round-the-world trip that started out with the intent to set a new record. This failed and what followed turned into a drama of frustration and foreign They intrigue prior to the successful crossing of the Pacific also shared in the $25,000 prize for this feat, one of the last of the big rewards for daring trips across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. One of the first was a $25,000 prize for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris offered by Raymond Orteig in 1919. It wasn't until May of 1927 that Charles Lindbergh accomplished this feat, and also set a new World Record for the longest distance traveled (not a closed circuit course, a separate category) of 3,610 statute miles. The French had monopolized this record since WWI. World records were a matter of national pride, especially for Official World and Amerispeed, altitude, endurance and range, can records are those confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (The National Aeronautic Association is the representative for the USA) according to their established rules Lindbergh's record lasted but two weeks. In and regulations. June of 1927, the team of Chamberlin and Levine flew from New York to Eisleben, Germany, a distance of 3,911 miles in a single engine Bellanca. That same year saw the Pacific being partially conquered, between Oakland and Honolulu, with several flights of note. Ernie Smith aspired to be the first, and might have been had it not been for a sudden and unexpected military order. Smith and his navigator were all set to depart from the Army's Crissey Field, near San Francisco, when orders were issued forbidding operations by He had to dismantle his plane and truck it civilian aircraft, across the bay in Oakland and re-assemble. While this was in progress, Ernie had no choice but to watch the Army's team of Maitland and Hegenberger take off in their Fokker F07 and make the first successful flight. Ernie and his navigator, Emory Bronte, had to be content with the honor accorded them as the first civilians to make the flight a few weeks later. Had they delayed their departure another month and entered the Dole Derby, a race for prizes for the fastest times, their time of 25 hours and 36 TARPA TALES
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minutes would have placed them second with the $10,000 prize. Art Goebel, with navigator Bill Davis, won the $25,000 first prize with a time of 25 hours and 17 minutes. A very unofficial record time for a round-the-world trip was set in 1926 by two New Yorkers who traveled by ship, train and air in 28 days, 14 hours and 36 minutes In 1927 the team of Brock and Schlee departed Detroit eastbound with intentions of setting a new and official record. They got as far as Tokyo in 18 days and their next hop was to be the Island of Midway, a tiny dot on any map, enroute to Hawaii. since there were no radio or other aids for navigation, just dead reckoning and hope, they were talked out of this attempt and, along with their plane, took a fast steamship home. In June of 1928 then-Squadron leader (later Sir Charles) Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm and crew received world acclaim for their 7,788 mile flight, with two stops, from Oakland to Brisbane with their tri-motor Fokker, "The Southern Cross". The 2,400 mile hop to Honolulu was a cinch compared to the weather encountered on the 3,200 miles leg to Fiji. The Australian Government rewarded them with a $25,000 prize and a like amount was donated by a Sydney merchant. In July of that year two Italian pilots set a new distance record of 4,466 miles with a flight from Rome to Touros, Brazil. In July of 1929, French pilots Coste and Bellonte flew from Le Bourget to Coulart, Manchuria, a record 4,913 miles. Actually, according to their calculations, they had flown 5,592 miles but the FAI recognizes only the shortest or "airline distance between the points of take off and landing. They still had another two and a half hours of fuel aboard and might have made it to Tokyo had it not been for severe weather conditions ahead. The same two Frenchmen made the first westbound non-stop flight from Paris to New York, in September of 1930, and then flew on to Dallas where they collected a $25,000 prize offered by a Col. Easterwood for the first to fly from Paris to that city with just one stop. The Atlantic had been conquered numerous times, so far as the various prizes offered, it was the Pacific that still offered the chance for fame and fortune. The Tokyo newspaper ASAHI, offered a prize of 50,000 yen, (about $25,000) for the first to make a non-stop (either direction) flight between Japan and the USA, not Alaska The Imperial Aviation Society of Japan offered 100,000 yen to the first Japanese to make the flight with a plane designed and built by a Japanese manufacturer. A group of Tacoma aviation enthusiasts raised a fund of $28,000 as a prize for the first to make the flight, either direction, with the stipulation that the take off or landing be within a 50 mile radius of Tokyo and 10 miles of Seattle. Other prizes included $25,000 by Sid TARPA TALES
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Graumann for the first non-stop between Tokyo and Los Angeles, and $25,000 offered by Col. Easterwood for the first to fly between Tokyo and Dallas with one stop, It would be difficult, if not impossible, to compare the relative value of $25,000 in those years to today The depression that followed the 1929 stock market crash was gaining momentum and it was a rare pilot who could finance a long distance flight. There were no personal income taxes so that amount was considered Airline pilots flying for TAT were paid $6,000 a small fortune., a year for first pilots and $3,600 for copilots. The first to register and make a try for the prize money was Harold Bromley who started out solo in July of 1929. Bromley had the support and financial backing of the same Tacoma group who had posted the prize money, and named the Lockheed "Vega" the The plane had been overloaded with gas and the "City of Tacoma escaping fuel blinded him on the take off roll, resulting in a ground loop that severely damaged the plane It was almost a year later that Bromley tried it again, with a single-engine Emsco There was a change of plans; Harold Gatty, an experienced plane. navigator would join him and it was decided to make the flight The plane eastbound to take advantage of the prevailing winds was shipped to Tokyo and on August 30, 1930, they attempted their first departure from the Kasumigaura Naval Airfield near that city. The take off had to be aborted as the available runway was way The next take off was made from the hard-packed sands too short. of Sabishiro Beach, located about 280 miles north of Tokyo. In addition to nearly a mile and a half of available runway, a large They were wooden ramp was built to initiate the take off roll about 25 hours enroute and over the Bering Sea when engine problems forced them to return to Japan. Winter weather discouraged any further attempts that year and the plane was stored in a hangar at Yokohama. As it turned out, 1931 was a banner year so far as history-making, notable and record breaking flights were concerned. As 1930 ended there was already a giant armada of huge seaplanes enroute to the USA on a goodwill tour, General Italo Balbo departed Italy with 14 Savois Marchetti planes in formation. They were making their way from Rio de Janeiro north to New York The flight was not without its price: three ships were lost, one disabled and five fliers were killed, but it satisfied Mussolini's dream of a mass flight to the USA. The Germans had been prohibited from building war planes after WWI, but they held world attention with the largest aircraft ever built, the Dornier Do-X seaplane that was powered by 12 US built Curtiss "Conquerer" engines. The plane was also enroute by way of South America to the US with 70 passengers aboard and a crew of 17. The Germans had already set numerous records and ocean crossings with the famed airship, the "Graf Zepplin", including an unofficial round-the-world record of 21 days, 7 hours and 34 minutes set in 1929.
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In March of 1931, a French team set a new World Record for both duration (75 hours and 23 minutes) and closed circuit distance (5,468 miles) on the same flight. Three weeks later another pair of Frenchmen set a new record of 5,679 miles. In April an American team of Lees and Brossy were forced to land their Bellanca "Pacemaker" after 74 hours and 12 minutes flying. A month later they broke the record with an 84 hour and 32 minute duration. In June the French again claimed the distance record with a 6,445 miles closed course flight. On the local scene, James Doolittle won the Bendix Trophy Race from LA to Cleveland with two stops, and then went on to New York to break Frank Hawk's record for the fastest elapsed time between LA and NY with an 11 hour 16 minutes time. Wiley Post teamed up with Navigator Harold Gatty and on June 23rd they departed from Roosevelt Field on a round-the-world flight with their single engine "Vega" dubbed the "Winnie Mae". After leaving Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, they made their North Atlantic crossing which was generally a case of dead reckoning rather than navigation, as clouds made it impossible to establish their position. Until they landed they weren't certain if it was Wales, Scotland or England. From there they flew to Germany and across Russia, the Kamachatka Peninsula, and the Bering Sea to Nome, and then across Canada enroute back to New York. Their 15,474 mile trip took 8 days, 15 hours and 51 minutes. Although no records were intended, Charles and Anne Lindbergh made a "vacation" flight in their Lockheed "Cirius" along a reverse course: by way of Canada, Alaska, Siberia to Tokyo. Thomas Ash happened to be in the Orient and learned that the "City of Tacoma" Emsco plane was for sale. He made a deal with the owners to use the plane for a Tokyo-Seattle flight, which was agreed upon, and the plane was taken out of storage and tuned up. Renamed the "Pacific", Ash tried to get the plane in the air on May 31st. After two attempts and using all of the 6,700 foot runway at the Sabishiro Beach, it still wouldn't fly and he gave up. On July 8th, pilots Harold Jones and Reginald Robbins departed Seattle with their "Vega" with a novel plan for inflight refueling. They rendezvoused with a Ford tri-motor acting as the tanker near Fairbanks for a 200 gallon fill, and the plans were for a final top-off near Nome for the remainder of the flight to Tokyo. Dense clouds prevented the second filling and the flight was aborted. Three weeks later a second attempt was made with the same discouraging results due to weather. They also gave up on further attempts. On the morning of July 28th, there was a huge crowd on hand at TARPA TALES
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the Floyd Bennett Field to watch the almost simultaneous departures of two Bellanca monoplanes on record-breaking attempts. The four pilots posed for pictures and wished each other the best. First in the air was Russell Boardman and John Polando with a planned non-stop flight to Istanbul, Turkey, a distance of 5,012 miles that would set a new World Record. It was also rumored that they intended to set a new round-the-world record as well as an attempt at the trans-Pacific prize money. Their Bellanca was powered by a Wright "Whirlwind" motor with 718 gallons of gas and 26 gallons of oil aboard. The plane, dubbed the "Cape Cod", and the crew were not sighted or heard from until they made their landing at Istanbul, and gave up on any further record attempts. The second Bellanca, which was almost a "sister" ship to the "Cape Cod", except that it had a P&W Wasp motor, took off seventeen minutes later headed for Moscow as the first stop toward breaking the Post and Gatty record for a round-the-world flight. The pilots were Hugh Herndon, Jr, and Clyde Pangborn. Their Bellanca, dubbed "Miss Veedol" in appreciation of the oil company assistance, was a much slower plane than Post's "Vega", but had longer range capabilities, Also, Post did all of the flying on their flight where Pangborn and Herndon could alternate the piloting Bellanca aircraft were a six place cabin plane that were easily identifiable by the two large and tapering struts bracing the outer wings to the lower fuselage. They were actually airfoils that added 47 square feet of lift as well as stability, Original factory cost was $15,500. Hugh Herndon was described as a wealthy New York socialite who financed the trip, a fairly good pilot although weak on navigaClyde Pangborn was hailed as the tion and instrument flying. nation's most experienced pilot, so far as total flying hours, having spent a dozen years barnstorming. He was often billed as "Upsidedown Pangborn" and was chief pilot and half owner of the Gates Flying Circus. Their original plans were to make the flight several months earlier, and ahead of Post, but Hugh was busy at the time courting and marrying a young lady from Albany Their Atlantic crossing was also a lot of guess work and dead reckoning as the ocean was pretty much covered by clouds. They circled for several hours before finding a hole to let down through and landed (for directions) on a hillside in Wales. The next stop was London for fuel, then Berlin and on to Moscow. By the time they left Moscow they were running about eleven hours behind Post and Gatty time, and lost further valuable time crossing the Ural Mountains to Jietiegari. Departing Omsk they were almost a day behind schedule and another six hours were lost when landing was made at Chita. The worst weather was on the next leg to Khabarovsk where they damaged a wing on landing. Further delays for repairs and weather improvement forced them to give up the attempt on the record.
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Hugh Herndon and Clyde Pangborn at the end of the first non-stop flight of the Pacific Ocean. W hen asked why they were not wearing shoes,
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they said it had become a habit going without them in Japan. (Photo courtesy of George Farley, Loudonville, N.Y .)
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Telegrams from the Tokyo Asahi newspaper urged them to continue to that city and try for the flight to Seattle prize. They agreed and wired the American Embassy in Tokyo for permission to fly over and land on Japanese soil, The two pilots assumed that all arrangements had been made and departed on a very leisurely trip to Japan. Possibly not known to the men was that on August 18th the Japanese began operations against China and a month later had occupied all of Manchuria. Typical of tourists, they were taking lots of pictures along the way and even landed several times at remote airfields. Upon their arrival at the Tachikawa Airport, there was a large welcoming committee, but not what they had expected. They were under arrest. Apparently there had been no communications between the newspaper and military authorities and the latter took a dim view of their excursion,
AFTER FIRST PACIFIC FLIGHT Hugh Herndon and Clyde Pangborn taking-off from Boeing Field, Seattle, for New York to complete world flight in Wasp-powered Bellanca.
Besides violating flying regulations, they were charged with espionage, flying over secret military fortifications, airfields and taking pictures of same. They readily admitted the infractions, but pleaded innocent of any intent of spying, etc. The U. S. State Department even got into the act and after weeks of hearings, they were each fined $1025 - $1,000 for violating Japan's civil laws for flying over the country without a permit and $25 for photographing the forts and other installations, The fines were paid by Herndon's dad, but they were still "detained" from leaving the country, or even seeing their plane. TARPA TALES
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Having dropped their landing gear upon quitting Japan, Pangborn and Herndon made a spectacular belly skid landing at Wenatchee, Washington. The Miss Veedol looked like this when the dust settled. (Smithsonian Institution, National Air Museum.)
During this "detainment", another team arrived in Tokyo with intentions of flying to Seattle. They also had made arrangements to use the Emsco plane still in storage there, this time with the name "Clasina Madge" in honor of their backer's daughter. On September 8th they rolled down the same wooden ramp at the Samishiro Beach and made a successful take off and headed east. They were last sighted about 110 miles from there. They were assumed to be lost, however, after a week had gone by, but they were found, and rescued, from a small Siberian Island where they had been forced down due to weather. This was the sixth unsuccessful attempt for the prize. Permission was finally granted for Herndon and Pangborn to depart Japan with one stipulation: they could make but one take off, and if for any reason that was aborted or they returned, they and their plane would have to take a steamship home. On October 3rd, over two months after they had departed New York, they rolled down the wooden ramp at Samishiro Beach and were under way. After take off the landing gear was jettisoned, which reduced the weight by 300 pounds and about 17% drag. Not all of the gear assembly was freed, and after reaching cruise altitude of 17,000', Pangborn had to climb out of the cabin and release same. The men had two goals: breaking the distance record set by Boardman and Polando and collecting the $25,000 Asahi prize. They would fly as far as the fuel held out and land the plane on its belly. Special metal braces had been installed to prevent severe damage. About the only perilous part of their journey was when TARPA TALES
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ice formed on the wings in the vicinity of Dutch Harbor. They made landfall and kept heading southeast towards Boise, Idaho, but weather conditions forced them to turn around and finally land on a field near Wenatchee, Washington. There was no point in landing at Seattle, as they were not eligible for the added prize, since they had not departed from within a 50 mile radius of Tokyo. The landing was made in a cloud of dust and dirt with only a bent propeller to repair. A new landing gear was installed and the pair made a leisurely trip to New York that completed They timed their arrival on October their round-the-world trek. 18th during a large four-day flying show that was in progress.
END OF NON-STOP PACIFIC HOP W asp-powered Bellanca monoplane of Hugh Herndon and Clyde Pangborn about to land without landing gear at Wenatchee, Wash., on Pacific flight.
At a luncheon held at the Hotel Astor, they were presented a check for $25,000 by a representative of the Tokyo newspaper. Their 4,558 miles flight (41 hours) did not break the record for distance but it was the first non-stop trans Pacific crossing and considered one of the outstanding flights at that time. As a sequel, both the Seattle and Dallas prizes had a time limit that expired before any successful flight was made. In 1932, there were two attempts, a solo westbound with inflight refueling that nearly ended in disaster and another by Harold Bromely. Bromely was all set to depart Seattle on May 31st, but the prize offer expired on June 1st, There wasn't time. Herndon joined TWA's ICD operation on April 28th, 1943 after having flown the North Atlantic for the RAF Ferry Command. Larry
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Trimble checked him out as captain. In January 1947, he was named Chief Pilot for the company's Middle and Far East region, and in September of that year was promoted to Regional Operations Director based at Cairo. Hugh died in April of 1952, at the age of 47, in Cairo and at the time was survived by his wife, Ruth, and a son and daughter by a previous marriage. * * * * * * * * * * * * Ed Betts adds: I don't know too much about Hugh's TWA career, or what he did between his 1931 flight and joining the company in 1943, Incidentally, Larry Trimble wrote in his article that Herndon was never on our TWA pilot seniority list. He was on all of them until he died in 1952. Larry told me that Hugh died of complications after a tooth operation in Cairo. Maybe some of our TARPA readers can supply additional information about Hugh. * * * * * * * * * * * *
WORKING COOK'S LAWS: 1.
If you're wondering if you took the meat out to thaw, you didn't.
2.
If you're wondering if you left the coffee pot plugged in, you did. * * * * * * * * * * * *
STEWART'S LAW OF RETROACTION: It is easier to get forgiveness than permission. * * * * * * * * * * * *
SCHMIDT'S LAW: If you mess with a thing long enough, it'll break. * * * * * * * * * * * *
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THE SENIORITY LIST CHANGES By Ed Betts Each year, about late January, TWA Flight Operations passes out copies of the annual system seniority list and, unless you know that you are #1, there is usually an eager group of readers to see how far or how many numbers they have moved up from the prior year's list. Once retired, the list means little except for a slight reflection as to where you might fit, had you been born a few years later and were still active in the cockpit, To follow is a comparison between the 1/1/66 and 1/1/86 lists, as well as the changes during the year 1985, At the beginning of 1966 there were a total of 2942 on the roster (Ted Hereford was #1), with the following breakdown: the first 1463 were pilots hired from 1930 through 4/15/57. For later comparison, Lowell Wierks (hired 6/23/47) was #691, Eugene Spuhler (hired 3/1/48) was #785, Don Stitt (hired 10/15/51) was #840 and Vern Laursen (hired 11/26/ 51) was #852. Next came the group of former A and Al Flight Engineers, Frankie Parent was #1464 of the group of 537 in this category. One hundred nineteen were to be later copilot or captain qualified. Numbers 2002 to 2942 were the "new hires" starting in late 1963 through the end of 1965, working as flight engineers or copilots at the time. The 1/1/85 list had a total of 3191 pilots and engineers, with 404 of the "juniority" on furlough status, Twenty five were pilots over age 60 flying as engineer plus another seven who were "reChuck Hoesel was still listed as called" for engineer training. #1, although he was working as engineer and his bidding prerogatives followed all of the former A and Al engineer group. Wierks was the #1 active pilot and Spuhler the #2; both retired during the year, George Ways, #424, was senior man of the engineer group and Roger Nail, #648, of the new hires. During the year all of those on furlough were offered recall and, starting in September, 107 new crew members were hired, The latest list as of 1/1/86 has a total of 3006 pilots and engineers, including 22 former pilots over age 60, although 27 of this total took retirement in early January. There had been a total attrition of about 300 during 1985, but most, or two hundred, were those who refused recall from furlough. John Beede is listed as #1, working as engineer, while the #1 pilot, #18 on the list, is Don Stitt followed by Vern Laursen, who is Staff Vice President Training. Stitt retires in February. There are 323 pilots left who were hired in 1957 and 174 of the original engineer group with 65 flying as pilot.
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A breakdown by domiciles shows the following counts that include staff and those on leave: New York, 1206; St, Louis, 719 and Los Angeles, 507, Chicago with 184 and Kansas City with 218 are considered satellite domiciles with no supervisory personnel or staff (part of STL). There are a total of 892 bid captains, including reserves, 947 first officers, 20 IROs, 710 engineers and 184 reserve officers. In case you have retired a few years ago and haven't been near the airdrome, there have been a number of major changes as flight operations streamlined its offices and personnel. Both dispatch and crew schedule personnel are now located at JFK only, and the contact is by the usual hot line, computers, or an 800 number. There are only three domicile chief pilots: Ed Stroschein at JFK; Horace "Buck" Pratt at STL and Fred Van Hoosen at LAX, There are also but three flight crew administrators : Doug Annett at JFK; Bob Holman at STL and Bob Dunn at LAX. As to projecting who will, in turn, be the #1 pilot depends on the age 60 rule remaining in effect and assumes that each individual stays healthy for that retirement (and not earlier) until his magic birthday. Vern Laursen will be #1 until 2/87, Phil (Smith) Morgan until May of that year. Charles Lokey until 7/89, Charles Cushing to 2/90, Phil Van Reeth to 10/90 and Bill Reese to the end of that year. Ron Reynolds, Vice President of Flying, would be #1 until 3/93, Joe Orr to 3/94, Don Killian to 9/94, Clinton Meyer to 1/95 and Walt Kajenski to 6/95 (the last of the 1957 hires). At this point the first of the "new hires", Carl Jacobs, hired 10/7/63, will be the #1 pilot until 9/96, When it comes to queuing up to use a Class 7 pass, there are four of the flight engineers who rank in the top ten on the entire system so far as company seniority. Bill Dunlop, hired 3/1/39, is the number one employee and close behind are George Ways, hired 7/21/39, Tony Gatty, 12/1/39 and Ed Klappert, 8/10/40. * * * * * * * * * * * *
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1935 - THE YEAR OF RECORDS By Ed Betts
The year 1935 was a notable one in the history of commercial aviation. It was also a notable year for aviation enthusiasts with record flights and performances. Amelia Earhart set the pattern on January 11th, when she made the first solo flight from Honolulu to Oakland, with her Lockheed "Vega On the 15th of that month, Major James Doolittle, with two passengers aboard, flew an American Airlines plane from LA to NY, nonstop, in eleven hours fifty nine minutes, just barely breaking the twelve hour This record was broken a month mark for commercial transports. later with an American Airlines crew who made the trip in eleven hours and thirty four minutes. Other achievements during the year included Laura Ingalls setting new women's records for transcontinental flights in both directions, The Keys brothers set a new endurance record when they stayed in the air 53'1 hours with their Curtiss "Robin". Two Army balloon specialists soared to a height of 72,395 feet with the National Geographic's 3,700,000 cubic foot balloon. In November, the media featured the saga of Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot, Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, as they made their way across 2,000 miles of Antarctica to the South Pole. One of the most coveted of all records is for the maximum speed over a three kilometer course. The French had practically monopolized the record from 1906 to 1935, when Howard Hughes sped his "Hughes Special" 352.388 mph. His record stood for a little over two years, when the Germans took over. The Germans broke their own record three times, with the best being 469.917 mph. This was the year that the National Air Races, held at was termed the "Benny Howard National Air Races" - he Bendix trophy with his home-built "Mr. Mulligan", and mann used the same plane to win the Thompson and Greve Harold was voted racing pilot of the year.
Cleveland, won the Harold NeuTrophies.
For T&WA, 1935 was the year of records and research with the one, and only, DC-1. After the plane was delivered to T&WA in late 1933, it was used for testing, flight training, publicity flights and evaluation tests. The latter saw Paul Richter and D. W. "Tommy" Tomlinson alternating flying the mail flight between K. C . and L.A. for several months. With the introduction of the DC-2 in May of 1934, Tommy went back to flying the line out of Newark, and the DC-1 was turned over to the Department of Commerce and the Army for further tests. In March of 1935, Tommy was based at KC as an assistant to Jack Frye. This was about the same time that the DC-1 (Old #300) was returned to T&WA. TARPA TALES
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When first delivered to T&WA, the plane was a plush twelve passenger airliner with soundproof interior, carpet, galley and other modern luxuries, The DC-2 was a fourteen passenger. When it was returned, it was literally a "flying gas tank". The cockpit was basically the same, but the entire cabin had been stripped of everything that added weight. Even the passenger windows had been removed The plane had been converted, presumably, for an overwater flight to Honolulu. In the cockpit area was a desk and chair for a navigator, with a small hatch in the ceiling for taking observations Bolted to the metal cabin floor were six huge 180 gallon fuel tanks that would, through a series of valves, dump into the ships main tanks. Each main wing tank held 180 gallons and each wing auxiliary tank 75, a total of 1,590 available. Also located in the cabin, between the wings, was a 62 gallon oil tank. After selecting the engine tank to be replenished a wobble pump (hand pump) was used to transfer oil, There were no gauges for these cabin tanks, nor any means to dump fuel in an emergency. This was during the same period that T&WA was jointly sponsoring, with the Department of Commerce, high altitude research with Wiley Post. Post had already done some limited flying at high altitudes and had designed his own pressure suit and helmet that he wore along with a system for breathing oxygen (a well guarded secret by Wiley at the time), T&WA wanted to use the DC-1 for this research, but Post insisted on using his "Vega", the "Winnie Mae". A new P&W "Wasp" engine had been installed with a two speed gear supercharger. Post gathered a lot of publicity in the Glendale area with his preparations for a nonstop transcon flight. The landing gear was rigged so that it could be jettisoned after take off to cut down on weight and drag. Prior to landing the engine was cut and the prop positioned with a handcrank, and the landing was made on special skids mounted on the belly of the fuselage. After two aborted attempts, Post was finally underway on March 15th, initially cruising at 25,000 feet. By Chicago, he was back to 30,000 feet, but about 100 miles east of Cleveland, he ran out of oxygen, did a 180째 turn and landed there. The time of eight hours and four minutes was not a record, but the average speed of 279 mph was impressive, compared to the "Vega's" normal cruise speed of 180 mph at lower altitudes. Of special interest to T&WA was the function of the supercharger system (temperatures and pressures in the induction system to the carburetor, etc.) Much to Tomlinson's disgust, Post kept no notes for evaluation purposes so, from an engineer's standpoint, the flight accomplished little. T&WA did gain some eternal publicity, however, as the logo is painted on the fuselage of the "Winnie Mae", now on exhibit at the National Space Museum, In the early days of flying there were three records that were
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considered the most important by the world powers: speed, altitude and distance in a straight line. The French held a monopoly of the records set until Lindbergh's flight to France in 1927 set a new record of 3,610 miles. As Aviation progressed there were numerous new categories added for record classifications, such as seaplanes, gliders, balloons, autogyros, transports, jets, etc., as well as separate categories for womenThe first world record made by a future T&WA pilot was by thencorporal Albert D. Smith (Maddux 1930 and T&WA to 1941) when he set a seaplane endurance time of eight hours, forty two minutes, with a Martin S-Hall Scott seaplane. This was in 1916. After the war. "A.D.", who was then a Major, was associated with a number of notable flights that included leading a formation of four Curtiss "Jennies" from San Diego to Jacksonville, Florida, The trip took eighteen days. Among the new record categories authorized by the FAI after the war were speeds over a specified course, and altitudes with As aircraft performance improved, longer specified payloads. On July 26, 1929, distances and greater payloads were added. Waldo Waterman (TWA 1932-34) set an altitude record, with a 1,000 a tri-motor kilogram payload of 20,680 feet with Always the competitors, Jack Frye and Paul Bach transport. Richter promptly nursed one of their "Standard Airlines" new tri-motor Fokker F-10's to 22,680 feet. There was one big difference: Waldo's record had been sanctioned in advance, and an official, sealed barograph was carried, the record judged Frye and Richter's record was "unofficial", as and approved. they hadn't bothered with the formalities. In early 1934, the USA was running a poor second or third with Italy behind France, so far as which country claimed the most It was a matter of prestige and pride, and important records. Two US built transports had made a selling aircraft abroad, good showing that year in the MacRobertson Race from England to Melbourne; a KLM DC-2 placed second in the grueling race, won by a plane especially built by the British, Third place was a Boeing 247, piloted by Roscoe Turner and Clyde Pangborn. Also that year, a giant Sikorsky seaplane destined for Pan Am set ten world records for speeds and altitude with payload. Senator William McAdoo, then president of the NAA, wanted more and an agreement was made with T&WA to use the DC-1 for this purpose, with Tomlinson in charge. The first record would be for a transcontinental nonstop for Jack Frye, along with Edward Rickenbacker transport aircraft. and several TWA pilots, set the pattern on the eve of the mail cancellation in 1934 when they made the trip from Palmdale to Newark, with three stops, in thirteen hours four minutes, using The usual account of this flight was that it was from the DC-1. LA to NY, but fog had set in on the afternoon of the flight in According to Tomlinson, the fog was the Glendale-Burbank area, forecast to remain dense through the night, so he, with Ralph Ellinger as copilot, made a zero-zero take off and ferried the plane to Palmdale, where the flight originated. In May, when TARPA TALES PAGE 1 5 54
the mail was resumed, Frye lowered this time to eleven hours, thirty minutes using the single-engine Northrop "Gamma". In November, the team of Rickenbacker, Charles France and TWA's Si Morehouse used one of Eastern's new DC-2's to make the trip in twelve hours, four minutes The best time was held by Roscoe Turner with ten hours, three minutes, unlimited class, with several stops, set in September On April 30, 1935, Tomlinson, Hal Snead, an expert with instrument and radio navigation, and Peter Redpath, head of TWA's navigation department, started out from Burbank with the DC-1, and a full load of gas and oil Their intent was to cruise at 14,000 feet (the optimum altitude for speed, endurance, etc.) on a great circle course to Floyd Bennett Field The autopilot was used to keep the plane on an exact course, and navigation was by radio beams, when possible. East of the Colorado River they were on instruments and approaching a storm area. They nursed the still overweight plane to 18,000 feet, but it was picking up ice and became wobbly. Albuquerque was reporting broken clouds, so they descended to 14,000 feet and headed south: About fifty miles south of their intended course they were finally able to pick their way east, skimming the cloud bases as well as the tops of the mountains in the area. The rest of the flight was routine, at one time a speed of 280 mph was logged. They arrived over the airport too fast and too high to land, and had to go east another ten miles to slow down. In spite of the detour in the Durango area, which cost them a valuable thirty minutes, they had set a nonstop transcontinental record of eleven hours and five minutes. This was promptly painted on the side of the plane's fuselage with large letters, As a sequel, Jack Frye and Howard Hughes set an unofficial record in 1944, when they flew the new Lockheed Constellation (C-69), painted in TWA's livery, from Burbank to Washington, D. C. in six hours fifty eight minute Three days before TWA inaugurated its international service, in February of 1946, Frye and Lee Flanagin set a New nonstop transport record when they flew from Burbank to La Guardia in seven hours and twenty seven minutes. Maintenance supervisor John (Johnny) Guy had been sent from the KC base to NY to take care of the "nuts and bolts" with the DC-1 upon its arrival there. The plane was ferried to EWR, where certain modifications were made. All excess weight was removed, such as the navigator's seat and table, oxygen tanks, etc. Wright Aeronautical engineers were to give the engines a thorough check and Sperry Gyroscope was to overhaul the autopilot, as it was reported sloppy by Tommy when above 13,000 feet. Large, four foot stripes were painted on the bottom of the wings, and that part of the fuselage between ; from tip to tip, with alternating black and "international orange" colors, to help ground observers with identifying the plane. TARPA TALES
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The NAA had plotted a triangular course that would be the exact 1,000 kilometers (about 621 miles) distance required for records. It ran from Floyd Bennett to Washington': Bolling Field to the Willoughby Spit beacon, near Norfolk, Virginia, and At each point of the triangle return. there would be a team of official observers, equipped with a theodolite ( a surveyor's type telescope) to spot the plane and clock its time over the checkpoint (Landing lights at night), and make certain that no They also had corners were cut. radios for two-way communications with the plane. A week before the record flight was scheduled, Tommy and Guy, with Guy acting as copilot, made a dress rehearsal flight over the course to make certain that the observers could spot the plane when they flew over at high altitude, etc., check their equipment, as well as for Tommy to study the course. A problem developed that could have Johnny felt his feet getting wet -had serious consequences. the DC-1 (and 2 and 3) were notorious for leaky windshields in wet weather -- but they were in clear air! Examination showed that it was gasoline, coming from beneath the copilot's side of the instrument panel. Tommy was smoking a big black cigar at The windows were opened for ventilation, and the the time. cigar thrown overboard, while Johnny got down on the floor, on Fortunately, his torso was small enough his back to investigate. so that he was able to crawl over and around the rudder pedals where he found the gas pouring from a broken line between the engine-driven fuel pump and the fuel pressure gauge in the cockThere was no way to shut off the pump, except to shut pit. down the right engine. He was able to cut the line with his pliers, fold it over and crimp it tight. The engine was started again, but there was a mess of gas to be mopped up, including about an inch that had collected in the Fortunately, during this crisis, main electrical junction box. there had been no occasion for any of the relays to open or close. The rags were also thrown overboard, and, according to Johnny, Tommy was at his usual best with a loud stream of expletives with regard to the situation. TARPA TALES
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D. W. Tomlinson and Joe Bartles weighting sand bags (payload) for triangular record breaking flight in the DC-1, 1935.
57
Joe Bartles, then flying the line from KC to ABQ with the DC-2, joined Tommy for the record flights. They made another tour of the route, stopping at Bolling Field to discuss the procedures The plane was ferried to Floyd Bennett with the observers there. on the 15th. Normally the DC-1 and DC-2 used 87 octane fuel for take off, and the cheaper 80 octane fuel in cruise. For this flight, 90 octane gas was put in the two auxiliary tanks, and 87 octane in all of the others. Guy had also prepared the payload - one thousand kilograms (about 2204 pounds of sand), 100 pounds to the bag. The NAA observers carefully weighed each sack as it was put in the rear cabin of the plane. Including the fuel and oil, sand, a few sandwiches and jugs of water and coffee, plus a small sack of souvenir mail, the plane weighed 24,845 pounds - 6,845 pounds overweight. This excess may seem trivial compared to today's jumbo statistics - passengers carry that much aboard a 747, but that was 38% over, and when you project that to a 747, you are looking at an additional 280,000 pounds! Guy had pumped up the main gear struts, which were normally stiff anyway, and tires to the maximum, or the maximum the ground equipment could put out, but the tires still looked almost flat. Guy had also made arrangements with the airport manager to remove the cars and fence from the parking lot located near, and in line with the runway. The plane was towed to the far end of this area that added 150 feet to the 3,000 foot runway. The engines were started and checked, for the take off. Again, with the excess weight, there were no charts or graphs to tell them how fast, or how far, they could accelerate, abort, and stop in the remaining runway available - and there was no V-1 speed where the plane could lose an engine, and accelerate to flying speed. With the brakes set, the engines were pushed up to maximum power by Joe, while Tommy held the flight controls with his right hand and the brake handle with the left. According to Johnny, from the outside the plane just shuddered and roared, and then very, very slowly started to roll. This was another tedious period for Tommy, as the plane had to be kept on an exact straight line, any veering might cause a "cornering effect" on the tires and cause a blowout. This wasn't easy, as the handle metered the amount of brake pressure applied, and the direction was selected by pushing on the rudder pedal. Once the plan's wings were supporting the ship, the gear was retracted, a hand pump operation that was a test of the copilot's strength and stamina. The plane barely cleared the seaplane ramp at Jamaica Bay. They made a slow, spiraling
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climb to 10,000 feet, and, when over the checkpoint and on course, the official's chronographs were started. There were two sights out of the cockpit window that you would not ordinarily see while cruising a DC-1 (or DC-2) except possibly in turbulence; the wing tips had flexed a good three feet and the metal skin on top of the wings was a series of wrinkles, due to the stress of the load. Both were unnerving to Joe, but not to Tommy, as he had witnessed a flex of four and one half feet during early Douglas static tests. Both gradually disappeared, as the fuel was burned off, and the plane got lighter. It was quite an engineering improvement over the rigid wings of the Fords and Fokkers, first designed by Jack Northrop for the "Alpha". The weather wasn't the best that day and was forecast to get worse, with lower ceilings and rain. In order to remain contact, under the base of the clouds so as to be seen by the observers, it was necessary to cruise lower with each lap, especially in the Norfolk area. The reserve tanks of fuel in the cabin were used first, with the pilots carefully timing when the tank was dry, as indicated by the fuel pressure gauge in the cockpit, or one engine starting to sputter. The oil quantity was an indicator on top of each engine nacelle, a stick that was mounted to a float in the tank. At night you had to open the window and use a flashlight. A problem arose - one that could have cut the flight short - the first time that Joe went back to transfer oil: the shaft for the hand wobble pump broke - there were no spare parts or tools aboard! Fortunately, Tommy had a solution. On his key chain he carried a small screwdriver (a handy tool as well as a good luck charm that he has carried for sixty years). Joe was able to dismantle the pump and remove the shaft, plug the existing hole with a nickle, and the oil would gravity feed to the engine tank selected. Joe, as with Guy, heard a tirade of expletives from Tommy, with regards to the mechanical malfunction. On the fourth lap, the weather in the Norfolk area was such that they knew that they could not make the fifth, and final one they were already down to 500 feet or less in order to be seen, and it was raining. The observers didn't need their telescopes. Permission was requested, and granted, for a substitute path for the last lap. They flew to Bolling, and returned to the NY area, then made six laps around a small triangular course between the Newark, North Beach (LGA today) and Floyd Bennett for the required total miles. There were two problems. Flying at the low altitudes had consumed more gas than planned, and they were now dangerously low on fuel and the ragged ceiling in the NY area was 1,000 feet or lower--which can be a potential health hazard, as skyscrapers such as the Empire State building PAGE 1 9
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(1,250 feet) and the Chrysler Tower were in the area and not marked with warning or beacon lights. Records had been set up to, and including the 2,000 km mark, but anything short of the 5,000 goal would have made the remainder of the flight useless. They made it, and with a big sigh of relief, swung around and landed. It was 2:10 a.m., and they had been in the air, according to Joe's logbook, nineteen hours and thirteen minutes. Officially, over the course, the NAA logged 18 hours, twenty two minutes and forty nine seconds, for an average speed of 169.03 mph. Tommy requested Guy to "stick the tanks" (measure the fuel)-- there was about five gallons remaining.
F. W. Zelger (NY Comm. Airways) D. W. Tomlinson, Joe Bartles, and T. Park Hay The day's work had broken five world records and established three, broken three American records and established eight. The two pilots went to the hotel for some much needed, and well earned, sleep. The second flight scheduled for the 18th, would be much shorter, but with double the payload. In the meantime, Guy went to work checking the entire airplane. The propeller pitch had been set too high for the take off, and an adjustment was necessary, as well as a new shaft for the wobble pump. The take off time was "livable"; instead of dawn, they departed at 11:00 a.m. The plane weighed less, but was still overweight by 5,845 pounds. The fuel load was 1,000 gallons. The second flight was routine, the weather cooperated. On the first of two laps, they had bettered their previous times in certain categories with a 191.674 mph average. On the second lap they averaged 190.906 mph. According to Joe's log, they were in the air six hours and fifty two minutes. TARPA TALES
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The total records for both flights was a record itself: they had claimed eight world and eleven American for speeds over 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 km distances, with weights from zero to 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kg. The NAA and Senator McAdoo were ecstatic. The USA had come within one record of tying France as leader with the most of what was considered the 110 important records: the score stood at France 40, USA 39, Italy 21, Germany 8, Poland 1 and Austria 1. The DC-1 had erased Spain's former total of 1.
Ceremonies atop the RCA building. Seated from left to right:
Joe Bartles,
George Hicks, Francis Healey, NBC announcer, and D. W. Standing are Tomlinson. Albert Ludwick and T. Park Hays and an unidentified person.
For TWA's T. Park Hay, it was a publicity man's dream. TWA, the pilots and the DC-1 were in the headlines, and the men interviewed on NBC Later, to commemorate the flights , the Sperry Gyroscope Company placed a 500,000 candlepower beacon atop the RCA building in Rockefeller Center - the first in Manhattan. Records are made to be broken, but not forgotten. In September of that year, two Italian pilots made an assault, similar to that of the DC-1 flights, and broke five world records, including all of those held by the DC-1 and crew for distances to 2,000 km with a 2,000 kg payload. That same month saw the Russians bettering the three remaining records for the DC-1 in the 5,000 km category. Later that year, the Italians improved on their records. TARPA TALES
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For the remainder of 1935, Tomlinson and "Old 300" were kept busy with research and test flights. During the early summer, it was seeking thunderstorms, which are normally avoided, to determine a recommended procedure for pilots to fly in one, in case of necessity. It was his recommendation, which later became company procedure, to slow down, and concentrate on the two gyro instruments (horizon and directional gyro) and less on those that depended on the rapidly fluctuating outside air pressure (such as the air speed, rate-of-climb and altimeter). Between July 21 and November 25, "Old 300" was either in the overhaul base for modification, installation of equipment for test, or in the air for testing and research. New Wright "Cyclone" engines with two-speed blowers were installed, both the Hamilton and Curtiss electric constant speed propellers were evaluated. The hazards of carburetor, wing and propeller ice were all part of the research program that led to anti and deicing equipment installed on the fleet. Tommy went looking for, and flying in, the most severe icing conditions to test the equipment under actual conditions. As any "propeller pilot" or passenger will confirm, the loud bang of ice tossed by a propeller against a metal fuselage can be very unnerving. The DC-1 had a hatch over the cockpit that could be opened for an observer; on one flight it was estimated that 8" of ice had collected where the Goodrich de-icer boots were not installed. On another flight they were cruising at 20,000 feet over Utica when both of the engine air intakes iced up and quit. (The DC-1 didn't have an alternate intake under the cowling such as the DC-3). For several thousand feet of descent the plane was a seven ton glider before the ice melted and the engines came in again. On September 5th, Tomlinson, system chief pilot Harlan Hull and radio Engineer Howard Morgan flew the plane from KC to NY, nonstop, flying at 25,000 feet (they wore special oxygen masks.) The navigation was by radio only, testing the Lear Homing device that could be tuned in to airway radio aids as well as public broadcast stations for bearings, orientation, etc. At Newark they were joined by Larry Fritz, Dean Burford, Ted Hereford and a Mr. Cuttrell from the Department of Commerce for several days of local flying. They were to make flight tests of the new Department of Commerce (Army) system of instrument approaches at the airport. The Newark NE-SW runway was located under the northwest leg of the Elizabeth radio range and had two compass (non-directional radios) locators. One of these was located 1,500 feet from, and in line with, the runway and the other about one and one quarter miles Various systems, or techniques, were beyond the first station. tried in order to evaluate the best procedure, so far as time and accuracy. Each pilot was given a verbal briefing of the
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type of approach to work, the "hood" (a curtain) was put up and he was guided to a position, unknown to him, about eight miles from the airport to start the problem. Observers aboard the plane were plotting on paper the track that was flown, and the time that it took, for the pilot to get oriented and work an approach to the field. One example from the records taken: pilot Hereford was given a briefing and watched Tommy make one approach. It took Ted nine and one half minutes to solve the problem and, when the hood was removed, he was 50 feet above the ground and within 10째 of the bearing down the runway. On the ferry flight back on September 8th, Tomlinson decided to demonstrate what could be done in the present, and possibly in the future. He also decided to capitalize on the potential publicity and invited a Mr. Barron of the Associated Press to be an observer. Howard Morgan acted as copilot and check navigator. Tommy was under the hood for the take off and entire flight, to within one quarter mile and 200 feet above the KC runway, when the hood was removed for the final landing. During the entire flight, he was within one minute of his estimates over a position, made difficult by rain in the St. Louis area, and precisely over the point to remove the hood. The last flight test, #40, was flown on November 25th. Tomlinson had been the pilot on all but one. Paul Richter piloted #39, with Tomlinson as copilot, when they flew from Chicago to KC looking for, and finding several, icing conditions to obtain further experience with the propeller deicers. In 1936 the plane was sold to Howard Hughes, who announced intentions to modify "Old 300", and use it for an attempt at the record for an around-the-world flight. The plane missed making the headlines. Hughes let it sit on the ground for over two years and used a Lockheed for his flight in 1938. * * * * * * * * * * * * ZIGGY
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PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
From W. H. Toms, Flight Engineer, ICD: "My first trip on the line was from Washington, D. C., to Prestwick, Scotland on June 20, 1945. I flew with Captain F. Sigman and check Flight First, I passed my initial ICD check Engineer A. Garvelle, ride and later was introduced to my first European warm beer. The bar in the boarding house was merely a closet shelf. Then we had our meal of terrible mutton, potato soup, boiled potatoes, My, how the meals later changed." and potato salad, His most interesting flight was from PAR to FRA on August 21, "First civilian crew into Frankfurt, Germany. Special 1945. mission flight ordered by General "Beetle" Smith. Picked up twelve German scientists to be flown to Washington, D. C. Later learned one of them was most likely Werner von Braun. Also landed on the wrong airport Captain was Ken Hathaway ( which was merely a steel mat). Took off and landed a few miles away on the right location. ( P.S. No violation, like today). "Most unusual flight was a cargo flight, C-54, Washington, D.C. The complete cargo consisted of five five gallon to Paris. cans of whole blood packed in dry ice. "Our return trip was to bring forty two pregnant WACs and Red Cross nurses home, August 3, 1945. Captain was Archie Naletko." * * * * * * * * * * * * From Lyman W. Keele: "My first trip on the line was from KC to AB-KC on February 15, 1942, and returning February 17. I flew as an observer (jump seat) wearing an RCAF uniform for an employment interview with Frank Busch and Harry Campbell at the "Jack Frye Four Engine School", Kirtland Field, AB. "The crew KC-AB was Paul Frederickson giving B. K. Stuessi his final check ride to captain. The trip back was captained by Larry Fritz, giving Fred Austin his final check ride. Both passed, obviously, and were hired." * * * * * * * * * * * * From Charles W. Maynard: "My first trip on the line was from LGA to MKC on DC-2, June or July, 1940, I flew with T. P. Scott, Captain, to the best of my recollection. I had one hell of a time getting the gear up fast enough to satisfy the captain The first few strokes were easy, then it became much more strenRecollection is a wonderful thing! uous, as one proceeded.
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Captain Maynard's most exciting flight is told as follows: "Captain Dick Heideman and I were enroute between Chicago and New York on the 301 Boeing At about Cleveland and 19,000 feet we felt a large pressurization reduction The relief valve in the rear cabin bulkhead blew out, allowing the cabin pressure to escape "We started a descent and about that time the hostess came into t he cockpit and said she had a male passenger who had passed out Dick said "Give him oxygen " She came back soon and said he was turning black. Dick said, "Call PIT for emergency landing and doctor to stand by for our arrival". We made it in time and t o the best of my knowledge, the man lived. " * *
* * *
* * * * * * *
From Captain C. Clyde Nixon: ''My most unusual flight was on a trip from San Francisco to Havana on December 2, 1969. A man with a SFO-PHL ticket planned on a trip to Havana. His plan was successful. The trip was like a routine diversion , except he scared hell out of the hostess, (Barbara Smith-Deal), by holding a long bread knife to her throat It turned out to be a long night for the passengers and crew, as Flight 54 arrived PHL about 530 a.m. instead of 7:30 p.m. A more exciting flight was with Jack Robertson, when we lost all electrical power in a Delta DC-3 at night in the rain between Dayton and Cincinnati. Three hundred foot ceiling at Dayton, four hundred at CVG. It was a good thing our flashlight batteries were up and our night vision was good enough to find the Ohio river. Aloha ." * * * * * * * * * * * *
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FLY ING FA STER T he westbound Concorde passenger travels backwards in time. One does no' need to be an Einstein to know that at 50' of latitude a westward velocity of 1,32C mph will produce this effect. Should there be any doubters, they abord should take a supersonic flight British Airways flight 195 between about s leav November and March. The flight London in the dark of a winter evening. distrace Later on, if the passenger is not by his dinner turning into a late lunch, he will observe the sun rising from the west. In the meantime, his eastbound counterpart will have the sun setting behind him at three times its normal rate. Mercifully, Concorde's clientele do not come solely to observe astronomical phenomena. Concorde can save them not only hours, , but days: indeed, one passenger, who has made more than 500 flights in the Corcorde , says he gains an extra four to five weeks ' work a year by flying supersonically. Passengers also avoid the purgatory of overnight sectors. Concorde flies between London and the United States only during the waking hours of Atlantic seaboard dwellers. CONCORDE HAS BEEN IN SERVICE for nine years and has carried well over a million passengers. British Airways' share of the total is nearly 700,000--and this figure is increasing almost 100,000 per year. The aeroplane is producing a substantial operating profit for the airline. No longer does the United Kingdom government pay the support costs to Concorde's manufactu r ers. Since April 1 , 1984, these have been borne by the Concorde division of British Airways. Commercially, Concorde's future looks good. The aircraft is very popular with business travelers and passenger numbers are increasing. In March 1984, Miami was added to the list of destinations (via a 50-minute turnaround at Washington -DC). There is also a healthy and increasing business in charter flights to a wide range of destinations around the world. But what is it like to pilot this aeroplane which arrives in New York one hour before its l ocal time of departure from London?
By Christopher Orlebar
weather at the destination. The required fuel load to take a load of 78 passengers is 166,500 lbs. —nearly a ton of fuel for each passenger carried. The figure has been based on expected winds as well as the planned weight of the aeroplane. But of equal significance is the temperature which will be encountered between 50,000 and 60,000 ft. Less fuel has to be carried if the forecasted temperature is low. To the fuel figure is added a reserve of 33,700 lbs. With the aircraft, payload, crew of nine (six cabin crew) the takeoff weight comes to 391,600 tbs. After loading the aircraft it is essential to ensure the center of gravity is in the correct position for takeoff. This is done by making small adjustments to the distribution of fuel within the aircraft. Each of the 13 fuel tanks signals the center of gravity computer with its fuel load. The computer is also fed with infor mation about the weight and whereabouts of the payload and it then indicates the center of gravity of the aeroplane ONE HOUR BEFORE DEPARTURE THE CREW BOARDS the aircraft. Concorde's slender delta shape, somewhat hidden at this stage by ground servicing vehicles, is uncluttered with the high-lift devices (slats and flaps) that are found on some subsonic aircraft. There is a vertical fin but no horizontal tailplane All the flying controls, known as elevons, are at the rear of the delta wing. Lacking hydraulic pressure from the engines at this stage, they droop, appearing to the untutored eye li ke flaps in the down position. It is the flight engineer's job to make the external check. - He inspects, among other things, the features essential to the Concorde-- including the engine intakes and the rear nozzles of the four RollsRoyce/SNECMA Olympus engines. The in-
with incoming air at extremes of temperature far greater than for a subsonic airplane. the flying controls are 'fly-by-wire,' which means that they are electrically signalled and that this signal is modified by the autostabilization system in the three axes--pitch, roll and yaw. The autostabilization system receives information from gyroscopes and from the air data computer. Thus, the amount of flying control movement varies with speed and height. The system provides supurb control throughout the 1,000-knot speed range. There is even a radiation meter to warn the crew to descend in order to avoid potentially dangerous hazardous radiation from a solar flare—though this has never occured during Concorde's life. There is also a lever for lowering the visor and nose. Just as important are the systems which appear on any long-range subsonic aeroplane—the triple inertial navigation system, the flight instruments (but with a machmeter calibrated up to Mach 2.41, the autopilot and the radios. Radio navigation aids confirm and update the inertial navigation system. Some controls are notable by their absence. There is no flap and slat lever and no speed brake control. The latter has been replaced by the ability to select reverse thrust on the inboard engines in flight. Initially, each crew member carries out a precise scan check of his particular cockpit area. Later, they will coordinate their actions from a checklist.
Go-ahead During this time the passengers have been pampered in the special Concorde lounge adjacent to the aeroplane. At halfhour-to-go the ramp coordinator checks with the crew With everything looking good on the technical front and no air traffic control delays, he receives the goahead. Ninety-six percent of all Concorde departures are made within 15 minutes of scheduled time. Should the passengers look to their left on boarding they will see the narrow 'tunnel' to the flight deck busy with ground personnel, each with some piece of vital paper-
OCTOBER 1985-17
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FLY ING FA STER THA N THE SUN tor, the first officer's duties include the performance calculations for takeoff and the reading of the checklist until taxiing begins, when the flight engineer takes over. Contact is made with ATC, starting with clearance to fly the route, which is always the same—unlike subsonic tracks across the Atlantic, which are changed to benefit from the winds. The only problem ATC has to ensure a 12-minute gap between the westbound Concordes of British Airways and Air France on entry into the supersonic route. Pushing back from the stand with two engines running (the thrust from all four would damage the tow bar), the controls are checked in their two electrical signalling modes and one mechanical mode. Taxiing is straightforward once it has been learnt that the nosewheel is 37 ft. to the rear of the pilots. Even when the engines are switched to ground-idle thrust the aircraft bounds along, so the brake temperatures are carefully monitored. With checks complete and ATC clearance to go from Heathrow's 28 Left, the brakes are released and the throttles opened rapidly to takeoff power. Simultaneously, the stop watches are started. Concorde has a fully electronic engine control system which operates efficiently in all subsonic and supersonic flight conditions. Such good care do the electronic control units (known as throttle amplifiers) take of the engines that the throttles may be slammed open with impunity. As the engine speed increases, the preselected afterburner lights up to boost the thrust. Each engine is now burning more than 44,000 lbs. of fuel per hour and giving 38,000 lbs. of thrust. At 100 knots a green light for each engine confirms satisfactory performance. Decision speed (V1), typically around 160 knots, is called. Up to V1 the aircraft can stop safely in the event of an engine failure. Beyond V1, it is committed to completing the takeoff, which it now has the speed to accomplish safely. 'Rotate' (typically 195 knots) is called and the aircraft attitude is increased to 13.5° nose-up. At about 215 knots, Concorde becomes airborne. THE DELTA WING FORMS a pair of horizontal vortices which give very effective lift at low speed but at the expense of a great deal of drag, In order to reduce drag, and so to steepen the climb gradient, the speed is allowed to build to 250 knots, where it is held by further increasing aircraft attitude to more than 20°. At 75 seconds from the start of the takeoff roll (the timing varies according to weight of the aircraft and temperature), the afterburner is switched off, the thrust is
TARPA TALES
reduced and the attitude brought down to 12° to maintain 250 knots, thereby reducing noise level on the ground under the flight path. This reduces the rate of climb from more than 4,000 feet per minute to a gentler 1,250 fpm. The Woodley beacon, near Reading, must be crossed at or above 4,000 ft. Consistent with this and ATC requirements, the speed is allowed to build to the maximum operating indicated airspeed allowable. This is 400 knots at this stage and reaches a maximum of 530 knots at 44,000 ft. With the drag down and engine efficiency up (because of the increased speed), the performance becomes phenomenal. By the ti me maximum climb power is restored at 8,000 ft., rates of climb greater than 6,000 fpm are commonplace. Above 250 knots the vortices go and so does the vibration they cause. Also, the nose and visor are raised, and a glorious calm settles over the flight deck; conversation is now possible without using the intercom. The subsonic cruise to South Wales is flown at Mach 0.95 and at 28,000 ft., overhauling the subsonic traffic by nearly 100 mph. The fuel has already been pumped rearwards to move the center of gravity about two feet back from the takeoff position, thus giving a small increase in aerodynamic efficiency. The track is maintained by using the mean position from the triple inertial navigation systems.
Smoothly through Mach 1 At the acceleration point, full climb power is applied after ATC clearance is given. Two small nudges are felt as the afterburners come on in pairs, increasing thrust by 20 percent. Just as the captain has briefed the passengers, Concorde accelerates smoothly through Mach 1—the speed of sound. At 28,000 ft., in the cooler air, Mach 1 is 585 knots; on the surface of the earth, where it is warmer, Mach 1 is about 660 knots. Although the autopilot is almost always used, manual control through Mach 1 is very straightforward, thanks to the delta wing and autostabilized controls. This is in sharp contrast to the experiences of earlier pilots who attempted to penetrate the sound barrier. Their aircraft were plagued with control and vibration problems as the sonic shockwaves began to form around them. On Concorde, there is a kick in the pressure-sensitive instruments as the formation of the shockwaves are detected by the static pressure sensing ports in the side of the fuselage. Above Mach 1, rather like a boat forming waves on the water, Concorde forms shockwaves in the air. They reduce the efficiency of the wings and increase drag,
68
thereby lowering the aircraft's lift-to-drag ratio, and they can be heard on the ground as a supersonic boom. They also move the aircraft's center of gravity rearwards. Concorde is designed and flown to overcome these effects. The shockwaves are put to work in the engine intake system; they slow the air down to half the speed of sound, thereby raising the overall compression ratio and thus making the engines thermally the most efficient in the world. Indeed, the engine efficiency is more than 40 percent at Mach 2, which is the most economical speed for the Concorde in spite of the loss of aerodynamic efficiency. Behind the intake system the engines go to work on the high-pressure air supplied. The Olympus 593 turbojets succeed superlatively: at Mach 2 and 58,000 ft. each generates more than 8,000 lbs. of thrust with fuel flows as low as 9,500 tbs. per hour per engine. The efflux is expelled through the convergent-divergent exhaust duct, the setting of which is continuously altered in flight to maintain maximum engine efficiency. TO OVERCOME THE EFFECT OF THE SONIC BOOM, Concorde is flown supersonically only over unpopulated areas. The boom carpet is less than 40 nautical miles wide, so any boom-sensitive area is kept at least 20 nm to the side of the aircraft track. When the aircraft turns, this distance is increased to 30 nm because of the greater effects of the shockwave propagation. The boom first reaches the ground at a point 50 nm ahead of the point where the aircraft exceeded Mach 1 in the acceleration. On deceleration, Concorde must be subsonic at least 35 nm before reaching a' boom-sensitive coast. Turns and accelerations can focus the shockwaves, forming a superboom on the ground. Secondary or reflected booms are sometimes propagated, depending on the atmospheric conditions. Aircraft flying below the Concorde occasionally experience the boom. Rearward movement of Concorde's center of lift during supersonic acceleration is compensated for by moving the aircraft's center of gravity backwards by a further four feet through fuel redistribution. In cruise at mach 2, the correct aircraft attitude is maintained by the autopilot and fuel is used to trim the aircraft so that the elevons are all precisely 1 /2° down—their most efficient position. Mach 1.7 is reached at 43,500 ft. At this point the afterburners are extinguished since the speed is now sufficient for the improved engine efficiency to be effective. Should the speed be allowed to drop, a descent would be necessary to regain it. Mach 2 is achieved at 50,000 ft. Concorde is flying 23 miles a minute—faster than the speed of a rifle bullet. The climb now gives way to cruise/ climb. The throttle
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FLY ING FA STER THA N THE SUN
aircraft must clear a military flying area, which extends to 50,000 ft., by at least 2,000 ft., and then be at 12,000 ft. or below at the point---also just over the sea—where it joins the regular traffic flow bound for the airfield. At most other locations the deceleration point is determined by the need to be below Mach 1 at least 35 rim before reaching a populated coast. The achieved altitude of around 58,000 ft. is maintained while thrust is partially reduced: idle thrust could cause airconditioning problems and might induce an engine surge. Once the aircraft has decelerated to 350 knots indicated airspeed—around Mach 1.6 at 58,000 ft. —the descent is commenced. Usually there is a step in the descent at 41,000 ft. for the aircraft to become subsonic. Without the drag of the shockwaves the subsequent descent is less steep. As Concorde decelerates the aircraft balance has to be restored again, this time by pumping the fuel forwards from the tank in the rear. The New York radar controller gives headings to bring the aircraft onto final approach at a comfortable distance (at least 6 nm) behind any preceeding traffic. By 250 knots the nose and visor have been lowered, improving the view but increasing the noise level on the flight deck. A fully automatic landing with manual roll-out could now be carried out in visibilities down to a little over 600 ft. using a 15 ft. decision height, ground radio aids permitting. At this height the mainwheels are 15 ft. above the runway; the pilots are 37 ft. higher than the mainwheels. Usually, in good weather, Concorde is flown manually on a reduced-noise approach. For this a slightly higher approach speed of 190 knots is used down to 800 ft. above the ground, as opposed to the allweather approach, where speed is 175
TARPA TOPICS
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knots to 1,500 ft. Thereafter , in both cases the aircraft decelerates to the threshold speed– typically 160 knots . The reduced noise approach takes advantage of both the reduced drag lend hence less thrust re quirementl experienced at 190 knots corn reduc- pared to the lower speeds, and the lion of thrust during the deceleration to threshold speed which takes place between 2 2/3 nm and 1 1/2 nu prior to touchdown The supurb autothrottles make this maneuver straightforward. The engineer calls out heights down to 15 ft. above the ground from his radio altimeter. At 40 ft. the autothrottles are switched out and at 15 ft. the power is smoothly reduced to idle thrust. Just prior to landing the thrust reduction and ground effect together tend to reduce the attitude of the aircraft. To achieve a smooth landing the pilot must counteract this by maintaining the 11° final approach attitude. After touchdown reverse idle is selected; the nosewheel is lowered onto the runway and reverse thrust is selected on all four engines. Differential braking keeps the aircraft straight, and by 40 knots the reverse thrust is cancelled. Concorde behaves well in crosswinds with no tendency to drop a wing as might be found on more conventional aeroplanes. THE CAPTAIN BIDS 'AU RFVOIR' to the passengers, inevitably pointing out that their subsonic counterparts, who left the same time from London, would still not be quite 'half-way here.' As one of the outstanding achievements of the twentieth century rolls to a stop, a working day in the life of a Concorde pilot comes to an end, to be repeated, in the op posite direction, on the morrow.
CHRISTOPHER ORLEBAR has been a Concorde pilot since 1976 and is also an instructor and examiner of Concorde pilots. He learned to fly in 1965 and in 1969 joined British Airways, where he was a VC-10 pilot from 1970-1975. In 1983 he was appointed director of avia-tion training at the College of Air Trainrig, Ilamble, England. He is ii liveryman it the Guild of Air Pilots and Air \avigat 're and a niemhn'r of the Royal Aerenautdcal Se iety. 11e it also an avia lion consultant end lecturer and is in-volved in t he making of aS i;t in 111'1) grams for telr'vdsion Story reprinted from Magazine , March 1985
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the Rolls-Royce
18-PILOT NEWS
TARPA TALES 70 PAGE 30 I
THE TARPA
GRAPEVINE MARCH 1986
One of the pleasures in doing this section of the TOPICS is hearing from old friends. The response has been good since the last edition, more phone calls received and a few letters and notes, My greatest source of information continues to be our hard working secretary, who I have called upon to seek out data from his trusty computer. Now that the dues are coming in for 1986, he is receiving more notes than during the rest of the year, and he faithfully forwards them on to me when appropriate, Incidentally, Joe told me in our last conversation that in addition to his doing all this dues collection and data collection for the computer, he has decided to go back to college, He is now studying computer programming and associated subjects. Now that is dedication to the job. It also disproves the adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks--. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Among those writing to Joe was JOHN RICHEY, who reports from Boca Raton way that they are all fine and that he is working five days a week in his son's business. The work is interesting, but the pay is lousy. * * * * * * * * * * * * * From Vermont came a note from BOB BUCK, along with New Years greetings. Seems Bob is working on a new book about all our wonderful years. Look forward to seeing it, Bob. Keep us posted. * * * * * * * * * * * * * For you tennis buffs who might be visiting in the Phoenix area I quote a letter I received from LEE BUTLER: Dear Dick: For the GRAPEVINE I submit the following. Tom Anderson has organized a group of tennis players
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Among that. play every Monday morning, weather permitting. the group is Jack Robertson, Phil Rimier, Tom Anderson and myself, Lee Butler. The rest of the group are non-TARPA, but f un characters. We play at the Scottsdale Racquet Club on East Indian Bend Road. I would like to invite any TARPA member visiting the Valley of the Sun who would like to play tennis to give me or Tom a call. My number is 994-9124. Tom's number is 917-6234. The best wishes for you and THE GRAPEVINE in 1986. Your old pal, LEE BUTLER Knowing Tom and Lee as I have for the past (almost) forty years, you'll have a good time. Thanks to you for the invitation. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I'm hearing more about retirees who have purchased airplanes either before or subsequent to retirement DICK CRUIKSHANK, who retired in 1984, reports that he is a little bored with retirement so he went out and bought himself an A-35 Bonanza, vintage 1948. He hangars it in Corona, California and is using it for pleasure flying but hopes to be able to get charter He has been traveling a great deal with his certificate soon. wife, Margaret, other than in the A-35. His trips have included the Portugal tour in spring, 1985, plus trips to Hong Kong and Manila. Back to the Bonanza, he says his 6'4" frame makes it kind of tight for him at the controls so he is looking into a kit to move the seat about 4 inches Remember, Dick, don't dive that machine over 202 IAS Have fun with it Another aircraft owner is past Secretary A. T Humbles, who has a 1976 Rockwell Commander 112TC Seems A. T.'s son Frank i s a fourth year medical student at East Carolina and during the month of November 1985 they logged many hours on the aircraft taking Frank around to many hospitals in the east attending interviews for his residency which is coming up this year. Stops included Hershey, PA., Pittsburgh, Charlottesville, VA., and Winston Salem, N. C Now, this may not be a novel idea, but why don't all you TARPANS with your own planes send the information in to me and maybe somewhere down the line enough of you could get together for the first annual TARPA Fly In. Anybody interested? * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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"I'm beginning to regret he ever took early retirement." * * * * * * * * * * * * * Parky Parkinson gave me a copy of a typewritten note which was given to him by Carl Solberg, author of "CONQUEST OF THE SKIES". This note was found at the Princeton University Library in the Whiting Willaner papers, October, 1985, and appears to be dated in February 1943: People I met on my trip to India and China 1.
Captain Hal Blackburn (TWA) Hal was our pilot on the Stratoliner which took us to Karachi. TV got to be very fond of him as I did, He was the Chief of Flying for TWA's International Division. On the way over he hardly seemed to sleep for a minute, and yet was always full of fun. From the personality point of view he was head and shoulders above Captain Dryer of Pan American, who brought us back.
2.
Captain Eugene Klose (TWA) Gene was our co-pilot after we got to Natal. I believe he was Chief Pilot of the South Atlantic Division. Rather plump in build and a great deal of fun.
3.
General Fitzgerald (ATC) He is the Commander of the African wing of the ATC. He rode across the South Atlantic with us. Editor's Note: Hal and wife Helen attended the Seniors Round Up in Wickenburg in November. They appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, as is evident in the
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picture of them shown below. Gene Klose, who was with TWA from 1933-1958, passed away in 1959.
RUSS YOUNCE sent in a change of address back in November but missed the publication deadline so it will appear in this issue (I hope), He might be included in the famous quotes when he wrote to A, T. and said "Anyone who doesn't miss the old days, didn't have the fun we had." Are you talking about flying or tennis, old friend? * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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LEX KLOTZ sent a letter to Joe McCombs and Ed Betts, in which he said, "I think you are doing one hell of a job and I, for one, appreciate it." He said he was three years past a four ply heart job and feeling great and that he flew on his 80th birthday and can still make good landings. * * * * * * * * * * * * The photo below was taken by ED TOLF back in November 1985 while he and Shirl were returning from a motorhome trip from Washington. The photo shows 19 of TWA's old 880's sitting at Mojave, California. They haven't hit the blast furnaces yet and might fly again, although it is doubtful. For all of us, Ed, who flew that beautiful bird, we thank you for the photo and the comments.
* * * * * * * * * * * * Joe recently canvassed all of the Honorary Members (widows) to be sure that they were still kicking and still interested in receiving the TARPA publications. Ninety percent have returned their cards, with only two indicating they are no longer interested. Comments include "Thank you for remembering us older ladies" and "You bet I'm still kicking!" and "I look forward to any and all news of TWA. Thank you for including me". Francis Finch returned her card and included a check which will be directed to the TWA Pilots Retirement Foundation, Inc. It is obvious the ladies appreciate TARPA's consideration. * * * * * * * * * * * * THE GRAPEVINE
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Letters - We've got letters! JOHN E. CLARK -"Sorry I missed the TARPA convention last time. I'll see you in St. Louis this year. Might bring trap gun and golf clubs. Looking forward to St. Louis and all those familiar faces." LARRY MURCHAM -"Thanks to you (Joe) and all the officers of TARPA past and present for all your efforts on our behalf. It's really appreciated." BILL MCMINN - "Retired ten years and love living in Arkansas. See Ruby and Beth Garrett frequently and plan to go with them to Alaska in June. Am in good health". GEORGE ENGLAND and Patti say they are leading the good life and playing a lot of golf. SAM GRACY, writing on his generic stationery, reports he is local coordinator for the NW Pacific chapter of the TWA Seniors. A lot of TARPA members in the area and wants to get together with them for a BS session. Says he's a good candidate for the "Lazin' Around" award. Incidentally, he had a visit from Bill McMinn. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Beryl Imeson sent a letter of thanks to our Secretary for the TARPA memberships contribution to the TWA Retirement Foundation in memory of JOE IMESON. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ROGER DON RAE sent a note to Joe along with a check, which he is not required to do as an EAGLE. He stated that he had paid dues when an ALPA member because they represented him and feels he should pay TARPA dues also because of the benefits he receives from TARPA's work. . "Membership is the best $20 bargain a "Body" ever had and the TARPA TOPICS is an added value". Thanks, Roger. Much appreciated. * * * * * * * * * * * * * TUDOR LELAND says he is "still doing well at close to 70". Still operates his 38' off shore fisherman without assistance and "having one hell of a time". He says he is wedded to the bloody N. E. weather and so involved in real estate and whale research he hasn't had the chance to make the conventions, etc. He wants to say "hello" to all the gang on and off TWA. * * * * * * * * * * * * * AL HUTTENBERG and wife Verne spend much time traveling with family in San Diego and Hong Kong, and last fall spent considerable time attending Bengals games where their nephew Boomer Estasion is a starting QB. They plan to be in St. Louis in May. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sign on company bulletin board (not ours): ATTENTION ALL EMPLOYEES: FIRINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES! THE GRAPEVINE
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GENE LORE still doing a lot of skiing, last winter in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and this year plans a trip to the Italian Dolomites. * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDDIE FRITTS - "I still stay real busy in the oil field - it is an interesting business." * * * * * * * * * * * * * Did you know that it isn't the minutes you spend at the dinner table that makes you fat - it's the seconds? * * * * * * * * * * * * * If you're in the Boulder City, Nevada area, here's a man you may want to remember. J. J. QUINN was appointed a Municipal Judge in Boulder City right after retirement and a year later was elected a Judge of Justice Court, a higher level court in Nevada. He sits frequently in Las Vegas, handling cases up to and including major felonies. He also is actively involved in the bus transportation business. Apparently he came up with a novel idea for handling the hookers who come before the bench, but Nancy vetoed his plan for home rehabilitation. J. J. you're amazing, but don't give up. He and Nancy spend as much time as possible boating on Lake Mead and skiing at Sun Valley. Hope he'll make the St. Louis convention. * * * * * * * * * * * * * BILL HALLIDAY gave me a call back in December with seasons greetings. Was good to hear from him. He has been playing a lot of tennis down in Hypoluxo, Florida, as well as a lot of bridge and has recently taken up the piano. He had many kind words to say for TARPA and TOPICS and gave me some much needed words of encouragement. * * * * * * * * * * * * * JOE CARRAHER sent his greetings to Joe. Says he pictures him "surrounded by snow - clear up to your operation. Sitting on your front porch, in ski suit, white scarf, helmet and goggles. When the telephone rings - you holler, "CHECK ESSENTIAL". He hopes to see everyone in St. Louis. * * * * * * * * * * * * * DICK BECK writes that he and Lou are doing well. Dick has embarked on a weight loss program that has knocked off 46 pounds
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so far with a few more to go to get down to his "girl chasing" weight. He tells Joe to "keep up the good work. We're all indebted to you." * * * * * * * * * * * * From CARL TODD came a note that he's been real busy puttering around accomplishing nothing, taking a few trips and doing some light plane flying. He likes the idea of mailing the TOPICS in an envelope. * * * * * * * * * * * * Additional notes came in from VAN THOMPSON, who retired in August of '85. "No trouble in keeping busy. In fact I can't get caught up with projects", he reports. CY STEWART, who spends the winters in Manzanillo, Mexico, and the summers in Idaho, does a lot of ocean fishing in the winter. Says he is 'relatively" healthy, keeping his weight down and feeling great. Also from BOB THUNE, now Captain Thune, Operations and Safety Officer of Sun Coast Squadron, Florida wing of the CAP, says he is doing a lot of flying and expects to do more chasing drug smugglers with the U. S. Customs. Should be interesting and productive. * * * * * * * * * * * * Another EAGLE sent in dues. JOHN SOULE, who says, "I'm over 75, way over, but I don't want the hostesses to know it, that's why I'm sending in my twenty bucks". Whatever your reason, John, we appreciate it and we'll never tell. * * * * * * * * * * * * A California source has advised that EAGLE C. H. (PIERRE) MOLLINEAUX, is in a hospital in California and would like very much to hear from old friends. You can call him on his private phone at 213-413=4819. His address is Bonnie Brae Convalescent Hospital, 420 South Bonnie Brae Street Los Angeles, California 90053 * * * * * * * * * * * * The dime isn't worthless in spite of inflation. In an emergency, it makes a good screwdriver. * * * * * * * * * * * * THE GRAPEVINE
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DICK MARQUARDT was my host for a day and night following the SENIORS Round Up. He restores old cars at his home in Sun City West as well as in England. His stable consists of a '23 Model T Roadster, a '14 "T" Speedster and a TC MG plus a vintage Austin in England, and a beautiful collection of working model Steam Locomotives and stationary engines. We spent many hours hangar flying and visiting other car buffs in Sun City. * * * * * * * * * * * *
DAYTON ORR joined the heart by-pass contingent on November 21 with a five way job. He's doing "just fine". Many TARPANS will remember Dayton not only as a line pilot from 1941 to 1968, but as an instructor and check airman on DC-3's, Martins, Connies, 707's and 880's. He took medical leave in 1968 but continued as a simulator instructor until his retirement in 1973. And he just recently became a TARPA EAGLE. * * * * * * * * * * * * Now, if I had listed all the correspondents in alphabetical order, which I didn't, this man's name would have been last, which he is accustomed to. Jerry retired in 1973 after having been with TWA as a Flight Engineer for 30 years. He spent many years on the acceptance crew for the Boeing fleet from the original 131's and 331's to the 747's. I learned from talking with him at Wickenburg that after "retirement" he became a representative with Rolls Royce, from whom he has since retired, but does occasional consulting work. He is in good health and appeared his usual cheerful self and enjoying his old friends. Who is this? None other than our good friend JERRY ZERBONE. * * * * * * * * * * * * SEE YOU IN ST. LOUIS!
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SENIORS ROUND UP, WICKENBURG, ARIZONA, NOVEMBER 8 - 9, 1985 The 24th Annual Seniors Round Up was held at the Rancho de los Caballeros during the week of November 4 - 10 in Wickenburg, Arizona with over 150 Seniors in attendance. This year all the participants were housed at the Ranch which had greatly The event, under the able leadership expanded its facilities. of Parky Parkinson, its director for the past 24 years, was a It had been my hope to include an account of huge success. the event in the last edition of TARPA TOPICS, but the timing conflicted with the deadline for printing the publication, so although the news may be a little old for some, it should be of interest to many others. The main activities were planned for Friday and Saturday, November 8th and 9th, and featured golf for men and women, putting contests, bridge tournaments, horseshoe pitching, tennis, skeet and horseback riding. Our pilot group, which made up about 25% of the attendees, came off with several trophies, including mens golf, horseshoes, putting and skeet. Many TARPA EAGLES were in attendance including HAL BLACKBURN, HARRY CAMPBELL, WILLIE MILLER, and RUDY TRUESDALE. The meals were out of this world with a buffet lunch on Friday and a banquet that evening with ULI DERICKSON as guest speaker. Her presentation was outstanding and won a standing applause At the buffet lunch, I sat at a poolside from the Seniors. table with RUBY GARRETT. He was in his usual rare form and was sitting with us because his jokes and stories were an embarrassment to his wife and she'd sent him away from her table. Needless to say, he kept us in stitches. Saturday started off with a buffet breakfast for those who weren't out on the golf course for the tournament. For those early risers the Ranch had furnished a continental breakfast, Many of the Seniors living in the Phoenix area came out for that event alone. There were 37 golfers milling around the club house when I arrived at about 7:30 on a beautiful clear, cool morning. They had trouble keeping up with the demand for golf carts and once they got moving it looked like the San Diego Freeway at 4:00 P. M. on a Friday, ROGER SAILORS and DICK COLBURN ended up with top honors for the men. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the putting contest was underway and took a good part of the morning. Men's winner was past GRAPEVINE Editor OLE OLSON (erroneously reported in the SKYLINER as runner-up). This was followed by a cookout at South Yucca Flats, complete with chuck wagon, hamburgers cooked over mesquite wood and draft beer. The afternoon events included the Skeet Tournament, Horse Shoe pitching, and Ladies Putting. The awards went to ROSS WEAVER for skeet, CLEO MATTKE for horse shoes and Jean Koughan, wife of JACK KOUGHAN, for Ladies Putting,
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After a special cocktail hour that evening the awards banquet was held, with the menu consisting of prime rib and all the trimmings. Parky did a great job as MC and prizes were awarded for the winnings of the days events. But aside from the eating and various physical activities, the fellowship was the most important of events. I kept busy with camera and visiting. Many of these photos are included. Although the mood was generally festive, we were all saddened by the news that Leon Vestal, a Round Up regular, had passed away the week before. He had planned on attending and would have been an EAGLE this January. We shall miss his cheerful person. Below is a list of attendees for those of you who missed the event. Harold Aiken Dex and Midge Barrett Steve and Martha Bassford Warren and Genevieve Berg Bob Berle Lloyd Berry Merle and Dorothy Bessey Hal and Helen Blackburn Roy and Mary Bragg Virginia Buchanan Harry and Evelyn Campbell Dick Colburn Jerry Condon Charlie Connor Bill Cooper Frank Corwin Pierre and. Nancy Cousineau Joe and Marcie Crede Joe and Ellie (Edmonds) Creswell Don Crook Jack and Josephine Crump Esther Cunningham Cliff Davis Larry De Celles Uli Derickson Herb Didlake Joe Donovan Noriene Dowling Don duFur Edward and Margaret Epp Robert and Anne Epp Gene Exum
Bob Faltermeier Hubert and Mary Farrell Jim Fennell Eugene and Charlotte Fox Dieter Friedrick Roy and Jean Fergerson John Furbay Rita Gallagher Ruby and Beth Garrett Bill Geiger Chuck and Peel Golzio Dick Guillan Jim Gilmore Jack and Helen Graham John and Florence Guy Moe and Mary Hansen Pat Lynds-Harris Don and Betty Heep Katie Helstrom Robert and Phyllis Heste Paul and Virginia Husak Bill and Ann Hussey June Ingram George and Mary Jewell Darrell and Audrey Johns Al and Honor Jordan Jim Kagiliery George Koch Jack and Jean Koughan Fred Kukal Hal Kurtz
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PBDhaeirlbnpsd
Marty Kus Mark Latourneau Neal and Monique Lytle John Lattimore Ed Lewis (Evan's son) Tom Leland Don Logan Bernie Lloyd Carol Mahoney Ellie and Herbert Mann Tex and Margo Manning William May Dick Marquardt Cleo Mattke Ralph and Helen McCormick C. W. "Red" McKenney Paul and Eloise McNew Bob Middlekauf Edward and Louise Miller Jack and Beth Miller Willie and Dorothee Miller Bob Montgomery John Myers Robert and Ginnie Naumen Bill and Maxine Neff George Nicholson Arlie and Lisa Nixon Jack and Naomi Nuss Orville "Ole" Olson Parky Parkinson Dean and Bobbe Phillips
Tom and Peg Poole Jim and Tina Porkay Neuman and Mickey Ramsey Cliff Raub Roger Sailors W. K. "Bill" Slate Don Springer Thelma Stott E. L. "Ed" Strickland Walter Stroemer Opal Thomason Claude and Marie Thrasher Rudy and Dorothy Truesdale Joe and Kalita Tunder Curt and Helen Twing Stan Valacer George and Beverly Waryold Ann Watts W. J. Watts Ross and Marjorie Weaver Charles M. White Jack and Helen Wilkens B. J. Wilson Al and Edna Wollenberg Ray and Florence Yount Ed and Juanita Zak Jerry Zerbone Herman Zierold
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NEW MEMBERS - WELCOME ABOARD...............(Read Across) 01-25-1986
CAPT. (R) APPLEBY, HUGH T. 10890 S.E . 72nd TERRACE BELLEVIEW, FL 32620
(R) AMENT, WESTON H. CAPT. (BETTIE) P.O. BOX 194 MOKELUMNE HILL, CA 95245
904-245-8304
209-286-1479
(R) BROOMFIELD, JACK N. CAPT. 940 SISKIYOU DRIVE MENLO PARK, CA 94025
(ANNE) (A) BRUCKS, RAYMOND J. CAPT. 27661 PASEO VIOLETA SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA 92675 714-240-9457
(JOAN)
415-854-3092
(BARBARA) (A) EROEN , CONRAD B. CAPT. 520 THE VILLAGE REDONDO BEACH, CA 90277 213-376-5588
(MARTHA) (R) DILL, CHARLES S. F/E 11271 MACNAB STREET GARDEN GROVE, CA 92641 714-539-7655
(A) GENEBACH, CARLETON G. 'SKIP* CAPT. 4062 FIGARO CIRCLE HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92649 714-840-4233
CAPT. (R) GRAVES, CURTIS A. 3860 PANOCHE ROAD P.O. BOX 175 PAICINES, CA 95043 408-628-3233
(PAT)
(A) HAYES, ROBERT S. CAPT. 7713 N.N. WESTSIDE DRIVE KANSAS CITY, NO 64152 816-741-0819
(JEAN)
CAPT. (BEVERLY) (A) GRAF, HARVEY W. 10541 EAST WETHERSFIELD ROAD SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85259
(NANCY)
602-951-1106
65737
(R) HEMSTED, ROBERT " BOB ' CAPT. 320 LAKESHORE DRIVE S.S.R . US HWY 550N DURANGO, CO 81301 303-385-4422
(JEANNE)
(R) KULESZ, FRANK P. 9510 N. 46th ST. PHOENIX, AZ 85028 602-948-4501
213-832-8030
(R) MAERKI , RICHARD 14 BUOY LANE WEST ISLIP, NY 516-422-0512
(FAYNE)
CAPT. (R) MANN, HOWARD T. 1 BAYVIEW AVE., RFD #2 SOUTHHOLD, NY 11971 516-765-3937
(ROSE MARIE)
(R) HANKINS, JAMES A. F/E RT #4, BOX 4280 REEDS SPRINGS, NO 417-338-2806
(ROBERTA) (R) KUHLMANN, HENRICK ' HANK ' F/E 2078 MAC ARTHUR STREET RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA 90732
CAPT. (R) LUTZ, RAY P.O. BOX 1173 TAOS, NM 87571 505-758-4979
(LEANNA)
CAPT.
(MARIAN)
11795
CAPT. (R) MITCHELL, CLARENCE T. 9029 W. 101st TERRACE OVERLAND PARK, KS 66212 913-648-0887
(OLLIE MARIE
86
(NANCY
NEW MEMBERS - WELCOME ABOARD ............... (Read Across) 01-25-1986 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(R) MOONLY, JOHN L. F/E (JEAN) 991 HICKORY VIEW CIRCLE CAMARILLO, CA 93010 805-482-3432
(R) MYERS, GORDON L. CAPT. 1660 CAMINO DE NOG FALLBROOK, CA 92028 619-728-1844
(PHYLLIS)
(A) NICOLAIS, MARIO A. CAPT. 185 HIGHLAND AVE. MOORISTOWN, NJ 08057 609-235-4955
(R) MORRIS, R. SCOTT CAPT. RR #1, BOX 1566 WILCOX, AZ 85643 602-384-3008
(MARILYNN)
(R ) OLSON, JOHN E. F/E (MARION) 5702 CAMBRIDGE LANE, #8 RACINE, VI 53406 414-886-3853
(R ) PATRICK, HAROLD A. MR. 3-11 WS 230 NINEVEH, IN 46164 317-878-4386
(DOROTHY)
(R) PAXTON, JAMES E. CAPT. 1046 E. DRIFTWOOD DRIVE TEMPE, AZ 85283 602-897-0499
(R) RAMSEY, EUGENE S. " GENE째 45 N.E. 96th STREET MIAMI, FL 33138
(A) RUHE, HERMAN J. 'SKIP ' P.O. BOX 315 HIGHMOUNT, NY 12441 914-254-4004
(ROSEMARIE)
(ANITA)
CAPT.
305-754-7168
CAPT.
(MARIE)
(R) SEABORG, GEORGE A. CAPT. 3908 EISENHOWER WAY TOBYHANNA, PA 18466
(R) SHAUGHNESSY, STANLEY J. CAPT. 12228 F. 39th TERRACE INDEPENDENCE, MO 64052 816-254-6426
(R) SIMMONS, DALE E. P.O. BOX 511 ROUGH & READY,
(R ) SMITH, ROBERT B. CAPT. 6331 W. BOPP ROAD TUCSON, AZ 85746 602-883-9204
(R) SOLOMON, PHILLIP F/E (FRANCIS) 8010 EAST DRIVE, APT 312 NORTH BAY VILLAGE, FL 33141 305-756-6029
CAPT. CA
(RUTH)
95975
(R) STONSKAS, JOSEPH J. 2685 BELCASTRO LAS VEGAS, NV 89117 702-873-9124
CAPT. WV
(CARMEL)
916-432-1373
(DELORES)
MR. (R ) STITZEL, HARRY B. 428 COVE DRIVE LANTANA, FL 33462 305-588-3498
(E) TATE, Jr., CHARLES O. 12 BIG DRAFT ROAD WHITE SULPHUR SPRGS, 304-536-2345
(BETTY)
(JUANITA)
24986
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CAPT.
(CAROLYN)
ADDRESS CHANCES .......................... (Read Across) 01-25-1986
(R) AIKEN, HAROLD W. CAPT. 3103 BOCA CIRCA NAPLES, FL 33962 813-774-6342
(MONTY)
F/E
(CAROLYN'
P.O. BOX 458 LAKE PLACID, 813-465-1741
(GERDA)
03842
(JUL-OCT
CAPT.
(JOAN
)
(A) GLAZIER, FRANCIS M. 3505 CRAYTON ROAD NAPLES, FL 33940 813-261-3288
(A) HILDEBRAND, JOHN C. CAPT. 1356 POINT CRISP RD. SARASOTA, FL 34242 813-349-2585
28771
CAPT. FL
(CAROLYN (JUL-OCT)
(BETTY)
33852
(R) BECKNER, RICHARD R. " DICK " CAPT. (CONNIE) 112 OLD WHARF ROAD, Ell DRNNISPORT,CENTER, MA 02639 MAY 1-OCT 30 617-394-6351
(CONNIE) (NOV I-APR 30)
)
(R) BURRELL, WILLIAM E. CAPT. PECAN PLANTATION 1549 LANSDOWNE CT. PP GRANBURY, TX 76048
(DOLY
(R) EVANS, JOHN R. " JACK " F/E P.O. BOX 3063 FAIRFIELD BAY, AR ?2088 501-884-3458
CAPT.
(R) BARNARD, JOHN W. CAPT. (BERNADETTE) 13 FLORENCE POINT DRIVE FERNANDINA BEACH, FL 32034 904-261-9417
4 PHEASANT LANE LITTLETON, CO 80127-3508 303-979-2210
(R) DOHERTY, FRANK CAPT. 765 PAMELA DRIVE PUNTA GORDA, FL 33950
NC
(R) ARBUTHNOT, ARBY
(NV-JUN)
" (R) BECKNER , RICHARD R. DICK " CAPT. 77 ROYAL OAK DRIVE, APT 207 VERO BRACH, FL 32962 305-562-5450
(A) BOSTWICK, IRVING W.
P.O. BOX 1149 ROBBINSVILLR, 704-479-8042
(JAN-APR)
(R) ANDERSON, NORMAN 1. CAPT. 450 PARTRIDGE CIRCLE SARASOTA, FL 33577 813-366-3315
(A) AUDETTE , ROBERT J. 6 HARRIS AVENUE HAMPTON BEACH, NH 603-926-9035
(R) ANDERSON, NORMAN F.
( RUBY)
(R) ELDER, ROBERT E. CAPT. #2 HOME COURT, UNIT STAMFORD, CT 06902 203-348-7260
(JAN - APR)
(MARTHA)
(S) FRIEDRICH, DIETER MR. 1405 VEGAS VALLEY DRIVE, #278 LAS VEGAS, NV 89109
(R) HASTINGS, HAL T. " ACE " 118 W . CANDY STREET DENISON, TX 75020
(MARJO RIE) (NOV-APR)
(ELLIE)
CAPT.
(R) JEKEL, H. LEE CAPT. (MARGARET ANN) SALMON POINT RESORT CAMPBELL RIVER BC V9W3S4 (MAY 1-AUG 31) CANADA 604-923-6605
88
ADDRESS CHANGES...................... (Read Across) 11-25-1986
(R) JEKEL, H. LEE R.T.R. 5097 CORNING, CA 916-585-2221
CAPT.
' BUD ' FIR (R ) KAPPLER, BERNARD J. 'LES MARES'-LECHESNE 27160 PAR BRETEVIL-SUR-ITON (APR-SEP) FRANCE
(MARGARET ANN)
96021
(SEP 1-APR 30)
(R) KAPPLER, BERNARD J. F/E 980 HICKORY TRAIL W. PALM BEACH, FL 33414 305-793-7046
(NICOLE)
(NICOLE)
CAPT. (BRIGETTE) (R) KEELE , LYMAN V. FLYING " K ' RANCH P.O. BOX 1400 MERCEDES, TX 78570 (0)512-541-9557 (8)512-565-2015
(OCT-MAY
CAPT. (KATHRYN) (E) KNUDSEN, ALVIN R. 5001 E. APACHE TRAIL, #439 MESA,AY 85205 (DEC-MAR) 602-32-1172
(R) LARSON, ROBERT M. CAPT. 513 CURTIN LANE SONOMA, CA 95476-6441 707-996-9185
(R) LEBRRCHT, CHARLES E. F/E 1019 HICKORY ROAD OCALA, FL 32672 904-687-4859
(R) LOOMIS, R. C. ' DICK " CAPT. 475 VISTA DEL ROBLES ARROYO GRANDE, CA 93420 805-481-7370
(JERRI)
(ELLA)
(JAN)
(A) LOWE, Jr., SIMEON D. CAPT. (OLLIE) 505 LAKE HAVASU LANE BOULDER CITY, NV 89005-1051
(R) LYTLE, NEAL A. CAPT. (MONIQUE) 4 DOGWOOD COURTOUSE PL. SAPPHIRE, NC NC 28774 704-743-5115
(R) MARTIN, EDWARD J. CAPT. 5149 CRIBARI PLACE SAN JOSE, CA 95135 408-238-1181
(R) MAYNARD, CHARLES W. CAPT. 5600 DEER RUN DRIVE FORT PIERCE FL 33451 305-466-7209
(R) NICHOLS, HORACE E. P.O. BOX 16 SILVER STAR, MT 406-684-5531
"
NICK "
(FRANCI)
CAPT.
(R) NICHOLS, HORACE E. 949 KEYS DRIVE BOULDER CITY, NV 702-293-7421
(PAT)
59751
(MAY-NOV)
CAPT. (SALLY) (R) REYHER, CHARLES R. 2121 GULF SHORE BLVD NORTH, APT 508 NAPLES, FL 33940
NICK " CAPT. 89005
(PAT) NOV(
CAPT. (R ) SCAHILL, JAMES P. 14519 ENCANTADO NE ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87111
813-262-5657
(A) STRIGHT, TRACY M. F/E P.Q. BOX 3114 SONORA, CA 95370 209-533-0779
"
(CORINNE)
505-298-7961
(GEORGIANA)
(R) STUESSI, B. KEITH CAPT. 5319 BETHEL -"D " LAS VEGAS, NV 89119
89
(LOUISE)
ADDRESS CHANGES ................................................. (Read Across) 01-25-1986
(H) STUHMER, MARTHA C. MRS.. 3946 WENDY LANE RALEIGH, NC 27606
(DON)
(R) STURTEVANT, HENRY T. CAPT. 8100 134 E. CAMELBACK ROAD SCOTTSDALE, AZ 702-831-6320
919-851-0904
(R ) TISE0 , Jr., CHARLES RT #2, B01 38 SUMMERLAND KEY, FL
CAPT.
(TONI)
85251
(A) WHITAKER, LEWIS W. CAPT. 10 ROLLING RIDGE MONROE, CT 06468-2638
33042-2375
305-745-2519
203-762-3741
(R) WINTERS, JOHN R. CAPT. (PAT) 1236 BLOOMINGTON DR, SOUTH ST. GEORGE, UT 84770
(R ) YOUNG, JAMES R. RR #4, BOX 4B GORHAM,WN, ME 207-829-3600
(ADRIENNE)
F/8
(R) YOUNCE , RUSSELL C. CAPT. 12837 S.E. PINEHURST COURT HOBE SOUND, FL 33455 305-546-8380
(HELEN)
04038
90
(JEAN)
SECRETARY'S MESSAGE
January 24, 1986 The four weeks following the mailing of the December TOPICS kept this elderly person really hopping. Jean and I did not get our Christmas greetings mailed until the second week of January. Thank goodness, incoming mail has slowed down the past week allowing attention to normal household chores and a good night's sleep. The response to the dues request and the UPDATE form has been overwhelming. I want to thank those of you who included nice little notes as well as those who included disrespectful remarks directed towards their former mentor. I've had a lotta laughs and many, many fond memories recalled while updating the records. Speaking of records, the UPDATE form has resulted in quite a few changes. Some men have been carried as (A) Active for years and, as mentioned in previous reports, were known to be too old even to kick the tires. Totals as of this early date show (R) Retired at 915; (A) Associate at 237; (E) Eagles at 79 and (H) Honorary at 94. Since the last issue of TOPICS, TARPA has gained 35 new members as set forth elsewhere in this issue. The centralized computer program seems to be working just fine. The biggest, job is entering the data (correctly) and, with the UPDATE forms coming in, will keep this fella busy for quite some time. Once entered, the data is easily recovered. The Secretary gave up on using his outdated dot-matrix printer and is now using TARPA ' s new Near Letter Quality printer (Epson LQ-1000) for output. Take a look at the pages reserved for address changes and new members and note the change in format that is planned for the next Directory. Note that one should read ACROSS to maintain alphabetical order. I would appreciate your comments on readabilty and ease of use. To present the Directory in " phonebook " format (as in the past) and continue to provide easy sort for Humble ' s mail labels would have cost TARPA approximately $500 plus additional programming costs. This tedious task is now eased using a program that cost TARPA $40.00. This program provides all the necessary data and gives A. T . unbelievable sort capability. IF YOU HAVEN ' T MAILED YOUR " UPDATE FORM " OR YOUR DUES, DO IT TODAY. I need the UPDATE information to make the program work. Please remember, dues checks and address changes should go to the Secretary and do include any comments you wish to make regarding the proposed format for the Directory.
Secretary to TARPA
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TRAP AND SKEET: Earl Heinrich has made arrangements at a club in St. Louis County If you have not already made reservations with him, please do so. Guns are available at the club. BRIDGE:
Please indicate on the General Questionnaire if you desire to play bridge
LADIES ' ENTERTAINMENT OR POSSIBLE LUNCHEON: Alice Miller is planning this program , and plans are incomplete at this time. It will probably be Thursday. Ladies, please indicate your interest in this event on the General Questionnaire. VOLUNTEERS are needed for the registration desk and the hospitality room. Please indicate, on the General Questionnaire, your willingness to serve. . .
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TRAP AND SKEET: Mail to - Capt. Earl Heinrich 34 Amherst Drive Massapequa NY 11758 Earl, please schedule me for the shooting.
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Forwarding & Return Postage Guaranteed
Address Correction Requested
Capt. Joe McCombs TARPA Secretary 6977 S. Everest Lane Evergreen, CO 80439 Bulk Rate U.S. POSTAGE PAID Belhaven, NC 27810 Permit No. 49