2005.11.TARPA_TOPICS

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CONTENTS TARPA TOPICS THE MAGAZINE OF THE TWA ACTIVE RETIRED PILOTS ASSOCIATION

FEATURES:

DEPARTMENTS: PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

TRAINS, PLANES

by Jeff Hill

25

HISTORY REVISITED

by Bob Dedman

Charles Wilder

EDITOR’S NOTE 27

Ed Madigan

30

LONG & SHORT

by Jeff Hill

4

John P. Gratz

SECRETARY/TREASURER 5

MASTER PILOT AWARD

by C.W. “Skip� Gatschet

33

FLOWN WEST

37

GRAPEVINE

65

Gene Richards

THE AVIATOR

by Michael Larkin

52

DEVIL IN DETAILS

by Robert W. Allardyce & Howard Mann

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TO GET THE JOB DONE

by Arthur Uno Ruhanen

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ONA GIESCHEN SHARES

by Ona Gieshen

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Material contained in TARPA Topics may be used by non-profit or charitable organizations. All other use of material must be by permission of the Editor. All inquires concerning the is publication should be addressed to : John P. Gratz, Editor TARPA TOPICS 1646 Timberlake Manor Parkway Chesterfield, MO 63017 TOPICS is an official publication of TARPA, a non-profit corporation. The Editor bears no responsibility for accuracy or unauthorized use of contents.

PAGE 1 ... TARPA TOPICS

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Front Cover: Jeff Hill Back Cover: Roger Martin, RC Printing.

EDITOR

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

GRAPEVINE EDITOR

HISTORIAN

FLOWN WEST COORDINATOR

INTERNET WEBMASTER

TARPA TOURS COORDINATOR

John P. Gratz 1646 Timberlake Manor Pkwy Chesterfield, MO 63017-5500 (636) 532-8317 jpgratz@charter.net David R. Gratz 1034 Carroll St. Louis, MO 63104 (314) 241-9353 drgratz@swbell.net Gene Richards 2840B Sherwood Ave Modesto, CA 95350 (209) 492-0391 gene_richards@pacbell.net Felix M. Usis III 1276 Belvoir Lane Virginia Beach, VA 23464-6746 (757) 420-5445 fusis1@cox.net John S. Bybee 2616 Saklan Indian Drive #1 Walnut Creek, CA 94595 (925)938-3492 jbybee4@comcast.net Jack Irwin 2466 White Stable Road Town and Country, MO 63131 (314) 432-3272 jack@smilinjack.com Jean Thompson 63 Birdsong Way Apt115 Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29926 (863) 681-6451 jetslandin@adelphia.net

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS, 2003 - 2004 PRESIDENT

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT

SECRETARY/TREASURER

SENIOR DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR

INTERNET WEBMASTER

PAST-PRESIDENT

EDITOR

Charles L. Wilder 122 Wild Dunes Way Jackson, NJ 08527-4058 (732) 833-2205 clwilder@optonline.net Guy A. Fortier Box 6065 Incline Village, NV 89450 (775) 831-3040 guy4ta@msn.com William A. Kirschner Box 3596 State Line, NV 89449-3596 (775) 588-4223 shooter1@compuserve.com Ed Madigan P.O. Box3565 Incline Village, NV 89540 (775) 831-1265 edmadigan@charter.net Robert C. Sherman 1201 Phelps Ave. San Jose, CA 95117 (408) 246-7754 rcsherm@sbcglobal.net Rockney Dollarhide #1Riverside Farm Dr. Crescent, MO 63025 (636) 938-4727 rockney@charter.net William Kientz 14981 Chateau Village Chesterfield, MO 63017-7701 (636) 391-5454 wkientz@sbcglobal.net Jack Irwin 2466 White Stable Rd. Town and Country, MO 63131 (314) 432-3272 jack@smilinjack.com Robert W. Dedman 3728 Lynfield Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23452 (757) 463-2032 rwded@cox.net John P. Gratz 1646 Timberlake Manor Pkwy Chesterfield, MO 63017-5500 (636) 532-8317 jpgratz@charter.net

PAGE 2 ... TARPA TOPICS

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The 2005 convention in Philadelphia turned out to be a smashing success. Our only disappointment was that so many of you did not attend. The comments I received from those who attended were all positive; many could not believe how much Philadelphia has improved over the past 10-20 years and how much the city has to offer.

Next, to San Francisco we go – Fisherman’s Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, superb dining, wine tasting, etc. Again, the city has so much to offer; we cannot plan to do it all, but will include as much as time permits. The scheduled dates are September 22-25, 2006, so please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

As I have said before, the very lifeblood of this organization lies in the annual convention and this publication, “TARPA TOPICS.” John Gratz continues to do an excellent job with this publication; it is in good hands. But the promotion of our convention is shared by many. I chaired the Philadelphia convention and had the help of my wife and committee members, Mario and Rosemarie Nicolais, Marty and Barbara Sailer and Joe Gallagher, all of whom did a great job.

Others who assisted greatly were Bob Dedman, Didi Young, Leslie Locke, Stu Nelson and others in the hospitality room; Joe Hitzel, Jim Schmitt, Jean Thompson, Tom Kennedy and others as “hosts” to direct the crowds into the tour buses; and Rich Weiler who filled in at the Registration Desk.

Two people deserve special commendations, Ed Madigan, our Treasurer, and Vicki McGowen, convention coordinator. Ed, as our money man, was always on the mark and pitched in helping in numerous other ways. He was always there when I needed assistance. Vicki handled the convention superbly; the few glitches which occurred were taken care of quickly and efficiently.

What we need now is new members. With our numbers dwindling due to attrition, we need to invite our eligible friends and acquaintances to join our ranks. The holiday season gives us an excellent opportunity to send a card and promote TARPA and our conventions.

Some time ago, we put our directory on our website. Now, we depend upon you to keep your information current. Just pull up your name, click “edit,” make the necessary changes and then hit “save” at the bottom of the screen.

Remember, SAN FRANCISCO IN 2006!

PAGE 3 ... TARPA TOPICS

EDITOR’S NOTE We are pleased to offer a wide variety of entertaining and informative articles in this, the last issue of 2005. We recap the Philadelphia Convention with pictures and words. Bob Dedman offers a review of all the events with words. Dusty West provides most of the pictures. It was a stellar gathering that will long be remembered by those in attendance.

The picture on our cover is to honor Jeff Hill for his tireless efforts in producing a system for copying every single issue of TARPA TOPICS cover to cover from its inception in 1982 until the latest in 2005. It was many months ago that he suggested that we look into the possibilities of such an undertaking until in the end; Jeff just rolled up his sleeves and started scanning the thousands of pages published in those twenty-three years. We salute him, for all his work, and we hope that all TARPA Members and all TWAers will want one of these CD anthologies of TWA memories. Jeff’s CD is a real treasure trove of our history. There are things in it that will be remembered by some, but like Jeff said, there are things that many members have never seen. A full description of these CDs and complete ordering details follow in this issue.

You will also find two articles of significance regarding our history in this issue. The first one is by Ona Gieschen, a frequent TOPICS contributor. She recounts her interview with two of our veteran crewmembers some years ago. It is a report of that first Constellation flight from Burbank to Washington National in 1944, and is an inside look at the doings of the most famous characters in the early days of TWA, Howard Hughes and Jack Frye. .

The second story of note is about a more recent event in TWA history as we reprint the article about the TWA Flight 800 tragedy from the Airways Magazine Classics edition, “Remembering That Wonderful Airline” TWA, by TARPA Members Bob Allardyce and Howard Mann. Theirs is a very comprehensive analysis that provides a persuasive alternative to the official NTSB final report.

At our request, another TARPA Member, Skip Gatschet, has written about his career as a pilot.

We made that request upon learning that he was the second TARPA Member who had received the FAA Wright Brothers Master Airman Award for his fifty years of safe flying. He was moved to apply for it by Don Peters’ article in TOPICS. It seems that Skip’s parents, who were true flying pioneers, introduced him to the wonders of flight at an early age. His years of flying and variety of experiences make for a fascinating story.

In addition to his work on the TOPICS CD, Jeff Hill sent two interesting articles. One is about his take on different types of trips that he flew for TWA, and the other is a recap of his latest train trip with wife Sharon and six friends to the Philadelphia Convention via Washington, D.C. It was a real adventure. We also have another poem by Mike Larkin.

Photos in this issue of TOPICS courtesy of : Nick Carter, Editor,Jeff Hill, Marty Sailer and Dusty West PAGE 4 ... TARPA TOPICS

SECRETARY/TREASURER REPORT October 10, 2005 As of September 30, 2005, the membership is as follows: (R) Retired: (A) Active: (E) Eagle: (H) Honorary: TOTAL:

858 61 530 174 1,623

There are also 45 subscribers to Topics and 10 who receive complimentary copies. We have added 11 new members since the last Topics. They are listed later in this issue.

Following is the financial report for the period from January 1, 2005 thru September 30, 2005: 1/1/2005: Opening Balance Income Expenses Cash Flow

$66,748.73 $59,487.91 $46,193.93 $13,293.98

Balance 09/30/2005:

$80,042.71

We still have a number of members who have not sent in their 2005 dues. Please check the label on your envelope. If it indicates 2004, please send in your dues to remain current.

We have eleven new members, but would like a lot more. Please mention to your TWA pilot friends that we would like them to join us in future events. They can contact me or go on the web site at www.tarpa.com to get an application.

At our recent successful convention in Philadelphia the board elected to donate the proceeds from the “Connie” raffle to the Airline History Museum to support the “Save a Connie” fund. I am happy to report that we will be sending them a check in the amount of $1,420.00. Thank you to all who donated and also to all that attended the convention.

Mark your calendars for our next year’s convention that will be held at the spectacular Westin-St. Francis in San Francisco, September 22nd thru the 25th.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ed Madigan PAGE 5 ... TARPA TOPICS

TARPA BOARD MEETING 9/26/2005 PHL CONVENTION ATTENDEES:

PRESIDENT FIRST VP 2 ND VP SEC/TRES. EDITOR INS/RET GUEST

CHARLEY WILDER GUY FORTIER BILL KIRSCHNER ED MADIGAN JOHN GRATZ BOB SHERMAN HERB WHEELER

1500 The meeting was called to order promptly at 1500 by Pres. Wilder in the WM. PENN board room of the Hyatt Regency at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.

1504 Bob Dedman gave a briefing on the status of the hospitality suite and set up.

1508 Presidents report: There are approximately 135 attendees for the present PHL convention.

Discussion ensued about the 2006 convention at the Weston St. Francis in SFO and possible suggestions too increase attendance. Guy Fortier suggested that the TOPICS be used as the media to increase attendance using pictures on the front cover of the two issues of TOPICS prior each convention. Guest Herb Wheeler, who was past treasurer of the Reno convention, seconded the notion of how that helped increase the attendance at that convention.

Guy Fortier stated as how most the TWA buildings of memory are now gone and suggested we not do a convention in MKC, and suggested either a convention in Branson MO. or a cruise out of LAX for 2007 to the Mexican Reverie . The board agreed that a cruise seemed like the best choice at this time.

1522 Suggestions were requested on how to have locals stay at the convention hotels to help with the hotel guarantee that is required for each convention hotel. President Wilder is going to write an article about the “Atomy of a Convention” as a way of explaining to the membership just what it takes to put a convention on and the reason why we need local participation besides outof-towners.

A motion was made by Ed Madigan and seconded by Bill Kirschner for a 2007 cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Voted on and passed unanimously. Vicki McGowan to be contacted to check on the finer details.

Discussion was held on how to get LAX pilots to attend these events. Bill Kirschner said he will contact two principals involved in LAX functions, Captain’s Steve Lenoard and Johnny D about LAX pilots support for a cruise from Long Beach.

1541 An excellent financial report was given by Treasurer Ed Madigan. He pointed out several ways to save money from erroneous mailing of TOPICS and cutting costs which would save about 6-8k a year. A list of deceased, honorary and spurious mailings was introduced. John Gratz will look at the list and separate the ones that are needed. A round of applause was given to Ed for his hard work.

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1547 Bob Sherman had a short briefing on Harry Jacobson and possibility of illness.

1549 John Gratz produced the Editors report regarding a new printer for TOPICS. John also brought up the subject of Web Master Jack Irwin and the TARPA web site. A long discussion about the intricacies of a Web Master ensued. John will talk to Jack about a more timely response and updating of the web site.

Guy will check on web master position involvement and stay in touch by E mail.

1610 The Airline History Museum was discussed by all members. A motion was made by Bill Kirschner that the proceeds from the raffle of the oil painting by Capt. John Pettijohn of a Connie in flight be donated to The Airline History Museum. The picture was donated by Captain Clancy Greens widow.

1615 A web site regarding a free airport directory was given by John Gratz at ww.xcpilot.com by Kevin Mackensie plus a link to furloughed pilots as www.twanetwork.com by Dave Vinnedge.

1618 President Wilder had some suggestions for By-Law changes.

1. Money surplus from conventions to applied to future conventions.

2. To obtain a quorum for future TARPA board meetings, the president be allowed to authorize a full fare airline ticket to for an individual that cannot get to the meeting space available.

3. Delete mention of the now defunct RAPA from By-Laws.

Unanimously, approved by the board.

1622 Captain Cathards request to have non TWA pilots allowed to be come members of TARPA. A motion was made by Guy and approved by the boardto take no action at this time. President Wilder will write a letter of explanation.

1628 Jeff Hill has put together all past TARPA Topics on DVD’s. Should they be sold by TARPA? It is under discussion and there will be a follow up.

1635 Motion to adjourn was made by Bill Kirschner and 2nd by Ed Madigan.

Meeting was adjourned at this time.

PAGE 7 ... TARPA TOPICS

TARPA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 9/29/2005 PHL CONVENTION ATTENDEES:

PRESIDENT FIRST VP 2 ND VP SEC/TRES. TOPICS EDITOR SENIOR DR HOSP HOST 06 CNV CHAIR

CHARLIE WILDER GUY FORTIER BILL KIRSCHNER ED MADIGAN JOHN GRATZ BOB SHERMAN BOB DEDMAN TOM STANDIFUR

0800 The meeting opened by Pres. Wilder.

0801 Pres. Wilder made a request of the membership at large to eliminate the reference to RAPA be eliminated from the TARPA by laws and was passed unanimously.

0802 Pledge of Allegiance.

0804 Pres. Wilder mentioned the raffle for the Airline History Museum of the oil painting by Capt. John Pettijohn to contribute to the fund to replace the damaged engine which occurred recently. The proceeds are to be donated to The Airline History Museum.

0807 Senior Director Bob Sherman read the list of 68 pilots that had flown west in the past year, followed by a moment of silence.

0815 Pres. Wilder’s welcome message mentioned the low turn out for this year’s convention.

He told the membership about next years SFO convention at the St. Francis Weston and the contract signed just before he signed one with the Hyatt. This is a much better hotel.

0818 The 2006 convention chairman, Tom Stadifur, gave a briefing on the hotel and some thoughts on tours. He requested suggestions from the membership to be sent to him by E- mail.

0824 Pres. Wilder recognized and thanked and the Board of Directors plus all who had helped with the convention, including Vicki McGowen, the convention Committee, Bob Dedman, Didi Young and several others.

0830 First VP Guy Fortier mentioned the flown west list and how it is growing each year. He also spoke of a list of pilots he obtained from Verge Hoffman/MKC regarding TARPA members with the purpose of trying to get some of them to join TARPA. 0835 Second VP Bill Kirschner told the membership about the 2007 cruise to Mexican Riviera and a request from LAX members Johnny D and Steve Leonard to help with participation from that area in regards to TARPA functions. They both said they would be glad to help and their response was positive.

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0837 Ed Madigan gave his good news treasures report and was applauded for his excellent work.

A few problems were identified. There are only 136 ‘05 attendees where 200 weree x p e c t e d .

Therefore this convention will sustain a loss but will be covered by overages from o t h e r conventions.

Ed also brought the membership up to date on 507 honorary member’s out of date list of names and had the list reduced to 166, which will save a considerable amount of money. 142 did not wish to continue receiving the TOPICS. Contact Ed for passwords and address changes.

0842 John Gratz asked that small stories be sent Gene for publication in the Grape Vine. He also requested longer stories for publication. He also reminded everyone to be sure a family member contacts American Airlines in the event of death for insurance purposes.

He does not write obituaries and requested short obits from family members or friends for publication in TOPICS. He mentioned the Web Master problem and complimented Jeff Hill on his year’s long work on getting all past copies of TOPICS on a DVD. Jeff received a loud round of applause for his hard work. TARPA plans to sell the DVD’s as a fund raiser.

0851 The hospitality host Bob Dedman mentioned why tips were necessary to pay for liquor at the suite.

0853 There was a question from the floor about insurance from Ken Fairchild. Bob Sherman explained that retirees after 1967 had a degradation life insurance policy that came down so much a year until it reached 20K and remained there for life. Before 1967 it came down to 10K. That is why it is important to contact American as soon as the death occurs.

Bill Kirschner suggested that everyone check to make sure they had medical coverage from AA. In many cases, during the switch over from AA to Ceridian many policies were dropped in error due to mistakes by one company or the other.

0901 Old business: Money for furloughed pilots that want to belong to TARPA is still there and so far we have had no requests for the funds.

0905 Lucy from the PHL Convention Bureau was introduced and applauded for her help for this convention.

0907 Gene Frank was granted some time explain about the A Plan defense fund and where it is in the court system. He explained that their best shot was a suit to force the PBGC to carry out their legislated function. He thinks that there is a good possibility for a winning situation.

0915 Jim Schmidt is considering accepting the position of Tour Chairman from Jean Thompson.

PAGE 9 ... TARPA TOPICS

0917 Election of officers: The slate for this years TARPA Board of directors was given to the membership by Al Mundo. It was voted on and passed unanimously. The officers are the same as the prior year: PRESIDENT FIRST VP 2 ND VP SEC/TRES. EDITOR SENIOR DR DIRECTOR DIRECTOR

CHARLIE WILDER GUY FORTIER BILL KIRSCHNER ED MADIGAN JOHN GRATZ BOB SHERMAN BILL KIENTZ RODNEY DOLLARHIDE

0918 Pres. Wilder mentioned and thanked the Community America CU for the $3500 donation to help put on this convention. A round of applause was given and Captain Marty Zygmund, an Ozark, TWA and now American pilot, thanked us for the appreciation. He is on the Board of Directors of Community America CU. Marty stated he did not know there was three different ways to fly an airplane!

0925 Captain Zygmund was also introduced for the DAP briefing and the formal meeting was disbanded for those who were not involved in the DAP. 0951 Captain Zygmund finished his DAP briefing and the business meeting ended.

Submitted 1440 9/29/05 by 2nd VP Bill Kirschner

PAGE 10 ... TARPA TOPICS

New Members E.E. “Bud” Wolfe (Helen) 8724 E. Weldon Ave. Scottsdale, AZ 85251-5067 hlhwolfe@cox.net

Robert M. Mansfield 69 E. Benrich DR. Gilbert, AZ 85296 sirusman@aol.com

Morton N. Boggs (Judy) 205 Gwynn Rd. Hangar#11 Lebanon, TN 37090 85412@aol.com

James J. Lawlor (Patricia Ann) 4008 Cimarron Lee’s Summit, MO 64064 pattwin@aol.com

George T. Alexander (Mary Jane) 1606 Chalmers Dr. Chesterfield, MO 63017-5615 gtalex@charter.net

Reed A. Smalley (Judith) 9003 W 104 Terrace Overland Park, KS 66212

George E Rudberg (Rosemarie) 609 Lido Dr. Boulder City, NV 89005 E. Keith Coffin (Mona) 20900 Whispering Dr. Lenexa, KS 66220 kcoff33@aol.com

Don Salmonson (Trudy) P.O. Box 88 South Bend, NE 68058 Mark Germann (Sidonia) 20178 N. Raum P.O. BOX 97 Lawson, MO 64062

Robert Laux (Joan) 219 Harvest Rd. Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 Laux.r@att.net

PAGE 11 ... TARPA TOPICS

Philadelphia Convention Attendees

Anderson, James L. (Chris) Berger, Jim Billie, L. Clark (Marlene) Chichester, Stanley R. (Kay) Colling, Edwin L. (Catherine) Cushing, Charles W. (Patsy) Dedman, Robert W. Ilse Degler, Kenneth R. (Ruth Ann) Dixon, Robert E. (Kay) Evans, Diana Evans, Jr., Floyd L. (Kate) Fairchild, Ken (Margaret Ann) Forsyth, Robert W. (Karen) Fortier, Guy A. (Joann) Fortin, Richard G. (Beth) Frank, Gene (Mary) Gallagher, Jr, Joseph V. (Elaine Dermody) Grant, Joseph W. (Marga) Gratz, John P. (Patricia) Gursky, Bob Carol Haase, David Hall, Larry (Nancy) Hanlin, Robert L. (Lynn) Hill, Sr, Jeffry J. (Sharon) Hitzel, Joseph M. (Georgeann) Hoffman, Roland R. (Sharon) Hofmeister, Howard F. (Colleen) Hooper, Jacqueline A. Hoppe, T. L. Dinah Kidd, John R. (Rae) Kirschner, William A. Sam Mosely Larson, David L. (Nanci) Levitt, Robert Locke, Leslie Ludwig, Hunter Madigan, Ed Susy Meyer, Ernest R. (Gay) Miller, Harold N. (Doris) Montemurro, Frank (Sandi Badash) Mosely, Rufus (Marilyn)

Mundo, Albert J. (Jeanne) Murchan, Lawrence A. (Betty) Nelson, Stuart F. (Arlene) Nicolais, Mario A. (Rosemarie) Nixon, Arlie J. Olliver, Ephe A. (Bonnie) Peters, Donald W. (Nancy) Pilot, Gerald N. (Jean) Rager, Betty Ruhanen, Arthur U. (Estella Hoey) Saaks, David (Rhonda) Sailer, Jr., Martin W. (Barbara) Salmonson (Walker), (Anita) Juddy Little Scanlan, Gerard P. (Marlene) Schmitt, James A. (Carole Mancini) Schulz, Robert J. (Patricia) Sherman, Robert C. (Alice) Snavely, Orren L. (Marilyn) Sobel, Martin (Rose) Standifur, Tom A. (Jeanne) Stevens, William (Shirley) Stimmel, Manfred H (Petra) Stock, Walter A. (Albers, Joan) Thompson, Jean Van Zandt, H. O. (Petra) Weiler, Richard A. Marjorie West, S. R. (Lee) Wheeler, Herbert K. (Donna) Wilder, Charles L. (Helen) Wilmot, John L. (Stella) Woodruff, Henry S. Henry S. Young, (Didi) Zimmerman, Luther D. (Dolores) Schmidt, Roger W. Boggs, Morton N. (Judy) Heck, David W. (Margaret) Sauers, William F. (Marilyn) Becker, Norbert Hackett, Charlie J.

PAGE 12 ... TARPA TOPICS

THE TARPA TOPICS ARCHIVES ON CD-ROM There has been a lot written about TWA, and most of it is very good. But there hasn’t been a great deal written about T W A employees – we “grunts in the trenches”.

Fortunately for TWA Flight Crews, a great deal has been written and it all can be found in the 7000 some odd pages of TARPA TOPICS . They are loaded with histories, biographies, obituaries, anecdotes and lots of just plain chatter – but it is chatter about people you knew or know! This collection is a gold mine. The articles by Ed Betts, for example, are a great TWA history from an insider’s perspective; well researched and well written with a lot of attention to detail and the mentioning of many names you will recognize. The TARPA TOPICS archives are interesting, entertaining and useful for former TWA Flight Crew Members, their descendents and anyone else wishing to read about or do research on us.

TARPA TOPICS is the vehicle that preserves the legacy of TWA Flight Crew Members and being one of them, I wanted to do something that I thought was important to the survival of the TARPA TOPICS archives; convert them to a digital format and disseminate them as widely as possible. A big bonus in converting the (un-indexed) TOPICS issues to the Adobe Acrobat format is that the thousands of pages are now fully searchable.

In checking with companies that do this sort of “digitalization” I found little interest as the profit potential is just not there (because we are such a small group). To hire the work done at $1.50/page was pretty much out of the question. I decided to give it a try myself and found that, although it certainly was a tedious and time consuming job, it could be done. I feel it is worth the year it took to accomplish.

The TOPICS issues were scanned into an Optical Character Reader (OCR) computer program called OmniPage Pro 14 by ScanSoft, Inc. OmniPage “takes a look” at a scanned document and decides (often with a little help) whether it is a graphic image or text, or a combination of the two. Graphic images (photos, art work, etc.) are retained unaltered and are a true representation of the original, just as a photocopy would be. Text, on the other hand, is “recognized” by comparing each character to the program’s print character data base. For example, it would determine that the “S ”, at the left, was a collection of dots that matches the character in the data base, which is the Letter “S” in the Times New Roman font, size 24 points, in boldface. Having recognized the text, it can now save it to a text file in programs like, Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) etc. It is important to remember that the text reproduced is not a “true copy” of the original, but rather a “translation” .

All files on the CD are Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your computer, you can download it (free) by going to the Adobe web site: www.adobe.com .

Most pages were scanned at a resolution of 300 dots per inch (90,000 dots per square inch) so images can be enlarged considerably before quality deteriorates. It is important to remember that although the graphic images are true to the original, just as a photocopy would be, the text is a “translation” and may not be true to the original copy with regard to exact font type and size, italicizing, underlining and paragraph and page formatting. The OCR program is easily confused if the original copy is not a clear, high contrast specimen, which many times was not the case. Similar characters, for example, “c” ”e” and “o” are sometimes confused with each other and combined letters, like, “rn” (“r” and “n”) may be misread as an “m”, etc. The program often has trouble with numbers and sometimes will mistakenly make them subscript or superscript when they are neither. Because of all this, every page must be proofread and some of these errors are very time consuming to fix as they often require retyping and/or reformatting. I overlooked many minor errors where meaning was not compromised and the “fix” was complicated. The OCR program cannot “read” script, fancy fonts, hand writing, or most copy from dot matrix printers. When I ran into this problem (seniority lists are a good example) I usually made the item in question a

graphic image. Since a graphic image of text is not searchable, I often inserted identifying notes which are searchable. These notes are indicated by black type on a yellow highlighting.

So, if you encounter some odd formatting, strange characters or inappropriate superscript, don’t blame former TOPICS editors, they may well be OCR errors. If you are doing research and must have an exact copy, consult the original and if this is not possible, contact me – I probably have the original page image (the scan before OCR is performed).

PAGE 13 ... TARPA TOPICS

I corrected many “typos” during proof reading if I could be certain they were unintended. I also inserted spaces where necessary to make the text more easily searchable. It was quite common to omit spaces where there was punctuation, such as in: “A.T.Humbles”. When this is done, a search engine will think “A.T.Humbles” is all one word, not two initials and a last name. Be aware of this when searching and if you are not getting the results you expect, try alternate spellings and punctuation. Finally, there are many “non-dictionary” words that I left alone as they are so commonly used in airline jargon. Examples are: enroute, tailwheel, navkit, crewsked, etc. I apologize for the many OCR errors I undoubtedly missed. Due to the large number of pages, a quick scan, rather than a word by word style of proof reading was necessary.

TARPA was formed in 1979. The first newsletters were just a few mimeographed pages dealing mostly with the “B Plan” and other retiree concerns. 1982 was the first year that TARPA TOPICS, as we know it now, appeared.

There were four issues per year (except 1986?) until 1995. From 1995 to the present, there have been three issues per year; March, July and November.

I would like to thank John Gratz, Norm Lehocky and Bob Sherman for lending me the TOPICS Issues I do not have for scanning. Also, thanks to Ginny Domski, without her help in scanning, I don’t think I could have made it to the completion of the project.

You will enjoy reading, re-reading and searching TARPA TOPICS. Most of the names will be familiar to former TWAers. Readers will be reminded, or learn, that we were once indeed, THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS! Capt. Jeff Hill, Sr. (TWA 1964-1997) 9610 Hidden Lane Woodstock, IL 60098 JEFFRYHILL@EARTHLINK.NET TO ORDER YOUR TARPA TOPICS ARCHIVES ON CD-ROM Send a check or money order for $29.95 plus $4.00 for shipping to the above address. Illinois residents add 6.5%.

Sorry, we are not yet set up for internet or credit card sales – working on it.

TARPA OWNS THE COPYRIGHT AND RECEIVES ALL PROFITS, PLEASE DON’T BOOTLEG

MAIL YOUR ORDER TO: TARPA C/O Jeff Hill 9610 Hidden Lane Woodstock, IL 60098 Make checks payable to: TARPA TOPICS CD. Available Nov. 15, 2005 Please fill out this mailing label, clip and send with your order, thanks.

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Class 68-3 January 19, 1968 by Marty Sailer I have been in touch with several of my initial training classmates before and after my retirement and we had talked about getting together. My wife, Barbara and I attended our first TARPA Convention, which was the Cruise out of New Orleans in November 2004. The cruise started me thinking about having a class reunion at the next Convention in Philadelphia so I contacted Larry Hall and we were successful contacting 11 out of our class of 12 pilots. We had 9 members make it to Philadelphia, however Dave Heck had to return home after the first night due to his wife’s recent knee surgery.

The enclosed pictures were taken at the City Tavern where we enjoyed a “taste” of the past for our reunion dinner. The Tavern is in the center of Old Town and was originally constructed in 1773. It was the unofficial meeting place for the First Continental Congress. The food and dress were from that period.

We enjoyed reminiscing about the 30+ years with TWA and there is talk of a repeat performance at the next convention in SFO in September 06.

City Tavern L to R Nor Becker, Marty Sailer, Larry Hall, Hunter Ludwig, Bob Schulz, Jack Haag, Tom Quigley, Charlie Hackett.

TARPA Convention Ctr L to R Larry Hall, Charlie Hackett, Dave Heck, Marty Sailer, Hunter Ludwig, Bob Schulz, Nor Becker.

L to R Janice Quigley, Nancy Hall, Pat Schulz, Barbara Sailer.

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Captain Nick Carter Retires Captain Nick Carter longtime TWA Captain, and son of TWA Captain Dean Carter, retired from American Airlines June 9, 2005 after a final flight from Honolulu, Hawaii. As he drove into the driveway of his home, he was surprised by a motley crew who gave him the “traditional” garden hose water salute. Those on hand for the celebration are in the picture here from left to right; Dan Stonecipher, Denny Cox, Nick Carter, Ernie Kirshtner, and Charles “Black Dog” Davis. The “Dog” broke out his uniform for the first time since his retirement in 1979!

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TRAINS & PLANES by Jeff Hill, Sr. I love trains. Had I been born a generation earlier, I probably would have aspired to become a locomotive engineer. There’s a little railroading in my blood. My Dad’s Dad worked for the original Wisconsin Central and the Canadian Northern (later Canadian National) about 1910 – 1940 during the “Golden Age of railroading”, the mid 19th to mid 20th Century. Just about any of us can find an ancestor who worked for a railroad during that era, just as one can as easily locate an airline employee in the current era.

For my 55th birthday, Sharon and the boys bought me an “Engineer for an Hour” fantasy at the IL RR Museum at Union IL. It was an “hour of dual” on their former Frisco 1630, a Mikado built ca. 1917 for the Trans Siberian RR but unfortunately, the Tzar was unable to take delivery and it went to the Frisco instead. It was a lot like my first flying lesson; I’d push this, pull this, and turn this half way, without having the foggiest idea of what I was actually doing. But it was a double kick in the butt, because that day Rob McGonigal of Trains Magazine was doing a story on the subject that appeared in the June 1997 issue. Son Jeff, Jr. video taped it from the tender and I watch that every now and again. I love trains.

That’s why, as pathetic as long distance passenger rail service has become in the U.S., I’ll still hop a train now and then, anyhow.

If you want to turn back the clock and experience the elegance of rail travel in the Golden Age, try the American Orient Express. Sharon and I took it from Los Angeles to Seattle (seven days) three years ago. It was a “land cruise” – travel by night and leave the train for sightseeing during the day. Just as on a cruise ship, the gourmet dining was out of this world! How do they do it in those little closet size galleys? There was a piano bar in one of the two lounge cars. No peanuts on the bars – cashews and macadamias. The last car was an all glass sightseeing touring car. The staff was always at our beck and call, seemingly eager to cater to our every whim. We loved it. A bit pricy perhaps, but what would you expect?

Looking for an alternative to “non-revving” it to TARPA 2004, a few of us old Chicago TWAers decided to get a group together and take Amtrak’s City of New Orleans.

Besides Sharon and I, the group included Sharon and Rollie Hoffman, Dinah and Tom Hoppe, and Shirley and Bill Stevens. We bought the sleeper car accommodations – I wouldn’t dream of doing a trip like that, about 16 hours, in a chair! We had a very nice time. We enjoyed happy hour and sightseeing from the lounge car until sunset, then a much better than expected meal in PAGE 25 ... TARPA TOPICS

the dining car. And we all know what a difference a friendly crew can make – they were great and really seemed to genuinely enjoy seeing us enjoy ourselves. Soon thereafter, to bed. Up around sunrise, a pretty good breakfast, then more coffee in the lounge car while gazing out on the small towns, rural areas and bayous of Mississippi and Louisiana. We arrived in downtown New Orleans, just a few blocks from our hotel, right on time.

We had such a good memory of City of New Orleans; we decided to ride the rails again to TARPA 2005 in PHL. Problem was, “you just can’t get there from here” (CHI-PHL) – a train change in PIT at 3 AM, or go to New York and backtrack? No thanks. Then somebody had a brainstorm.

Why not leave a few days early, take the Capital Limited to Washington and spend a nice weekend sightseeing? What city offers more to see? One could spend two weeks in the Smithsonian museums alone and I especially wanted to see the new Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles.

We boarded the Capital Limited and left Chicago Union Station the Thursday before the convention on time, 5:30 PM. As on City, we enjoyed sightseeing Chicago and NW Indiana’s heavy industry neighborhoods which we would never get to see otherwise. Then it was into the eastern half of our nation’s “breadbasket”, northern Indiana and Ohio, some of the finest.

Farmland in the world. Dinner wasn’t bad, but not as good as on the City, and the dining car staff was about what you would expect in the coach section of an airliner these days. (That was not meant as a compliment.)

I woke up about 3:30 AM, looked out the window and saw we were going by a big airport with lots of Continental airplanes sitting around the tarmac. It had to be Cleveland, but we were supposed to go through there around midnight – rats. When we went to breakfast around 8 (eastern time, now) we were still somewhere west of Pittsburg, running about five hours late. Oh, well, the ride through Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland would now all be in daylight. I’m glad of that, because this segment of the trip offers some truly gorgeous scenery that I had never viewed before, not from this perspective.

We should have arrived in DC at Noon but didn’t get there until after 5 PM. Even though not on a tight schedule, many of us were beginning to develop bad attitudes. Amtrak did throw an unscheduled hamburger at us around Noon, but I thought mine was so bad that it would be months before I had an appetite for another.

Our weekend in Washington was great. Being the only one that wanted to see Udvar – Hazy, I split off Saturday afternoon and took the shuttle bus from the National Air and Space Museum on the Capital Mall to Dulles, about $10 round trip (28 miles each way). I spent a great afternoon there and I got an especially warm feeling seeing my friend, Gerry Molidor’s (ORD UAL Cap.) Sukhoi, Budlight Special, in which he won so many competitions, parked right under the left wing of the Boeing 707 prototype.

Monday we jumped on the Acela to Philadelphia. Now here’s a run that is actually competition for the airlines. It’s downtown-to-downtown in about the same amount of time but cheaper and PAGE 26 ... TARPA TOPICS

less hassle. She really flies with no grade crossings and only four stops. I’d do it again any time.

After a whole bunch more fun in Philadelphia than I ever expected, like seeing the USS New Jersey and visiting Longwood Gardens (where Sharon and I posed below) it was Friday and time to head for home. We couldn’t get on an AA flight to ORD, but jealously watched Dave Saaks walk right on. He’d bought a ticket, ORD-PHL-ORD, $120! That’s it.

My “space available” days are over. I’m going to become the sharpest “internet good-deal-fare-finder” you ever saw! Oh, we finally got home about the middle of the afternoon on Saturday.

Rails to San Francisco in ’06? Maybe.

P.S. If you want to read a great piece on trains, see A. T. Humbles article “Railroading” in the Feb. 1988 issue of TARPA TOPICS P.66 . A. T. worked on the Atlantic Coast Line before joining the Air Corps to fly B-17s in WW II.

HISTORY REVISITED, OR NOT! A recap of TARPA Convention 2005 For those who chose not to come or could not come, here’s what happened at another “great convention”.

Our hotel and center of activity was the Hyatt Regency at Penn’s Landing, right on the river with great views and a hospitality room that was “fit” for a king. Across from us was the battleship New Jersey and many interesting ships. On our side were two sailing ships, a submarine from WW II, and a floating restaurant in the hull of an old, what looked like, a ferry boat. The whole avenue along them was elegant and very inviting. Our rooms, though a little pricey, were very well appointed and very well serviced. Our TARPA reception room was easy to access and the volunteers were at your service. It was a very nice and easy check in.

PHILADELPHIA! What a magnificent city! I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware and did not go to Philly much as it was dirty, run down and crime ridden but now, it’s a beautiful, active, vibrant, CLEAN place to live and visit. It shows what people can do when they take pride in their own city.

Streets are clean, and beautiful with new modern buildings; great parks and wide streets make getting around a real pleasure.

Now, for our Tours, we had a selection of tours to either the Philadelphia Institute of Science Museum or the Museum of Art. We chose the former and were most impressed by not only it size but the amount of “hands on” displays they had for children (adults too), the walk through “heart” with narration’s and sound effects. There were two tables with demonstrations about the human brain and the heart. Showed some veins that were nearly clogged with plaque versus clean ones, the various medical treatments for opening them and a selection of “stents”. The museum boasts the largest coal fired train engine that actually moved under the able hands of children and women PAGE 27 ... TARPA TOPICS

“volunteers”. The engine weighs 350 tons and was used only for a very short time because it would tear up the tracks. In the aviation section sits a T-33 that I managed to squeeze into (must have been thinner in ‘55). Brought back memories. Also, there were lots of models, engines and films about aviation.

Another tour was to the Battleship New Jersey where the TARPA group of about forty was hosted through the ship. It was a fascinating part of history, and all reports were good from those who attended.

The Hospitality Room was open every afternoon with a usual crowding around the bars hosted by Didi Young and Bob Dedman. As always, the conversation was lively, loud and much fun was had by all.

Day two had almost the entire group on three trolley busses for a wonderful historical tour of Philadelphia. Our driver was very well versed in the city’s history and he pointed out many small things to our group. There is so much history surrounding the city that it is impossible to cover even a small portion of it, but we tried and saw and learned much.

One stop was at one of the oldest churches with many of the original pews still being used. The altar was at one end and at the opposite end was the pulpit so the main floor pews were in like box shapes with two sets of pews, one facing forward, the other aft and it appeared that these “boxes” were bought by families with name tags on the entrance door.

No visit to Philadelphia would be complete without a stop at the Reading Market, an old Rail Station that now houses many different ethnic eateries, among them the home of the “original Philly Cheese steak” sandwich. To tell you the truth, the ones I get here in Va. Beach are better and a lot cheaper. It is an interesting place to visit if you are in town. After lunch, we drove down Ben Franklin Ave., again seeing the Museum of Science and the Art Museum, monument to the Veterans and many new buildings. We also toured Chinatown, which is third in size after San Francisco and New York. The aromas were to die for. We all returned for another chapter in the Hospitality room and some groups went out to dinner while others stayed in. Our large group went to Bookbinders and I guess we paid their mortgage for the next five years. .

Day three began with our annual General Membership meeting. President Wilder conducted a very good meeting and although the attendance was small, it was most informative. Since the only tour scheduled for this day was a long one, it was imperative that he keep the meeting at its assigned time frame. Our tour would take us to the wonder estate of the late Pierre S. Dupont located near Kennett Square. It is appropriately named Longwood Gardens. This was a relaxing place for Mr. Dupont and since he loved flora and water, he combined the two to produce a spectacular arboretum with pools and ponds producing water images that are simply spectacular, especially at night. I have been there many times but I am always in awe of its beauty. The flowers are always gorgeous especially the orchid room but to single out one room is totally unfair...it is all wonderful. After a little shopping, we were back on the bus and back to our hospitality room.

Sound familiar? We did not have too much time to gather for the last time as the hotel hosted an open bar for us before the grand finale.

Our banquet room was very nice with flower arrangements being done by the volunteer committees.

There was the showing of the colors, pledge of allegiance and President Wilder led us a cappella in PAGE 28 ... TARPA TOPICS

the National Anthem. He is an operatic tenor and has a wonderful voice. There was a very nice four-piece band that played for dinning and dancing but the majority of the folks just wanted to mingle, one more time. Our surprise guest for the evening was none other than Ben Franklin himself. . His message was so good and after about 20 minutes we gave him a standing ovation.

We also managed to raise some money for Save a Connie with a painting auction and we sincerely thank those who donated to a great cause. It is about all of TWA that we have left.

In summary, like all the conventions that TARPA puts on, this will rank right up there with the great ones. We must also thank Vicki McGowen for her great attention to our needs and helping us save money while still giving our members the best. For you all that miss out, try to come to our next one in San Francisco...should be a barnburner too. It takes a lot of time and effort to not only plan these conventions, we must lock in prices nearly two years ahead so that we can in fact, give you the most bang for your bucks. And finally, we read our flown West list with 68 loved members being saluted. We don’t know how many more years we each have so make the most out of them and come join us...One More Time.

Thanks, Bob Dedman TARPA Blue side up, except at sea

SAN FRANCISCO CONVENTION 2006 Tom Standifur, who has volunteered to be chairman of the 2006 Convention, would like your input as to what you would like to see and do in the Bay Area next year. The possibilities are endless, Muir Woods, Wine Country, Alcatraz tour, Bay Cruise, SF Movie sites and North Beach Walking tour. He would also like to know if there is any interest in golf, tennis or trap shooting. Send him your suggestions to Tom at: 13587 Saraview Drive Saratoga, CA 95070 or Email: jmstandifur@yahoo.com

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THE WRIGHT BROTHERS MASTER PILOT AWARD CHARLES W. “SKIP” GATSCHET The FAA conferred their Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award on me at a recent monthly membership meeting of the Airline History Museum in Kansas City. Mr. Bruce Allred from the FAA took time from his weekend to come make the presentation. It is a grand looking award for which I am most appreciative. It is signed by Marian Blakey, the FAA Administrator, and was presented in a handsome folder and accompanied by a letter of congratulations from the head of the Kansas City FSDO. You may remember an application form in a past issue of TARPA. I saw it and thought, why not?

I filled it out and sent it to the FAA. It seems that “Master Pilot” is one who has survived over fifty years of active flying without crashing an airplane, hurting anyone or getting afoul of the federal regulations. Apparently it has nothing to do with masterful airmanship or notable feats of derringdo.

During his presentation, Mr. Allred talked about the long time I have been aviating. “He just keeps on going” he said several times. I began to feel really old. I told the assembled group that I wished I could do it all over again, and how lucky I felt for the TWA years. I was fortunate to have worked for the world’s premier airline at the very best time. The truth is that I was lucky to have fallen into a career that I loved.

My father was an early aviator. He soloed before the First World War and served as a military pilot in both World Wars I and II. He was a barnstormer, a test pilot for the Nicholas-Beasley and American Eagle aircraft manufacturers, and a flying reporter for the Des Moines Register & Tribune newspaper. He strongly influenced my early years and provided me with my first introduction to flight controls. My mother was a parachute jumper and wing walker on the barnstorming circuit when she met my father in the mid-twenties. When I was two weeks old my parents decided that it was time for the kid to get in an airplane and flew me around the patch in a folding-wing Fairchild.

I was later allowed to occasionally take the throw-over wheel in the big Bellanca Skyrocket, and got to where I could sort-of maintain a heading and altitude. I begged my father to teach me to fly, and he would answer, “When you are a little bigger.”

He surprised me one day by announcing that we were going to the airport for a flying lesson. We flew in an E-2 Cub with some improvised rudder pedal extensions that let my short legs control the rudder for the first time. The Cub wouldn’t tolerate the aileron-only guidance technique that seemed to work in the Bellanca.

Circumstances, and then the war put an end to those first few lessons. My father went back into the Army Air Corps at the beginning of World War II, and was killed in a crash of a C-46 at Karachi in April of 1945 when the war was about ended.

My first solo and Private Pilot license waited until 1951 when I was serving in the Air Force as a Link Trainer instructor. I flew light planes whenever I could and owned or had a part interest in several airplanes. I went to work for TWA in March of 1954 as a Dehmel Flight Instrument Instructor. Surely many of you remember the Dehmel; that pre-simulator machine that we had to PAGE 30 ... TARPA TOPICS

submit to on a monthly basis. I was accepted for co-pilot training in late 1956 and was assigned to a co-pilot class in February of 1957.

I was sent to the New York domicile, and flew as a co-pilot on the Martin 202s and 404s, then on the Lockheed Constellation series. I had the opportunity to fly on international routes in the Constellation, crossing the North Atlantic to many countries in Europe and the Middle-East. Flying the pistons in the fifties provided a glimpse of what airline flying had been in earlier times.

I was transferred to the Detroit domicile in the fall of 1957. Then there were two periods of furlough, the first in 1958 and the second in 1960. I worked as a flight instructor and later as Chief Pilot and Flight Department Manager for Executive Aircraft Company in Kansas City during those furloughs.

On returning to TWA from the first furlough, I was assigned to the Chicago domicile for several temporary stints, and was then permanently assigned to Los Angeles. The second furlough notice came on the day that my two-day-old son came home from the hospital. We moved back to Kansas City and back to the Executive Aircraft Company.

Those two periods at Executive afforded me the opportunity to fly many types of aircraft, and to add a multiengine rating and then an ATP license. I tacked on Instrument Instructor (a new requirement) to my Instructor certificate and then Helicopter and Helicopter Instructor ratings and all of the Ground Instructor ratings. At Executive, I did primary instruction, stage checks, instrument, multiengine and helicopter instruction as well as fly single and multiengine charter flights and helicopter pipe line and power line patrols.

Back at TWA, we were assigned to the Kansas City domicile where I flew as co-pilot on Constellation and Convair 880 aircraft. I upgraded to Captain on the Constellation in 1965 and flew the Constellations until December of 1966 (with time out in the summer of 1966 for DC-9 school.) I began flying the DC-9 on the line that December, and became a DC-9 instructor in 1967. That was a time when simulators were merely training devices and no part of the aircraft rating was accomplished in the simulator. We had three or four daily four-hour training periods scheduled on each type of airplane and we flew students in preparation for ratings and accomplished rating rides and proficiency checks using the new runway at MCI and the airport at St. Joseph and sometimes Topeka and Salina in all but the worst weather.

I began flying gliders in 1968, and continued flying light airplanes and helicopters when time permitted. I built an airplane from raw materials and flew it for the first time in 1969. I flew that machine for several years before selling it. When I last heard, a couple of years ago, it was still flying. I put a group together and purchased a balloon in 1976. I flew the balloon in some competitions including the U.S. Nationals in 1978 and 1979.

At TWA, I progressed through the Boeing 727, the Boeing 707 and its many models, the Lockheed 1011 and finally the Boeing 767. I got a rating on the Lockheed 1329 “Jetstar,� and flew that airplane in a special training program. I was a designated training and line check airman on the DC-9, B707, B727, L1011, B767 and the Jetstar, and international check airman on the L1011 and B767.

After the Kansas City domicile closed, I was based in New York and St. Louis but always lived in or near Kansas City.

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I went through the first class on the B767 and got my rating at the Boeing factory in Seattle on TWA’s first 767 airplane after flying the simulator in the Redifusion plant near London. After flying two legs on the proving run, I left Dulles airport on one of TWA’s first 767 flights with a load of passengers en route to San Francisco while giving line instruction to a co-pilot. It was a fun time with a wonderful airplane.

I retired from TWA in December of 1986. In 1987, I went to work for Cidat Aviation, a subsidiary of United Fidelity Life Insurance Company. I flew their Lockheed Jetstar and later a Canadair Challenger until retiring from that job in 1995.

I joined Save A Connie (now the Airline History Museum) in 1989 and started flying their Constellation in 1993. A short time later I began flying their Martin 404. I finally got a rating on the Martin many years after flying it with TWA. The Martin at the Airline History Museum has not flown in the past few years, but I still fly the Constellation and am currently Pilot-In-Command qualified on that airplane. The Airline History Museum displays the same airplanes that TWA operated when I went to work for the airline. Flying the Connie to air shows for the past twelve years has been a wonderful treat. It is the last flying airplane in the world in TWA livery, and the last flying Constellation in this country. I should qualify “flying.” That beautiful airplane now lies grounded due to an engine failure. We expect that it will be flying again in the spring in time for the air show season. The engine is being overhauled now at great expense. If you are able to make a contribution (tax deductible) to that worthy cause, please do.

I added a rating on the Bushmaster (a Ford Tri-Motor look-alike) in 1998, and a piston flight engineer rating in 2000. I bought a Mooney M-20E in 1988 and purchased a late model (F-21A) Taylorcraft in 1989. I flew both airplanes for years until I sold the Taylorcraft in 2000. I still own the Mooney. I bought a Schweizer 1-35 single-place glider in 1998 and still own that aircraft. I am active in a glider club and fly the club Brazov “Lark” glider and Citabria tow-plane. I have maintained my instructor’s rating since its original issuance and now do some glider and motorglider instruction as well as training and checking on the Constellation.

If you have passed the fifty-years-of-flying mark, I suggest that you find the application form in that past TARPA magazine or request a form from the local FSDO. Someday your kids and grandkids may enjoy having this impressive award to look at. “Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award” could help persuade them that you were a really big deal.

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THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT by Jeff Hill, Sr. Long Flights, Short Flights I don’t think any airline has ever, before or since, scheduled a longer flight segment than TWA’s LHR to LAX “Polar” flight on the L-1649A in the late 1950s – just over twenty three hours. I’ll bet a lot of passengers (and crew) kissed the ground when they finally crawled off that weary old Connie! We continued to fly the same route into the jet age. I flew it once as a B-707 F/O in the 70’s when it was a leg on our “around the world” pairing. A 1975 timetable shows it as a B-747 Flight, F-761, leaving LHR at 12:30 PM, arriving LAX 3:35 PM. If I’ve got my time zones sorted out correctly, that’s 11:05. Published fares (round trip) were: F/C $1,624, Economy $890 and the cheapest excursion $522 – remember, this is in ‘thirty years ago dollars’! In later years, we had longer flights (mileage wise). TLV-JFK and CAI-JFK come to mind. Other airlines now have some super long legs in the Pacific, but nothing lasting an entire (24 hr.) day!

But what about the SHORTEST scheduled flight? It would have had to been OAK-SFO. I flew it once as an F/O on the Connie. It was the last leg of the New York – Chicago – Denver – Oakland – San Fran flight. Marketing called it “Night Coach”, Operations called it the “92 passenger G”, and crews called it “The Roach Coach”. I remember that flight so well. I was a brand new ORD reserve F/O and was assigned the ORD-SFO portion of the trip. It was not an ORD flight, ORD Connie trips were hops up and down the Ohio River Valley – I don’t know what happened to the “real” (New York) F/O. This flight, all the way to the “best coast”, was a big deal for me! The first treat was the really l - o - n - g leg from ORD to DEN. We even had to shift blowers. To do so, we had to reduce power on two symmetric engines at a time. First, a PA announcement was made so as not to alarm the passengers. Climbing in a holding pattern out of Denver in order to reach MEA before proceeding westbound seemed to me, one of the coolest things I had ever done in an airplane – I don’t know why.

The leg from OAK to SFO was like trying to take a drink of water out of a fire hose – worse than a simulator drill! It was “balls to the wall, let’s get this over with” VFR DIRECT. No radar vectors to final. (We could do that on a “tower to tower handoff” at that time.) I caught up with the operation somewhere between the airport and the hotel on the bus ride downtown.

But what I remember most about the flight was how the airplane smelled when we finally got to SFO. A mixture of stale cigarette smoke, spilled beer, food odors, vomit, dirty diapers and other things too unpleasant to mention here. A year or two later, I flew the same leg as a new CV-880 F/O. It would have been the same, but since we were now much faster, it was much worse – I caught up with the operation some time the next day.

Short Pairings, Long Pairings So much for flight legs, how about crew pairings? On the short side, we had a lot of nice “turnarounds”. Great for guys that lived near the airport and wanted to be home every night, just like real people. We had a dandy when I was an ORD co-pilot on the L-1011. F-711. Breakfast at home, and then ORD-LAS and back home in time for dinner. Three on and three off, nine trips a PAGE 33 ... TARPA TOPICS

month – except, because of the hours, it was the “office trip” and I’m embarrassed to report, we were pay assigned at least half the time. ORD had another gravy train on a B-727 flight that left in the late afternoon and went non-stop to Harrisburg (MDT). Hop over, have a bite, have a little sleep come back early the next morning – but wait – the rest wasn’t long enough to break the on duty period. This sweetie pie netted you a full month for 25 hours of actual flying. Somebody should have been fired over that one.

As for long pairings, I guess they had some dandies on International in the DC-4 and Connie era.

Because of it, they bid trips by the quarter, rather than by the month. But that was before my time. The longest pairing I remember was the “around the world” B-707 trip out of JFK. Eleven days on the westbound, ten days eastbound. It looked great on paper. It was worth more than a full month, so with bow wave and vacation, you only had to fly ten trips a year!

I flew just three “around the worlds”, one westbound and two eastbound. It was worth it just for the experience – but unfortunately, most of my memories of them are bad.

The first Captain I flew with was really something. On the crew bus from Hangar 12 to the terminal he was sweating profusely which I thought odd, as it was not hot. I asked if he was a little warm.

He said, “You’ll have to excuse me – Snail Fever – got it when I was based in Cairo.”

Oh. Then he said, “You guys will be on your own on layovers. I won’t be going out, I’m on the wagon.”

Oh. Well, it turned out he was a closet drinker. After a few legs, I suspected he was drinking on the airplane, too but just couldn’t make myself believe it. The Engineer and I did everything that needed to be done, which was easy as he offered neither help nor hindrance. I think of this flight as my first PIC trip outside of the US. About half way through the trip the purser got suspicious, he caught him snitching miniatures of vodka. I tried to assure him that everything was okay. I was faced with, probably the greatest moral dilemma of my career. Blow the whistle in the middle of the Pacific – or nurse it along? From Guam to Okinawa to Hong Kong we had an FAA inspector in the jump seat. I’ll be damned, half way to Okinawa, —— excuses himself gets his tote bag from the second jump seat, slips two miniatures into his pocket and heads for the john. In the mean time, as I sit there with my O2 mask on, the fed proceeds to give me a critique on how I have been handling my co-pilot duties! I thought to myself, you SOB, if you knew what was going on here you would certainly S—!

I hadn’t been home two hours before the phone started ringing. First it was A. T. Humbles (who I am sorry to say I never had the pleasure of meeting). He explained that he was with the ALPA professional standards committee and he wanted to know how old —— did. I said, “Not too good” and gave him all the ugly details. Soon after that, the GMF called – same question, same answer.

It was that poor old boys last trip. Actually, I kind of liked him - my only feelings for him were ones of pity. He took early retirement and died not too long thereafter. He was very senior. He told me, “I started at the top (with TWA) and I’ve been going backwards ever since.” How true, how sad.

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My second “around the world” was with a Captain who informed me on the very first leg what the four most useless things in aviation were. I already knew three: the runway behind you, the altitude above you and the fuel in the truck. I wasn’t too surprised to learn that the fourth was a “four-striped co-pilot”. I never touched that yolk in a week and a half and a complete circumnavigation of the globe. On one of the rare occasions when he left the cockpit for a quick pee, the Engineer leaned forward and said, “If you want to knock off the auto pilot and fly it for a minute, I won’t tell.” On the way across Viet Nam, as we listened to the B-52s calling the coordinates of their bomb drops on 121.5, he would not deviate one half a needles width from the only authorized E/W airway, which caused us to fly right through at least three or four “nine bag mix” cells that could easily have been avoided. When we got to Hong Kong, there was vomit on the ceiling in the cabin. The passengers fled the plane like it was on fire. One of our cute little Hong Kong based Chinese Flight Attendants was consoling another who was sobbing uncontrollably. That leg is right up there on the list of “My Ten Most Horrible Airplane Rides”.

On my last “around the world”, I flew with a real gentleman, Roger Gerling. On the Bangkok to Hong Kong leg we were deviating around CBs so much that out over the South China Sea, we had to fib a little on our position reports to have us over within three minutes of our ETAs. But on that long leg across SE Asia, during the monsoon, we got to Hong Kong “without ever hitting a ripple”!

Roger also split legs, was fun on layovers, was a fine pilot and a real gentleman. I wish I could have been more like him.

Some Random Thoughts on Flying International in the “707 days” Pluses: It was Vmo to the outer marker, no speed restrictions below 10,000’. We never carried a bag after leaving New York. Never have to arrange, transportation, lodging or anything else, anywhere.

We were baby-sat! Our overseas TWA people were like ambassadors. They took care of every detail. Crews were treated like royalty (especially the Captain). First Class was, well, FIRST CLASS, as good as it gets. The best liquors and wines were served. There was a choices of entrees: Rack of Lamb, Chateaubriand (carved at your seat) Dover Sole and something I must not have liked, because I can’t remember what it was. They even had a grill in the 1st class galley and cooked eggs to order!

It was an electrifying experience – Of U. S. carriers, only TWA and Pan Am did it. And, we didn’t really compete with each other. Pan Am and TWA had few routes that overlapped. We had long layovers, usually 24 hrs and we stayed in the best hotels, usually Hiltons – at that time, the ‘best address in town’! I remember one night asking why a certain part of the Cairo Hilton was barricaded off limits. I was told, “I’m sorry sir, President Nasser is conducting a meeting here this evening”.

Minuses Often there was nothing to read in English – no USA Today and nothing to watch on TV in English – no CNN. We brought plenty of reading material. No face cloths. No ‘American food’. Regional differences were much more pronounced. For example, Italy was Italian and Germany was German. No country was “European”. If you wanted to eat, better learn a little of the local lingo, or go without. The power was on and off at random in third world countries. You were careful on PAGE 35 ... TARPA TOPICS

layovers. Cairo Station Manager Jack Britain warned us about what to do and where to go. He said, “You know, life is cheap here.” “I could have a man killed for twenty dollars.” And he wasn’t kidding. We went to see an execution on a Dhahran layover (Saudia wet lease cargo charter out of FRA). Nothing else to do. Got ripped off by a snake charmer in Bombay – we paid 5 rupees to see his “Cobra” fight a mongoose. He put the cobra away and pulled out a black snake, which was promptly dispatched to wherever it is that dead snakes go. Then he started crying and wailing – he lost his snake, we had ruined his livelihood. Now he wanted 200 rupees. First thing we know there’s a cop giving us dirty looks. We paid. Then, a taxi ride back to the hotel had me about as scared as I’ve ever been in an automobile. Back at the hotel, while having a beer with a BOAC crew, I remarked that we certainly had to be, at this very moment, in the very rectum of the world’s anatomy. One of the Brits said, “Oh, you haven’t been to Dhaka?”

Some Captains invited everybody out for dinner, then divided the tab to the penny. Since this was before cheap pocket calculators, the F/E was usually appointed to do the long division on a napkin.

Oh, don’t forget a 5% tip – if the service was really good. A lot of guys tipped with U.S. quarters, which totally bewildered the hapless recipients in third world countries. I was often approached by local holders of quarters who asked if I would buy back some with paper dollars that they could exchange, probably on the black market.

Some Captains wanted to go to a wimpy bar or a fish & chips place in London, where we paid, but when we got to Hong Kong where the Company paid, Oh Boy! It was straight to the top of the Hilton: “How about a little shark fin soup for openers?” “Give us a minute to study the menu and, waiter, don’t put any drinks on that tab – mark that all down as ‘orange juice’ ‘kay?” It’s a wonder anybody ever caught a cold with all that Vitamin C. When I got home from one of those trips, it took at least three days to put my head back together.

I was completely disoriented, getting up and going to bed at all hours of the day and night – tired and irritable. I told my wife, I’m not going to fly that trip anymore. She said, Oh, I’m so glad! I didn’t want to say anything, but you’re awful when you come home from that trip. And I probably was, I sure felt awful – and I was in my thirties. I don’t know how the Captains I flew with, all in their late fifties, handled it. Well, after that summer on International, I got my ORD 727 Capt. bid back. I went home and began to live life again as much like “real people” as is possible for an airline pilot.

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Flown West

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ROBERT CHRISTIANSEN FEBRUARY 15, 1931 – MAY 16, 2005 From the model airplanes perched around his home to the scanner he used on his days off to listen to flights coming in to local airports, Robert Christiansen Sr.’s life exuded his love of flying.

A TWA pilot for thirty-four years, Bob traveled around the world, picking up lifelong friends along the way.

Captain Christiansen grew up on Long Island, New York and while in High School he worked at Jones Beach concession stands. Bob went on to attend the Long Island Agricultural and Technical Institute, which later became Farmingdale State University. In 1951 he earned an associates degree in the schools aircraft operations program. He joined the Air Force later that year and flew reconnaissance missions during the Korean War. He left the Air Force in 1957 and began working as a Co-pilot for TWA. During his career, Bob flew Lockheed Constellations and most TWA aircraft up to the Boeing 747 while moving up to Captain and Check Captain. He commanded Domestic and International flights and enjoyed learning about the culture and people of each destination. At home, Bob liked to talk about the “nuts and bolts” of flying, and when his children would come for a visit, they were greeted with a play-by-play of how their flight went from Bob who often sat on the patio listening to a scanner. In recent years, he spent time with his wife Ruth traveling and PAGE 37 ... TARPA TOPICS

visiting friends. Florida and Atlantic City were his favorite destinations. He also kept busy watching NASCAR, boating and being a part of TARPA. From his many years of flying and spending lonely nights in hotels, Bob learned to give his friends and family a warm welcome to his home.

His wife Ruth, sons Robert, Keith, Edward, daughter Suzanne and three grandchildren survive him.

Submitted by Ruth Christiansen

IN MEMORY OF HENDRICK KUHLMANN FEBRUARY 7, 1923 – JULY 4, 2005

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN MICHAEL H. BRENAN DECEMBER 9, 1938 – JUNE 26, 2005 “Mike’s battles against all the complications of his long illness have shown a courage and perseverance most unusual in my experience as a physician.” That quote is from a doctor and friend, who had known Mike for many years.

Michael Brenan died June 26, 2005 after a long and brave battle with cancer. Roselyn, his wife of thirty-nine years, was by his side when he died peacefully in his sleep. Mike was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated from the Bolles School and attended the University of Florida where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. In 1959 he joined the Marine Corps and became a jet fighter pilot flying his beloved F-8 “Crusader” with VMF 323. Continuing his love of flying, Mike joined TWA in 1966 and flew the 880, 707, L1011, DC9/MD80, 767, and 757. After checking out as Captain, Mike became a flight instructor in the training department on the DC9/ MD80. He eventually became the manager of the MD80 program. Mike left the training department to be a flight manager of the St. Louis domicile, then Manager of Pilots, and finally General Manager Flying-Western Region. In 1996, while undergoing a routine medical procedure, Mike had a mild heart attack that forced him to take medical leave. Mike and Roselyn retired to the gulf coast of Florida where they enjoyed boating, fishing, and golfing.

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Besides Roselyn, Mike leaves behind daughters, Katherine and Kristen, son, Stephen and five grandchildren.

Submitted by Phil Livengood Michael Hilleary Brenan died June 26, 2005 after a long and brave battle with cancer. Roselyn his wife of thirty-nine years was by his side when he died peacefully in his sleep.

Mike was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated from the Bolles School and attended the University of Florida where he was a Phi Delta Theta. He joined the Marine Corps and became a jet fighter pilot and instructor flying his beloved Crusader. Continuing his love of flying, Mike joined TWA in 1966 and rose through the ranks to Captain and when Mike retired, he was the Chief pilot in St. Louis. Although flying was his greatest love, he was also a huge fan of boating, golf and fishing.

Besides Roselyn, Mike leaves behind daughter Katherine, her husband Andy and daughters Samantha and Alexandra, his son Stephen and wife Patricia and their twin daughters, Aspen and Dene. He also leaves behind his little sister, Sheila Beakes Henderson, his Uncle Senator Ed Price and Aunt Elise and their son Jerry Price, sister-in-law Karen Reed and niece Jo-Lynn.

Submitted by Barry Miller

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN THEODORE JOSEPH NEJA JULY 5, 1916 – JULY 15, 2005 Ted Neja was born in Anaheim, California the 4th son of Theodore and Anna Neja. He was raised in Anaheim, graduating from Anaheim High School and Fullerton Junior College. He worked in the California Highway Patrol, one of only two patrolmen covering all of Orange County, and later as a telephone repair man. He became a Civilian Flight Instructor during WW II stationed at Cal Aero, in Chino, teaching young men how to become fighter pilots. Here he learned flying was his true passion!

He joined TWA after the war in 1944 and was promoted to Captain only 6 months later. He was stationed at Willow Run Airport, 30 miles south of Detroit for thirteen years. When the domicile closed, he transferred back to California. He flew in DC3's, Martin's, Constellation's and interna PAGE 39 ... TARPA TOPICS

tional round the world trips in the Boeing 707's. Ted retired from TWA in 1976 always saying he'd "like to fly forever" if they let him! He flew with family and friends and you could always find him in the air! He also built and flew model airplanes. If it had wings, he wanted to play with it!

Ted was an accomplished athlete who loved water skiing, baseball, basketball and playing with his family. He helped his daughter show horses and his sons build racecars for the National Hot Rod Association. A very diverse and talented builder/fabricator of nearly anything from RC planes to real racecars. He believed "you do not know what you can do until you try it"!

He really enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren. He is survived by his children Karen and Tim- grandchildren -Becky, Kim, Donny, Tom and Andy and his great grandchildren- Gabby, Madison, Lucy, Kaitlyn and Teddy! He had a long, wonderful, full life. He had many friends. We will miss him always!

by Karen Fox

In Memory of Captain Dale D. "DD" Pew March 18, 1931 - July 27, 2005 Dale, age 74, passed away quietly at home in Kansas City, MO, after a bitter struggle with melanoma. He is survived by his wife of 44 years Barbara , two children, Kevin and Kathy, and five grandchildren, Eric, Callie Janelle, Casey and Skyler.

Dale was born in Dodge City, KS and grew up in La Junta, CO where his father worked for the Santa Fe Railroad. After graduation from high school he enlisted in the Navy in 1950 as a seaman and was stationed aboard the USS Luzon, a Navy Repair Ship based in Japan.

His application for Navy flight training was approved, and in 1951 reported to Pensacola, FL to begin flight school as a Naval Aviation Cadet. He received his wings on April 21, 1953, having flown the North American SNJ, Grumman F6F Hellcat and F8F Bearcat, to include carrier landings on the USS Cabot and Monterey. He recalled well his first flight as a student in the single seat Bearcat, when the engine suddenly quit and he was forced to ditch the aircraft in the Gulf of Mexico. Unhurt, but wet, he was soon back in another Bearcat. He was assigned to Fighter Squadron VF-122 at Miramar, CA where he flew the Grumman F9F-2 Panther and after carrier qualification landings on the USS Princeton (CVA-37), he and the rest of the squadron boarded the USS Boxer (CVA-21) for a nine month deployment to the Western Pacific. Dale completed his Navy career flying the North American T-28B at Kingsville, TX, teaching instrument flying to student pilots.

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On October 3, 1955, twenty seven days after being released by the Navy, he was employed by TWA as a First Officer. Dale flew the Martin 202/404, the Constellation and the DC-4. He recalled not to fondly the month he was assigned to the TWA Overhaul Base as a F/O ferrying and testing aircraft going to and from major maintenance. During a span of 24 days he flew 6o flights on a mixture of Martins, Constellations and DC-4s for a total of 43:2o hours and most of it after midnight and before 6 AM. Dale met his wife to be, Barbara Jean Cooper on Flight 396 MKC-CLE on May 6, 1959, she being one of the Hostesses, and they were married November 26, 1960. He was later assigned to San Francisco as a Second Officer and subsequently went through Captain upgrade on the Constellation there. Then followed more time as a Second Officer and eventually First Officer on the CV88o and B-7o7.

In early 1966 Dale returned to Kansas City to fly Captain on the new Douglas DC-9s then being delivered to TWA. He flew the DC-9s for the next fourteen years, most all in a Check Pilot status, until they were retired from service in 1980. He was Captain of the last scheduled DC-9 flight, and at that time had accumulated more DC-9 time than any other TWA pilot, a record that stands to this day.

After the DC-9s he was Check Pilot on the B-727, and when the B-767 came on line in 1983 he was among the initial cadre of pilots to qualify. Dale was one of the Captains on the proving flight and flew the inaugural flight of B-767 service from Los Angles to Washington. His Check Pilot status continued on both Domestic and International operations. Finally succumbing to the lure of the B-747 he finished his career on the big bird, completing his last flight on June 29, 1989 from London to St. Louis, and retiring on July 1, 1989.

Dale closed out his nearly 34 years with TWA having earned the reputation as an excellent pilot, a good employee, a genuine good guy, and the respect of his peers and co-workers. He had accumulated a total of 21,634:36 accident free flying hours, and we will not charge the ditching of the Bearcat with the dead engine against that record. Not too bad for a kid from La Junta.

Barb and Dale had an active retirement and enjoyed a huge circle of friends. He was active in the Optimist Club and both were avid golfers. When not golfing they were in their motor home roaming the country seeing the sights and playing the courses they came across. The light of their lives were the grandchildren and they often shared their RV travels with them.

Submitted in behalf of the Pew family by H. B. Pratt, tailwinds my friend.

IN MEMORY OF PETER K. EILERTSEN MAY 19, 1938 – SEPTEMBER 11, 2005

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM E. DICKEY JULY 7, 1921 – AUGUST 3, 2005

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IN MEMORY OF HARRY BENEDICT STITZEL MAY 12, 1912 – JULY 11, 2005 My father was an avid reader and contributor of TARPA TOPICS. I thought it would be appropriate to let his friends know of his recent passing in TOPICS. Dad loved his time with TW A and recalling the interesting trips and people. Certainly, he loved the reunions he attended with mother.

At the age of 94, Harry Benedict Stitzel, passed away on July 11,2005. Harry was born in Chicago, IL, May 12, 1911. He became an amateur radio operator during his last year of high school at Tilden Tech in 1930. Prior to World War II, he worked for Ford Motor Company and Beuda Diesel. During the war, the family lived in Alexandria, Virginia.

In 1936, he married Ruth Elizabeth Wilton and was devoted until her death in 2001. He studied and got a commercial radio license in 1942, resulting in a job with TWA under contract to the Air Transport Command. In 1948, the family moved to Levittown, Long Island. Harry enjoyed a career with TWA flying the Constellations throughout Europe, Africa and South America, as a FlightRadio Supervisor. After 15 great years with TWA, the family moved to Florida where Harry built his own home in Greenacres next to his folks. He then began a career with RCA as a Radio Telegraph Operator communicating with ships at sea until 1975, when he retired at the age of 64.

A man of many hobbies, he enjoyed piloting his Tri-pacer and later his Mooney airplane. He flew all over Mexico, the USA and the Caribbean to St. Thomas and St. Croix. He flew a single engine plane across the North Atlantic to Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, barnstorming Europe. He owned a 24' Morgan Sloop from 1973 to 1977, He sailed it to the Bahamas to snorkel and scuba dive. Until very recently, he enjoyed being a ham radio operator, W4BTO, with a “terrific fist”. He enjoyed all phases of the radio and was a master of radiotelegraph. One of the highlights of his travel to the Middle East was climbing the Giza Pyramid in 1946.

His daughter, Joan, and three grandchildren, Scott and Susan Delaplane and Sandy Sheehy, survive him. Also, two grandchildren, Jack Edward, age 11 and Savannah Lee age 9, of Delray Beach- Florida.

by Joan Delaplane

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IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN REGINALD A. PLUMRIDGE OCTOBER 24, 1915 – MAY 15, 2005 Reginald Alfred Plumridge was born in Toronto, Canada on October 24, 1915. His parents brought him to the United States to New Jersey in 1916. He attended Valley Stream Central High School, Kansas University, City College of N.Y. and the American Institute of Banking in New York City.

He joined TWA in 1940 as a Communications Clerk then became a Link Trainer Operator. He became a copilot in 1943 and checked out to Captain status in 1945 on the DC-3 and later became a check pilot on the DC-3. Throughout his career he flew the DC-3, DC-4, Martin 202 and 404, all models of the Constellation, Convair 880, Boeing 707 and finally Boeing 747 when he retired. He was a Check Pilot and/or Supervisor of Flying for most of his career with TWA. He was married to Ruth Kemp of Valley Stream, N.Y. for 57 years. She passed away it December of 1995. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian church from 1961 - 1968. He was Elder in Lutheran Churches from 1968 until his death. He was active in the Meals on Wheels program in Boulder City and made twice weekly visits to the local Care Center to bring cheer to the shut-ins.

He is survived by a daughter, Penelope Huguenot of Mandelieu, France; a son, Richarc R. Plumridge of New Canaan, Conn. and another daughter, Jill Entler of Massapequa. N.Y., and seven grandchildren, Richard Huguenot, Christian Huguenot, Andres:, Plumridge, Scott Plumridge, Heather Plumridge, Kimberly Entler and Mandy Entler.

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN LOFTON CROW NOVEMBER 10, 1915 – AUGUST 31, 2005

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ROBERT GROSS APRIL 23, 1932 – OCTOBER 3, 2005

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS G. WILKINSON MAY 9, 1926 – JULY 19, 2005

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IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ROBERT E. NORRIS DECEMBER 9, 1918 – JULY 12, 2005 Bob Norris passed away July 12, 2005 after an accident at his home. He was born in Red Oak, Iowa on December 9, 1918 and moved to Denver shortly there after. Bob had a great love of airplanes at an early age and knew that he wanted to be a pilot. His love for flying developed into a passion which lasted his entire life.

He discovered Pinedale in the mid 30ths when he was giving flying lessons in Rock Springs at the age of 17. Bob’s parents gave him an airplane and he continued to give flying lessons and airplane rides all over Colorado and Wyoming. He would sell tickets to would be riders and get them in the airplane and then climb in and many of is passengers got out as they thought he was way too young to be a pilot. Bob applied to Continental, United, and TAT (to become TWA), TWA was the first to contact him and he started flying for them on January 13, 1941. He was given a Presidential Deferment during WW2 to continue flying for TWA on the CRAF program; he was made a full captain after 6 months on the job.

Bob flew domestic flights, “milk runs” as they were called on the DC 3s that stopped frequently and from there went on to flying all over the world in every commercial aircraft made. Bob was in the training department for many years and instructed on the first jets in 1958 and continued his career through the Boeing 747’s before retiring in 1973.

Bob married Evelyn Rimer on July 11, 1945 who was a stewardess for TWA and they started their family in Blue Springs, Missouri with Nancy Lee, Terrie Lynn and Jana Elizabeth. The family moved to a farm 1956 that they had purchased in 1949. When Bob was not flying he played with Bulldozer and tractors to transform 160 acres in his own haven to include a landing strip, several lakes, hangers, barns and he become a breeder of Black Angus and Charolais Cattle.

Bob with some outside help built or remodeled every home that the family lived in. He was also a great stone mason and built many stone walls and enjoyed tinkering in his shops.

In 1965 Bob and Evelyn leased a lot in the Sylvan Bay and proceed to build their first summer home in Pinedale with help from many family friends from Missouri and Kansas. Great parties and many good times were had by all.

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In 1978 Bob started building a home on Pine Creek and they became full time residents of Pinedale.

Bob was preceded in death by Evelyn in 1994. His is survived by his daughters; Nancy Lutje and husband Roger of Placitas, New Mexico, Terrie Fisher of Scottsdale, Arizona and Jana Greene and husband Fred of Las Vegas, Nevada, two grandchildren Alexandria Lee Lutje and Austin Norris Fisher, nephews James McLellan and wife, Charmian of Boulder Lake, Wyoming and Jerry McLellan and wife, Evelyn of Montrose Colorado. He is also survived by his beloved cat “JC” Fremont and many friends.

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ORESTES DIOGUARDI OCTOBER 25, 1912 – MAY 18, 2005 Orestes “Rusty” DioGuardi, my father was a true giant of a man. We honor his beautiful memories, celebrating his gracious spirit, remembering a wonderful life. If I could describe my father in one word, it would be “consistent.” He was consistent in all that he did. If something was wrong in 1940, it is still wrong in 2005, and if something was right in 1940, it is still right in 2005.

My father’s life is amplified in three ways; his family, his country and his faith. Many have witnessed his devotion to my mother. Well, it was the same with my sister and me. There are also many of you who have seen his devotion to God and the Catholic faith, and as you, share a devotion to his country. A quote from Thomas Jefferson describes my father’s attitude towards his country, “Patriotism is not a short and frenzied burst of emotion, but it is the long and steady dedication of a lifetime.” Rusty was a patriot.

I would like to add something in closing that I am sure that most have heard. I found this clipped to the inside page of his pocket address book, attributed to Etienne de Gallet in the Eighteenth Century; “I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” You have lost a good friend, and thank you for being that friend. Rusty’s daughters Francine Hendricks and Francesca DioGuardi, granddaughters Amanda Wile, Robin Branson and Samantha Benefield survive him.

by Francine Hendricks PAGE 45 ... TARPA TOPICS

The following biography about Orestes “Rusty” DioGuardi was written by a fellow Eastern Air Lines pilot and friend, Capt. Jim Webb. It is interesting.

Rusty was the last of four children born to immigrant parents from Italy. The place of his birth is now a tollbooth on the New York side of the Holland Tunnel.

Shortly after World War I, Rusty’s eyes were drawn to the skies when he saw converted Se-5s being used for skywriting. He was amazed to seethe words, “Lucky Strike” in the clear air over Manhattan.

He had learned woodworking skills and used them to take his first giant step into aviation, when he was hired to build upper and lower wings by Ireland Aircraft at Old Curtiss Field, Mineola, Long Island, New York. It was 1929 the year of the great stock market crash, and aviation was the first, and some say, hardest hit industry by the depression that followed. Ireland laid Rusty off almost at once. But Rusty had been bitten by the flying bug. He was soon working for Felix Hornke, a German World War I ace. The airport where he worked became Roosevelt Field. Hornke’s clientele was primarily made up of students of German descent. He paid Rusty $5.00, and allowed him one half an hours flying time a week. Rusty soon soloed and was flying OX-5 powered Curtiss Robins and Commandaire biplanes. The depression grew worse and Rusty decided that he had better complete his education by attending night school. He continued to eke out a living flying OX-5 Wacos, Swallows, Fairchilds, Aristocrats, Tiger Moths and Standards to name but a few.

His pet, it turned out was one of the last seven Pitcairn Mailwings built.

He kept active as an instructor, flew charters, and sold airplanes at then new Floyd Bennett Field, New York. Rusty was there when Capt. Dick Merrill and Capt. Jack Lambie took off on their famous transatlantic crossing.

Aviation was now moving forward with airlines in the lead. Rusty was hired by TWA, Transcontinental and Western Airlines at that time. In his class of new-hire pilots with Rusty and twenty-eight others was a young Floyd Hall. They were learning to fly DC-2s and later DC-3s.

World War II was being born in Europe and Rusty’s career took a tangent when he joined Pan American ferries in 1941 to instruct on the Lockheed 10 Electra, an operation later taken over by the Army Air Corps late in 1942. Rusty then accepted a commission as a First Lieutenant. He was assigned to Homestead, Florida with the Second Operational Training Unit, where he trained pilots to fly the C-46, the aircraft that grew famous for flying the “Hump” in the China-BurmaIndia supply route, and later the school’s instructors taught long-range ocean flying. Aircraft grew up and B-24s and C-54s were of age.

Pilots had names for bases back then, they called Miami “Fireball,” and they called Presque Isle, Maine “Snowball.” Temporary duty for instructors sent most to every base, and Rusty wound up at “Snowball” for a long stint flying the North Atlantic. He finished the war as a Major, and returned to Pan American ferries to find the company extinct. So, then he joined Colonial Airlines in November 1945.

Rusty played an active role with the Air Force Reserve as Squadron Commander of the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing at Floyd Bennett Field. In May of 1951, he was recalled to active duty and was sent immediately to Korea. Once again, he was at the controls of C-46s dropping paratroopers, flares, PAGE 46 ... TARPA TOPICS

mail and anything else that had to be transported. When the Korean War ended Rusty returned to colonial, and continued as a line pilot for four years. Eastern Air Lines took over Colonial in 1956, and Rusty changed uniforms again. Rusty’s Air Force Reserve retirement came in 1964. He had attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He kept right on flying a wide variety of equipment until age 60 caught up with him. Over his lifetime, Rusty logged over 27,000 hours. There were also more hours that were not logged.

Orestes “Rusty” DioGuardi was not well known, but he was a longtime TARPA member. He had a short career with TWA, but made many friends with whom he stayed in touch. He joined TARPA to follow the news of those friends. Editor

in memory of captain robert matney june 23, 1923 - july 10, 2005 Robert Matney was born June 23, 1923 in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of Cecil Augustus and Katherine Breen Matney. He passed away on July 10, 2005. A life-long resident of the Kansas City area, Robert graduated from Turner High School in 1941.

Robert served in the Marine Corps as a Corsair fighter pilot flying 73 missions in the South Pacific in World War II from 1942 to 1946, earning the Air Medal. On July 17, 1948 he married Mary Ann Barclay and, in 1950 Bob graduated from the University of Missouri with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He again served with the Marines in the Korean War as a decorated fighter pilot retiring at the rank of Major in1953. From 1953 until his retirement in 1983, Robert was a pilot and Captain for TWA. He logged the one millionth TWA flight in 1971. During his retirement, he and his wife enjoyed boating at the Lake of the Ozarks and extensive traveling. He was also an accomplished painter.

Robert’s wife of Fifty-seven years, Mary Ann, twin sons Timothy and Christopher; daughter-inlaws Carolyn Behrman and Kimberly Sharkey Matney, and two grandchildren Rowan Kathleen and Aidan Joseph Matney survive Captain Matney.

Submitted by Mary Ann Matney

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ROLAND BLOCHOWITZ JUNE 18, 1933 – AUGUST 18, 2005 PAGE 47 ... TARPA TOPICS

IN MEMORYOF W.C. (CARL) JOHNSON NOVEMBER 22, 1919 – AUGUST 14, 2004 Carl Johnson was born on Lewis Chapel Mountain on November 22, 1919. After graduating from Sequatchie County High School in Dunlap, Tennessee, he attended Tennessee State Teachers College for two years while working at Gloria Rayon Mills. Realizing that it was too difficult to work and keep up with his studies, he decided to stay out of school for one year to earn enough money to pay for his schooling. He was drafted, and sometime later, he was able to get into the Air Corps. He went overseas in November, 1943 and had thirty-five missions over Germany in a B-17.

When he returned to the US in August, 1944, we were married. He was sent to the Lockbourne Army Air Base in Columbus, Ohio, where he became an instructor. After the war was over, Carl was hired by TWA in September, 1945. We lived in the Kansas City area until he was transferred to the east coast in 1948.

In 1962, we moved from Upper Saddle River, N.J. to a dairy farm (which we bought) in Dunlap, Tennessee. While living on the farm, Carl had the honor of being the co-pilot on the special TWA plane that flew Pope Paul VI back to Rome on October 4, 1965. After living on the farm for four years, Carl found it extremely difficult to commute and take care of the farm. We moved back to Upper Saddle River, N.J. in 1966. At that time, we had eight children (seven living at home). Carl flew the 747 and later became an instructor so that he could spend more time at home with the children and me. He also flew the 1011. We had three children at home when he went to Greece for six weeks to instruct the Greek pilots on the 747. I had the opportunity to visit him while he was there. Later, our two youngest children and I went over for a visit. Carl had his last flight to Greece (I went with him) returning on Nov. 21, 1979. The Greek pilots honored him with a special cake.

Carl stayed on with TW A as a flight engineer until December 1, 1982. This helped ease him out of flying. He loved his work and took his responsibility seriously. He was very loyal to TWA. Carl and I moved to Signal Mountain, Tennessee in July, 1988, where we were only twenty minutes from the cattle farm in Dunlap. Carl enjoyed working on the farm six days a week, until he became ill with bladder cancer in 2003. He passed away in Memorial Hospital surrounded by all eight of his children and by me, his wife of 60 years. We have seventeen grandchildren, and our first great-grandchild, Connor, was born on July 7th, 2004 so Carl got to see him. Our second greatgrandchild, Kealey, was born last November 12.

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Shortly after Carl’s death, our son, Wayne, was looking for Carl’s obituary in a local paper when the outline of a WWII B-17 bomber caught his eye. A “Flight of Aces” essay program was being sponsored to encourage families in New Jersey to learn more about the heroes under their own roof Wayne won a free ride on a B-17 and four of his brothers went with him. Wayne’s essay outlines the effect his Dad had on his life. I include it here as it reflects the pride and love the whole family feels about Carl.

Submitted by Wanda Johnson

August 14, 1966 1’m 11-years old and love to build WWII model airplanes. You know, the plastic kits with parts you have to paint and glue together. Oh, I build WWI airplanes, but only because without them there would have been no WWII planes. I hang them from the ceiling with threads and make cotton-smoke trails to simulate aerial combat. It’s really cool. I mow yards and have a paper route so I can buy different model planes when I want.

My father was a pilot of the B-17G bomber during the Second World War. It displayed the Triangle G insignia on the tail fin. Now my father is an airline pilot for TWA, which stands for Trans World Airlines. The TWA logo is on the tail. My Dad takes me and my brothers and sisters to different cities around the world that TWA flies to. I love to fly. My Dad always asks how his landings are?

No one can land a plane safer and smoother than he can. I’m going to be a pilot when I grow up.

Last year my Dad flew Pope Paul VI back to Rome on the Boeing 707. His picture was in the paper. He usually flies in the Captain’s seat but someone more senior was picked. But we were still proud.

August 14, 1967 We moved to New Jersey from Tennessee. I still have a southern accent, but I can’t really tell. I sit in the back row at school. Mrs. Ryan, the teacher, asked me to read something from the blackboard.

I started to cry because I couldn’t read it, so she sent me to the nurse’s office. It was embarrassing.

The nickname everybody gave me used to be cool, now I hate the name “Tennessee”.

August 14, 1968 .

My Dad, my brother and I are in Paris. My father flew us here on the Boeing 707. Last night my father and I were overlooking the lighted city and he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I’m surprised he asked because I already thought he knew. “I want to be an airline pilot”, I told him. He told me I couldn’t because I wear glasses, which were not permitted by FCC regulations. I was confused because my father wore glasses. He then told me when he first started flying for the airline he didn’t need them. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.

August 14, 1969 I’m building a tree fort with plans I drew up. I started one about 20 feet off the ground but my Dad made me lower it to 12 feet That’s okay though because I’ll hang a rope so people won’t come up. Today my Dad asked if I wanted to go to Europe with some of the family. I have a big family, two sisters and five brothers. I sort of wanted to go but I really liked building my tree fort. I built an opening roof using pulleys, a sink using a porcelain pot and other cool stuff - and there’s lot more to do. So I decided to stay home instead. Besides, I can always fly again later.

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August 14, 1971 I work for a builder in Ramsey, New Jersey and design and draw plans for contemporary homes.

It was scary at first because I had never really seen a contemporary house before. Now it’s pretty easy and I enjoy it. I’m going to be an architect someday I don’t really fly anymore with my Dad because I’m too busy working and I like my job.

August 14, 1978 I’m 23-years old I graduated with a BS in Architecture in the spring and will be married this month. I’m a little apprehensive but I take comfort knowing my father was the same age when he got married. The 1944 black and white picture of my mom, with my dad in his Army Air Corps uniform, is etched in my memory. He had just come back from flying his required 35 missions.

August 14,2003 My father is scheduled for surgery to remove his cancer-riddled bladder. It’s a risky operation but I’m convinced he’ll survive. He is a strong, courageous and determined man.

My father never really talked about WWII. We always had to prod him to share his wartime stories. Today he volunteered stories I thought were only in the movies. Only they weren’t really stories, they were flashes of reality of WWII. Maybe it was easier to share the memory of fear with the present fear for his life.

One story made me realize how lucky he was. The early B-17 bombers were equipped with standard aircraft windshields of the day. The planes were being retrofitted with much thicker hi-strength Plexiglas for protection to the pilots. My father’s plane had just been fitted with the new windshield when on the very next mission flak burst completely shattered the new windshield. The windshield remained intact saving those inside. He lived to fly again.

On one mission engine numbers one and three were knocked out by flak. The plane lost speed and altitude. He ordered everything thrown overboard to lighten the plane’s load including guns and the belly ball-turret for the long cold trip back to England. They used cloud cover when they could to hide themselves from enemy fighters, eventually landing safely as the last bomber to come home. A telegram from high command buried in his old TWA flight bag keeps him from being a braggart.

He shared the horror of the fate of other aviators. In formation, right in front of him, one B-17 bomber dropped an empty fuel tank used for the longer bombing runs deep into Germany. The wing tank crashed thru the horizontal tail fin of the B-17 below causing it to immediately spin to earth.

August 14, 2004 Today my 84-year old father died with his sweetheart of 60-years, and his eight children at his bedside. My father’s name is William Carl Johnson, born in Lewis Chapel, Tennessee. He was a 1st Lieutenant in the 8th Air Force and flew for the 305th Bombardment Group, stationed in Chelyston, England. He flew the last of his missions with the 30151 Bombardment Group.

I lie, sit, stand and fly because of my father’s humble heroism and thousands like him. They did more than risk their lives for us all. They brought promise that the world would be a safe place that we would see the day that life would go on. And for those aviators who could not see the PAGE 50 ... TARPA TOPICS

fulfillment of the same promises, their generations are without their blessings, but their sacrifices make us all sons and daughters of those who served in WWII. 1st Lt. William Carl Johnson wil1 be remembered in history only as one of thousands of WWII aviators. His memory to me will be as a B-17 pilot with his 9-member crew. His wife Wanda as the co-pilot; daughter Charlene as the Navigator; sons Ken as the bombardier, Eddie as the radio operator/gunner, Tim and Danny as waist gunners; daughter Karla as the ball turret gunner; sons Bryan night engineer/top turret gunner and Wayne as the tail gunner. I just wish we could have had one last mission together, and have one more safe landing.

My name is Wayne T Johnson, I am 49-years old and I’ve never flown the B-17, but if I never do, I am glad for us all that my father, and those like him did.

by Wayne T. Johnson

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The Aviator by Michael J. Larkin I am not a Charles Yeager, And I’m sure not Richard Bong; In fact most things that I attempt In airplanes turn out wrong!

Now some men feel a three piece suit Is proof they’ve passed the test, Or driving a Mercedes Benz, Or a Rolex on their wrist.

But I love the smell of ADI, And engines that are round, And I love to hear the big-bore bird, With it’s deep, un-bridled sound.

I shall be forever grateful, That He chose me from the rest, To spend my life in uniform, And brother to the best.

And I love to go to Reno, And I love to watch them fly, Tho it breaks my heart to see A fellow aviator die.

And when my life is over, And it’s time that I should die; I hope He’ll let me join the crowd In His hangar in the sky.

But I know they’ll go on flying, And I know that so will I, For nothing short of death will ever Keep us from the sky.

And there, we’ll raise another glass And re-tell all those lies, About our mis-adventures Way up yonder, in the skies.

And I’ll never know what makes us so, Were we just born to fly?

Or did we get hooked the first time we saw An airplane in the sky?

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Trans World Airlines, Flight 800: The Devil Is In The Details. by Robert W. Allardyce and TWA Captain Howard Mann, Retired On the evening of July 16, 1996, a few minutes after departing from New York’s JFK Airport, just over the Atlantic Ocean, a devastating explosion ripped TWA’s Paris-bound 747 to shreds. All 230 souls on board instantly perished. In the hours that followed, TV news programs called on expert after expert, soliciting their opinions. There was almost unanimous agreement; the evidence of a missile hit or a bomb would soon be found. Within a days, however, the emphasis slowly shifted.

Some would say that, within days, the cover-up began. Attention centered on the jumbo jet’s center wing fuel tank (CWT) and the presumed-to-be “volatile” vapors given off by some 50 gallons of residual aviation kerosene alleged to have been trapped and sloshing around among the structural supports that made up the bottom of the tank.

On November 17, 1997, after a lengthy investigation, our National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its final report.1 The culprit, according to the NTSB, was the effluvium exuding from the 50 gallon puddle of fuel in the CWT. A mysterious spark allegedly ignited the fumes. In a single catastrophic explosion, the entire fuselage forward of the leading edges of the wings popped off much as a loosened cork is expelled from a champagne bottle. (See Figure 1 - NTSB/Engineering Animation, Inc., published in Aviation Week & Space Technology. Dec. 15, 1997. Page 30) Enter Captain Howard Mann, TWA retired. Given Howard Mann’s career-long interest in air safety in general and crash investigation, specifically, it was inevitable he would become deeply involved in the investigation that followed the crash of one of TWA’s own. After checking with the flight engineer who earlier that day operated the 747 inbound from Athens, as well as with Boeing’s engineers, Howard Mann did some careful calculations. He determined there could hardly have been more than 7 gallons of kerosene spread over the bottom of the CWT.2 Under the most favorable conditions, had the entire 7 gallons of fuel turned to vapor, the energy produced by combustion could not have generated the destructive power that had obviously occurred.

The NTSB’s path to its final conclusion that the fuel vapors in the CWT exploded, had been a rocky one. Too little scientifically-based knowledge about the explosive properties of aviation grade kerosene (Jet-A) was available. However, from the beginning, it was apparent that the investigators had assumed that Jet-A was as volatile as our military’s infamous JP-4, which is a mixture of aviation kerosene and 140 octane aviation gasoline. Reality, unfortunately, refused to cooperate. A series of failed experiments followed. During one experiment, for example, Propane had to be added to Jet-A fumes to create the much-sought-after explosion. As the flurry of experiments progressed, the issue of an explosion inside the CWT as the primary event that shattered the 747, became obscured behind a veritable mountain of data that not only explored the combustibility of Jet-A but also looked into the power and duration of the yet to be unidentified spark that had supposedly set the whole thing off. With all these distractions, the NTSB’s officialdom never seemed to feel a need to reexamine its initial premise.

Let us be quick to say that we do not deny that there was an explosion of some kind inside the CWT. We insist, however, that this eruption was not the primary event that triggered the series of catastrophic structural failures. We believe our NTSB investigators quickly jumped to the conclusion that the burst inside the CWT was the primary event and then went about back-filling with whatever evidence was needed to support their theory. Unfortunately, the resulting body of PAGE 53 ... TARPA TOPICS

data is too complicated and voluminous to be reproduced in its entirety here. The reader can trace some of the history at the local library by referring to articles in the industry’s bible, “Aviation Week & Space Technology:” “TWA 800 Probe Prompts Novel Jet Fuel Tests” - June 16, 1997, “NTSB’s 747 Proposals Focus on Fuel Volatility” - Dec. 23/30, 1996, and “Flight Tests Target TWA 800 Explosion” - July 21, 1997.

On Sept. 3, 1996, “U.S. News - Online,” under “Breaking News,” reported, “Early results from [Boeing’s] tests tend to strengthen theories that a bomb or missile brought down TWA Flight 800, an investigator told The Associated Press.”

The article continued with, “After using computer models to simulate pressure within a 747’s center fuel tank, Boeing engineers estimated 30 to 40 pounds per square inch of pressure inside the tank would be needed to do the kind of damage to the fuselage observed in the jet’s remains.” And, “[Boeing’s] tests indicate that an internal explosion of the tank, caused by a malfunction, would generate a third less pressure than that, according to the investigator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

Boeing’s tests were generally discounted as having been self-serving.

Our focus is on some of those infamous “details” in the form of a series of “loose ends” that have been either unrecognized or studiously ignored by the NTSB. Any “Probable Cause” that does not adequately account for these “loose ends” cannot be accepted as valid.

One such “loose end” has to do with the two Surge Tank Protection (STP) photoelectric sensors one each in each wing tip - and their canisters of inerting gas. Neither sensor had detected a flame-front and, therefore, neither had triggered a discharge of its containers of inerting gas.

Another “loose end” is the cockpit’s Engine Pressure Ratio (EPR) indicators. The EPR gages display the power settings of four turbines engines. Still securely mounted in their Center Instrument Panel, these gages were “frozen” at power settings consistent with climb power. We will explore these and other “loose ends” in sequence.

Of the Surge Tank Protection system (See Figure 2), TWA’s 747 - 100 “Flight Handbook” offers the following description: “Each wing tip fuel tank vent is protected by a small fire extinguisher canister referred to as Surge Tank Protection or STP. Discharge of the canister is automatically controlled by a photoelectric [sensor]. Flight deck control is limited to system test of left and right wing canister[s].” (FIRE PROTECTION. 11.04.3 - Emphasis ours.)

We note, in Figure 2, the photoelectric sensor, mounted on the outboard wall of each surge tank opposite the open end of the CWT’s tank vent. Had a flame-front emerged from the CWT’s tank vent, that photoelectric sensor was positioned to detect it and, in nanoseconds, flood the surge PAGE 54 ... TARPA TOPICS

tank with inerting gas. Here is what the NTSB offered: “Although details of fire and soot documentation were performed by the Fire/Explosion Group, general observations of fire damage (or lack thereof) to the airplane systems were made by the Systems Group.” Toward the end of the paragraph the NTSB added, “Soot was found in the vent stringers routed beyond the CWT to the right wing tip, but components in the wing tip surge tanks were not burned. The Surge Tank Protection (STP) system extinguishing agent had not been discharged from the intact bottles.”3 (Emphasis ours) It is here that we must employ the readers’ imagination. Imagine, in slow motion if you will, a spark igniting a fire inside the CWT. Said fire, accordingly, instantly transitions into an explosion.

A shock wave emanates outward in all directions from the point of ignition. For visualization purposes, at the shock wave’s leading edge, like an expanding bubble, there is a “flame-front” - a thin wall of fire. The flame-front instantly reaches the inner walls of the tank and pressure inside the tank rapidly builds. The CWT tank vents, open at their far end to the atmosphere, become unresisting pathways for the flame-front to make its escape to the surge tanks. As the flamefronts enter their respective surge tanks, the photoelectric sensors, just opposite the open ends of the vent tubes, detect the passing of the flame-front. The high pressure canisters of inerting gas are instantly triggered. In nanoseconds the surge tanks are filled with inerting gas. The point being that, had the CWT explosion been the sole initiating event, the photoelectric sensors would have released the contents of their canisters. Ergo, the pressure from the CWT explosion had not yet built to the point where it had severed the front end of the fuselage, thereby knocking out the 747’s electrical system, as depicted in the NTSB’s Figure 1.

Clearly, neither of the two STP photoelectric sensors detected the presence of fire. So, the question, Why? Why didn’t the photoelectric sensors react?

There can be only two possible answers: 1) The electrical power to the photoelectric sensors failed before the pressure propelled flame-fronts reached the wing tip surge tanks, or 2) the outer wing panels had already broken free of the inner wing panels. The continuous passageway between the CWT and the surge tanks no longer existed.

The NTSB report, as previously noted, “Soot was found in the [fuel tanks] vent stringers routed beyond the CWT to the right wing tip, but components in the [two] wing tip surge tanks were not burned.” The importance of this observation cannot be overstated. Since there was no evidence of fire inside the surge tanks for the photoelectric sensors to detect, that is - said sooting in the vent tubes took place later, this leaves us with option Number Two (2): By the time the CWT exploded, the wing tips had already been ripped away by a prior event. In other words, whatever combustion occurred inside the CWT was as a “secondary event.” What was the “primary event?” What was it that caused both of the wing tips to break free of the main wing sections?

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In reporting the condition of the wrecked left wing tip (See Figure 3), another “loose end,” the NTSB states: “The left wing outboard of about Wing Station (WS) 1230 [outboard of engine #1] broke into eight larger pieces and numerous smaller pieces. Layout of these pieces showed upward bending outboard of about WS 1230 (LW 8 & LW 42) and possible down bending outboard of WS 1360 (LW 5 & 6, LW 44). Both upper and lower wing skin panels between WS 1230 and WS 1380 showed upward curling at the inboard end (upper panel LW 42 and lower panel LW 8).” (Emphasis ours.) Between WS 1230 and WS 1360 is where the wing tip broke free.4 Of the badly damaged right wing tip (See Figure 4), the NTSB reports: “The outboard wing section measured approximately 29 feet and comprised the wing from approximately WS 1242 (at the front spar and leading edge) to the wing tip. The wing structure between the inboard and outboard sections (WS 1224 to WS 1482) had broken into several pieces.”5 (Emphasis ours) In the succeeding paragraph, the NTSB notes evidence of upward pressure on the right inboard wing where the breakage occurred.6 If the separations were not nearly simultaneous and one wing tip broke free first, the 747 would have rolled more severely than it did toward the loss of lift. The remaining wing tip, then, would have been subjected to downward not upward pressure. If one checks the similarities between Figure 3 and Figure 4, one should take of note the way both upper skins splayed upward as they tore loose. This speaks of near-simultaneous-upward pressure on both wing tips.

To more fully appreciate the idea of upward pressure, the reader, at one time or another, may have stuck an arm out of the window of a moving automobile. If the palm of the hand was kept parallel to the surface of the road, the hand cut easily through the wind. If, however, one rotated the leading edge of their palm upward a bit, around its latitudinal axis, there was a quick and sometimes dramatic result. The pressure of the wind on the palm abruptly forces the hand upward and backwards. This is essentially what happened to Flight 800. An abrupt application of force tore the wing tips off. This brings us to the next question: What caused the 747 to suddenly pitch nose up? Flight 800, according to the Cockpit Voice Recorder (VCR), had been cleared by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to climb to 15,000 feet. The cockpit’s 4 thrust levers controlling the turbine engines had been set to Climb Power. Everything seemed normal. So, what happened?

Movement of an airplane around the latitudinal axis (i.e., an imaginary line running approximately wing tip to wing tip across the airframe) is controlled by 1) the elevators, 2) the position of the horizontal stabilizer and, to a degree, 3) the power of the low-slung turbine engines. If the elevators were deflected upward, the nose pitches upward. If, on the other hand, the leading edges of the horizontal stabilizers moved downward, that too, would work to force the nose upward. Adding or subtracting power to the engines tends to rotate the aircraft around its longitudinal axis. To pilots, this is basic stuff. The movements of the two control surfaces, however, are generally done only in measured applications, often by only a slight pressure by the pilot on the elevator control PAGE 56 ... TARPA TOPICS

column. Likewise, adjustments to the trim of the horizontal stabilizers are sensitively done by short applications of electrical power to the trim mechanism.

The stream of data recorded on the tape of the ship’s Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), however, shows the turbines had already been set to climb power and there was no indication that the had pilots moved their flight controls. Our reasoning tells us that the fuel vapors in the CWT could not yet have ignited. So, what might have caused a sudden and dramatic displacement of the elevator control surfaces?

TWA’s Flight Handbook offers one possible clue: “ . . . A series of cables and links mechanically transmit control movement to the inboard elevator control valves. When the inboard elevators move, they mechanically position the opposite outboard elevator control valves to move the outboard elevators. Each inboard elevator is moved by a dual tandem actuator powered by a dual hydraulic source. The outboard elevators are moved by an actuator powered by a single hydraulic source.” (Flight Controls, System Description. 12.04.2 - Emphasis ours.) The point to be appreciated here, is that the elevators’ hydraulic actuators are in the tail of the airplane. The control links and cables that command the control valves run nearly the full 232 foot length of the fuselage from the cockpit to the tail. With the hydraulic system operating, anything that moves control cables along their way between the cockpit and the tail would cause a the elevators to react.

However, the data recorded by the ship’s Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR)7 unit did not indicate movement of the elevators. Howard Mann believes there is a more likely cause of the violent upward pitch: When the concussion that froze the EPR indicators in place reached the horizontal stabilizers that shock broke them free of the mechanical collar that followed the movements of the jackscrew. The horizontal stabilizers are designed in such a way as to be aerodynamically downloaded. That is, with the stabilizers able to move freely, the leading edges of stabilizers would snap downward instantly forcing the nose of the 747 upward. We pause, here, to note the wording of the NTSB’s report the Jack screw’s condition after recovery, “The Jack screw extends above the Jack screw fitting by ten threads and is fractured at the bottom of the fitting.”6 The Jack screw had indeed broken free. The NTSB attributed this to damage done upon impact with the water. But this can be no more than a convenient guess. Consistent with the evidence, the damage occurred in flight as a result of the severe impact of a powerful shock wave resulting in an instant and severe pitch-up.

Just forward of the wing root, the explosion tore the stress-distributing skin of the tube-like monocoque fuselage. That rip in the skin not only weakened structure, it worked to focus the PAGE 57 ... TARPA TOPICS

stress caused by the pitch on the 747’s keel beam. The upward snap was so powerful it broke the ship’s backbone. As the NTSB’s Report puts it, “The two vertical web attachments and the lower keel beam chords at the front lower bulkhead were fractured (LF14A, LF55C, LF55D, & LF55E).

The lower chord fractures at the front spar exhibit evidence of bending in the vertical plane (crack initiating at the top of the chord’s cross-section).” This is followed by, “Metallurgical examination of the chords fractured at STA 1150 revealed bending in a vertical plane (Crack initiated at the top of the chords’ cross-sections) with a river pattern emanating from the upper surface of the fracture, which is indicative of downward bending.”8 (Emphasis ours.) It was as if a pair of giant hands, one hand on the tail and the other on the forward section, broke the fuselage over an invisible knee. And, this, before the alleged explosion occurred in the center wing tank.

Yet another item high on our list of “loose ends” are those Engine Pressure Ratio (EPR) indicators mounted on the Pilots’ Instrument Panel and frozen in time by the damage done to their inner mechanisms. (Figure 5) Had the 747’s electrical power to these instruments failed prior to the damage that transfixed the indicators, as would have been a result of a catastrophic explosion in the CWT, all four indicator tapes would have instantly dropped to zero and four striped flags and the word, “OFF,” would have snapped into view. There is more, had the breakup occurred before the instruments were damaged, they could not have still indicated as they did. The pitch-up would have disrupted the laminar flow of air into and through the turbines. That disruption would have been reflected in all of the EPR readings. Instead, the instruments, set approximately to climb power, read, #1 = 1.35, #2 = 1.35, #3 = 1.30, and #4 = 1.23. Based upon the low readings of #3 and #4, we believe the fuselage had just begun its fatal pitch-up. Thus a crucial and revealing nanosecond of time was preserved. All of which returns us, once again, to the question, What was the source of the powerful concussion that disabled the EPR’s?

Howard Mann had long since begun studying the chain of linked data recorded by TWA 800’s Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR). At time 20:31:11 hours (i.e., 20 hours, 31 minutes, 11 seconds) on the tape, for example, Howard noticed the a sudden flicker in the recorded position of a tiny wind vane mounted on the outside of the fuselage near the leading edge of the left wing. The tiny airfoil, part of the ship’s stall warning system, was designed to sense the relationship between the 747’s longitudinal axis (i.e., an imaginary line running for nose to tail) and the air stream, or “Relative Wind.” (See Figure 6) Within it’s normal range, wind vane had been reading 3.60 of nose pitch-up. At time 20:31:12. it suddenly shot up to 1060. This was followed by an indication of a steep 300, nose up, condition. The source of electrical power to the DFDR then failed. How much farther the nose of the Jumbo Jet pitched upward is anyone’s guess. There can be little doubt that this pitch up is what tore the wing tips off their respective inner wing panels. The close relationship between pitch-up and the interruption of electrical power to the wind vane must not be minimized.

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Howard Mann discussed his findings with the late Commander William Donaldson, USN, Retired.

The two got their heads together and began correlating other indications that occurred within that time frame. They found that, just before they were frozen in place, #1 and #2 engines’ EPR gages had flickered. The pilots’ altimeters, via their Static Vent ports (i.e., small openings on the side of the fuselage), sensed the shock wave as an increase in atmospheric pressure and momentarily indicated a bogus 3,672 feet dip in altitude. Donaldson did some complicated mathematical calculations and was able to triangulate the epicenter of the blast. Accordingly, Donaldson placed the epicenter near the “Low[er] left side [of the fuselage] . . . abeam aircraft station 576.” Donaldson adds, “9 feet below the aircraft belly line [and] 17 feet from closest aircraft hull.”9 (emphasis ours) (See Figure 7) “NTSB - ATTACHMENT 3, TWA 800 RED ZONE FUSELAGE SKIN TRAJECTORIES,” (page 2) depicts L2 door, located nearly abeam the epicenter of the explosion, having been blown loose and, based upon the 747’s line of flight, ejected from left to right. The opposite would have been true had the explosive pressure emenated from the CWT. We pause to note the mushily worded article published in “Aviation Week & Space Technology” (June 16, 1977, Page 51) read, in part, “Investigators have determined that ‘no missile hit this airplane,’ the official said.” That a missile did not strike the fuselage is a point that, based upon an examination of the wreckage, is easily conceded. However, the AW&ST article continued with, “They are, however, weighing the extremely remote possibility that a missile self-destructed near TWA Flight 800 and flung a fragment into the center fuel tank. Physical evidence to assess this is scarce. A fragment and its initial damage to the tank likely would be small and difficult to find in the massive damage to the center tank.” To this cautionary escape clause, AW&ST writer, Michael A. Dornheim, added, “Investigators have detonated missile warheads at various distances from aircraft skin to study the resulting damage, and say they have found nothing similar on Flight 800’s debris.” But, how closely did the alleged “tests” replicate reality? We wonder if, in the process of carrying out these tests, the subject pieces of “aircraft skin” were lumped together with other debris and mangled after the fashion of the real event? Which “warheads” were tested? And, perhaps the most important question: If there was no tangible evidence of a missile had been found, why test “warheads” at all?

On September 16, 1997, Southern California’s “The Press-Enterprise,” added support for the notion of an external explosion with an article headlined, “TWA crash probe turns to damaged nose gear doors.” “The nose gear’s doors were blown inward and investigators now wonder whether the cause of the damage happened before the plane’s center fuel tank exploded, CNN reported, citing unnamed federal crash investigators.”

(Emphasis ours) (See Figure 7 and the force vectors to the nose gear’s wheel well doors) PAGE 59 ... TARPA TOPICS

Howard Mann’s and Commander Donaldson’s meticulously constructed postulations begin to take on greater credibility. Drawing from the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION of MACHINISTS and AEROSPACE WORKERS, AFL-CIO, CLC’s (IAM’s) final report, we learn others are also concerned about such loose ends. Addressing the question as to the source of ignition to support the NTSB’s conclusions, and obviously disgruntled R. T. Miller, the IAM’s coordinator, wrote, “We conclude that the existing wiring recovered from flight 800 wreckage does not exhibit any evidence of improper maintenance or any malfunction that lead to a spark or other discrepancy.

Examination indicates that the wiring was airworthy and safe for flight.”

Turning his attention to the question of the CWT explosion, Miller wrote, “The center wing tank did explode! We find that its explosion was as the result of the aircraft breakup. The initial event caused a structural failure in the area of Flight Station 845 to 860, lower left side of the aircraft.

A high-pressure event breached the fuselage and the fuselage unzipped due to the event. The [center wing fuel tank’s] explosion was a result of this event!”11 We pause to note that, according to the IAM’s investigators, there was no evidence of excessive heat inside the forward cargo compartment, which is just forward of the CWT. A massive explosion in the CWT, as the primary event, would surely have made its way though and past the flimsy bulkhead that lay between the CWT and the cargo compartment.

Figure 8 is an NTSB photograph of the left side of the fuselage. We have marked the site of the breach, roughly abeam L2 door. Figure 9, also an NTSB photograph, shows that, unlike the left side, the skin of the right side of the forward section is splayed outwards (i.e., from left to right).

This is the result of a linear rather than a expanding omni-directional force emanating from the opposite side of the airframe.

Returning to those immobilized EPR gages, we recall that their mechanisms were jammed in place prior to the pitch-up and necessarily before the electrical power was cut. The blast that splayed the metal of the right side of the forward fuselage appears to be the source of the shock wave.

Finally, To completely ignore eye witness reports would do violence to any process claiming the prestige that deserves the title, “Investigation.” Of the 755 witnesses listed in the NTSB report, PAGE 60 ... TARPA TOPICS

our “loose ends” “short list” contains only 3. The first, the NTSB having blacked out her name, identified an adult female only as “Number 73.” Here is her account: “On [July 17, 1996], at approximately 8:37 P.M., [Number 73] was on the MOBAY (phonetic) section of Long Island Beach, New York, when she observed an aircraft climbing in the sky traveling from her right to

her left. [Number 73] advised that the sun was setting behind her. While keeping her eyes on the aircraft, she observed a “RED STREAK” moving up from the ground toward the aircraft at approximately a 45 degree angle. The “RED STREAK” was leaving a light gray colored smoke trail, The “RED STREAK” went [past] the right side and above the aircraft before [arching] back toward the aircraft’s right wing. [Number 73] described the [arch’s] shape as resembling an upside down NIKE SWOOSH Logo. The smoke trail, which was light gray in color, was narrow initially and widened as it approached the aircraft.

[Number 73] initially thought someone had set off a flare and commented same to her friends Scott and Pauline Barrows of Long Island.

[Number 73] never took her eyes off the aircraft during this time. At the instant the smoke trail ended at the aircraft’s right wing, [Number 73] heard a loud sharp noise which sounded like a firecracker had just exploded at her feet.

[Number 73] then observed fire at the aircraft followed by one or two secondary explosions which had a deeper sound. [Number 73] observed the front of the aircraft separate from the back. and then observed burning pieces of debris falling from the aircraft.”12 Both the PAGE 61 ... TARPA TOPICS

timing and the account of what “Number 73” saw is very much in accord with the sequence of events we have described them herein. Additionally, “Number 73” gave the NTSB a sketch of what she had seen. (Figure 10) Her drawing concurs with the sightings of other witnesses and, not surprisingly, bears a striking resemblance to the real event.

Our “short list” of witnesses also includes one Richard Goss. At the October 18, 1997, Accuracy In Media (AIM) meeting, Commander Donaldson described his interview with Mr. Goss: “That evening [July 16, 1996] I was just finishing up a sunfish race at West Hamptom Yachts club . . it was Wednesday night . . . and that particular night every week we have an informal sunfish race and then it’s followed by a ‘bring your own’ barbecue dinner on the back porch of the yacht club.

That porch faces south and my position at the table that I was sitting at I was looking right out at Moriches Bay and you know just leaning back, resting, just enjoying the moment of that part of the evening. It was near dusk and it was then that I saw a flare-type object go up and feeling that oh someone along Dune Road has fireworks and other members of the club saw it also and they said hey look at the fireworks. And everybody turned to look and we all watched it climb and I particularly watched it and it was bright, very bright, and you know that almost bright pink you know orange glow around it and it traveled up and it looked to go straight up from the area that I was observing it and then it reached its peak and it seemed to go away in the distance toward the south and that’s when I saw it veer left which would bring it out east. It was a sharp left and then it did not disappear. From my vantage point there was a direct explosion that followed and then after that there was a second explosion that was off to the east a little farther that was much larger . . .it was like something broke off of whatever that was that caught fire. The smoke was black . . . it was obviously some petroleum. I knew it was an airplane or aircraft of some sort and I didn’t realize what size it was. And then it took some time to come down . . . probably three or four seconds and there was just a stream of black and white smoke and then when it hit the horizon over the barrier beach . . . Dune Road . . and when it hit the horizon there was a bright flash.”

Both witnesses, “Number 73” and Richard Goss, observed similar coloration’s and noticed that the unidentified object turned left before the first explosion. Both reported more than one explosion.

Finally, our “short list” contains our third and last witness, Fred Meyer, an ex-Navy officer and Vietnam War helicopter pilot. On the day of the tragedy, Fred Meyer was a National Guard helicopter pilot who was in the process of practicing an instrument approach at Long Island’s Gabreski Airport. Interviewed by Michael Hull: “Meyer’s attention was first called to the area [where Flight 800 was located] . . . ‘by a streak of light moving from my right to my left (east),’ the same direction as the TWA flight, he said . . . Baur [Meyer’s co-pilot], on the left side of the cockpit, saw a streak moving from left to right toward the approaching TWA aircraft before the initial explosion. The streak of light that Meyer saw . . . was red-orange in color . . . what Meyer describes as a hard, very sudden, Yellowish-white explosion that looked identical to the detonation of an antiaircraft shell . . . ‘It left a cloud of smoke just like a flak explosion does,’ Meyer said.

Meyer said, ‘One or two seconds later, there was a second, hard explosion almost pure white in color . . . almost immediately there was a third explosion and a fireball . . .’ Baur also saw three explosions . . . he also contends that they started from the left (east) and went right (west). 12 Later, Frederick Meyer, told reporter David E. Hendrix of “The Press-Enterprise,” “I know what I saw. I saw an ordinance explosion. And whatever I saw, the explosion of the fuel was not the initiator of the event. It was one of the results.”13 PAGE 62 ... TARPA TOPICS

Our presentation by no means includes all of the many “loose ends.” We feel that, albeit we went about it backwards - beginning with the end of the tragedy and ending with the beginning, we have offered enough evidence provide an accurate overview. Reliable eyewitnesses saw a missilelike object rise from the surface of the Earth and adjust its own course so as to connect with the ill fated jumbo jet. These witnesses saw multiple explosions. The coherence of their observations could hardly have been the result of mere coincidence. They also harmonize with the evidence gained from the recovered wreckage. The initial explosion precipitated only the beginning of the breakup of the airliner. A second, a more devastating blast, ripped the 747 to shreds.

We know nothing of military ordinance and too little of politics or terrorism for us to take as license to speculate as to what specifically it was that initially exploded near the climbing 747 or from whence it came. We can only submit what seems to us to be obvious: Something more than just the fuel vapors in the CWT erupted and, until the entire event is fully and honestly explored, the sad story of TWA Flight 800 will remain incomplete. The NTSB’s “Probable Cause,” as another loose end, is wrong. Maybe the resolution of this important “loose end” will tell us why the NTSB failed us.

FOOT NOTES 1 NTSB: DCA-96-MA-070. November 17, 1997.

2 Addendum, by Howard Mann, to “Interim Report on the Crash of TWA Flight 800 and the Actions of the NTSB and the FBI.” By (the late) Commander William S. Donaldson II, USN Ret. (Copyright 1998) 3 Exhibit No. 7A. Group Chairman Factual Report. Page 6.

4 “SYSTEMS GROUP CHAIRMAN’S FACTUAL REPORT OF INVESTIGATION.” Nov. 17, 1997.

Exhibit 9A. 3.2 Left Wing. Page 18 5 Ibid. Page 16.

6 Ibid. 5.1.2. Center Torque Box. Page 34.

7 The DFDR continuously records and stores data relevant to many systems and functions. The DFDR’s tape is a continuous loop and holds 26 hours of data. It erases old data and records new as it goes.

8 NTSB’s STRUCTURE GROUP CHAIRMAN’S FACTUAL REPORT (DCA-96-MA-070) Feb. 20, 1997. Page 12.

9 Interim Report on the Crash of TWA Flight 800 and the Actions of the NTSB and the FBI. By, [the late] Commander William S. Donaldson, USN, Ret. July 17, 1998. Exhibit 19 - Doppler Location of First Shock Wave. Pages 72 - 80.

10 International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO. “Analysis And Recommendations Regarding T. W. A. Flight 800 July 17, 1996.” Undated, but included on NTSB’s CD. 4. AIRCRAFT WIRING. 11 Ibid. “8. Fire and Fuel Explosion.”

12 NTSB: DCA-96-MA-070. Docket No. 5A.516. Group Chairman Factual Report. Appendix C. Page 249.

13 Interim Report on the Crash of TWA Flight 800 and the Actions of the NTSB and the FBI. By, [the late] Commander William S. Donaldson, USN, Ret. July 17, 1998. Exhibit 25 Eyewitness Reports of TWA Flight 800. Provided by Michael Hull. Page 93.

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“ TO GET THE JOB DONE “ by Arthur Uno Ruhanen OCTOBER 1942 A/C BOEING 307 STRATOLINER (C-75)

After a final checkout on the 307 by W.C. (Bill) Donaldson I was set up on a flight to Prestwick, Scotland with Captain Chiappino and crew. The eastbound flight was a piece of cake, only 9 ½ hours from Gander, Newfoundland to Prestwick, Scotland.

We were in Prestwick for 3 days. The maintenance crew there was Ralph Hughes, Carl Smith, Willy Baumgrass, Pete Ashworth and Danny Gehlert. We came out for a midnight departure, took off and climbed to 500 feet and set the Long Range Cruise at 144 mph IAS and flew for six hours on instruments through the darkness and rain. Climbing higher would have put us into more headwinds and the freezing level as well. The navigator couldn’t get a good fix so we only had the magnetic compass. Luckily we did have a radio altimeter, a black box set on the radio operator’s table with a scope. The navigator kept a close eye on the green blip dancing between 400 -600 feet.

It slowly began to get light and we could see breaks in the overcast. The navigator got a sun line showing us somewhere southeast of Greenland. We climbed to 1500 ft into the clear blue above some puffy white clouds and re-set cruise at 133mph. We had been feeling some vibration but back then, with only RPM, manifold pressure and constant speed prop we couldn’t tell from what.

Looking out we saw two engines shaking in their mounts. Some time later, a third engine. The remaining flight time into Gander was 12hours and 40minutes at 1500 feet and finally down to 108 mph IAS. The engineer stayed with the airplane and with some air force mechanics changed the plugs and spliced new wires into the ignition wiring harness of our “ fat B 17.” After a couple hours the crew returned and we took off for Washington National Airport, our home base. The east coast weather kept going down and four hours later we landed in Presque Isle, Maine and bunked in.

Captain Chiappino was shaking my bunk at the crack of dawn. The weather had cleared and we were homeward bound. As a single crew we had no flight time or other limitations. TWA-ICD was the nucleus of the air transport command and Captain Chiappino’s goal was to get the job done.

IAS: indicated air speed in statute miles per hour “fat B 17”: the Stratoliner was built on a B 17 frame TWA-ICD: Trans-Continental & Western Airline-Inter Continental Division Note: we had 100 gal left in each main when we landed in Gander.

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Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to getout. But I can usually shut her up with cookies.

ErmaBombeck

From the Grapevine editor, Gene Richards OK, it’s official. I am now a card carrying, unrepentant, proud member of that great society know as “Couch Potato”. I’ve never before been too much of a TV watcher. It wasn’t that didn’t like watching or that I thought it beneath me, it was more of a matter of opportunity. During my working days I couldn’t get attached to any particular program because I was never in a particular place long enough. On layovers it was something to watch until I fell asleep. Easy to do especially if the dialog was in French or Italian.

I’ve always enjoyed pro football even if the picture was so bad that all games were played in a snow storm. Otherwise I never felt compelled to sit in front of a screen if there was anything better to do and usually there was.

Well things have changed. I’ve grown old and things I like to do aren’t so easy anymore and some of the things I want to do just won’t work. So our household is now equipped with the latest and greatest. We have a wide screen, High Definition, LCD TV with surround sound and a personal video recorder. I can start, stop and record shows, watch one channel and record another. Movies and special programs are available ‘on demand’- and I’m demanding. Discovery, National Geographic, and History are exceptional channels and I watch a lot.

At last weeks visit with my doctor he said that to improve my ‘quality of life’ I need to lose 20 pounds and exercise more. If I can get the treadmill in front of the TV it just might work.

From Reed Smalley Out of STL (March 25, 1969) at 27,000ft and 100 miles east of STL, IND Center called our flight and asked if we could help an A37 aircraft which had lost airspeed, rate-of-climb and altimeter readings. The aircraft was on top of the weather and we were also on top. The captain, J. B. Lakin, (ex fighter pilot) said yes!

The center vectored the A37 to our position where he joined on our right wing. We started a slow descent through the weather while being vectored to Patterson Air Force Base. At 500 ft on a GCA approach, both aircraft broke out of the weather to see the field. The A37 landed and we flew on to DAY to refuel. On landing all of the passengers came forward to the cockpit to tell Capt Lakin and me that was the greatest thing they had ever experienced in an airplane. We felt good too!

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A male gynecologist is like an auto mechanic who never owned a car.

Carrie Snow

AIR ROUTE TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER P.O. Box 41506 Indianapolis, Indiana 46241 Captain J. B. Lakin Trans World Airlines Kansas City, Missouri 64116 Attention: Chief Pilot, TWA Dear Captain Lakin: During the afternoon of March 25, 1969, you assisted this facility during an emergency involving an aircraft which had experienced a loss of airspeed indicator, climb and descent indicator and altimeter. Your outstanding assistance in this situation was invaluable.

Previous to your offer of assistance, we had attempted to obtain help from Lockbourne and Patterson Air Force Bases. As help was not available from these bases, we had reverted to asking en route aircraft to assist in this emergency.

After you agreed to assist, the Indianapolis Center Controller vectored your flight and the emergency aircraft, an Air Force A37, to a point where visual contact was established. After visual contact was established, you provided altitude, speed and attitude information for the stricken air-craft during descent through au overcast condition. We believe the A37 would not have been able to effect a safe landing without your assistance.

In fact, the pilot of the A37 had considered parachuting from his aircraft before you offered assistance.

It is my sincere pleasure to write this letter thanking you, and your First Officer, Mr. R.A.Smalley, for your valuable assistance. If at any time you have an opportunity to visit this facility, you would be most welcome.

Sincerely, D. LONNIE PARRISH Chief, Indianapolis Center cc: R.A. Smalley Tom Graybill PAGE 66 ... TARPA TOPICS

A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. A woman must do what he can’t.

Rhonda Hansome

From dedstik don draper Dear John (Bedee, Jr.) Thank you very much for the notification of your Dad’s passing. The saddest part of growing old is, for me, the continuing loss of special people who once brought great delight into my days and who I usually haven’t seen for many years. Your Dad personifies this type of loss to me. As I think you know, John and I flew the Pacific together for several years in the late ’60s and early ’70s only yesterday - including the longest 707 flight I ever made, Kadena (Okinawa) to San Francisco non-stop.

We met one evening at the SFO hangar to limo up to Travis AFB for a MAC flight. Although we exchanged only a few words before boarding the limo, he gave the impression that he was glad to see me. He sat in the front seat with the driver, a kind of unspoken custom, and I sat a couple seats behind him. From that perspective he looked kind of round and, with his flat-as-a-pancake Captains cap, a little comical; I couldn’t keep from grinning. That grin never left my face over our many flights together. In the ramp office at Travis he asked me if I often flew at night; I replied that I did not; it wasn’t one of my favorite things. He told me to fly us to Honolulu, it would be good experience. I was later glad he had me fly first because he was such a damn hard act to follow. He had a seemingly carefree attitude which, I quickly learned, hid a remarkable confidence in himself which, I also soon realized, was completely apropos. Behind his always present happy-face grin was a mind that never missed a trick and a fancy that could find humor in almost anything. A most enjoyable man with whom to share a cockpit, a beer or a layover.

But a pilot’s task is to fly and it is those skills by which we rate each other. On our second day it was John’s turn to fly,... and fly he did! He settled into his seat, grinned at me hugely and with no apparent effort, and not much more attention flew his airplane with a graceful smoothness and precision I could only envy.

I found my own flying, try as I might, embarrassing in comparison. I’ve never sat next to a more talented air line pilot.

Sadly, John has now flown West,... but he’s left a big grin on the face of those of us who shared his cockpit and, I’m sure, his life.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences.

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I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb -- and I'm also not blonde.

Dolly Parton

From Bob Adickes Dear Gene, Recently I received a message from Capt. Bart Anderegg, advising that we still have a TWA Term Life Insurance policy (Group No. 29924) with a death benefit of $20,000. (With no further reductions.)

Perhaps some of our fellow retirees are not aware of this life insurance, and you can verify this information by contacting: Ms. Paula McConnell TWA Retiree Record keeper Box 6129 Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Utica, NY 13504 1-800-440-6081 On August 12, 2005, I received a letter of confirmation from Ms. Paula McConnell on this life insurance coverage.

Bob Adickes Thanks Bob. I was unaware of this insurance and immediately after receiving your letter I contacted Ms. McConnell. She is a very nice lady and in 15 seconds she found a file sent to me which I signed and returned, stating that she had made me aware of the insurance four years ago. My memory is good, it’s just short. She is very helpful and she sent me a second letter – which I filed right next to the first one. It is very important that AA is immediately notified of the death of any retiree. Gene When it comes to testing new aircraft or determining maximum performance, pilots like to talk about “pushing the envelope.” They’re talking about a two dimensional model: the bottom is zero altitude, the ground; the left is zero speed; the top is max altitude; and the right, maximum velocity, of course. So, the pilots are pushing that upper-right- hand corner of the envelope. What everybody tries not to dwell on is that that’s where the postage gets canceled, too.

Admiral Rick Hunter, U.S. Navy.

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When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.Elayne Boosler

From Rudy Truesdale Dear Gene, Regarding the crash of Wayne Williams after take-off in Las Vegas. The story that was reported by some people in TARPA was more theory than fact. I documented this true story to Hank, the former Grapevine Editor, shortly before he died.

I got the government crash report from Washington, D.C. It showed the Las Vegas radio range was on. Beacon 23 and 23A were lit. Wayne had flown this route only once before. He was on course on the radio range and flew over Beacon 23. And this is where he was booby trapped. The enroute log sheet profile showed VFR minimum of 8,000 feet, but it did not show you had to make a left to fly over Beacon 23A in order to fly at 8.000 feet. The beacons lights followed the low terrain that air mail pilots used. Wayne, not knowing this, flew straight ahead into the vertical bluff. He only went to Las Vegas for fuel because in Albuquerque Carol Lombard, claiming priority ticket, insisted on staying on board because she was retuning from entertaining the troops. So Wayne agreed and landed in Las Vegas for fuel.

Sometime after the crash, I traded flights in Albuquerque and flew west over this route. At Las Vegas, a mechanic was boarded as an ACM and asked me to fly over the crash site. The weather was daylight and CAVU. The mechanic had hired a miner with a mule’s load of dynamite and had gone to the site and blew an avalanche down covering the crash. We could spot no sign of the wreckage. The mechanic said the DC3 was only 3 feet Long.

If you need any clarification, please contact me at (707) 445-8036 Capt. Rudy Truesdale #1 in age at 99 years: by the same token, # 1 in seniority. I am blind in my right eye due to a detached retina and I cannot see to read, write or do any detail with the left eye. I am still living in Dorothy’s and my home where she died on December 19, 2000. I am maintaining it as a private rest home with a ‘round the clock’ caregiver. On August 19, 2005, the Grand Master of CA came to my home and presented me a certificate and gold enameled pin with a 1/4 carat diamond because I have been a Mason for 75 years.

Thanks, Rudy. I hope somebody is recording all this for posterity. We can’t afford to let this type of history get away from us. Gene

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In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.

Margaret Thatcher

REMEMBRANCES OF THE 50’S by Jack Parker Remember flying out of Rome enroute to Athens and Cairo? I’m talking about the afternoon flight. We flew southwest to join the airway at Isola di Ponza and turned left to Capri just off the Amalfi coast. Another gorgeous sunny day in Italy. We flew at low altitudes usually 15,000 in the Connie. But better yet the DC-4 flew at 7, 000. Remember how the sun reflected off the water?

What days! What flying!

Sometimes we would lay over in Athens and stay at the Astir Beach Hotel, located in a beachfront park. We had individual cabins and wore bathing suits all day. Spear fishing too, of course. The fishing was sparse; I never was able to spear dinner.

Occasionally you might get a DC-4 to fly to Cairo from Athens on another perfect day. As we would say good bye to beautiful Athens and the Greek islands looking like gems suspended in air against that azure sea. We flew across Crete and then the Nile estuary making a left turn in while the pyramids would appear in the desert haze on our right side. In Cairo we stayed at the Heliopolis Hotel in the late 40’s. What a place. The halls and walls were covered and draped with oriental rugs. Room keys were not issued to us because the floors were guarded every 50 feet by a man who did have room keys. He was required to recognize everyone before opening your room! In the evening there was a huge open air terrace bar with wicker furniture. Stella beer came in large cold bottles. (hummm). After one or two nights of this and other delights such as horseback riding in the desert in moonlight. So, back to work, work???? It was takeoff, turn out, head for the Nile delta and heading 330. Another beautiful eastern Mediterranean day.

Night flying: a. Remember that the airplane doesn’t know that it’s dark. b. On a clear, moonless night, never fly between the tanker’s lights. c. There are certain aircraft sounds that can only be heard at night. d. If you’re going to night fly, it might as well be in the weather so you can double count your exposure to both hazards. e. Night formation is really an endless series of near misses in equilibrium with each other. f. You would have to pay a lot of money at a lot of amusement parks and perhaps add a few drugs, to get the same blend of psychedelic sensations as a single engine night weather flight.

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Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.

Maryon Pearson

Notes to Ed Madigan From John E. Clark (as opposed to Chris and Jack) Enclosed are my dues. We do enjoy the TARPA TOPICS cover to cover. I remember so well the crash in the Sandias in 1955. I was in Albuquerque that morning and said “good morning” to Ivan Spong. I flew the Martins as long as they were in service with TWA. I have two sons as pilots, one for American and one for Commerce Banks. I do enjoy the articles and hearing from my fellow friends of working days.

From Russ North Sorry about the dues delay. I just forgot. After all my battles with the medical profession, I finally have good news to report. A couple of months ago I had a complete renal failure and wound up on dialysis 3 times a week, what a hassle, three and a half hours each time. The last time I was in the doctor said go home and don’t come back unless I say so. Seems my kidneys have improved enough to work on their own. If I sound excited I am. Almost as excited as my first solo. Thanks for all the hard work on our behalf.

Hey Russ, I hope none of your problems were caused by the controlled crash I made at Santa Maria on the one line check you gave me.

Gene From Dave Richwine I have always wondered why so many old guys forget whether or not they have paid their dues.

Now I know. Here are mine. Best wishes to TARPA. You gave me my first instrument check, Dave, and I was so tongue-tied I forgot my name.

Gene ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taxiing down the tarmac, the 747 abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After an hour-long wait, it finally took off.

A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, “What was the problem?” “The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine,” explained the flight attendant, “ and it took us a while to find a new pilot.”

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I try to take one day at a time -- but sometimes several days attack me at once.

Jennifer Unlimited THE SOUTHERN ROUTE Four days I will never forget The Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) by Vernon T. (Tom) Hitchcock In 1942 to the end of World War II NATS Squadron VR-3 (V= Heavier than air; R= Transport) based at Olathe, Kansas, Naval Air Station, 45 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri, was the con-nection between East Coast VR Squadrons and West Coast VR Squadrons.

In addition to the East-West NATS routes VR-3 operated a route from Olathe south to Corpus Christi, Texas, thence east to Jacksonville, Florida. It was a four-day flight - first day to Corpus Christi with intermediate stops, second day from Corpus Christi east to Jacksonville with intermediate stops, third day from Jacksonville back to Corpus with the same intermediate stops, fourth day from Corpus back to Olathe with the same intermediate stops. The East-West routes from Olathe, Olathe to New York and Olathe to the West Coast were all operated as a scheduled airline with ground flight control based at Olathe.

On the so-called “Southern Route”, however, even though there was a schedule to be kept there was no ground-based flight control. On this route the NATS Plane Commander in addition to flying the DC-3 type aircraft (called R4D by the Navy) was passenger agent, flight control, weight & balance, weatherman, gassing supervisor and sometimes mechanic. He had final say on all these functions and with no directions from Olathe control.

This was heady stuff for a bunch of young Plane Com-manders, and there was a lot of competition amongst the Plane Com-manders for an assignment to fly this route.

To compound the situation the flying weather in winter along the Gulf Coast of the USA was, to say the least, MISERABLE. The NATS Southern Route flights operated many times when the commercial air-lines were grounded because of poor weather.

Thus it was on December 28, 1944. As a Plane Commander regularly flying the “Southern Route” I took off from Olathe with a mixed load of passengers and cargo, the cargo being scheduled to off load at New Orleans on the second day of the four day trip. The cargo con-sisted of urgently needed parts for a fleet of U.S. submarines tied up at New Orleans. The schedule called for arrival at New Orleans at 1205 p.m., December 9, 1944. The weather south of Olathe was heavy snow, low ceilings and low visibility all the way to just north of Corpus Christi.

Try as I might I could not get further south the first day than Ft. Worth, the second scheduled stop on the way to Corpus Christi. We stayed overnight at Ft. Worth.

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I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career.

Gloria Steinem

The next morning, December 29, 1944, I was in the weather station at Ft. Worth’s Meacham Field, intensely study-ing the weather. New Orleans was zero ceiling and zero visibility. It was the same at most of the intermediate stops. Finally I con-cluded that if I took off from Ft. Worth in time to fly directly to New Orleans, by-passing Corpus Christi and all the intermediate stops, I could arrive at New Orleans at just about the scheduled time of 1205 p.m. and that I had a fighting chance that the New Orleans weather would break enough at that time to make a landing.

Off we went direct to New Orleans, flying by instruments over all the country south of Ft. Worth which was covered either by snow, clouds or fog and zero visibility.

At Lake Charles west of New Orleans the CAA called me and said, “The weather at New Orleans is zero/zero. What are your intentions?” “We are going to New Orleans”, I replied. A few minutes later I re-quested a change to the New Orleans airport tower frequency. I was still a few miles west and in the clouds. The tower called me and stated, “We are zero/zero. What are your intentions?” “We are going to New Orleans”, I replied. A few minutes later I called the tower and requested a clearance to land. The tower replied, “We can just barely see Eastern Airlines below our tower here. You are cleared to make an approach for landing”.

I had bracketed the radio navigational beam closely, heading east to the airport. After I passed the navigational radio station I started to descend. In a few minutes I could see that I was under a cloud layer about 100 feet above the ground but that the ground was obscured by fog. Off my left wing I saw the top of an iron bridge sticking up through the fog. In a few seconds we could barely see the runway ahead, and we landed.

I taxied up to the terminal, very slowly through the fog. The plane’s door opened at 1206 p.m., one minute after scheduled arrival on the second day of the trip. The New Orleans passengers deplaned, and the ground people started unloading the cargo parts for the submarines. As I recall we had no passengers for Norman, Houston or Corpus Christi.

Next for me was a trip to the New Orleans weather station at the airport and more intensive study. The weather east to Jackson-ville was patchy ground fog and clouds. Jacksonville was OK at the moment. Pensacola was OK. However, it appeared that we would be reaching Jacksonville at about the time the weather there would be closing in. The weather at New Orleans, thankfully, was still 100 feet overcast and fog, possibly good enough for a takeoff on instruments but definitely not good enough for a landing.

Landing would require a ceiling of 300 feet and one mile visibility.

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If high heels were so wonderful, men would still be wearing them.

Sue Grafton

True, we had just landed with no ore of a ceiling than 100 feet and limited visibility. However we had some things going in our favor. We had a straight shot at the airport runway with no maneuvering and with our known position just minutes for the runway. We had a good fix on the beam leading to the runway. Being on the ground, however, I had my personal rule of flying which was never to take off unless I had landing minimums at the airport of takeoff. I reasoned that if I had engine trouble on takeoff I would need all the maneuvering room possible. After study-ing the weather I went back to the airplane to await weather im-provement.

While standing by my plane a pilot passenger bound for Jackson-ville asked me, “What are we waiting for?” “For landing minimums”, I replied. In a huff he said, “Well we have 100 and one, legal for takeoff. I fly in the Aleutians, and a 50 foot ceiling there is wide open!”

“We are not in the Aleutians,” I said. “Just wait awhile and we will go.”

“I’m not waiting,” he said. “I’ll take the train,” and he stormed off.

In about an hour the New Orleans weather had lifted to 300 and one, and I took off. A little east of New Orleans I saw the train, puffing along, headed for Pensacola and Jacksonville. I mentally wished the pilot a good trip. With luck we would be in JAX long before he would arrive.

Landing and takeoff from Pensacola was routine. The JAX weather, however, was a problem. It looked like we would arrive at JAX well after dark - 8 to 8:30 p.m., and the weather outlook was not good. Tallahassee was my first alternate for JAX. Tallahassee was wide open. However, I took on enough gas at Pensacola to reach Chicago as my second alternate for JAX. Passing over Tallahassee at dusk I saw the fog roll in from the ocean and right before my eyes I saw the fog completely cover Tallahassee. On we went toward JAX. When we arrived at the vicinity of the JAX airport everywhere it was pitch black. JAX was reporting 300 and one - bare landing minimums. I was cleared for an approach and landing. I was heading east toward the airport and broke out under the clouds, too high to land. Therefore I had to fly a right hand turn downwind at just under the 300 foot cloud layer and with a foggy one mile visibility. There was no ground reference at all downwind - no lights on the ground - pitch black, flying solely by instruments. I turned right west of the airport, spotted the airport lights, found the east runway, and landed. As I started to find my way to the terminal through the hazy fog the tower closed the airport. A National Airlines flight on approach could not land.

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When I was young, I was put in a school for retarded kids for two years before they realized I actually had a hearing loss. And they called ME slow!

Kathy Buckley

That Jacksonville approach and landing was a real “squeaker”. If we had not landed we would have had to make the long night flight to Chicago, my remaining alternate. (Poor JAX passengers!).

At that time the weather from WASHINGTON, D.C. and at all stations between Washington and all the Midwest states and the southern states as far as Corpus Christi was zero ceiling and zero visibility. In other words there was no place to land in about 1/3 of the United States that night between Jacksonville and Chicago.

After securing the airplane for the night and calming my emot-ions a bit the co-pilot, cabin orderly and I headed off for our night quarters at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

The weather at JAX the next morning was not good, but it was flyable. We took off, landed at and departed from Pensacola and got as far as New Orleans. The weather ahead to Houston and Corpus Christi was not flyable. Therefore we stayed overnight at New Orleans, enjoying a dinner at the Court of two Sisters, watching the cockroaches going up and down the walls.

The next morning, December 31, 1944, the weather ahead improved dramatically. We made our December 30th scheduled stops at Houston and Corpus Christi. However, time wise, that put us behind the fourth day schedule by several hours. All told, that resulted in 11.6 hours of flying that day with 2.7 hours flying on instruments. At Norman, the last stop before Olathe, I realized that we would be reaching Olathe at just about midnight -NEW YEARS EVE between 1944 and 1945, off we went toward Olathe, A few miles south of Olathe I realized that we would be reaching Olathe about a minute before midnight. Therefore I slowed the plane down just a bit.

At precisely 1200pm- 0000, we crossed the fence at the Olathe Naval Air Station and touched down seconds past midnight, January 1, 1945. I had turned the cabin alarm bell on as we crossed the fence and it was ringing as all the passengers were shouting, HAPPY NEW YEAR. The Olathe control tower radioed, “Congratulations. You are the first to arrive Olathe in 1945”. That was the end of an eventful four day trip on “The Southern Route”.

Note: Flying the “Southern Route” probably was good training. In 1946 after WWII I flew for Nationwide Air Transport Service out of Miami. We carried the Toronto Greenback Soccer team to Detroit and Chicago transiting US and Canadian customs and arranging ground transportation.

We also flew Jamaicans back to Kingston from the Georgia peanut harvest and Puerto Ricans to New York City. VR-3 flew the same US routes as TWA and used their log sheets. I joined Transcontinental & Western Air October 3, 1947 where I met and married TWA Hostess Betty Orr. PAGE 75 ... TARPA TOPICS

Ona Gieschen Shares an Interview April 17, 1944, Jack Frye, Howard Hughes and crew, including Ole Olson and Lewie Proctor, flew a record-breaking flight of 6 hours and 58 minutes BUR-DCA. This flight was really significant in so many ways - it was the first flight of the production model of the Connie. You will recall that the Connie was conceived and built in complete secrecy. Hughes thought that if he could get this fancy new airplane flying before the competition knew about it he would have at least a two year leg up on United, American or PanAm. Then Senator Truman went around with his War Production Board and when the hanger doors slid open, the world was exposed to this “tripled tail aluminum beauty.” The cat was out of the bag. Shortly after that the government decreed that commercial aircraft could no longer be built, so Connie was consigned as a C-69 and went into production for the Army Air Forces. And that is how she came to be.

On April 17, 1944 the production model was ready to go. Hughes worked a deal. He asked to deliver the plane, Army designation #310310 to the Army in Washington, D.C. April 17 she was scheduled to leave Burbank at 3 AM. Ida Staggers is quoted as saying the flight was delayed about an hour while Hughes tried to talk Ava Gardner into riding along; anyway at 3:56 April 17, she lifted off the tarmac and turned her nose east. The forty-ton aircraft, the world’s largest and fastest land based plane won the approval of thousands of visitors waiting at the airport in DCA. TWA John Roach and Harry Ward were there. There was one person who didn’t exactly approve.

Commanding General of the Army Air Force, H. H. Arnold was visibly “ticked.” She was consigned to the army, the army owned her, she should have been dressed in her olive drab, instead Hughes had her in shinning aluminum with bright red logo, “The Transcontinental Line” flaunting her sides. This was wartime, how dare Hughes insult the Army Air Force by advertising an airline that didn’t even own the airplane.

Those aboard this historic flight were: Howard Hughes – Pilot Jack Frye – Pilot R. L. Proctor – Flight Engineer Richard DeCampo – Flight Engineer Charles L. Glover – Radio Edward T. Bolton – Navigator Leo Baron – TWA Public Relations Lawrence Chiappino – TWA Captain Robert C. Loomis – First Officer

Orville Olson – Second Officer Ed Minster – Weather Lee Spurall – TWA Engineering Col. C. A. Shoop – Military Sam Solomon Richard Stanton R. L. Thoren Thomas Watkins

I did this interview with Lewie Proctor and Ole Olson in 1993. We pretty well covered that flight but really got into a bunch of other things. Have you ever tried to control a conversation between a couple of old buddies hanger flying?

In 1994 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of this flight with a wonderful celebration. The pictures are of Ole his wife Carol and daughter Dianne, a TWA Flight Attendant, fifty years later; the other is Lewie and me at the same celebration.

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Ona Gieschen and Lewie Proctor at the 50th Anniversary of Historic Flight, April 1994.

Ole Olson, daughter Diane (TWA Flight Attendant) and wife Carol taken April 17,1994

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Here then is the interview.

INTERVIEW WITH OLE OLSON AND LEW PROCTOR June 30, 1993 ONA: It is June, 30,1993, and we are in the Save a Connie museum. My name is Ona Gieschen.

We are here to interview two of our most knowledgeable historians of the Connie era, Lew Proctor and Ole Olson. Both were crew members of the historic, record-breaking Burbank to Washington, D.C. flight, April 17, 1944. To do a very brief background, you will remember that the Connie prototype number 1961 first rolled out of the hangar at Burbank and took her test flight January 9, 1943. In just a little over a year, the first production model was sitting on the tarmac ready to go. She carried the Lockheed production number 1962. Army Air Force number 43-10310. I believe that she flew to Las Vegas on April 16, 1944, and upon her return to Burbank, Jack Frye and/or Howard Hughes decided to take her to Washington the next day. I know that you were aboard the Las Vegas flight, Lew. Would you tell us about that and the decision the next day to go to Washington.

LEW: Yes. I was on that flight to Las Vegas. But the only thing I remember about it. it had something to do with Nevada tax angles. And that’s about all know. I’m not an accountant so I will shut up.

ONA: Did you know that you were going to Washington the next day? LEW: No. ONA: And it was decided after you got back?

LEW: I don’t know that. The strange part about this whole thing is the day before the speed flight to Washington, the whole crew as we knew it, not including Hughes and Jack Frye, got together in somebody’s hotel room and went over charts, weather straps, and all that kind of stuff. The next morning, it was early, it was dark, we went out to the airport. I went up in the cockpit and there sat—nobody was up there. Pretty soon somebody came up the front door ladder and it was Howard Hughes. I didn’t know he was going to fly it. He didn’t know how to turn the lights on. So I showed him how to turn all the lights on. And then here comes Jack Frye next. Hughes says. “I need a flashlight.” Joe Putnam was the foreman there at that time. I hollered out to him. “We need a flashlight.” Everybody knows Joe. He does “oh too thick” instead of “oh too thin”. He came back with 4 flashlights. I thought, “Boy, they are going to fly this airplane.” Ole, you remember this. I went back in the cabin and talked to Chiappino who I thought was going to fly and I said. “Chip, aren’t you going to fly this airplane?” He says, “I guess not.” That’s about the way it was. I said, “Well, are you going to get off the airplane?” He said. “If I do, I lose my job.” So there we were.

ONA: Ole, what do you know about it? When did you know that you were going on the flight?

OLE: I didn’t know anything about the preparations for the flight except that we were scheduled to go along. Most of us sat in the back of the airplane during the flight. Saw Howard Hughes wander through a couple of times. He didn’t talk to anybody.

ONA: This is before you started out?

OLE: No, this is during the flight.

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ONA: Somebody told me—I think it was Ida Staggers, that you were supposed to go at three o’clock in the morning. I see where the figures says you did not get off until 57.

OLE: It was dark, I know that. LEW: It was real dark.

ONA: But she says you were delayed almost an hour because Howard Hughes was trying to talk Ava Gardner into going along.

LEW: That sounds reasonable.

OLE: I know we played poker on the way over. I did serve coffee. LEW: You sat with a bunch in the first cabin section—forward.

OLE: Yes, I think so. That’s because I was near the galley. I was the purser on that—first hostess you might say.

ONA: Okay, now tell me of the configuration. This was configured for the military, right?

OLE: Yes. ONA: Were there compartments? Did you have a first class compartment?

OLE: I don’t even know how many seats were installed. LEW: There were normal seats in the back.

OLE: Were they all in there? Were there 60 seats in there? LEW: I don’t know. I didn’t count. I had other things to count.

ONA: It was DeCampo who said he was going to bed. The article says he got in the bunk. Were the bunks there?

LEW: Oh, I don’t know. That front compartment on the longer flights, we could use that. If you wanted to lie down in the seat, let the seat down.

OLE: Did you and Dick alternate at the engineer’s panel on the flight?

LEW: I took the first half of the flight and he took the second half.

ONA: Now some article says that exactly half way over Frye and Hughes exchanged seats.

LEW: I saw that in one of his books.

ONA: Did you see that? Did the whole crew change?

LEW: No. I was half way scared most of the time. Are you ready to get into takeoff stuff yet?

ONA: Yes. PAGE 79 ... TARPA TOPICS

LEW: I was at the flight engineer panel for takeoff and Hughes told me he did not want to use full power. We were taking off to the northwest and that is where the hills are.

ONA: Why didn’t he want full power?

LEW: I don’t know. That’s him! You never know. That front compartment had a door that opened directly into the cockpit. And when Hughes told me he didn’t want to use full power, he gave me a certain manifold pressure figure. I forget what it was. I knew that Bob Loomis, TWA engineering pilot, was sitting next to the cockpit door. So I opened the door, punched him on the shoulder, and told him what Hughes said. And he says, “I agree. I don’t think that is enough power either.” On the first 049’s, the flight engineer lighting panel glared on the pilot’s window. So they had a curtain hanging behind the pilot. Bob told me, “When we make the turnaround to get into position for takeoff, I’ll step in the cockpit and peek through the curtain.

I’ll put my right hand on your right shoulder. And if it is not enough power, I will squeeze your shoulder.” We started down the runway and, sure enough, he squeezed it once. Pretty soon he started squeezing it like that! So I just shoved them all forward. Nobody knew it.

ONA: Not even the pilot?

LEW: No. He didn’t say anything. So I didn’t say anything. So we took off and didn’t hit any trees.

ONA: Ole, you were sitting in the back. Were you concerned?

OLE: Not at all.

ONA: Because you did not know.

OLE: No. I was concerned about going back home. We had been in Burbank about a month. We were ready to go home.

LEW: He and I were roommates out there.

ONA: That article said that you showed this crumpled piece of paper to someone.

OLE: Telegram from my wife.

ONA: Right.

OLE: Saying triplets had arrived. Two blondes and a brunette. I showed that to Leo Barren and he wrote it into the Skyliner story. They were cocker spaniel puppies. That was the beginning of our career in cocker spaniels which lasted about 15 years. I used to lug the dogs around the country to shows.

ONA: What did you have to eat on that airplane?

OLE: I have no any remembrance of that at all.

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ONA: That article says that the coffee in the thermos was cold but you heated it. Did it have galley power?

OLE: I am sure it did LEW: Yes, it did.

OLE: It was going to be flown on long flights. The thing I remember most about the trip was playing poker. We had a poker game which lasted about 2 or 3 hours.

LEW: I don’t remember even eating breakfast.

OLE: I am sure you don’t. It didn’t amount to much.

LEW: There is something else in regards to this flight. We started our climb. In the neighborhood of 18,000 to 20,000 feet, Hughes turned around to me and wanted to know if we were getting full power. I said that we were right on chart for that condition. He says, “We are not making our speed.” Well, he was trying to fly it manually. A big airplane like that and that thin air is awful hard to do and hold it truly straight, the only way you get your maximum speed. I told him to put it on auto pilot. He looked at me and frowned and he looked over to Jack Frye, and Jack nodded his head. They put it on auto pilot. That took care of that problem.

ONA: And you said that Jack Frye and Howard Hughes really had no conversation.

LEW: No. ONA: And while you were flight engineer sitting up there, you didn’t talk to anyone either?

LEW: No. I had a lot of dials to watch.

ONA: Did someone come up and sit in the cockpit most of the time to observe?

LEW: Yes. Bob Johnson, the Wright Company’s engine representative, came up and sat behind me and he was there for most of the flight as I remember.

ONA: And you told me before, he had his fingers crossed most of the time. LEW: That was just a joke.

ONA: Yes, I know. All four engines kept turning the whole time. LEW: Oh, yes. Beautiful.

ONA: There were also a Lockheed representative or two on the airplane, right?

LEW: Yes, there was a Lockheed Flight Engineer on board. Tom Watson.

OLE: Colonel Schupp, the Air Force representative, was on it. wasn’t he?

LEW: Rudy Thorn. He was their operational engineer.

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OLE: Leo Barren, TWA Skyliner editor from Kansas City.

LEW: There were several people on board the airplane.

OLE: They are all listed in that Skyliner article.

ONA: And they were all congenial people and you basically had a good flight.

LEW: Yes. When I went back in the cabin. I just sat down and rested. I don’t remember who was the weather guy?

OLE: Mr. Mincer LEW: Ed Mincer. I knew him pretty good, so we sat down and talked for quite a while.

ONA: Now, you’ve landed in Washington. Was there a big crowd of people?

LEW: Oh yeah. A big crowd.

OLE: YES, One was Jack Frye’s wife.

LEW: One of the pilots that is now flying the Save a Connie told me he was a 3rd Officer at that time and he was in the crowd that saw us get off the airplane.

ONA: I wonder who that might have been. One of the pilots? LEW: Yes. OLE: I don’t think there was much excitement on that flight. Most of the people slept. We played poker for 2 or 3 hours. I won $27. It must have been a two bit game. I remember an incident at Burbank in which Lewie and I were involved that nobody wrote up. We were on a test flight. I believe Chiappino was flying it with Colonel Schupp and a Lockheed test pilot up front. Right after take off, they could not reduce the power on two of the engines on the right side of the airplane. Numbers 3 and 4 were stuck in take off power. They couldn’t bring the throttles back. So they had to shut down the two engines and fly back to Burbank. The landing was routine with numbers 1 and 2 running. As we were taxiing in. the brakes went out. That airplane had no steerable nose wheel. The power was the steering device. With number 1 and 2 running, we are going by the Burbank terminal building and the airplane starts a slow turn towards the terminal building. We turned all the way around. The left wing almost hit the railing on the balcony of the terminal building and the restaurant. And when the airplane had made a complete 270 and had its tail in the terminal, they shut off numbers 1 and 2. They had no brakes to hold it, so it started to drift backwards into the terminal. With the tail probably going up over the balcony. I guess it was always a precaution to open the hatches in the cabin floor. Lewie and I were back there. And when we saw what was happening, and the two engines quit, we jumped out through the ...

LEW: Down into the belly.

OLE: Through the cargo compartment and out of the airplane—about an eight foot drop I think.

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OLE: Leo Barren, TWA Skyliner editor from Kansas City.

LEW: There were several people on board the airplane.

OLE: They are all listed in that Skyliner article.

ONA: And they were all congenial people and you basically had a good flight.

LEW: Yes. When I went back in the cabin. I just sat down and rested. I don’t remember who was the weather guy?

OLE: Mr. Mincer LEW: Ed Mincer. I knew him pretty good, so we sat down and talked for quite a while.

ONA: Now, you’ve landed in Washington. Was there a big crowd of people?

LEW: Oh yeah. A big crowd.

OLE: YES, One was Jack Frye’s wife.

LEW: One of the pilots that is now flying the Save a Connie told me he was a 3rd Officer at that time and he was in the crowd that saw us get off the airplane.

ONA: I wonder who that might have been. One of the pilots? LEW: Yes. OLE: I don’t think there was much excitement on that flight. Most of the people slept. We played poker for 2 or 3 hours. I won $27. It must have been a two bit game. I remember an incident at Burbank in which Lewie and I were involved that nobody wrote up. We were on a test flight. I believe Chiappino was flying it with Colonel Schupp and a Lockheed test pilot up front. Right after take off, they could not reduce the power on two of the engines on the right side of the airplane. Numbers 3 and 4 were stuck in take off power. They couldn’t bring the throttles back. So they had to shut down the two engines and fly back to Burbank. The landing was routine with numbers 1 and 2 running. As we were taxiing in. the brakes went out. That airplane had no steerable nose wheel. The power was the steering device. With number 1 and 2 running, we are going by the Burbank terminal building and the airplane starts a slow turn towards the terminal building. We turned all the way around. The left wing almost hit the railing on the balcony of the terminal building and the restaurant. And when the airplane had made a complete 270 and had its tail in the terminal, they shut off numbers 1 and 2. They had no brakes to hold it, so it started to drift backwards into the terminal. With the tail probably going up over the balcony. I guess it was always a precaution to open the hatches in the cabin floor. Lewie and I were back there. And when we saw what was happening, and the two engines quit, we jumped out through the ...

LEW: Down into the belly.

OLE: Through the cargo compartment and out of the airplane—about an eight foot drop I think.

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LEW: Ole had good presence of mind, and took a parachute with him and put it under the right wheel, the one that does the stopping.

OLE: Thought you had a parachute with you too.

LEW: No, I left mine in the airplane.

OLE: I thought we both had parachutes. We put a parachute under the wheel’s to stop it from backing up anymore. It was very exciting. What had happened was a wire to an experimental automatic trim tab elevator—elevator trim tab—had fallen onto the hydraulic line below the cockpit They had a temporary motor in the cockpit with a wire running down to the area below. It had opened up a hole in the hydraulic line and they lost all hydraulic pressure.

ONA: Now, this was a test flight prior to delivery?

LEW: Yes. ONA: Did you always take parachutes on the test flight?

LEW: Yes. ONA: Who flew this one?

OLE: Chiappino was in the cockpit with a Lockheed test pilot. And Colonel Schupp.

LEW: Chip was sitting in the right seat, I remember that. OLE: And the Lockheed pilot was flying the airplane.

LEW: Colonel Schupp of the Air Force was up there too.

ONA: And you were basically observers in the back of the airplane. OLE: I was along for the ride.

LEW: I was the Flight Engineer.

ONA: Oh, you were the Flight Engineer?

OLE: Not for the landing. You must have traded places with Dick because you and I were in the back to go down through that hatch.

LEW: Okay. That section of the floor—they always had that up during a test flight because that area below there is where all the hydraulic stuff is. So if they had trouble, they could get to it quick without having to unscrew the floor. That’s how come we went that way. The forward baggage compartment door would open up and it had a handle on the inside.

OLE: It could have been a total disaster if that airplane had not turned just exactly where it did.

We could have run right into the terminal with two engines—propellers—running.

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ONA: On a test flight, what were you doing at the terminal building? OLE: We were taxiing back to the hangar after we landed.

ONA: With most test flights wouldn’t you be in and out of Burbank instead of Los Angeles?

LEW: This was Burbank.

ONA: Oh, this was Burbank, and the passenger terminal—the commercial terminal was the same thing that Lockheed used for their ..

OLE: That was the main terminal at that time. A lot of airline flights went through Burbank then.

As far as I can remember, we never once landed at the Inglewood airport. We did land out at Palmdale. We made practice landings out at Palmdale.

LEW: That was weather.

OLE: I remember an incident from that too, now that I am reminded of Palmdale. Chiappino let me make a landing one day. Being a second officer, I didn’t get to fly the airplane very much. We had a crosswind. I brought it in and after I leveled off it drifted over to the other side of the runway. I landed astraddle of the runway lights. And Chiappino says. “Fly the airplane. Don’t let the airplane fly you!”

LEW: He was the kind of guy that when he was flying the line, the co-pilot would want to make a report—a position report. And he would want to put down a certain time. And Chip would say, “No, we are not there yet.” and it would be about this far yet! He was a darn good pilot, unusually good guy.

OLE: I remember one incident concerning Chiappino. We got caught by a Cop one day for speeding and had to go to court. Chip had to go to court and explain himself. He was nervous as a cat. I have never seen anyone more nervous trying to explain why they were speeding. But he got out of it.

The judge excused him. Chip had physical problems of some kind that he knew about, but nobody else knew about. Because when we went to Dayton, he died on his 40th birthday of a heart attack.

LEW: He slept a lot of times during the flight at Dayton.

OLE: I didn’t know that. I flew with him on ICD too and when he had a difficult instrument approach to make, he would break out in a cold sweat.

ONA: Back to our flight to Washington. You have landed in Washington and there are a group of people out there. You kept the airplane there several days, sort of politicking, right? And you took big wigs up?

LEW: I am not sure about that.

OLE: I didn’t ride on any of the publicity flights over there. LEW: I didn’t either.

OLE: I think Chiappino and Loomis flew the flights.

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ONA: Ida Staggers and her group or several people went down and Hughes wouldn’t let them work the flight. I don’t remember what his theory was but I do know that they did serve a little snack to these officials.

OLE: They made several publicity hops, but I think they were done by Hughes. Hughes flew some of them himself.

ONA: Who were the people on those flights? Were they selling it to the military?

LEW: Big wigs in Washington.

ONA: Actually it was advertising TWA. LEW: Oh, sure.

ONA: You were in Washington for a few days. Then you flew to Vandalia.

Why did you go to Vandalia? You were going to Wright Patterson. Did you go to Vandalia just to see Orville Wright?

OLE: No, we were there for about 2 weeks the first time.

LEW: Where?

OLE: In Vandalia. By Dayton, Ohio. On test flights.

LEW: Vandalia got me screwed up. We were only in Washington a few days. Then they told us to go to Dayton for accelerated shake-down.

ONA: When you say Dayton, are you talking about Wright Patterson?

OLE: Wright Patterson. We didn’t do any flying out of Vandalia. We may have landed there sometimes, but Wright Patterson is where we were based.

LEW: We flew it half a day and the military flew it half a day. Also at Wright Patterson, one day we took Orville Wright on board and let him fly it a little bit. He told me, “This wing is longer than our take-off run.”

ONA: There is a picture here with Orville Wright.

OLE: I wasn’t on that flight I didn’t meet him.

ONA: This comes out of an article by Lou Barr. Do you know him? Later became a Flight Engineer for TWA but I think at the time was with Lockheed, right?

LEW: I think he was. He was a graduate engineer. He wrote quite a lot of technical stuff about the Connie.

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ONA: Here is one that you and Orville Wright signed. And here is a picture of Orville Wright in the cockpit. At Wright Patterson, you turned that airplane over to the military.

LEW: No, not there. We flew it half a day and they flew it half a day. When we turned it over to the military, we took it back to Washington. I don’t remember who the captain was.

ONA: From Washington, how did you get back to Burbank?

LEW: I didn’t go back. They were starting the old Boeings back on Domestic then. They had to take the fuel tanks out of the cabin. And put pressurization back in it for passenger operation.

They didn’t have any Flight Engineers on Domestic. They were all on International. So they sent me back there to start up a Flight Engineer operation in Kansas City for Domestic. That was my job then. Had to do everything.

ONA: On the Boeing LEW: On the 307.

ONA: This was 1944. The War was not over yet.

OLE: We were a year from leaving ICD at that time. We left ICD in March and April of 1946.

ONA: Let’s go back to California for a moment and you tell me how you got into the Lockheed program?

LEW: I’ll give you a good answer on that I happened to be at the right place at the right time. Or you can call it the wrong time.

OLE: I was lucky too. I was a senior Second Officer on lCD, the most senior. That is why I was selected.

LEW: I’ll tell you how we wound up at Lockheed. At the time the Connie came up, there were two projects or missions that the company had to do. One of them was to go to Moscow. And the other was to go to Lockheed. And they wanted either Al or I to do either one. We didn’t care which one we did and they didn’t either. So Al and I flipped a nickel. I went to Lockheed and he went to Moscow.

ONA: Al? LEW: Al Brick. One of my best friends.

ONA: So you were in this test program at Lockheed for several months.

OLE: We first started in ’43. And this flight was in April of ’44. So I think we went back and forth for nine months to a year.

LEW: We got tired of being there, I know that.

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OLE: I have a story that involves the first 049’s. They were made without a steerable nose wheel as you know. I was involved in an incident at Albuquerque where we lost the hydraulics. Which probably prompted them to very quickly get a steerable nose wheel on that airplane. We were taxiing in off the runway at Albuquerque. We landed to the West and were taxiing off toward the terminal. You remember the terminal situation there. There was a grassy sand island in the middle and you went in on the north ramp taxi strip, past a stone wall and past several trees 15 or 20 feet high. Then you would park in front of the terminal and go out the other side. When you departed, you went on the other side.

LEW: The new terminal?

OLE: No, this was 1947 so it was the old terminal. LEW: Over in the boondocks.

OLE: Yes. Shortly after I started flying on Domestic a year or so after I came back here. I flew DC3’s for a couple of years, then I got back on the Connie. We were taxiing in there on the Fourth of July and just started to turn into the terminal, the brake pedals both went flat. No brakes and that airplane had no other control, no steerable nose wheel. The only alternative we had was to run number one engine up full steam because we were headed for a lot of people sitting on that stone wall observing, and the trees. We ran up number one engine full blast and the wing went up over the trees and the people were scattering like scared rats. And we ended up out in the middle of the sand island. And shut off the engines when we got our rear end facing back towards the terminal.

What happened there was the same thing that happened to us in Burbank. Hydraulics had gone out. One of the lines to the manifold on one wheel had come loose and was squirting hydraulic fluid all over the place. We went back and traced it to where we had just turned. We were very lucky not to have wrecked the airplane and killed a lot of people.

ONA: Could that hydraulic fluid have leaked out in flight and started a fire?

OLE: No. Think it just happened at that instant when we tried to apply the brakes to turn into the terminal. It just let loose—one of the lines came off the manifold there. We had no hydraulic pressure at all. No control except for the engines. We were lucky to have room to do what we did.

It could have been a total disaster. ONA: Now tell me about the triple tail of the Connie.

LEW: There are two pretty good reasons. I guess the more important one is more positive control when flying. And the other one is it will fit into a small hangar.

ONA: Otherwise the tail would have been ...

LEW: It would have been about 40 or 50 feet high. To get the same control factors out of it, it would have to be about that.

OLE: I imagine it was a little complicated to engineer that, to get power to all those clippers back there, tail surfaces.

ONA: You have been in Burbank for months on this project. OLE: Off and on for a few weeks at a time.

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ONA: Tell me about ICD. I am under the impression that the Intercontinental Division was formed to fly the Connies. Basically the first Connies were designed for TWA. Then when the military took over, wasn’t there an agreement with TWA and the military that the TWA crews would crew those flights?

OLE: The original crewing of flights on ICD was done for the Boeing. The Stratoliner ..

LEW: The 307 OLE: There were no Connies sent to ICD at all. LEW: All we had were the Boeings.

OLE: Then we got the DC-4, the Douglas DC-4, about six months after we started over there.

LEW: The reason the Boeings got in the picture so strong, is because they had good range. We put four fuel tanks over the wing, wasn’t it?

OLE: I don’t remember.

LEW: Took out the chairs in the cabin and put three or four fuel tanks up there. That with the fuel that was in the wings, gave you pretty good range on that airplane. It had 4 engines. That gives you a little more reliability. And we hauled everything from personnel to generals, privates, ammunition. You name it, we hauled it.

OLE: How long were the Stratoliners over there? Only a year or two? LEW: Not too long.

OLE: We got DC-4’s in there. I flew the Stratoliners from Natal over to Africa during the summer of ’42. And right after that in the fall of ’42 we got the DC-4’s-C-54’s.

LEW: That was when they had that plane with internal fuel leaks. OLE: That was the C-87. B-24 modified.

LEW: Four engine. You had to change U2’s somewhere up in the wing when you wanted to change tanks. And they always leaked.

OLE: They thought some were lost over the South Atlantic by explodingfumes, leaking fuel.

ONA: Was the DC-4 a better airplane for what you wanted on the North Atlantic?

OLE: I don’t think there is any doubt about that. LEW; It was an airplane that flew like an airplane.

ONA: You as the ICD flew the DC-4 on that route?

OLE: For four years.

ONA: This was military, yet not military, right?

OLE: Quasi-military. Half-way. We wore our uniforms—military type uniforms. And we went into the military bases everywhere. Azores, South Atlantic, North Atlantic. Iceland, Greenland.

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LEW: Back in those days everybody had to have a uniform. If you didn’t have a uniform, they would haul you in someplace and give you the third degree to find out if you were enemy or friend. It was that simple. You cannot blame them in England because they had bricks all over the ground. That was the problem. The uniforms we had—I wouldn’t say they were similar to military...

OLE: They were olive drab.

LEW: Light tan. And we had “gitches” to put on the shoulder.

ONA: What was that round button—it had maybe a flame or a pyramid. LEW I can’t remember what you would call it.

ONA: It had some very definite words. But you wore that on your shoulders, too?

LEW: Yes, it was there on the uniform.

ONA: But you did not wear a TWA uniform?

LEW: When they first started this kind of operation, all we had were TWA uniforms. That brings in another story. We took General Eisenhower and General Omar Bradley and Admiral King over to London to get ready for the Channel crossing. We did wear TWA uniforms for that. Because the next morning I was out walking, looking in the windows of the stores around the hotel. Somebody behind me says, “What’s the matter? Are you mad?” I turned around and there were Bradley and Eisenhower. “What are you doing?” “Window shopping.” “Okay, let’s go!” So we window shopped for a while.

OLE: Was this in London?

LEW: Yes. When we got to Scotland, the generals got on the train and went down to London.

Then we brought the airplane down.

ONA: Why didn’t they go with you?

LEW: Security stuff.

OLE: Most of our flights were into Prestwick. It was usually under special orders and an emergency of some kind when they let us land in London. Only under some General’s orders.

LEW: They didn’t have room at the airports.

ONA: Even with the Generals on you did not land in London? LEW: They don’t want to get the train blown up.

OLE: They were blacked out at night—totally. No lights.

LEW: So we went down there. On that flight, I don’t know who furnished it. Either TWA or the military put on special t-bone steaks. All frozen. Well, when we got down to London, Ike invited PAGE 90 ... TARPA TOPICS

the whole crew in and said, “Let’s eat steaks.” You know how they cooked them? They boiled them! Bob Loomis was the first officer on that flight. He and I went into a restaurant to have sandwiches that evening. We had our TWA uniform on. One of the Colonels was in there eating.

He got up and started yelling, “I know who you are. You brought Eisenhower over today.” That didn’t work. We went back to the hotel. Blackie was captain.

ONA: Hal Blackburn?

LEW: Yes. We told him what had happened. He called U-2—something like that-right away. They started turning the whole town upside down trying to find this guy. They couldn’t find him. So the next morning they got word and passed it on to us. He was an engineering officer. He was up in northern Scotland laying out a new airport up there. That is why they couldn’t find him. So they decided they were going to bring Bob and I back for a court martial hearing in London. At that time I was still trying to hire people, pilots, flight engineers, mechanics, what have you. The ICD group including Otis Brian decided they better hide me. They didn’t want me to go over there and say, “Yeah, there he is.” So they sent me out on more recruiting. I went all over the United States.

Go anywhere I wanted to. All had to do was stay away from Washington.

LEW: I got into London on one of the ICD flights by chance. We were flying from Casablanca to Prestwick. And the Captain, who was a notorious woman chaser, found a beautiful WAC back in the cabin. He called North Atlantic headquarters and asked if we could land in London where she was destined to go after we landed in Prestwick. She was going to get another flight back to London.

This was the middle of the night and we were running without lights. And London is blacked out.

We got permission to change course and go into London. We went right near it from Casablanca to Scotland. So we landed in an airport north of town-Stanstead. We got to go in to town. They picked us up and took us all in, gave us royal treatment, paid for our rooms. I didn’t see the Captain for two days!

LEW: Bob and I finally had to go back to London on the court martial.

ONA: They did find the person?

LEW: They did. Put the pressure on TWA and said, “We’ve got to have those guys back here.”

Well, they set us up. It was a C-54. We flew to Paris and then went down to London. Just three of us on this C-54. They got down there and the military told us we had to go to a little town close to Dover. It was night. They took us into this great big building. There were two chairs right out in the middle of it. And then all these military officer—no one less than a Colonel— sat around the edge of the building. You just barely could see them. Bob went in first and they would not let him come in and see me before I went in. I went in finally and sat down and went through this deal. I didn’t know what he had said and he didn’t tell me what to say because he didn’t see me. You couldn’t tell who these guys were. The building was so big inside. The lights were dim. We both figured they didn’t want us to see him. So that’s what we did. We didn’t find him. That was all there was to it.

ONA: So he was never prosecuted? LEW: No. We couldn’t find him in there.

ONA: He was probably a good man and just had a little too much to drink. LEW: No question about that. Still, that is not the way to do it.

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ONA: Right. I know another Boeing story I would like for you to tell me. Lew, I think you were coming out of New York with Captain Stanton with the oysters.

LEW: We were on flight 41. We left here about 8 a.m., went to Chicago and Pittsburgh, New York.

He and I both liked seafood, especially blue point oysters. And we would go down to all the places and eat blue point oysters. This one night he says, “Let’s get some seaweed and take some home.”

So we got a gunny sack and went down where the fishing place is and filled that gunny sack with oysters in the shell and full of seaweed to keep them moist. And Stan says, “Where are we going to put them?” I says, “We got to keep them cool.” So I put them back in the tail someplace. So we got a cab, came out to the airport. Our flight didn’t leave for another hour. Luckily it was in the hangar and nobody was working on it. So I went in the airplane. The ladies rest room has a big door that has to have a screwdriver to take the door off to go back in the tail. So I took these oysters back there and hung them over the tail wheel groove. I didn’t pay too good of attention, apparently how I hung it. There is a rubber boot over the tail wheel assembly to keep the weather out of the tail. No trouble at Pittsburgh, but we hit a lot of turbulence between Pittsburgh and Chicago. Stan went to put the gear down and the red light came on for the tail. He turned around and said, “Oh. Oh.” I said. “Yep. I’ll go back.” So I went back and told one of the hostesses that I had to go in the ladies rest room. She looked at me kind of funny. I said, “It isn’t that. I have to do something back in the tail and I want you to stand guard.” So she did. I took this bulkhead off. It was a great big deal. Went back in there and sure enough the tail wheel assembly was jammed against the oyster sack. Well, I tried get the oyster sack loose without losing any oysters, but I couldn’t. It was tangled up with that rubber boot. I always carried a pocketknife with me just for something like this. I took out my pocketknife and started cutting the sack first. That didn’t do, so I had to cut the boot. I cut it down the whole length so it left a big gap there. Oysters started falling out. So I went back up the cockpit and told Stan what I had done. He said, “Wouldn’t you like to see the eyes of those Illinois farmers in the morning when they find all those oysters?”

ONA: Manna from Heaven.

LEW: We got back to Kansas City and Red Crownheart was the crew chief. I told him what had happened. He laughed and said. “We will fix it.” I said, “I didn’t write it up.” He said. “Of course not. I’ll fix it.”

ONA: So that was the last you heard of the oysters?

LEW: Yes. No one called up and said they found one of our oysters.

ONA: I just received this big box of things from Ida’s estate—she died in January. There are some pictures here that I would like to show you. Did you know Ernie Smith?

OLE: Yes, San Francisco. I think he was Chief Pilot in San Francisco at one time. He was the one that flew from San Francisco to Honolulu, the pineapple run. The first one in a single engine—he and another pilot flew out to Honolulu.

ONA: And he landed somewhere where he wasn’t supposed to land.

OLE: They landed short of where they were headed. Running out of fuel or something. I have seen his former wife a few times—at the senior meetings in Wickenburg. She’s a character.

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ONA: I gather he was too. Was he ever called the Cardinal?

OLE: That’s possible but I don’t remember hearing that.

ONA: Here are some pictures too. Is that a DC-2 or a Boeing?

OLE: That is a DC-2 or 3. How can you tell a 2 from a 3?

ONA: From the front.

LEW: You can’t unless you see a window.

ONA: Yes you can. You have to see the nose too. Or whether you have lights on the wings.

LEW: The lights were in the wings on one of them.

ONA: Right on the 3 but the 2 was not. I think this was a 2. These are the de-icer boots on the props.

LEW: John Milner. He married a flight attendant.

ONA: That again would be early DC-2’s probably. These are 1936 so they would have to be the DC-2.

LEW: Did you ever see Howard Hughes’ picture when he was about ready to die.

ONA: I suspect newspaper pictures.

LEW: He had long hair.

ONA: Long fingernails. Do you know who that is? I don’t. 1936. You were around then, Lew, right?

OLE: That was the Jewish man who bought TWA about that time or part of it. I have seen him in some other pictures.

ONA: Is that your Ernie Smith?

OLE: Sure is. Yeah, guess he was a character.

ONA: Do you know who this is?

OLE: No. ONA: I haven’t figured that picture out yet either.

OLE: That’s Ernie Smith too.

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ONA: Is this Ernie Smith too?

OLE: In a convertible. Aubrey Keith and Ida Staggers. Aubrey Keith was a Texaco ...

LEW: He used to come into Albuquerque with that biplane of his. It was a neat airplane.

OLE: Who would that long, tall drink of water be? Alexis Klotz. Remember him?

LEW: Oh yeah, I remember him.

OLE: She is polishing a spinner.

ONA: I believe that is ICD days and I think that is the Boeing in Washington. Do you recognize them?

OLE: That is a DC-3.

ONA: It is rather than a Boeing?

OLE: Lewie might have known some of these mechanics. Do you recognize any of these guys?

ONA: This is Toots Casper’s airplane that went across Cicero Avenue.

OLE: In Chicago? Oh boy. He ran off the end of the runway and ran out into 63rd street at Chicago Midway airport.

LEW: Didn’t somebody finally run into that big gas tank up there?

OLE: No, not that I remember.

LEW: Natural gas?

ONA: I remember when we used to layover at Midway. We didn’t have many layovers there, but for a while we stayed at Clearing House Hotel. Which was right across the street and anytime an airplane went over, you ducked or got under the bed, because it was really close.

OLE: Right at the end of the runway.

ONA: That was kind of scary.

ONA: These pictures—again someone brought them in and I asked where they got them. With the flood in Kansas City at Fairfax, they just threw them in the trash can. So I do know that a lot of history ...

OLE: That is a classic picture of a Connie that didn’t make it. I wonder if they were going to recover anything from that airplane.

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ONA: I don’t know. I do have .. See a lot of things ... The history of those airplanes .. But even the—your airplane—what happened to it I don’t think that airplane was ever a TWA plane—don’t think it ever flew for TWA. I think eventually it crashed.

OLE: One of the Connies?

ONA: The 1962—the one you flew to Washington.

OLE: 310310—tail number. I guess it had another number later.

ONA: I wonder where that magazine is. These are the military ones that came out. “1962, which was yours, accepted by the U.S. Air Force—Army Air Force -in April 1944. C69 flown by Hughes in record flight, sold in February, 1947 for spare parts. Rebuilt as L-049 in 1952 and leased to Flying Tigers. Destroyed by fire after wheels up landing during training flight at Burbank in January, 1953.” So that gives the history of the military. And then here is every Lockheed that was ever built and when.

LEW: Where did you get all that stuff?

ONA: I got this at Linda Hall Library. You just do a little research and it’s amazing what you can find.

LEW: In other words, if you are not lazy.

ONA: If you have a normal curiosity, lets say.

OLE: “Destroyed by fire after a wheels up landing during a training flight.” Forgot to put the gears down. Can you imagine that?! At Burbank, January, 1953. It lasted a long time at that. That’s 10 years old.

ONA: You know, another interesting thing that I thought. When the test flight on the Connie, who the test pilot was—was Eddie Allen and he was borrowed from Boeing because he knew more about 4 engine airplanes than anybody else. Matter of fact, he had been testing the B-29 which had the same engine. So this was January 9th. Then he got off the airplane and said, “Gosh, it’s a good airplane. You don’t need me anymore.” So he went back. The B-29 had bunged up sometime before that and that’s why he was available. Then February 18 he was testing the B-29 and it went in and he was killed on that. . LEW: When we were in Dayton—you remember, Ole, there was a B29 in the hangar almost every night. They were changing the cylinders on it.

OLE: No, I didn’t see that.

LEW: They had a lot of trouble with the cylinders on that.

ONA: I think that’s when they had the Pratt-Whitney R2800 standby thinking if they couldn’t get them certified or whatever, they would use the R2800.

LEW: They have to go through a lot of tests to change engines like that.

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OLE: Which number is this airplane out here?

ONA: 37C. It comes way down the list. It wasn’t built until 1959. Here she is on this one—way down here. Slick Airways 1049H. Actually she was an H made into a G. LEW: Did you go in this one, Ole? OLE: I have been in it.

LEW: It is sure nice.

OLE: Oh, yes.

LEW: Wonderful work.

OLE: Fantastic job.

LEW: You know how much it costs to overhaul one of those engines? They don’t have anyway of doing it here, so they have to send them off. $85,000 each.

OLE: Are you kidding? $85,000 for one engine?

LEW: Yes. Well I guess they have to ship it out to the West Coast first.

Transcribed and edited by Nancy Davis January, 1995

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Ed Madigan TARPA Secretary/Treasurer P.O. Box 3565 Incline Village, NV 89549 edmadigan@charter.net

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Gene Richards 2840B Sherwood Ave Modesto, CA 95350 209 492-0391

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