2009.03.TARPA_TOPICS by TWA Active Retired Pilots Assn.

THERE’S STILL TIME TO SIGN ON FOR THE NEW ENGLAND & CANADA FALL COLORS CRUISE SEP. 24—OCT. 3. SEE PAGE 7

MARCH 2009

ISSUE 94

LARRY TOBIN OVER SAN FRANCISCO — RUTH RICHTER–HOLDEN AT JFK

TARPA CONVENTION 2008窶年ASHVILLE, TENNESSEE TARPANS prepare to board the General Jackson for a riverboat cruise through downtown Nashville that included a delicious luncheon and spectacular entertainment by the amazing Peking Acrobats.

TARPA TOPICS THE MAGAZINE OF THE TWA ACTIVE RETIRED PILOTS ASSOCIATION

CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES 2009 CONVENTION/CRUISE……………… 7 Vicki McGowen

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ……………………… 3 Guy A. Fortier

2008 NASHVILLE CONVENTION……….. 21

SECRETARY/TREASURER REPORT …….. 4 Ed Madigan

2008 DIRECTOR’S MTG. MINUTES…… 29 2008 MEMBERSHIP MTG. MINUTES… 32 WHISTLING………………………………………. 36 Bill Kirschner TRANS-CON AIRMAIL FLIGHT………….. 37 Larry Tobin LOCKHEED 12A TRANS-CON FLT……… 41 Ruth Richter-Holden CAPTAIN BERND KLOPFER………………. 45 Bernd Klopfer THE ANDES BECKONED…………………… 71 Bob Dedman THE ‘CAROLE LOMBARD ACCIDENT’.. 89 Chris McDoniel

EDITOR’S NOTE ………………………………….. 5 Jeff Hill, Sr. FLOWN WEST …………………………………….. 81 John Gratz GRAPEVINE ………………………………………… 91 Jeff Hill, Sr.

THERE’S STILL TIME TO SIGN ON FOR THE NEW ENGLAND & CANADA FALL COLORS CRUISE SEP. 24—OCT. 3. SEE PAGE 7 MARCH 2009

ISSUE 94

TWA ACTIVE RETIRED PILOTS ASSOCIATION

LARRY TOBIN OVER SAN FRANCISCO — RUTH RICHTER–HOLDEN AT JFK

Copyright © 2009 The TWA Active Retired Pilots Assn. Material contained in TARPA TOPICS may not be used except with written permission of the Editor. All inquiries concerning this publication should be addressed to: Jeff Hill, Sr., Editor 9610 Hidden Lane, Woodstock, IL 60098 <topics_ed@sbcglobal net>

COVER: Captain Larry Tobin in his 1927 Boeing Stearman C3B. Ruth Richter-Holden, daughter of one of our founders, Captain Paul Richter, in her (once TWA’s) Lockheed 12 A.

TARPA TOPICS is the official publication of TARPA, The TWA Active Retired Pilots Association, a not for profit corporation. The Editor bears no responsibility for accuracy or unauthorized use of contents.

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EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR Jeff Hill, Sr. 9610 Hidden Lane Woodstock, IL 60098 (815) 338-3551 <Topics_Ed@yahoo.com>

EDITOR EMERITUS John P. Gratz 1646 Timberlake Manor Pky. Chesterfield, MO 63017-5500 (636) 532-8317 <JPGratz@hotmail.com>

INTERNET WEBMASTER William A. Kirschner Box 3596 State Line, NV 89449-3596 (775) 721-4386 <wma1012@msn.com>

FLOWN WEST COORDINATOR John S. Bybee 2616 Saklan Indian Drive #1 Walnut Creek, CA 94595 (925) 938-3492 <jbybee4@comcast.net> OFFICERS/DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT Guy A. Fortier Box 6065 Incline Village, NV 89450 (775) 831-3040 <guy4ta@att.net>

PAST-PRESIDENT Charles L. Wilder 122 Wild Dunes Way Jackson, NJ 08527-4058 (732) 833-2205 <clwilder@optonline.net>

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT William A. Kirschner Box 3596 State Line, NV 89449-3596 (775) 721-4386 <wma1012@msn.com>

DIRECTOR OF HOSPITALITY Robert W. Dedman 3728 Lynfield Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23452 (757) 463-2032 <rwded@cox.net>

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Dusty West 4700 Pinnacle Drive Bradenton, FL 34208-8497 (941) 538-0729 <DustyGator@TampaBay.rr.com>

EDITOR Jeff Hill, Sr. 9610 Hidden Lane Woodstock, IL 60098 (815) 338-3551 <Topics_Ed@sbcglobal.net>

SECRETARY/TREASURER Ed Madigan P.O. Box3565 Incline Village, NV 89450 (775) 831-1265 <edmadigan@charter.net>

EDITOR EMERITUS John P. Gratz 1646 Timberlake Manor Pky., Chesterfield, MO 63017-5500 (636) 532-8317 <jpgratz@hotmail.com

SENIOR DIRECTOR Robert C. Sherman 1100 Dranesville Rd. A-320 Herndon, VA 20170-2092 (703) 953-3804 <rcsherm2@comcast.net>

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Greetings to all, as we cruise into 2009—another great year of activities for the TARPA group. As predicted, our 2008 convention in Nashville turned out to be a barn-burner, with many happy people sending compliments. We even managed a "roast" of John Gratz at the banquet, which provided a chuckle or two. Our 2009 "Color Cruise" out of Baltimore, September 24 thru October 3 is getting a good response—we have sixty-nine signed up so far, with plenty of time to come aboard, if you haven't already. With three stops in New England, plus Saint John and Halifax, we should see some spectacular color. Plus it should be interesting for us as pilots who flew over these ports to see them up close. I remember coming back from Europe one bright sunny spring day, gazing down at the unbroken snow fields, and asking the controller when summer started for them...he said, "Oh we don't call it summer, just six weeks of bad snowmobiling." Of course we won't experience anything like that. In this issue you will find all the registration forms for the cruise. For those of you that have already signed up for the cruise, you will need to send in the TARPA registration, which covers our administrative expenses. We will be making a visit to Scottsdale this spring to chose a hotel for our 2010 convention, and to check out points of interest for tours there. With a lot aviation activities in the area, we will have some pleasant surprises, and of course, great shopping for the ladies in Scottsdale. Finally, several of the board are going to the TWA Seniors AGM in San Diego, April 15 thru 17. We hope to see many of you there—San Diego is a great town, with many great activities to enjoy. Best Regards,

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SECRETARY/TREASURER’S REPORT

December 31, 2008

As of December 31, 2008, the membership is as follows: (R) Retired: 623 Active: 22 (E) Eagle: 423 (H) Honorary: 147 TOTAL:

1,215

There are also 39 subscribers to Topics and 11 who receive complimentary copies. We have added three new members since the last Topics. They are listed later in this issue. Following is the financial report for the period from January 1, 2008 thru December 31, 2008: 1/1/2008: Opening Balance Income Expenses Cash Flow

$66,791.59 $55,245.93 $56,692.20 ($ 1,446.27)

Balance 12/31/2008:

$65,338.88

As mentioned above we have three new members, but would like more. Please contact your TWA pilot friends and ask that they join us in future events. They can contact me or go on the web site at <www.tarpa.com> to get an application. Don’t let your TARPA Membership expire. Check your mailing label If it reads “2008” then it’s time for you to renew. Respectfully Submitted,

Ed Madigan

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EDITOR’S NOTE It was ironic. In 1987, I had the pleasure to fly with both Nobby Hall and Bernd Klopfer on the L-1011, one right after the other. I remember it well, as they both were children caught up in WW II; Nobby in England and Bernd in Germany. They both told me amazing tales of their wartime experiences. I lost track of Nobby (I think his name is Erick) but have been in touch with Bernd, badgering him for over twenty years to write a autobiographical sketch which he has finally done, probably just so I will leave him alone. It was well worth waiting for! Bernd is a man who has lived life to the fullest and taken advantage of every opportunity offered to him during a marvelous career in a golden age. It begins on P. 45. You will enjoy reading it. I have found that editing your magazine is more than a full time job! I am extremely grateful for John Gratz’s help with “Flown West” and other items, but especially for his moral support and encouragement when things get difficult. I am also grateful to our many contributors. Besides the fine items from Bob Dedman, Ruth Richter-Holden, Larry Tobin and the many short items in “Grapevine”, I received pictures of our Nashville convention (P. 21) from the Dedmans, Hoppes, Moselys, Rohlfings, Anita Salmonson and Dusty and Lee West. Please send anything of interest that you run across or might care to write about. There cannot be a TOPICS without written and graphic contributions. You don’t have to be a great author, just write as if you were telling it to a friend in a letter or an e-mail. Mailed hard copy is okay, but any digitized format that I can copy and paste right into my text editor is much preferred. As for photos and images, a lot of people hesitate to send them because they are valued and they do not want to risk damage or loss. Anything I receive, I treat with great care, scan into an image file and promptly return the original, but I would much rather receive images in, or attached, to an e-mail. If you don’t have a scanner or know someone who can scan it for you, just take it to any print shop, like Kinko or the printing departments at Office Depot and Office Max, or other office supply stores and they will scan it onto a CD which you can then mail, or just e-mail its contents. This is done quite reasonably, probably for not much more than the postage it would take to mail it and, you now have your own copy in a digital format. If you lose a friend who is a TARPA member, a short reminiscence or biographical sketch is so much preferred to the “name in a box” notice. It doesn’t matter if it is received too late to accompany the original notice. We can reprint it in a future issue. See P. 87 for details.

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NEW MEMBERS Capt. David A. Darby (Laraine) 428 Steep Mountain Dr Draper, UT 84020 <darb@sisna.com>

Capt. Mark Guthrie 174 North River Drive E. Juoiter, FL 33458 <Guthrie767@bellsouth.net>

Capt. Frank Manelski PO Box 631 Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965

“Welcome aboard!” PAGE ... TARPA TOPICS

TARPA’s Cruising in 2009!

We will cruise aboard the Grandeur of the Seas this fall on a New England – Canada cruise for this year’s TARPA Convention. Register now for this spectacular trip, which will prove to be one of the most scenic, historic and unique cruises. This is a 9 night cruise, departing Baltimore on Thursday, September 24th. A complete itinerary and registration form are included in the next few pages. Prices for an inside stateroom will start at $1,205.01 per person. See Registration Form for full details. Please join us now for this fabulous cruise and our 2009 TARPA Convention! Vicki McGowen McGowen Marketing Email: vickimcgowen@charter.net Phone/Fax: 775-849-1377 Cell: 775-722-2811

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TARPAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2009 New England/Canada Cruise

Full details with stateroom dimensions and amenities are listed on the registration form. The Grandeur of the Seas was completely renovated in 2007. This ship has a beautiful glass atrium, eight bars, 2 pools (including the indoor/outdoor Solarium with sliding glass roof) 4 whirlpools, complete day spa, fitness center, Casino Royale and the Great Gatsby Dining Room that embodies the elegance and carefree style of the 1920â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. For further details on the ship, deck plans or optional shore excursions, you may visit the Royal Caribbean website at www.rccl.com There are a limited number of Suites available on this cruise. If you prefer a suite, be sure and register now to confirm the best stateroom. Prices listed above include all fees: nine nights cabin fare, port fees, tax, fuel surcharge, gratuity and four private TARPA cocktail parties.

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TARPA 2009 Convention ٍٍٍ

Royal Caribbean – Canada & New England Cruise September 24 – October 3, 2009 ٍٍٍ

Day 1, Thursday, September 24 11:00am -3:30pm Boarding – Grandeur of the Seas 1:00pm- 3:00pm Registration Open – Conference Room A– Deck 6 3:15pm Mandatory Mustering Meeting - On Deck 4:00pm Depart Baltimore 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room Deck 4 (Casual attire) Day 2, Friday, September 25 At Sea 9:00am – Noon Registration Open – Convention Center Room A Deck 6 10:00am – Noon Board of Directors Meeting – Conf Room D Deck 6 5:15pm Captains Welcome Cocktail - Formal attire South Pacific Lounge – Deck 6 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room (Formal) Day 3, Saturday, September 26 8:00am – 7:00pm Portland, Maine (docked) 5:00pm - 6:00pm TARPA Welcome Cocktail Party South Pacific Lounge – Deck 6 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room Day 4, Sunday, September 27 7:00am – 6:00pm Bar Harbor, Maine (tendered) 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room Day 5, Monday, September 28 7:00am- 3:00pm Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada (docked) 5:00pm – 6:00pm TARPA Cocktail Party – South Pacific Lounge Deck 6 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room

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TARPA 2009 Convention Page -2-

ٍٍٍ Day 6, Tuesday, September 29 9:00am – 6:00pm Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (docked) 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room Day 7, Wednesday, September 30 At Sea 8:00am – 10:00am Registration Open – Convention Center – Room A Deck 6 9:30am – 11:00am TARPA General Membership Meeting – Palladium Theater - Deck 5 Noon – 1:30pm Ladies Luncheon – Great Gatsby Dining Room – Deck 5 (Gift Exchange - $15.00 value) 6:00pm

Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room

Day 8, Thursday, October 1 8:00am – 5:00pm Boston, MA (docked) 5:00pm- 6:00pm Hosted Cocktail Party – South Pacific Lounge (Formal) Deck 6 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room (Final Formal Dinner) Day 9, Friday, October 2 7:00am At Sea 5:00pm- 6:00pm Hosted Farewell Cocktail Party – South Pacific Lounge - Deck 6 6:00pm Group Seating – Great Gatsby Dining Room (Casual attire) Day 10, Saturday, October 3 7:00pm Arrive Baltimore, MD 8:00am Begin Disembarking

***Schedule subject to change – Current as of January 30, 2009*** PAGE 10 ... TARPA TOPICS

TARPA - 2009 Convention Royal Caribbean – New England/Canada Fall Cruise September 24 – October 3, 2009

n r u t

Cruise Registration Form

Last Name____________________________Passport First Name______________ Spouse/Other__________________________Passport First Name______________ Address______________________________________________________________ City________________________________State______ Zip Code ______________

e R

Home Phone___________________________E-mail__________________________ Cell Phone____________________________

Please provide your complete name as it appears on your passport. You will be required to carry a valid passport for travel to and from Canada. If you would like a different name listed on your convention name badge please provide this name below. First Name for badge_____________________________________

Spouses’ Name for badge __________________________________

Are you a US Citizen?**___________________________Age (on 09/24/09)___________ Spouse/Guest US Citizen?**________________________Age (on 09/24/09)___________ ** If you are a non-US citizen please also provide passport numbers or alien registration number. __________________________________________________________________ Crown & Anchor Members

Are you a Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Member? Please list your numbers below: Name and C & A Number ____________________________________ Name and C & A Number ____________________________________

PAGE 11 ... TARPA TOPICS

Page –2 4 All stateroom prices include cruise fare for the nine night cruise, all meals, four private hosted cocktail parties, port charges, taxes, and gratuities. Price Per Person

Total

$1,205.01

$2,410.02

Category I – Outside cabin – Full window Deck 2, 154 sq. ft. _________

$1,345.01

$2,690.02

Category “H” - Outside cabin – Full Window forward and aft, deck 3, 154 sq. ft. _________

$1,365.01

$2,730.02

Category “F” - Outside cabin – Full Window “Main” deck 4, dining room level, 154 sq. ft. _________

$1,495.01

$2,990.02

Category “D2” – Outside cabin with balcony, Superior view, sitting area with sofa bed, refrigerator forward and aft on Deck 7, 190 sq. ft., 36 sq. ft. balcony _________

$ 2,045.01

$4,090.02

Category “D1” – Outside cabin with balcony, Superior view sitting area with sofa bed, refrigerator Centered on Deck 7 190 sq. ft., 36 sq. ft. balcony _________

$ 2,095.01

$4,190.02

Category L – Inside cabin, Deck 4, 146 sq. ft _________

Category “JS” – Junior Suite with Balcony, Deluxe Suite accommodations Deck 8, sitting area with sofa bed, refrig, bathtub, private balcony, superior view 245 sq. feet, 58 sq. ft. balcony _________ $2,545.01 $5,090.02 Category “GS” – Grand Suite with Balcony, Superior Suite accommodations Deck 8, sitting area with sofa bed, refrig, bathtub, private balcony, superior view 349 sq. feet, 107 sq. ft. balcony _________ $ 3,065.26 $6,130.52 Category “OS” – Owners Suite with Balcony, Ultimate Suite accommodations - Deck 8, superior view, separate living area with sofa bed and bar, refrig, deluxe bathtub, 511 sq. feet, 107 sq. ft. balcony _________ $ 3,765.26 $7,530.52 GRAND TOTAL

PAGE 12 ... TARPA TOPICS

$__________

TARPA - 2009 Convention Royal Caribbean – New England/Canada Fall Cruise September 24 – October 3, 2009

e v a Cruise Registration Form

Home Phone___________________________E-mail__________________________ Cell Phone____________________________

Spouses’ Name for badge __________________________________

Are you a Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Member? Please list your numbers below: Name and C & A Number ____________________________________ Name and C & A Number ____________________________________

PAGE 13 ... TARPA TOPICS

Page –2 4 All stateroom prices include cruise fare for the nine night cruise, all meals, four private hosted cocktail parties, port charges, taxes, and gratuities. Price Per Person

Total

$1,205.01

$2,410.02

Category I – Outside cabin – Full window Deck 2, 154 sq. ft. _________

$1,345.01

$2,690.02

Category “H” - Outside cabin – Full Window forward and aft, deck 3, 154 sq. ft. _________

$1,365.01

$2,730.02

Category “F” - Outside cabin – Full Window “Main” deck 4, dining room level, 154 sq. ft. _________

$1,495.01

$2,990.02

Category “D2” – Outside cabin with balcony, Superior view, sitting area with sofa bed, refrigerator forward and aft on Deck 7, 190 sq. ft., 36 sq. ft. balcony _________

$ 2,045.01

$4,090.02

Category “D1” – Outside cabin with balcony, Superior view sitting area with sofa bed, refrigerator Centered on Deck 7 190 sq. ft., 36 sq. ft. balcony _________

$ 2,095.01

$4,190.02

Category L – Inside cabin, Deck 4, 146 sq. ft _________

PAGE 14 ... TARPA TOPICS

$__________

4 Single occupancy will be approximately $435 less than the prices listed above. 4 Would you like the beds together as a queen bed or as twins? ______________________ Deposits 4 An initial deposit of $500.00 per stateroom is required to confirm all accommodations. 4 If you prefer to pay for the cruise by check, please make checks payable to McGowen Marketing and mail to the address listed below. You can make additional payments as often as you like, however the total balance due must be submitted no later than Friday, July 16, 2009. 4 If you prefer to pay for the cruise by credit card, please complete the information below. 4 See Cancellation Policies on the next page. Credit Card Payment Type of credit card: (circle one) American Express Carte Blanche/Diners Club

Discover

MasterCard

Visa

Card number ________________________________________Exp. date_______________ Name on Card_______________________________________________________________ Authorized Signature________________________________________________________ Mail all cruise registration forms and payments to: Vicki McGowen McGowen Marketing 15600 Millie Lane, Reno, NV 89511 Phone and fax: 775-849-1377 Email: vickimcgowen@charter.net Comments/Special Request: 4 Please let us know if you are handicapped or have special requests. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

PAGE 15 ... TARPA TOPICS

PAGE 16 ... TARPA TOPICS

Royal Caribbean – Grandeur of the Seas New England – Canada Cruise September 24 – October 3, 2009

Convention Registration Form Last Name_____________________________________First*___________________________ Spouse/Other___________________________________First*___________________________ Address______________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip Code____________________________________________________________ Phone___________________________E-mail_______________________________________ * Please provide your name as you would like it to appear on your name tag. Self All Attendees Must Register Registration fee per person $60.00

$________

Spouse/Other $__________

Total $_________

The convention registration fee pays for hospitality aboard the ship, name badges, welcome gifts, postage, office supplies, general membership and board meeting expenses. Sorry, we can only accept checks or money orders for Convention Registration Please submit this form and payment to: Vicki McGowen McGowen Marketing 15600 Millie Lane Reno, NV 89511 or Captain Ed Madigan P.O. Box 3565 Incline Village, NV 89450 PAGE 17 ... TARPA TOPICS

PAGE 18 ... TARPA TOPICS

TARPA - 2009 Convention Royal Caribbean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; New England/Canada Cruise September 24 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 3, 2009

Cancellation Policies and Important Dates All prepayments are fully refundable up to 6 months prior to departure (until March 28, 2009). After this date, penalties may apply if we cancel more than 10% of our room block.

4 Between 3/29/09 and 5/27/09 there may be a $275.00 per person charge. 4 Between 5/28/09 and 7/26/09 there may be a $275.00 per person charge. 4 Between 7/27/09 and 8/25/09 there is a cancellation fee of 50%. 4 Between 8/26/09 and 9/24/09 there is a cancellation fee of 100%.

Optional Trip Cancellation Insurance will be made available to all cruisers by Berkely Care. Information will be provided in your confirmation packet.

Any Questions? Please contact our meeting planner: Vicki McGowen Phone/Fax: 775-849-1377 Email: vickimcgowen@charter.net

***You can keep this page for your reference***

PAGE 19 ... TARPA TOPICS

NASHVILLE 2008 List of Attendees. Total Attendees: 144 (2) - ANDERSON, JAMES L. and CHRIS (2) - BAKER, CHARLES R. and MARLENE (2) - BILLIE, L. CLARK and MARLENE (2) - BOGGS, MORTON N. and JUDY (1) - BRANDT, SUZANNE (2) - CALLAMARO, JOHN and PAT (1) - CARTER, NICK (2) - COOK, ROBERT L. and GAYLE (2) - CORCORAN, JR, EUGENE F. and JOY (2) - DEDMAN, ROBERT W. and ILSE (2) - DEGLER, KENNETH R. and RUTH ANN (2) - DUFRESNE, NORMAN J. and JO ANN (2) - ESCOLA, RICHARD D. and ALICE (1) - EVANS, DIANA (2) - FETHERMAN, ALDEN M. and ANNE (2) - FORTIER, GUY A. and JOANN (2) - FORTIN, RICHARD G. and BETH (1) - FREDERICK, CHARLES E. (2) - GALLAGHER, JR, JOSEPH V. and ELAINE DERMODY (1) - GRATZ, DAVID R. (2) - GRATZ, JOHN P. and PATRICIA (2) - GRAY, NORMAN and CAROL (2) - HANDY, RUSS and MARGE (2) - HANLIN, ROBERT L. and LYNN (2) - HILL, SR, JEFFRY J. and SHARON (2) - HITZEL, JOSEPH M. and GEORGEANN (2) - HOFFMAN, ROLAND R. and SHARON (2) - HOFMEISTER, HOWARD F. and COLLEEN (2) - HOPPE, TOM and DINAH (2) - HUTCHISON, JOSEPH B. and DIANE (2) - IRLACHER, LEONARD T. and JUDY (2) - JACOBSON, WESLEY L. and MARVEL (2) - JOHNSON, WAYLAND and DIANA (2) - KIDD, RAE and KAREN ZARCONE (DAUGHTER) (1) - KIRSCHNER, WILLIAM A. (2) - KROSCHEL, TOM and CAROL (2) - KUBALL, EDWARD D. and JULIE PARADISE (2) - LEACH, M. ROGER and BARBARA (2) - LIMA, EARL and JEAN NICHOLS (1) - LOCKE, LESLIE

(2) - MADIGAN, ED and SUSY (2) - McCARTER, HARVEY J. and MARILYN (1) - McFARLAND , MICHAEL S. (1) - McILVAINE, ED (2) - McKENZIE, VERNON C. and EVADINE (2) - MILLER, HAROLD N. and DORIS (2) - MOLINARIO, RICHARD T. and SANDRA (2) - MONTEMURRO, FRANK and SANDI BADASH (2) - MOSELY, RUFUS and MARILYN (1) - MUNDO, ALBERT J. (2) - NELSON, STUART F. and ARLENE (2) - NICOLAIS, MARIO A. and ROSEMARIE (2) - NIXON, C. CLYDE and DIANE (2) - OLLIVER, EPHE A. and BONNIE (1) - PETERS, DONALD W. (1) - PILOT, GERALD N. (2) - ROHLFING, JOHN A. and GINNY (1) - ROTGE, RAY (2) - RUHANEN, ARTHUR U. and ESTELLA HOEY (2) - RUNG, PAUL J. and (1) - SALMONSON (WALKER), ANITA (2) - SCHMIDT, CARL M. and JOAN (1) - SCHMIDT, ROGER W. (2) - SCHONEBERGER, BERT and LINDA (2) - SELF, FRANK A. and SANDY BERK (2) - SHERMAN, ROBERT C. and ALICE (2) - SNAVELY, ORREN L. and MARILYN (2) - SOBEL, MARTIN and ROSE (2) - STACEY, TERRELL R. and ELIZABETH (DAUGHTER) (2) - STANDIFUR, TOM A. and JEANNE (2) - STEVENS, WILLIAM and SHIRLEY (2) - STOCK, WALTER A. and ALBERS, JOAN (2) - STURTEVANT, HENRY and ADRIENNE (1) - THOMPSON, JEAN (2) - WEILER, RICHARD A. and MARJORIE (2) - WEST, LYLE and NANCY (2) - WEST, S. R. and LEE (2) - WHEELER, HERBERT K. and DONNA (2) - WILDER, CHARLES L. and HELEN (1) - WOODRUFF III, HENRY S. (1) - YOUNG, DIDI

PAGE 20 ... TARPA TOPICS

The Gaylord Opryland is on the Cumberland River just upstream (north) of downtown Nashville. Opryland and the Grand Ole Opry Theater are immediately to the south (right). Below, clockwise from the left; Bob Sherman, Lee West and Bill Kirschner set up the registration desk; Dinah Hoppe in the ‘Cascades’ section of the hotel; Tom Hoppe with ‘Cousin Minne Pearl’ at the Grand Ole Opry Tuesday evening; Sharon Hoffman, Shirley Stevens and Sharon Hill still hooked on Elvis; Len Irlacher waits to board the General Jackson ; Alice; Escola and Lee West

PAGE 21 ... TARPA TOPICS

AT “MR. JACK’S” DISTILLERY

Estella Hoey & Arthur Ruhanen

Ed & Susy Madigan; Vicki McGowen, bartender in background

Karen Zarcone, Rae Kidd, Roger Schmidt

Lee West & Joann Fortier Anita Salmonson

Howard & Colleen Hofmeister

Ginny & John Rohlfing

Bob Dedman, Marilyn Mosely Ilse Dedman, Rufus Mosely

Bar-B-Q buffet on the hill overlooking the Daniel property

PAGE 22 ... TARPA TOPICS

AT THE LADIES LUNCHEON

Donna Wheeler, Ilse Dedman, Joann Fortier, Diana Evans, Jean Thompson, Hostess, Judy Irlacher

The luncheon was at Belle Meade Plantation

AT THE HERMITAGE

We had lunch at the adjoining “Tulip Grove”

PAGE 23 ... TARPA TOPICS

The three gals on the right are Alice Escola, Jean Stipek and Nancy West

AT THE MUSEUM; C&W HALL OF FAME

Rollie and Sharon Hoffman

Gene Corcoran

Russ and Marge Handy

Dick & Alice Escola, Dusty & Lee West

J. Thompson, D. Evans, A. Salmonson

Convention planner Vicki McGowen

ABOARD “GENERAL JACKSON”

Bill Kirschner, Al Mundo, Didi Young

The Peking Acrobats really put on a show!

Carl and Joan Schmidt, Mario Nicolais

OUT ON THE TOWN

Nashville hot spots

The Fortiers and the Wests

PAGE 24 ... TARPA TOPICS

Tuesday evening at the Grand Ole Opry

AT THE HOSPITALITY SUITE

Richard Weiler, Charlie Wilder, Hank Woodruff

Evie McKenzie, Anita Salmonson, Vern McKenzie

Bud Kuball, Howie Hofmeister, Don Peters

Hospitality Chair “Indiana Bob” Dedman

Hal and Nancy West

Tom Standifur, Norm Gray, Bill Kirschner

Nick Carter & Charles Baker

Don Peters, John & Pat Gratz

Diana Evans & Ruth Ann Degler

Elaine Dermody, Jos. Gallagher, Ken Degler

Nick Carter, Chuck Frederick, Charlie Baker

PAGE 25 ... TARPA TOPICS

AT THE FAREWELL BANQUET

President Guy Fortier presents John and David (right) Gratz with awards recognizing their twelve years of service in the editing and publishing of our TARPA TOPICS Magazine.

Nick Carter and Chuck Fredrick

Rufus and Marilyn Mosely

Bud Kuball and Julie Paradise

Carol and Tom Kroschel

PAGE 26 ... TARPA TOPICS

Dusty & Lee West, Joann & Guy Fortier.

Joe Hitzel, Jim Anderson, Dick Fortin, Rufus Mosely, Wayland Johnson and Bob Hanlin.

Roger & Barbara Leach

Roger Schmidt & Mike McFarland

Terry & Elizabeth Stacey

Hal West, Dusty West (no relation) Dick Fortin, John Callamaro, Terry Stacey, Wayland Johnson, Joe Hitzel, Bill Kirschner, Sandy Berk, Rufus Mosely, Clark Billie, Mort Boggs, and Bob Dedman.

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Ed McIlvaine & Al Mundo

Marvel & Wes Jacobson

Norman & Carol Gray

Didi Young & Leslie Locke

Tom & Jeanne Standifur

Howard Hofmeister, Mike McFarland, Bob Sherman, Bob Cook, Carl Schmidt, John Rohlfing, Roger Schmidt, Len Irlacher, Gene Corcoran, Wes Jacobson, Tom Hoppe, Bill Stevens, and Roland Hoffman.

Herb & Donna Wheeler

Joy Corcoran, Marvel Jacobson, Colleen Hofmeister, Sharon Hill, Shirley Stevens, Dinah Hoppe, Sharon Hoffman, Judy Irlacher, Judy Arenas, Ginny Rohlfing

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Alice & Bob Sherman

TARPA BOARD MEETING 28 SEPTEMBER, 2008 GAYLORD RESORT, NASHVILLE, TN ATTENDEES: CAPTAINS GUY FORTIER, PRESIDENT WM. KIRSCHNER, 1st VP DUSTY WEST, 2nd VP ED MADIGAN, SEC/TREASURER JEFF HILL, TOPICS EDITOR BOB SHERMAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR BOB DEDMAN, HOSPITALITY DIRECTOR CAPTAIN CHARLIE WILDER, PAST PRESIDENT JOHN GRATZ, TOPICS EDITOR EMERITUS VICKI McGOWEN, CONVENTION PLANNER 1621 President’s report: Captain Guy Fortier. The meeting was called to order at 1621 CDT by President Fortier in the Belmont board room at the Gaylord Resort Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. He noted that a quorum was present. 1623 Captain Fortier asked for approval of the minutes from the 16, April 2008 BOD meeting. Motion made by Capt. Dedman to approve the minutes as written, 2nd by Captain Kirschner, carried unanimously.

Kirschner, West, Madigan, Sherman, Dedman Wilder, Gratz

1624 President’s review: Captain Fortier reviewed the past months activities since the last BOD meeting. He passed around an updated list of the present BODs plus an update for the next TOPICS to reflect Captain Jeff Hill as editor and Captain John Gratz as Editor Emeritus. Captain Fortier suggested that and it was agreeable to the BOD, that Nick Nicholson and Mort Boggs be given free convention registrations for their help at this convention. He mentioned that Community America Credit Union was now back on board as a supporter of our TARPA conventions as they were in the past. They donated two thousand dollars for Nashville. He said that Marty Zygmund, the present chairman of the DAP plan, was responsible for this. Captain Fortier then showed a beautiful banquet menu that had been formatted by Captain Madigan. This will save TARPA a lot of money. He suggested that the board members arrive at 0830 in the Cheekwood registration room for a briefing on checking people in and signing up for registration room coverage at various times through out the convention. He mentioned that all the convention and 2009 cruise data would be updated by Vicki McGowan later in the meeting. Captain Fortier related that Captain Jack Irwin resigned as Web Site Chairmen and Captain Kirschner will be the new web site chairmen. Captain Fortier is having a plaque made in appreciation for Captain Irwin’s past performance. Captain Gratz was retained on the BOD as Director and Editor Emeritus. It was decided that the name change for Director, Editor Emeritus did not need to be brought to the general membership for a vote. Captain Fortier requested that all BOD members send him dates that they would be available for the spring BOD meeting. There was a discussion about the TOPICS mailing and Captain Hill will check into it for the next mailing.

1640 First Vice President’s report: Captain Bill Kirschner:

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Captain Kirschner read a letter of appreciation from Jean Jacobsen regarding the floral arrangement that was sent from TARPA to Captain Harry Jacobsen Celebration-of-Life ceremony. She also thanked Captain Kirschner for having Captain’s Dave Perry and Nate Green in attendance representing TARPA. Captain Kirschner passed around pictures of the very nice arrangement. Captain Kirschner stated that on 8 August, 2008, he, Captain Stu Nelson and son and another TWA pilot attended a hearing at the 9th Federal District Court in Pasadena, CA with regard to United Captain Ray Lahr’s law suit against the CIA and FBI’s alleged cover up of evidence in the TWA Flt. 800 investigation, under the freedom of information act. He mentioned that a decision could be expected any time or up to one year from the hearing date. If no decision is reached, it will then go to a twelve judge panel. He also mentioned that Captain Lahr’s attorney, John Clarke, made an excellent presentation while the CIA and FBI represented by the Justice Department did not have a clue. Captain Kirschner brought the BOD up to date on the current status of the web site. He is working with Web Master, Brian Hale of Incline Village, NV and American Airlines Web Chairman, George Regan. He is in contact with Marc Brecy, the TWA Seniors Club webmaster and Captain Irwin is also assisting. Captain Kirschner hopes to have many positive changes to the TARPA web site soon. Captain Kirschner said that he found the Web Site job very interesting but very time consuming and will try his best. To help with the time consuming part he suggested that each BOD member have the administration capability for their area of expertise, i.e. Captain John Gratz for the Flown West page which he is doing now, or Captain Madigan editing the member-ship directory. Captain Kirschner stated that he will be attending the American Airlines Grey Eagles Convention in Orlando, FL at the end of Oct. 2008. Captain Kirschner demonstrated a baseball cap with push button battery powered high intensity lights in the bill. He suggested that a TARPA logo be put on the hat and sold at conventions. He will check the price for a large order. 1644 Second Vice President’s report: Captain Dusty West’s flight was late and had no report but will have a report at the business meeting. 1645 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report: Captain Madigan reported that we have $20,572 in cash and $27,250 in CD’s in the Community America C.U. He stated we will be spending approximately eighteen thousand dollars on Topics that will leave approximately two to three thousand in the checking account. There will be 1500 issues printed, 1375 for mailing and the rest for manual distribution. He mentioned that the November issue of “TOPICS” also has the annual dues envelope in it so there will be more income before the end of the year. He reported that there were 275 delinquent members during the year but due to mailings and phone calls that number was reduced to 75. A round of applause for his hard work was presented to him by the BOD. Captain Madigan said we had 142 conventioneers for this convention and had exceeded the hotel minimum so TARPA may make a little money. TARPA money will go back to Community America now that they are supporting us. There is a $9.000 deposit for the 2009 cruise to guarantee suites. There will be a 2009 cruise sign up sheets at Registration. Early sign up and deposit will be mentioned at the business meeting. You can always get your deposit back up to certain dates. Captain Madigan said there will be no charge for the hospitality suite; however a tip jar will be available. 1657 Senior Director’s report: Captain Bob Sherman reported on the Flown West list in conjunction with ALPA and John Bybee. The Lady who handles this item also cross checks the names for him. Captain Sherman reported that American Airlines has out sourced much of their retiree benefits management to Mercer Consulting, a global firm that offers HR management and consulting services. There will be new phone numbers coming out for death notifications, but the old

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American Airlines 800-442-2000 still works. New numbers will be placed in TOPICS and on the web site when they are received. 1704 Editor’s report: Captain Jeff Hill was introduced as the new TOPICS editor. Captain Hill is taking over from Captain John Gratz and his brother David, after 12 years of phenomenal service. Captain Hill stated that there had been some problems with the July issue. That the binder broke down was one delay, then the first mailing was one ounce over weight and sent back to the mailer for more postage. That is why you may have seen two postage strips. The November issue is now in print, it has an explanation about the July issue delay and Mercer’s new phone numbers. 1710 Hospitality Chairman’s Report: Captain Bob Dedman thanked Vicki for a great hospitality room. The Jack Daniels tour will be done with reduced price tickets as we are bringing our own Jack Daniels because of Vicki’s expertise. He also mentioned that we had a lot of booze and any overage would be auctioned off on the last night of hospitality with the proceeds going into the TARPA convention fund. He thanked Vicki again for a great time and hospitality room. A round of applause for Vicki was presented by the BOD. 1717 Past President’s report: Captain Charlie Wilder said he appreciated all the concern and support that was shown to him during his recent cancer battle. He is still involved with the TWA Flt. 800 Memorial and working with the head of fund raising, John Seamen. They are looking for more donations. TARPA donations go through Captain Wilder so he can keep track of how much is contributed from TARPA members. People from all over are still donating flowers and help. There is going to be an 800 spot in TOPICS and a link on the web site. Also, there will be a link to Ray Lahr’s web site in regards to the 800 law suite. Captain Fortier asked Captain Wilder if his voice was up to singing the “Star Spangled Banner” at the banquet. He said that he was still not able to vocalize up to his expertise and would not be able to, but hopes to be able to vocalize soon. Captain Fortier then asked Captain Kirschner if he could press him into service and whistle it. Captain Kirchner said he would be happy to so. 1722 Convention Planner’s report: Vicki McGowan reported she had 24 signed up so far for 2009 Leaf Cruise. Also, there will be much more information about the cruise in the November TOPICS. She mentioned that there are no guaranteed rates unless you have a lot of people, so she would like everyone to sign up as early as possible. There is a dwindling cancellation of rooms the closer you get to the departure date. She said that she is working on a single pay plan and that the convention fee is included in the cruise fee. She brought up the convention site for 2010 and the time of year. It was discussed by the BOD and was decided to keep it in September, possibly in Scottsdale, AZ. She is checking prices and will report at the spring BOD meeting. 1758 Old Business: None. 1801 New Business: We will not have the next BOD meeting with the Seniors in San Diego, but will explore the possibility of DFW or ORD. 1802 Captain Gratz made a motion to adjourn, 2nd by Captain Wilder. Passed unanimously. Minutes respectively submitted, 05 October, 2008, by First VP, Captain Wm. Kirschner

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TARPA GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES 02 OCT. 2008 GAYLORD RESORT, NASHVILLE, TN ATTENDEES: CAPTAINS GUY FORTIER, PRESIDENT BILL KIRSCHNER, FIRST VP DUSTY WEST, 2nd VP ED MADIGAN, SEC/TREASURER JEFF HILL, TOPICS EDITOR BOB SHERMAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR BOB DEDMAN, HOSPITALITY DIRECTOR CHARLIE WILDER, PAST PRESIDENT JOHN GRATZ, EDITOR EMERITUS VICKI McGOWEN, CONVENTION PLANNER 0830 President’s report: Captain Guy Fortier. The meeting was called to order at 0830 CDT by President Fortier in the Heritage E room at the Gaylord Resort Hotel, in Nashville, Tennessee. He noted that a quorum was present based on the number of members signed in. Captain Fortier had requested an American flag quite awhile before the meeting but it was not delivered in time. It was decided that the meeting needed to proceed and the Pledge was recited when the flag arrived a short time later.

TARPA President Guy Fortier

0834 Flown West: The list of 72 was read by Senior Director, Captain Bob Sherman. An appropriate moment of silence was observed after the reading.

0840 Captain Fortier asked for approval of the minutes from the last General Business Meeting. Motion made by Captain Mosely, 2nd by Captain Mundo, to approve the minutes as read. Carried unanimously. 0841 Captain Fortier introduced Captain Joe Montanaro former head of the TWA Pilot’s Directed Account Plan (DAP). A round of applause was presented to him plus a standing ovation for his past hard work and expertise. 0842 Captain Montanaro stated that the DAP was well and strong. He stated that due to recent federal pension law changes, people who have left the DAP may now have an opportunity to come back in. He made a presentation after the meeting for those interested. 0844 President’s review: Captain Fortier reviewed the past months activities since the last BOD meeting. He mentioned that Community America Credit Union was now back on board as a supporter of our TARPA conventions as they were in the past. They donated two $2,000 for Nashville. He said that Marty Zygmund, the present chairman of the DAP plan, was responsible for this. Captain Fortier then showed a beautiful banquet menu that had been formatted by Captain Madigan. This will save TARPA a lot of money. Captain Fortier told the membership that Captain Jack Irwin has resigned as Web Site Chair-

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men and that Captain Kirschner is the new Web Site Chairmen. He added that Captain Gratz was retained on the BOD as Director and Editor Emeritus with Captain Jeff Hill as the new TOPICS editor. 0845 First Vice President’s report: Captain Bill Kirschner: Captain Kirschner mentioned a letter of appreciation from Jean Jacobsen regarding the floral arrangement that was sent from TARPA to Captain Harry Jacobsen Celebration-of-Life ceremony. She also thanked Captain Kirschner for having Captain’s Dave Perry and Nate Green in attendance to represent TARPA. Captain Kirschner stated that on 8 August, 2008, he, Captain Stu Nelson and son and another TWA pilot attended a hearing at the 9th Federal District Court in Pasadena, CA regarding United Captain Ray Lahr’s law suite against the CIA and FBI alleging a cover up of evidence in the TWA Flt. 800 investigation under the freedom of information act. He mentioned that a decision could be expected at any time or up to one year from the hearing date. If no decision is reached it will then go to a twelve judge panel. He also mentioned that Captain Lahr’s attorney, John Clarke, made an excellent presentation while the CIA and FBI represented by the Justice Department did not have a clue. Captain Kirschner brought the membership up to date on the current status of the web site. He is working with Web Master Brian Hale of Incline Village, NV and American Airlines Web Chairman, Captain George Regan. He is also in contact with Marc Brecy, the TWA Seniors Web Site Chairmen. Captain Irwin is also assisting. Captain Kirschner hopes to have many positive changes to the TARPA web site soon, such as using your TWA payroll number for access and graphics. Captain Kirschner stated that he will be attending the American Airlines Grey Eagles Convention in Orlando, FL the end of Oct. 08. 0853 Second Vice President’s report: Captain Dusty West requested that all members contact their classmates and ask them to join TARPA. He also mentioned that there are many individual TWA pilot groups throughout the country and to contact them as TARPA members are needed to continue the organization. 0902 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report: Captain Madigan answered a question from the floor about the free TARPA membership that was in place awhile back for pilots that were in hard times, furlough, etc. There was no action taken up to this point. He reported that we will be spending approximately $13,000 on the next TOPICS and have approximately $30,000 in the bank. With the dues coming due with the November issue of TOPICS we could see somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000 in the account by the end of the year. There is $30,000 in cash and $27,752 in CD’s at Community America C.U. He reported that there were 275 delinquent members during the year but due to mailings and phone calls that number was reduced to 75. Many people move with no address change sent to him plus we are losing approximately fifty members a year. He stated, so far, we have made a $9,000 deposit for the cruise next year. A round of applause for his hard work was presented to him by the membership. 0907 President Fortier made a statement about new contact with Community America Credit Union and that some of there employees will be joining our DAP plan. He encouraged the membership to rejoin Community America now that they are supporting us again. 0910 Senior Director’s report: Captain Bob Sherman stated that this was his 24th TARPA convention and also, that he and Alice have now been married for 64 years. He reported that American Airlines had out sourced much of their retiree benefits management to Mercer Consulting, a global firm that offers HR management and con-

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sulting services There will be new phone numbers coming out for death notifications, but the old American Airlines 800-442-2000 still works. New numbers will be placed in TOPICS and on the web site. (See Nov. issue—Ed.) 0914 Editor’s report: Captain Jeff Hill was introduced as the new TOPICS editor. Captain Hill is taking over from Captain John Gratz and his brother David after 12 years of phenomenal service. Captain Hill stated that there had been some problems with the July issue. It was sent to the printer May 15th, but when it went to the binder, he had equipment and staffing problems resulting in a couple weeks delay. Then, the mailer delivered the magazines to a local branch post office that sent them to the main post office where it was discovered that the rather large issue was over the mailers 16 ounce permit limit, so back to the printer, who had to then apply for the proper permit. This unfortunate run of bad luck caused some members to receive their July issue a month or more late. He is in contact with Ona Gieschen who is working on a project with the University of Missouri, Kansas City, to digitize the entire “Skyliner” (and it’s predecessors) archives. This will make the collection readily available to historians, scholars and the general public. Captain Hill will be consulting with Captain Gratz on future issues. He mentioned all the hard work that John and David did for the past 12 years in producing “TOPICS”. A round of applause and a standing ovation was given by the membership honoring them. 0919 Hospitality Chairman’s Report: Captain Bob Dedman said it was good to see old friends again and the hospitality room was a great meeting point. He thanked Didi Young and Leslie Locke for there help in the hospitality room. He stated the bar will have to close at precisely 1730 due to having to get ready for the upcoming banquet. Any alcohol left over would be auctioned off. He stated that he always attempts to have hospitality break even or better by donations. He said he knows it is a sensitive subject but if everyone contributed ten dollars once for the entire convention that would more then cover the alcohol and sundries expense. To avoid any misconceptions he told the membership that there is no pay for the bar tenders and that all the proceeds go to TARPA. Captain Dedman thanked Vicki McGowen for getting us such a great hospitality room as well as doing such a great job planning the convention in general. An enthusiastic round of applause honoring her was given by the entire membership. 0923 Past President’s report: Captain Charlie Wilder said he appreciated all the concern and support that was shown him during his recent cancer battle and thanked everyone involved. He is still involved with the TWA Flt. 800 Memorial and its head of fund raising, John Seamen. They are looking for more donations. TARPA donations go through Captain Wilder so he can keep track of how much is contributed from TARPA members. People from all over are still donating flowers and help. These donation help support Suffolk County in maintaining the memorial after it was eliminated from the county budget. They are doing some work, but mostly volunteer, and they still need money. Checks should be made out to “The Families of TWA Flight 800”. It is a 501 c 3 charitable donation. Annual maintenance cost has come down from $65,000, somewhat. The March issue of “Topics” will have more information. There is going to be a TWA Flight 800 spot in Topics and a link on the web site. He mentioned that $500 was donated by TARPA as voted on at the April ’08 BOD meeting. Through grass roots support, he received another $500 from individuals totaling $1,000 for support of the trust fund but there is still several million dollars needed to continue the maintenance perpetually.

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0930 Captain John Gratz, Editor Emeritus, complemented Captain Jeff Hill on his taking over as editor of TOPICS and doing a fine job on the November issue. Captain Hill congratulated Captain Gratz and his brother David on a job well done also. A round of applause honoring them was given by the entire membership. 0932 Convention Planners report: Vicki McGowen reported the fall colors cruise was nine nights. It departs from BAL because Royal Caribbean did not have enough business out of ORF. She is working on a hotel to stage out of prior to the cruise. Royal Caribbean needs a $500 deposit to hold the executive suites so please make your deposit now or before January. This needs to be done in order to guarantee the rate. She requested a show of hands of how many would like to have the 2010 convention in Scottsdale, AZ. There was a least a 50% show of hands. The resort she is checking on is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chaparralâ&#x20AC;?. The hotel rate includes a full breakfast and hospitality room. She would like to see the hospitality room size increased. She mentioned that it has been decided to keep the conventions in the fall. 0941 New Business: Election of officers as printed. The names were read as above in the attendees list. Captain Mundo made a motion to close the nominees, second by John Rohfling. The vote was unanimous in favor, no nays. 0944 Old Business: Member comments. Carl Schmidt suggested a possible Columbia River paddle boat cruise sometime. Change for more day trips and less nights during conventions. A Europe convention, Alaska or Mississippi River cruise, was brought up. Also, San Antonio, Texas a possibility. Captain Fortier requested that the membership send convention suggestions to him or Captain Madigan. 0949 Captain Gratz made a motion to adjourn. 2nd by Captain Montemurro. Passed unanimously. Minutes respectively submitted, 05 October, 2008, by First VP, Captain Wm. Kirschner

In the hospitality suite

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THE ART OF WHISTLING By Captain Bill Kirschner On a biennial basis, in Louisburg, North Carolina, an event takes place unlike any other in the world. The International Whistling Contest and Convention is held at the Louisburg College of Liberal Arts, the oldest co-ed college in America. It is truly an international setting as people come from all over the globe to attend and compete. At the 2007 contest we had whistlers from 7 different countries and 33 States from the US. 2009 will be our 36th year. At our 30th year contest, Charles Osgood did a 15 minute segment on his CBS national show “Sunday Morning” and I opened it with “It’s Show Time” as I was being introduced on stage. As a competitor you must compete in the classical and popular music categories. The IWC, as it is affectionately known, limits contestants four to five minutes for our classical piece and three to four minutes for our popular pieces. Given that, with the time involved for each contestant there is a limit of about forty contestants. As you can imagine with forty whistlers, at approximately ten minutes each with introductions over two days, we can get pretty pressed for time as we need time for the children, teen and championship programs. We generally use a musical CD in the background but I prefer a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment). I truly believe that whistling without background music is the true art of whistling. Unfortunately there is not a separate category for a cappella, but in any event the competition is stiff, fun and professional. The history of whistling goes back to antiquity and many anthropologists think that whistling was the first form of language. As a matter of fact, there are a few tribes that use whistling as their form of communication to this day, one in Alaska and one in the Canary Islands (no pun intended). In recent history, there have been many famous people that were great whistlers, such as Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Elmo Turner, Blind Fred Lowery, Luciano Pavaratti and Roger Whitaker in the male group and Margaret McKee, Carol Skinner and Saundra Hensler in the female group just to name a few. I am blessed to have my son and my youngest granddaughter as excellent whistlers in the family and at Christmas time or whenever we get together the house is chirping. In the 2007 competition we went on stage as the Kirschner Von Trapp Family Quartet while my oldest granddaughter played Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music. This year we will be doing something similar as a group. I will be whistling for the classical number, Dmitri Shostakovich’s, waltz #2 from his Jazz Suite #2 and for the popular number “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from Evita. Louisburg, North Carolina, is located 40 miles north of Raleigh, (RDU) and is easy to get to. It is free, open to the public and we love large audiences so please plan to attend if you are in the area. For more information please go to: www.whistlingiwc.com.

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TRANSCONTINELTAL AIR MAIL ROUTE REENACMENT The planning for this trip started two years before. I was restoring the worlds oldest Stearman, a 1927 C3B and my friend, Addison Pemberton, was restoring a 1928 Boeing 40 which had crashed in 1928. We had a dream to fly the transâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; con mail route and see what it was like for the mail pilots of those days. We invited a friend, Ben Scott with a 1930 Stearman 4E, to join us. He had with him Al Holloway, who rebuilt our engines. We also invited George Perks from Spokane to ride along and assist in the flying and take pictures. He also sent the By Larry Tobin progress report e-mails. Photos: G Perks The aircraft were (flown to the East Coast) and positioned in New York at Republic Field, Long Island on Sep. 8, 2008, for a departure Sep. 10. I had not been back to NY since 1997 when I departed JFK in the left seat of a 767 on my last TWA fight to SFO.

(L to R) The Boeing 40 with Stearmans 4E and C3B en route to NY

Route of the NYCâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;SFO flight

I had already learned from flying my Stearman across the country to get to NY, that this would be a hard to handle aircraft due to the pitch instability of the early Stearmans. Any rough air made this a very hard plane to fly. Within a year Stearman had fixed the pitch problems with the C3-R. We departed Republic Field on Wed., Sep. 10, with a fly-by of JFK Tower, at their request, at 500 ft. From there to the Statue of Liberty, same altitude and flew around the statue for pictures. From there, over EWR, at Tower request. The route took us to Bellefonte, PA, a 216 mi flight over the rugged hills of Pennsylvania with no place to land if the engine quit. Those airmail pilots earned their pay on that stressful leg. A crowd of 400 was there to greet us and the mail we were hauling was stamped (by postal officials). Then on to Cleveland, Lakefront for the overnight, where a huge crowd greeted us. The weather was great the first day.

Low pass over JFK

Over the Statue of Liberty

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Larry with his C3B

The Boeing and crew from left to right: Addison Pemberton, Spokane, WA; George Perks, Spokane, WA; Larry Tobin, Spokane, WA; Al Holloway, Reno, NV; and Ben Scott, Reno, NV.

Sep. 11 we left Cleveland in the morning headed for Bryan, OH. Another nice weather day. Landed Bryan mid morning and departed for Chicago, Lansing. Another big crowd. We were now fighting weather to our next stop Iowa City, so we got in the air as soon as possible. The old planes are very blind ahead so running weather is a problem. We had good GPS with Weather so we knew what was ahead. One thing the mail pilots did not have to fight was towers and wind farms so they could run low over the railroad tracks to the next stop. Weather finally forced us to the ground in Rochelle, Ill. 140 mi. east of Iowa City. It was very windy and we had our hands full getting the planes on the ground. We were able to get a nice hanger and we sat for 5 days waiting for the weather to clear. We got to know the people of Rochelle very well. We finally got going on Sep 15 and had to run some weather to Iowa City. We got in the clear on the way to Omaha and had great weather to Grand Island, NE for the overnight. It was a long day but we were glad to escape the weather of the Chicago area and reBoeing cockpit sume the journey.

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Vintage postal truck fits into the picture well

16th

Sep brought clear skies and light winds for a long day to North Platte, NE; Cheyenne, WY; Rawlins, WY and finally, Rocks Springs, WY. We were whipped by the time we got to the hotel. We picked up Mary Weber of the USPS, to ride from Rocks Springs to Reno and handle the mail. She rode the Boeing 40 and had the time of her life. The C-3 was very hard to handle on this long day as the Wyoming airports rise to 7000 ft and I had to fly alone because of the high density altitude. I would normally have had George Perks with me to help fly. The air was rough and I fought the plane all day. Sep 17th brought clear skies and smooth air for the leg to Salt Lake. I had George to help me fly. The Wasatch range into Salt Lake is very stressful in a 1927 airplane and we were glad to get over the range to lower ground. SLC Tower requested a fly by and we obliged on the way to the Salt Lake 2 airport. We had lunch at Salt Lake and continued to Elko NV. The terrain is still pretty high out of Salt Lake but I was able to take George. We had a great flight across the salt flats. Speed week was going on so we saw the cars running from overhead. The air got very rough the rest of the way to Elko and George was a big help flying the C-3. The last leg of the day was to Reno, NV where we had a good home cooked meal and a nice bed at Ben Scotts house. Big crowd at Reno for our arrival, too.

Sep. 15, Good WX again and Larry waves as he heads west.

We woke to clear skies and no wind for the last day to San Francisco. The climb to altitude was difficult over the mountains out of Reno. And we flew the freeway all the way. Was very glad to get over the lower terrain. Arrived at Hayward in the east bay to complete the trans con.

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Had a good crowd. After lunch we flew the 3 aircraft by the Golden Gate at 500 ft for pictures, then landed at SFO to visit the museum. I had not been back to SFO in the cockpit since I landed my final TWA 767 flight there in 1997, so I came full circle in my 1227 Stearman. A nice flight from SFO to Hayward over the bay and we were in for the night. Many TWA people to greet us. Having completed our mission, the weather was clear for our morning departure north for home . Addison and I said goodbye to Ben Scott and headed for Oregon. We flew over the crash sight of Addison’s Boeing 40 at Canyonville Oregon on the way to overnight in Portland Oregon The Boeing crashed there 80 years earlier running weather up (what is now) I-5. The morning of Sep. 20th we woke to cold air and clouds at 3000 ft for our trip thru the Columbia River Gorge. If you have ever flown the Gorge, you know how rough the terrain is . We had just passed the airport at Cascade Locks and the next field was Hood River, 20 mi ahead. This is the area where you say “don’t quit now to the engine” . All of your life flying single engine you are always looking for a place to put it down. At the halfway point the unthinkable happened and the engine quit. My pal Addison was on my wing as I tried to get it going to no avail. I headed for the only green field in sight on the Washington side of the river. It was small about 10 acres with big trees on the edge. I was coming down like a rock. Old biplanes don’t glide well with the engine wind milling. My airspeed was 40 MPH and it seemed I was headed straight down to keep flying speed. Addison kept an eye on me and kept saying, “Push over, don’t stall.” As I neared the end of this flight, I found the field’s last half sloped away severely and I couldn’t get on the grass. A short road was ahead and I turned to get on it. I was looking at a barn and a big tree to the left of the road. I banked sharply to put the left wing into the tree to keep from hitting the barn. I told Addison just before I hit, “I am dead.” He watched my plane explode into little pieces as it flew into the ground and the tree at the same time. The noise was awful and the jolt severe but in 2 seconds it was over. I still had my thumb on the transmit switch and told Addison I am alive and ok. I shut down and got out as I was worried about fire. It did not burn. The homeowners were there to assist me. I was not hurt except for a sore shoulder and back. The wood wings absorbed the crash and saved my life. I had also turned into a 25 kt. headwind just before impact, so was going very slow. The time from the engine quitting to crash was 50 seconds. Addison called in the emergency people and flew overhead until they arrived. He then landed at Hood River and waited for me to fly home in the Boeing. I flew this plane 7000 miles and 110 hours during the trip. It just about made it. On the (engine tear-down) we found a piece of gasket got into the main jet of the carburetor and shut off the fuel. I am rebuilding the plane and it will fly again in two years. A plastic pail catches gas dripping from the ruptured fuel tank. Thankfully, there was no fire. The re-restoration is underway. For more, go to: http://www.airspacemag.com/specialsections/airmail-odyssey.html And, http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Government_Role/1918-1924/ POL3.htm

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REFLECTIONS ON ANOTHER 2008 TRANSCONTINENTAL FLIGHT

By Ruth Richter-Holden

(JetBlue Airlines, new occupant of TWA’s famous JFK Terminal 5, sponsored a transcontinental flight by a formerly TWA owned (1940-45) Lockheed 12 A “Electra” which was the centerpiece at the dedication of the restored and expanded terminal. Lockheed owner, Ruth Richter-Holden, daughter of Paul E. Richter, one of TWA’s founders, when asked to share her feelings on the event sent the following—Ed.) You stumped me with… your request and I find it for me a bit like, "please describe the sky." Wow, thoughts on 'Coast to Coast 2008'. Mystery and memories. Words can't express and/or condense the thoughts; the mystery of this adult-child living this improbable dream and literally reliving childhood memories; 70 years condensed into 9 days. Just as I can't describe "The Spirit of TWA" i.e., the TWA L.E.12A, the TWA people, my TWA family that was and still feels like my family.

First aircraft to arrive at the new JFK Terminal 5

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How to describe my feelings of flying the old TWA aircraft across the old TWA route like the child co-pilot of my Dad in a DC-3? Coast to coast 2008? Much was the same as 1938. 13 hours each way. the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, the Meteor Crater, TWA 10 Richards Rd, the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Allegheny, the Delaware, the Hudson haven't changed. Always a child when flying, the thrill on every take-off hasn't changed, just like the child in a DC-3 or DST with Paul Richter. Coast to Coast 2008 in 'the Spirit of TWA' aka. L.E. was magical, like bringing the past fastforward to the future, finding the spirit of TWA is the spirit of JetBlue. This adult-child was and is overwhelmed with gratitude to JetBlue for making it happen and to the JetBluers and TWAers warm welcomes. My 1st family and memories are TWA and flying, thinking that everyone lived that way. Though never a doubt that magical old #240 would arrive at JFK, there was a momentary (thought of), "What am I doing over the Rockies in a 70 yr. old airplane?" That moment passed to the awesomeness of the mystery of NC18137 finding me after 68 years and the surprise of JetBlue's T-5 honoring TWA with the Lockheed, a symbolic 'Spirit of TWA'. TWA Terminal 5 at Idlewild /JFK, Eero Saarinen, 1962 and the restored and expanded JetBlue facility (below).

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Paul Richter on the cover of the July 1986 TARPA TOPICS. Paul was awarded the 1986 TARPA Award of Merit at the St. Louis convention that year.

A myriad of thoughts and feelings: Flight-planning with old TWA schedules and carrying Dad's flight case, thinking that he, Uncle Larry Fritz, uncle Tommy Tomlinson, uncle Jack Frye and so many others would sure get a kick out of this flight, never doubting that they were aboard. I fly with 'the old men in the sky'. Not in my wildest dreams would I have foretold this 'circle of life'. None of these ramblings seem notable or See the reprint of Barry Schiff’s AOPA PILOT article in the March 2007 quotable and most of my TARPA TOPICS thoughts/feelings were repeatedly, “how did all this happen, am I dreaming. is this really happening?” How is it that a path opens in a sky of weather just along our route? I still wake up each morning with wonder. We're in the midst of L.E.'s annual, never a happy time since she's been flying beautifully and hate messing with a good thing but we always find a multitude of things to fix, replace, redo etc. not related to airworthyness or priority. How I wish we could make her perfect but we just try to keep her in the air. Can't say that the current 'political-financial' mess is helping. Wishing you (all) happy days and ordinary miracles, Ruth PAGE 43 ... TARPA TOPICS

P.S. Just for another insight...attached (below) Capt. Curt “Rocky” Walters' e-mail sent to friends after we arrived at JFK. The Spirit of TWA has arrived Hi all, My excitement of the last 4 days will live with me forever. From the small airports across this great country to the immensity of JFK this has been an experience that only, and I mean only, walking on the moon could top. What fine people I have had the privilege of meeting. I have always been proud to be an American and what I have seen and the experiences I have had only reinforces how humbled and grateful I am to be in this nation. I would also like to report to you that I have just toured the new JetBlue terminal and it is nothing short of awesome. As a side note, Ellie was the first aircraft arrival at the new terminal. The Irony is delightful. Ok, that's all for now, big day tomorrow then even bigger trip back home…. Tailwinds, Rocky

“Ellie’s” co-owners Ruth Richter Holden and Curt “Rocky” Walters

For complete details of the flight, a video, many color pictures, a narrative and the articles from AOPA PILOT and TODAY’S PILOT, visit Ruth’s web site : WWW.SPIRITOFTWA.COM

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CAPTAIN BERND KLOPFER FROM A CHILDHOOD IN WAR TORN EAST GERMANY TO A TWA WIDE BODY INTERNATIONAL CAPTAIN (TWA 1966—1998)

THE WAR YEARS t was the summer of 1943, the place was a small town in central Germany named Leuna (loin ah) on the river Saale, west of Leipzig, south of Halle and Merseburg. We had just moved into a big new house owned by the company for whom my Dad worked. He was a chemist working in the research lab at the gigantic Bernd Klopfer 1966 synthetic oil plant (Leuna Werke) which was 2 ½ miles long and ¾ of a mile wide. Nearby large deposits of bituminous (soft) coal provided the material for making liquid fuel. Even then I knew that only the Ford River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan in "Amerika" was larger. I was a typical 4-year old kid just having fun. The only signs associated with the far-off war were occasional military parades. And everybody loves a parade. One sunny afternoon I saw an airplane flying north and south along the length of the plant, well above the 17 smoke stacks, which were between 450 and 500 ft tall. The airplane made several passes and I asked my father what the airplane was doing. He said that it probably was an English spy plane taking pictures. Just then two other airplanes came along and then the English plane started descending towards the south trailing a long, heavy plume of black smoke. This is my first memory of seeing airplanes and what a sight it was. Even now I wonder about a pilot who would fly a couple of hundred miles deep into enemy territory on a bright summer day. Perhaps there is a reason for the saying "Only mad dogs and Englishmen...". Up to this point there may have been only a couple of bombs dropped. I remember everybody going to see one house that had been hit. Otherwise it was quiet and life was routine. But things were about to change in a big way. We must have been expecting something because several large 3 and 4 story air raid shelters were built in the town. They were made of concrete with outer walls 10 feet thick and no windows. Later, I got to spend quite a bit of time in one of those shelters. The bombing raids at the beginning of 1944 were always at night, by the RAF. Daylight raids by the Americans did not start until later. We had sirens that warned of an impending strike. A slow siren cycle meant 15 minutes until bombs started falling, a fast cycle meant only 5 minutes. Our shelter was 1/2 mile away, so we had to hustle. And there was always the unmistakable drone of several hundred approaching bombers.

Leuna, point A, is about 15 miles west of Leipzig (Google Maps)

The British used pathfinder planes to drop markers outlining the target. The markers floated down slowly and

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looked like a lit-up Christmas tree, and that's what we called them. We lived east of the plant and the shelter was further east, so when a "Christmas tree" started floating down ahead of us as we were running to safety, we knew we were in big trouble. Throughout the next year the bombs were pretty accurate, except for a couple devastating daytime raids. Paternal Grandmother in 1939 with sibs (L-R) Sophie, b. 1935, Bernd, b. 1938, Erwin, b. 1933, and twins Ulrike and Barbara, b. 1936. “...that's about as close to a smile as I have ever seen on my grandmother. She had a very tough life. Her husband died as a result of WW I. My father's younger brother was run over at age 11 by a truck with a bunch of drunk soldiers and my father's two younger sisters died from diphtheria. So it was just my father and grandmother living on a very meager state pension, not anything close to our social security. I do not know how the heck my father made it to the University and got a Ph.D. in chemistry. I remember my father telling us that for his 16th birthday (1921) he got a loaf of bread all for himself. The trouble was that my grandmother did not have enough flour for a whole loaf, so she added sawdust. This made the bread rather chewy and rough.” - B.K.

In early 1944 the bombing raids occurred frequently, including daytime sorties by the US Army Air Corps. Many years after the war I learned that the 80,000 tons dropped on the plant made us the most heavily bombed target in Germany. That means about 20,000 bombers paid us a visit during the war, with an average B-17 bomb load of 8,000 pounds, or 16 five hundred pound bombs. The plant was vital to the German war effort and therefore of great interest to the Allies. We also were the most heavily defended target. There were a lot of flak batteries around, and in the waning months of the war we had the distinction of being the only target to be defended by both the Messerschmitt 262 Schwalbe (swallow) twin-engine jet fighters and the Me-163 Komet rocket-propelled aircraft. There were also a lot of barrels around, filled with some sort of chemical that ignited to create a dense artificial fog when the bombers were approaching. However, the fog did not obscure those 17 tall smokestacks. It probably made them more visible to identify the location of the target. My parents decided that things were becoming too dangerous so my mother and all seven children went east to stay with our maternal grandmother in a small town that now is on the postwar border with Poland. There was no war activity going on except for the trains passing through, loaded with soldiers, tanks, trucks etc. and slogans painted on the sides like "These wheels are rolling for victory". In the summer of 1944 my older brother and I went back to Leuna and the air war was going full blast. After one return from the bomb shelter we found our whole neighborhood destroyed or heavily dam-

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“Fliegerabwehrkanone is the German word for which FLAK is an acronym. In German, words are run together if one is still talking about the same thing. Flieger, is flyer (like the Wright Flyer) although, just as in English, it can also refer to a person. Abwehr is defense, and Kanone is self-explanatory. The normal word for airplane or aircraft, is Flugzeug, which means flight thing.” - B.K.

aged. There was one bomb crater next to another and another and.... The house across the intersection from us was completely gone except for part of the front wall. And through some strange law of physics, a second story window in that wall still had all the glass intact. Every house was heavily damaged except for ours. Although we had four bombs fall on our property, none of them hit the house. The only damage was a collapsed outside basement stairwell, blown out windows, and worst of all for me, all the clay tiles from the roof were now a couple of feet deep on the ground. Why was that bad for me? It was my brother's and my job to shovel all the broken tiles into a wheelbarrow and dump them into a bomb crater. Five-year olds do not consider this fun! We had to do this several times that summer. Every time a bomb fell close to the house, the air pressure lifted all the recently replaced tiles off the roof. Fortunately, due to my father's position, we were able to get repairs made in short order. At the end of the summer my brother and I went back east to join the others. I started 1st grade and life was pretty good. But sometime around Christmas ’44, refugees were coming from the east, ahead of the Russian army. It soon turned into a flood of people, using everything possible from baby carriages, hand carts, and horse and oxen drawn wagons to carry their belongings. The decision was made for us to move west to stay with our paternal grandmother, and my mother's sister's family. They lived in one of the prettiest cities in Germany, often called “the Florence of the North”. The city was Dresden. No bombs had fallen here because there was no industry or anything of military value. Here too, a flood of refugees crowded into the city, jamming streets and parks.

From artist Roy Grinnell’s painting of B-24s bombing another high priority target, the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania.

February 13, 1945, I had gone to bed, but around 11 PM I awoke to what seemed like the most violent thunderstorm I had ever experienced. It did n0t take very long to realize what it really was, a bombing raid of an incredible scale. It seemed like everything was blowing up and then burning. Even though we lived on the edge of town, away from most of the bomb activity,

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sleep did not come again that night. The next morning, survivors, mostly covered in black soot or burns, came by to get out of the city. That night, February 14th, the bombers came again, although there really wasn't anything left to destroy. My aunt's house and my grandmother's house were not hit because they were on the outskirts of the city. Left: Dresden, May 1943—”I can see a tear rolling down the statue’s cheek, arms spread out in utter disbelief, saying, ‘Why, why do you do this to each other?’ Dresden was the most beautiful city in Germany…. It used to be called, ‘the Florence of the North’ .” - BK Below—“When Spring arrived the warm weather created problems with the rotting bodies, so efforts to identify them were abandoned and they were piled up and burned.” - BK (Both photos from The Destruction of Dresden by David Irving.)

It was just a few days later that an army truck came to take us back to our house in Leuna. I do not know how my father had managed to arrange that. The ride back was rather interesting. It was night and dodging bomb craters was quite a challenge with hardly any illumination. Plus airplanes flying all over, looking for anything to attack. We made it back before morning and were all very happy that this rough ride was over. I do not remember anything unusual during the month of March. But in April it was rather obvious that the war was coming to an end. The German army was coming through, moving from west to east, firing artillery of all kinds toward the west, and whoever was there was firing back. The sound of big guns firing was constant. We moved to the air raid bunker and stayed there for several days. One morning I sneaked out and was surprised to see our chief of police coming towards the bunker accompanied by several soldiers. I ran into the bunker and told everybody that the Afrikaners were coming. My mother told me not to talk nonsense, but they were black GI's, and I did not know there were black people in Amerika, just Indians. I went back outside and watched more American troops, including tanks, on the east side of the river. A huge flame shot up from the center of the railroad bridge, the span lifted up and then fell into the river. It was replaced by a pontoon bridge in just a few days. The war ended in the last days of April 1945. There was no school, so we kids kept busy collecting all kinds of ammunition, from rifle bullets, machine gun belts, hand grenades, artillery shells, and even unexploded bombs. One of the neighborhood houses had the end blown in from a close bomb explosion and it was temporarily fixed by building a brick wall covering the damage. This created a gap of about 3 feet between the walls and a ventilation opening in the outer wall gave us access to that space. This was where we stored our huge arsenal. The parents of two of our "gang" members had no idea that this was going on. We used the explosives to blow up all kinds of bomb-damaged structures. PAGE 48 ... TARPA TOPICS

Here are two examples of some of the really stupid things we did. First we found a bomb at the bottom of a crater. The back half was blown off but the front half was intact and filled with a yellow crystalline material. We dug out the bomb, loaded it on a little hand cart and pulled it to somebody's house where we dragged it down the basement stairs into the house. Then the big boys, 10-12 year olds, kicked us little 5 - 6 year olds out. We little ones lay on the ground outside and looked through the basement windows while the big boys tried to set the bomb on fire. It did not do much except smoke. Then the mother came down to see what was going on and she had a fit. End of that science experiment! The second time we had some German hand grenades, called potato mashers by the Allies. They were cylindrical with long wooden handles. We built a fire at the bottom of a bomb crater and then laid a couple of grenades on the fire like a barbeque spit while we all sat around the fire to see what would happen. They must have been wet because they smoked and hissed a lot and then suddenly, one took off up the side of the crater like a rocket. The other one just burned like a very large sparkler, showering us with sparks. Darwin was wrong. Stupidity does not always eliminate itself. However, kids were not always so lucky. There were several instances where the site of an unexploded bomb or artillery shells turned into a crater because some kids tried to play with the fuses by tapping them or trying to unscrew them. The big boys let us hang around with them when they allowed us to unscrew the fuses on the 88mm anti-aircraft shells while they did the important job of keeping a perimeter lookout far enough away to give us adequate warnings of any approaching adults. That was their explanation and we little kids believed them! The Americans imposed a 7 PM to 7 AM curfew. One night there was a lot of activity, moving trucks etc., going on and when we went out in the morning we were shocked to see that all the white stars on the American trucks had turned red, and the soldiers now were Russians. The Amis, as we called them, had been there only a couple of months and then pulled back to the borders drawn up at Yalta for the division of Germany into the four zones â&#x20AC;&#x201D; American, British, French, and Russian.

Google Images

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LIFE IN COMMUNIST EAST GERMANY 1945-1950

Google Images

t did not take long for the Communists, under Russian control, of course, to make their mark on our daily life. I do not know where all these German communists came from. Perhaps they had just kept quiet since the 1920s, when they had almost taken over Germany. The first sign was that people in any position of authority or people with a higher education started disappearing. This had nothing to do with the Nazi era. The communists just wanted their own installed at all levels of society. Teachers, newly minted Ph.D.’s whom my father had hired, low level civil servants, all kinds of people just didn’t show up for work one day or did not come home from work and were never seen again. And people knew that one did not ask questions because the answer was a positive space ticket to the same unknown destination. Fear is a powerful motivator. We came very, very close to leaving, too. In late summer of 1945 in the middle of the night our doorbell rang. There was a Red Army truck parked in front of our house, as well as in front of many other houses in our neighborhood. We were told we had one hour to load some of our belongings on the truck. We were going to Russia as guests of the Soviet Union for eight years. My father got on the phone and called the Russian in charge of the plant who quickly came over and said “Nyet, he stays. We need him to get the research lab in the plant going again”. So the truck was unloaded and we missed out on an all-expense paid vacation in Russia. Most people who left that night never did come back. A few returned after only 3 or 4 years. The Russians also had dismantled much of the equipment at the plant and sent it east on flatbed railcars as part of the war reparations program. The Germans who were “invited” to go to Russia said that most of it was never used and just rusted away at various railway sidings. We helped the Russians by climbing on the rail cars at night and changing all the numbers on the various parts of machinery and equipment. Over the next year or so, several of our neighbors and colleagues of my Dad escaped from East Germany, mostly to West Germany but some, like our dentist, made their way across the Baltic Sea to places like Sweden. One of our neighbors who had just disappeared one day did return after a few weeks, but in very poor health and he died just 2 weeks later from pneumonia. I started school again in the fall of 1945 and we slowly adjusted to a new and miserable life. But people are adaptable and make the best of things. The only thing the new Communist regime was good at was instilling fear and creating slogans. The economy was totally destroyed and food and basic consumer goods were almost non-existent. Everything was rationed but that did not mean anything was available. We were given so many grams of bread a day, so many potatoes, my youngest brother was given half a pint of milk a day because he was only 3 years old, the rest of us were too old, like 5 and 7 and up. PAGE 50 ... TARPA TOPICS

People would rush to the state-run store (HO) when a rumor spread that they actually hadsome things like sugar or apples. People would stand in line around the block, only to find out that even if the HO had any of the rumored items on their mostly empty shelves to begin with, they were long gone. On weekends, trains going into the countryside were packed with people carrying their valuables like jewelry to trade with farmers for food like bread, potatoes, butter or, dare I even dream of this, a little slab of bacon. Even though the farms were now state controlled, any farmer would be able to hide some of the farm products from the State controllers and use the goods for the weekend trade. The crazy thing about all of this was that our town was much better off than most others in East Germany because we were granted special privileges due to the importance of our synthetic oil plant to the East German economy. One example was that if your parents had gone to the University, you could not because now it was the turn of the workers and peasants in this Socialist “paradise”. However, our town was exempt from that rule. We also got better food rations, yet even here people, especially older people, starved to death, or committed suicide so they would not be a burden on their families. Adding to the problem of feeding the population was that there were millions of people from Eastern Europe who had fled for any number of reasons and were now homeless, wandering around. After Germany had invaded Poland from the West, the Russians invaded Poland from the East. Russia had also taken over the Baltic countries – Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and had just fought a war against Finland. This created a large number of refugees who had no desire to live under Russian/Communist control. After the end of the war the borders of Poland were shifted west a hundred miles or so. Russia kept what they had occupied from Poland and Germany, and Poland now occupied a chunk of eastern Germany. This created many more refugees. Added to that were the German soldiers from the eastern front, numbering several hundred thousand, who were simply abandoned at war’s end and many were not taken prisoner by the Russians. All these people were trying to find families or relatives who themselves had been displaced by the war. And they were trying to find food. The search for food was a constant endeavor. Large groups of people, controlled by the field police, waited for farmers to finish harvesting a field of rye or potatoes. Then they would swarm onto the field and look for those few ears of grain or that one potato that somehow had been overlooked. This was definitely not one of my favorite things to do, spending all day bent over out in the fields. The other thing we children had to do was pest control. We were sent into the fields to pick pests, like potato beetles or sugar beet beetles, off the plants, row after endless row. Things got better when families were given a piece of land, maybe an eighth of an acre, where they could grow food for themselves. We also received rabbits and chickens, and even a goat. This resulted in much improvement in our food situation. We children were each given a very small plot in the garden behind the Bernd (middle) with his younger brothers. “...Ulrich (R) now a doctor, was born in 1940 and the youngest, Goetz, now a scientist working for NASA, has a Ph.D in Engineering.”

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house where we could grow our own garden. My brothers and sisters would grow carrots and peas – things you could eat. What did I grow? Flowers! Even then I had my wife’s favorite description of me – No common sense. I could write a book just about some of the things we did because we were desperate for food. I do not feel bad at all about stealing fruit from the trees in the yards of the Russian-occupied houses. But to this day I feel ashamed about stealing a sandwich from the briefcase of a surveyor who worked in the fields behind our house. I had watched him for a few days and realized he stayed all day so I knew he had something to eat with him. And his sandwich was very special. It was not just bread with some margarine but it actually had a slice of sausage (lunchmeat) in it. If I could, I would buy him dinner every day because he surely was very hungry that day. At school one summer they brought some food for us. It usually was a thick vegetable soup that was in those old big metal milk cans and we lined up by each can, four or five lines. Each of us had a container of some kind and the ladies would place a ladle or two full of soup into our pots which we then wolfed down. We would then rush to the bathroom and wash out our pots and get in line again. But after a couple of days we discovered that the bathrooms were locked. They had caught on to us. So then we used our index fingers to wipe the inside of the container and used a handkerchief to make it look absolutely clean. One day I did this 4 times and one of the ladies accused me of going through the line more than once. I denied this in my best John Edwards manner and, since my pot was clean, she had to give me some more soup. I will give one more example and then that is enough on this subject. One time my mother actually did get ten apples and she lined them up on top of a kitchen cupboard to be saved for later. There they sat and sat. She did not think it was right to eat them until they were all shriveled up. I looked at those apples for days and one day I decided that since one of those apples was for me, I could take a bite out of it. Which I did, and then I turned the apple so that the bite mark was in the back and nobody could see that when standing in the kitchen and looking up to the top of the cupboard. And then I realized that if you could not see that a bite had been taken out of one apple ………… That next Sunday my mother decided to get the apples down for dessert after our Sunday dinner, which probably would have been boiled potatoes with some cottage cheese or a flour and mustard sauce. Yummy! As she got each apple down she discovered that every one of them had a huge bite taken out of it. Nobody would confess to this high crime so my father got out his big belt, with which I was well acquainted, and he was going to give us all a beating, starting with my oldest brother. Well, if my brother got even one swat with that belt and then the perpetrator was discovered, my life was not worth one Pfennig. While my parents were giving us one last chance to admit our guilt, I slowly backed towards the dining room door. Just as the belt was about to come down on my brother’s behind, I grabbed the door handle and yelled “I did it” and ran out of the room and out of the house. This was midday Sunday and I did not come back until Wednesday morning. It was summertime, no school, and I just stayed in the fields, eating some corn and other crops I could find. My homecoming resulted in a beating for the apples, another one for causing my parents worry, and another one for not doing my chores for a couple of days. I do not think I was able to sit down for a week.

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Basic consumer goods were never readily available during that entire 5 years we lived in East Germany. Shoes were very difficult to get. One winter morning I was walking to school past the police station and the chief of police happened to be standing outside. He saw my boots, which were mostly holes and filled with snow and he asked me if I had any other shoes. I told him that I did not and he said to come to the station in a couple of days with my mother. Two days later I was the proud owner of a brand-new pair of boots. In the summer we always went barefoot. Another item you could never get was toilet paper. We used to cut up the newspaper into toilet paper-sized pieces. At least the Communist propaganda was being put to good use. After the war it took a couple of years to get window glass replaced that had broken during the bombing raids in the war. A temporary fix was a wire screen with a hard thin plastic film. Clothing was not available, so a chore we kids had, and the thought of it makes me feel awful even today, was darning socks and stockings. We used a wooden mushroom over which you stretched the sock with the holes, usually the heel, and with a needle and thread you repaired the hole. This was almost a daily task. If you ever get the chance to do this, RUN. Every aspect of life was controlled by the communists, everything was state-owned and nothing worked because nobody cared. We learned about the heroes of the Soviet Union, like some guy named Stakanovitch, who always fulfilled 150% of his work quota as a coal miner, or similar. One thing that did work was a big clock at City Hall that showed the percentage of votes the Communist Party received in elections. One morning, on the way to school, we saw that the Communists had won with over 98 percent of the vote. There was just one little problem. The election was being held that day. Life was not all misery. We did get to play, go swimming in a beautiful municipal pool or the river, go on hikes, go to the mountains for a couple of weeks in the summer with our class, skating and sledding in the winter, just like kids everywhere. I also played on the boys field hockey team. In countries outside of the U.S., field hockey is not just a girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sport. In 1949 my coach told me that I would have to join the Communist Youth group, the Young Pioneers, if I wanted to play on the team the next year. Nobody in our family had joined either the Free German Youth for the older kids, or the Young Pioneers. Several of my friends had because it made things easier in school and for your family. They were afraid that not joining would get them and their families unwanted attention. Fear is a powerful emotion. There was one kid in our class who was a real rat, a bully, and s.o.b. His father was a known informer. The kid would go home and tell his father lies about someone and that someone would be in big trouble. Our second grade teacher disappeared one day because of the lies this kid told. My friends and I decided we would corner this bully and beat the hell out of him but we never did. We knew he would not be able to remember all of us, as if that mattered to him, but each of us thought that he would remember us and we would then be responsible for the disappearance of our family. So one rotten rat was able to control 10 or 12 of us. My older brother and I often talked about escaping to West Germany but I thought I might have to wait until I was about 14. Circumstances allowed me to beat that by 3 years. Late in 1949, my father did not come home from work as scheduled. My mother called the lab and was told that a couple of Russians had come to give him a ride home. Now we were in big

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trouble. The house was owned by the company that operated the plant, in a roundabout way it was the state, this was a communist society, after all. We would have to move and my mother would have to find some form of employment to take care of her family. She went to the mayor, who was not a communist, who told her that he did not want her to work with seven children to take care of. He would work something out. Nothing had changed for a couple of weeks. Then one evening a mysterious Dr. Holbert called and said to get a bath ready and hung up. I did not understand that but when I told my mother she was very happy and said “Vati (Dad) is coming home “. And sure enough, a little while later my father came home. This Dr. Holbert, I later learned, lived in West Germany but occasionally came to the East. I don’t know why or how. Refugees crowd every square inch of a train leaving Berlin in 1945 (Life magazine). “... a young guy who worked for my father had been a prisoner of war in the American sector and he said that they would have eggs, bacon, white bread toast with butter, and real coffee for breakfast. And, what didn't get eaten was tossed in the garbage. He must have thought we were fools because we knew that nobody would throw out food of any kind, let alone the sort of incredible food he claimed to have had. He didn't even blush when telling us this outrageous story which had to be a lie (we thought).” - BK

ESCAPE TO THE WEST—Spring 1950 t was then when my parents started working on our escape to the West. My father lost his position at the lab, and was allegedly looking for a position at another chemical plant in another town. My father started having his extensive book collection crated. My brother and I would pull a handcart with one of the crates to a moving company in a town called Merseburg, about 5 miles away, after it got dark. The crates were being sent to my mother’s brother in the West. One night we noticed someone on a bicycle following us and we discovered that it was another commie stoolie and informer. The next night the police in Merseburg intercepted us and took us to the police station. My parents had to go there the next day to explain what was going on. My parents claimed that the books belonged to my mother’s brother and since we would be moving it was a good time to send them. I am sure nobody believed that. A few nights later the doorbell rang and two men in long leather coats and hats pulled down low, wanted to see my father. I told my mother and she came and told the men that my father had gone south to the mountains to recuperate from his imprisonment. He normally went there for a week every summer. The men left. We found out later that these Stasi men (communist Gestapo) called the place where my mother said my father had gone and whoever answered the phone said my father was on a walk in the woods. Apparently they believed this because we were left alone for a while. Now imagine this scenario. You are the innkeeper and you receive a call from someone you don’t know, asking to speak to someone who is not there, had not been there for several months and was not scheduled to be back for several months. And instead of saying that he

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was not there and had not been there, you say he can not come to the phone because he was out walking in the woods. You have to have lived under that kind of regime to understand this. Anything out of the ordinary was cause for suspicion. And if some strangers called asking about someone, then that someone obviously was supposed to be there. My father left our house that night, shortly after the men had left. Later I learned that he took a train to East Berlin, then walked to the American sector. At that time Berlin was still an open city where one could move freely from one sector to another. The wall wasn’t built until much later. Once the Americans became aware that he was there, they flew him to West Germany. A few nights after my father had left, my older brother also took a train to Berlin. After a few weeks at a friend’s place, he took a train to a town near the border. In those days there still were places where it was possible to cross the border into the West. He walked along a road when a Russian soldier on a bicycle started chasing him and my brother was running for his life. He saw some people working in the fields whom he asked for help. They laughed and told him he was in the West. He looked back and saw the soldier stopped a hundred yards back. I guess the Russian soldier was not interested in escaping. I better explain that taking a train was risky if you did not have permission from the police to travel. If you were checked by one of the many patrols and didn’t have the proper papers, you were detained. In our case, that would have meant a one-way ticket to some place you did not want to go. In the beginning of March 1950 my mother told my three sisters and me to pack some bags. We left that night by walking miles to another neighboring town where she was able to buy train tickets without having permission. I do not know if any money beyond the price of tickets changed hands. We took a train to the nearest city, called Leipzig, about 30 miles away. There we waited in the main hall of the railroad station all night long. My mother did not tell us what the plans were. It probably was for our own protection. I was afraid that the police patrols were going to check our papers, but they were busy with the many drunks. It was just after carnival and some people were apparently still celebrating. Leipzig holds a big industrial fair in the spring that has been going on since the 1300’s. Many visitors from the West came and early in the morning we went across the street to the office of the bus company where people were waiting in line to get in. My mother looked over the people waiting and then approached one elderly (older than my mother who was an ancient 40) well-dressed couple, obviously not from East Germany. She asked them if she gave them the money, would they buy tickets for us and take us across the border.

A 1962 photo showed East German guards with the body of a man who was shot when he tried to cross the Berlin Wall. Deutsche Presse-Agenture

They looked at my mother, they looked at the four of us, they looked at each other, and then they said, “Yes”. At that time you did not need an exit permit if you were under 14, traveling

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with an adult who had a valid permit. We did not bother telling anybody that my oldest sister was going to be 15 in May. Again, asking just anybody in that line was risky because you did not know whom you could trust, but my mother was desperate. We got on the bus and left for points west, not knowing if we would ever see any other members of our family again. Now just my mother and my two younger brothers were left at home. As the bus headed towards the border, I was amazed to see towns still looking like the war had just ended. Hardly any rebuilding had been done compared to our town of Leuna. This again showed the special status our town enjoyed. We reached the border in just a couple of hours and I was very afraid that we would be so close to freedom but fail. All of us got off the bus and went into a little building where the Vopos (Volkspolizei – People’s Police) dumped the contents of the bags onto a counter, dug through everything and then left you to put everything back. Then we went out through another door and walked towards the actual border, a double row of tall barbed wire fencing and armed guards everywhere. I just knew that somebody would yell “Halt” and stop us just feet from the other side. I was calculating if I ran, could I make it. The walk seemed like eternity. I could see the bus sitting on the West German side. Just before leaving the East there was another checkpoint and the guard asked to see the old couple’s papers. Then he asked for my oldest sister’s papers but the old gentleman said that she would not be 14 until May. The guard waved us on and we finally walked through the gate to the West. We re-boarded the bus and continued on to Hannover, where we got off in the afternoon at the edge of the city. We had to walk several miles to the main railroad station because the streetcar conductor would not accept East German money. At the train station we were able to change money and the first thing we did was buy chocolate and bananas, two items not available in the East. We scraped the inside of the banana peels with our teeth until you could almost see through them. Our train for our destination was not leaving until midnight. The Lutheran church had a mission there and they gave us a hot dinner and a place to sleep. While we were eating I said to my sisters, “Why are they giving this to us; why don’t they give it to the poor people?” The two ladies looked at me and then gave each other a strange look. But I didn’t think we were poor. We were well off by East German standards, we lived in a big house, we always had a nanny/ housekeeper, and we never starved to death.

LIFE IN WEST GERMANY fter sleeping for a few hours we got on the train to go to Leverkusen, just north of Cologne, home of the Bayer Chemical Works, the creators of aspirin. We got there just at sunrise and got directions to our destination, not far away. We knocked on the door and a man opened it and looked at us with a puzzled expression. Then one of my sisters said our name and he asked us to come in. Later he told me that he thought we were children dressed in costumes who come around in the evening during Carnival, asking for candy, similar to Halloween. But Carnival was over and it wasn’t evening. He was Dr. Hans Albert Offe, a former colleague of my Dad. He was the mysterious Dr. Holbert who used to sneak into the East for reasons I never did learn. Their two boys and I went out to play. When we came back, my sisters were gone, off by train to my father’s uncle’s vineyard a hundred miles south along the Rhine. It had been decided that I would stay with the Offe family. The older boy and I went to a college prep school, PAGE 56 ... TARPA TOPICS

called Gymnasium, which has nothing to do with Phys. Ed., in Cologne. Kids take an exam after the 4th grade to be accepted into a Gymnasium. If you don’t pass, you continue in the regular public school through the 8th grade and then you go to a trade school. In the East I had studied Russian, now I had to take Latin. It was not until June or July that I learned that my three brothers and my mother had made it to the West. My mother sneaked out the back of our house when the two leather coats were at the front door. She took no chances this time. My two little brothers, ages 9 and 7, had been sent to my aunt in Dresden. She put them on a bus to the West, told them where they needed to go and wished them, “Good Luck”. Most likely she also asked an adult to take them across the border but neither she nor my brothers remember. In November I took a train down to Augsburg, northwest of Munich, to join the family. My father had started a new position in a research lab at a chemical company. The rest of the family had spent that time scattered all over West Germany, some in refugee camps, others with various families. I went to another Gymnasium where I not only took Latin but also English. This was in the 7th grade. Life returned to normal but changes were in the works. My Dad received offers to come to work in England, France, Australia, and the US. We did not like the idea of England or France. Australia seemed intriguing but it was too far away – 4 weeks by ship if one wanted to come back for a visit. We liked “Amerika”. We knew people who had been there before the war, my grandmother had distant relatives in Texas, and it was the Land of Opportunity. We also had introductions to the American way of life. There was a place called Amerikahaus in Augsburg where my older brother and I spent a lot of time after school, reading books and magazines, watching movies – I remember a movie called “Rhubarb” about baseball, I think it was about the Yankees. At home we had the German edition of Reader’s Digest. Our neighbors were Americans, Army Major Mark Mike Cassidy and family. He must have been an administrator of some kind. Their little boy, Mike, was the same age as my youngest brother and they were playmates. Up by the old military base there were a couple of US Army airplanes in the summer of 1951. One was a taildragger Cub-type, maybe an L-4, and the other was a Navion. They were guarded by a young soldier living in a tent. I do not remember his name but he was from Minnesota. We spent a lot of time visiting him and watching the old Army officer fly the airplanes. One time the enlisted man started up the Navion just for us. There was a lot of USAF activity. Formations of F-80’s and F-84’s were always flying around low - level and their favorite sport was flying single file under the sign that was stretched between the two smoke stacks at the powerplant. Once I saw a flight of four very unusual jets flying at high altitude, maybe 5,000 ft. They had swept wings, so they must have been the new F-86’s. During this time we pretty much led a normal life, riding bikes, playing, going on class excursions to the nearby Alps etc.

Piper L-4 Grasshopper

N. Amer./Ryan L-17

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star

Republic F-84 straightwinged Thunder Jet

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N. Amer. F-86 Sabrejet

Google images

GOING TO “AMERIKA”

The MS Italia of 1950 was built as the "Kungsholm" for the Swedish American Line in 1928 . Google “MS Italia”

n the spring of 1952 we were definitely going to the USA. It was quite a lengthy process to qualify, including medical exams. The big day came in May when we took a train to Hamburg to board a ship for the US. We spent a couple of days in a camp where all the paperwork was checked and checked again. Then we finally boarded the ship, the MS Italia, a pre-war luxury liner. We were in heaven – printed fancy menus at every meal, white-jacketed stewards to serve us, lots of absolutely delicious food, just like the cruise ships these days.

We left the dock and our next stop was Southampton, England where we picked up some people. After a few hours we proceeded across the Channel to Le Havre, France and picked up more people. Many of the passengers were just regular tourists who had visited Europe. We began our ocean crossing and the weather was good except for one windy day where I intentionally made myself seasick by sitting in one of the lounges and looking out the windows. After about 15 minutes of watching the windows go from water to sky, back to water and on and on, I was thoroughly sick and threw up. I lay down in our cabin and missed only one meal. Now I knew what it was like to be seasick. Five days later we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for a few hours and then left for New York, where we arrived on a beautiful sunny morning, June 4th, 1952. We sailed by the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and past the skyline of lower Manhattan up the Hudson where we docked around 30th Street. The Immigration formalities took most of the day. Then we got off the ship and took taxis to nearby Penn Station. That evening the final part of our voyage took place. We boarded the Pennsylvania Railroad “Red Arrow” train for Detroit where we arrived the next morning. People from my father’s new employer where there to meet us and took us to our new house 15 miles north in Birmingham, Michigan.

LIFE IN THE USA irmingham was a nice little, fairly wealthy town. Lots of executives from “Big 3” automakers lived there but our house was in a working class neighborhood. The house was very small for a family our size. The separate two-car garage in the back was almost as big as the house. The new neighbors were all very nice and introduced us to life in suburban America. My two younger brothers and I spent hours at our neighbors, the Bickford’s, across the street watching black and white television – such shows as Howdy Doody, Sealtest Circus, Victory at Sea etc . Their two boys were only 4 and 6, so we found kids our age to hang out with. They introduced us to the A&W rootbeer stand and the Good Humor man, who gave us free ice cream, hoping that would make us good customers. The Bickford’s would take us on picnics to some of the many nearby lakes, to the Detroit Zoo, to Boblo Island, an amusement park on an island in the Detroit River, to Belle Isle, another island in the Detroit River that was a big park and to their cottage on Point Pelee in Canada. We had a wonderful time, playing all summer and learning English. We also all started working. I had an evening newspaper route, I cleaned an architect’s office on Saturdays, I cut lawns and did yard work in the neighborhood, did baby sitting and occaPAGE 58 ... TARPA TOPICS

sionally I would help the Sealtest milkman on his delivery route. Milk came in glass bottles in those days. I even started painting houses. I did all this at age 13, not even 5 feet tall and weighing 90 pounds. I also caddied at the well-known Oakland Hills Country Club, where the recent PGA championship was held. For a small kid like me it was hard work to carry two big golf bags for 18 holes. My two younger brothers also had newspaper routes. People in Germany would have been shocked to learn that my mother took a job in a nearby factory making plastic gloves, working in the evening until midnight. Another job we did was delivering new phone books. My mother had purchased a 1951 Ford and in late November and we loaded it up with phone books and started on the route assigned to us by the phone company. We were paid 5 cents for each book delivered and 3 cents for each old book we picked up. Everybody seemed to be home during this time so we picked up a lot of old books. We did not know that it was Thanksgiving weekend and we did not know what Thanksgiving was all about. We basically started life all over again, with my parents in their 40’s, all of us working was a necessity if we wanted to get higher on the economic ladder. In September school started and I was the only freshman at the new Birmingham H.S. who wore Lederhosen, leather shorts with fancy suspenders, to school. My knowledge of English was still not up to par and my first 6-weeks report card showed a “C” for English, with a note from the teacher saying that I would be an “A” student with a little more time. In General Science class I copied notes from the kid next to me because I had a hard time keeping up. It was a couple of months later, reviewing my notes, that I discovered that kid was not very bright and his notes did not make much sense. I do not know why the teacher did not put me next to someone a little smarter. A big change for us was that girls and boys not only attended the same school but were in the same classes. In Germany girls and boys went to the same elementary school but were in separate classes. After the fourth grade, in the Gymnasium, it was separate schools. Another big change was that the teachers always put the right answers right there on the tests. All one had to do was pick it from a,b,c, or d. Another shock was the lack of discipline. In Germany we had to stand at attention next to our desk when the teacher entered or left the room. No such thing here. During this time we learned more things about the life in the USA. My mother decided to fix some corn for dinner because Americans eat corn, in Europe it’s just animal feed. She boiled the contents of that can for hours and the kernels were rock hard. So we got Mrs. Bickford to come over to explain what was going on. She looked in the pot and then asked to see the can. My mother showed her and Mrs. Bickford, Shirley, said “No, No, Mrs. Klopfer. This is for making popcorn”. Another time my mother discovered bags of peeled, sliced, seasoned, dried potatoes in the supermarket. What a work saver! She boiled those and the result was just awful. Even for people who had been used to eating almost anything, this was bad. We asked Shirley for help again. She came over, looked and tasted the stuff and asked to see the bag. My mother showed her and Shirley said “No, Gerda, you don’t cook potato chips”. In Germany my parents were addressed as Herr (Mr.) and Frau (Mrs.) or Doktor Klopfer, my father had a Ph. D. Here it was Oskar and Gerda. Quite a change and it took a while to get used to it. School and work kept us busy and the year went by fast. I had made friends with a lot of kids. One, Joe Kidwell, taught me to drive in his 1934 Chevy. You could get your driver’s license at 14. He also showed me a picture of his Dad, who had been a passenger in a United DC-3 that had made a gear-up landing in some field in Ohio or Pennsylvania.

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The next summer my parents bought a big piece of property with a big old house in the nearby town of Clawson. Here I did my sophomore year and I do not recall anything unusual happening. In the summer of 1954 our former neighbors from Birmingham, the Bickford’s, moved to Ft. Lauderdale. I took them up on their invitation to come and visit for a couple of weeks before school started. I flew on a non-sked Connie from Detroit, Willow Run to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Miami. I spent most of that time standing at the back of the cockpit. I convinced the Bickford’s that it would be better for me to go to Ft. Lauderdale H.S. than face another Michigan winter, and they let me stay. What can I say? I was in hog heaven - the beach, the Keys, the Everglades, the weather - it was all so new and different. I made lots of new friends, ran on the track team, did well in my classes and the year passed by quickly. The Bickford’s assumed that I would return to Michigan for my senior year, but I convinced them that it was a very bad idea to change schools for my senior year. So, after a summer in Michigan, it was back to FLL, this time in a DC-3. I ran cross-country (4th in the state meet), took classes like trigonometry to get me ready for college and still had a good time. There was boating, snorkeling, spear fishing, catching spiny lobsters on the first and second reefs, harassing alligators that were in the canals all over town, watching giant sea turtles come up on the beach at night to lay their eggs, and all the usual high school activities. Do you remember the movie, “Where the Boys Are” about Ft. Lauderdale at Easter, with George Hamilton and Connie Francis? That’s what life was like for us all year long. The best teacher I had in high school was the legendary Mr. Spaulding whom I had for math classes in my junior and senior years. He brooked no nonsense or goofing off. He was like the teachers in Germany. Tough but if you survived his classes, you had learned something. One time he had critiqued a presentation I made in solid geometry rather harshly. I was sitting at my desk, sulking. He was talking about an upcoming test and said we would be ready to go like hot potatoes. I muttered under my breath, perhaps a little louder than I should have, that it would be more like mashed potatoes. He gave me a look that could have killed but let it go. And I did ace that test. Soon our senior year came to an end. We had taken the SAT’s, without any prep work, and I scored in the 98 percentile. I was also in the top 5% academically of our class but that should not have been a surprise because of my scholastic background from Germany. It was back to Michigan and, after spending the summer working, I started classes at Wayne State University in downtown Detroit. I had enrolled in aeronautical engineering. It did not take long to realize that this was a different ball game. It was very easy to get behind in one’s classes. Lots of my papers were marked down a grade because I turned them in late. I also worked part-time in the pathology lab at nearby Detroit Women’s Hospital and for a watchmaker who repaired watches for outfits like Sears. My two younger brothers and I got involved in the hot rod hobby of the time. I had a 1950 Ford coupe with a 1955 Olds engine. My younger brother had a 1933 Chrysler Imperial with a rumble seat and two spare tires sitting in the sweeping front fenders. He put a 1955 Chrysler hemi engine into that. We did a lot of drag racing, mostly on the streets. This resulted in a number of speeding tickets and a 90-day loss of license for me. This became an item of discussion a couple of years later when I applied for citizenship. The hearing officer felt that I was an incorrigible criminal and I was trying to convince him that I was just a normal American teenager.

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College was a difficult time for me, mostly my own doing. I commuted from home. In addition to working part-time and running track and cross-country. Living at home meant I had to do the usual chores around the house. All this left little time to study. My two younger brothers also went to Wayne State. They did much better than I, both academically and running track. One became a physician and the youngest one got a Ph.D. in Engineering and works for NASA. He also was on two Olympic teams. In my sophomore year my parents had built a new big house in one of Detroit’s most upscale suburbs, Bloomfield Hills. Mitt Romney grew up there. This was the place where all the top executives from GM, Chrysler, etc. lived. Ford execs lived on the other side of Detroit, in Grosse Point. Commuting to school from here was even more time consuming because it was another 5 miles north. My father had switched employment from the private research company to Ethyl Corporation. You old timers surely remember the logo on all the gasoline pumps and the slogans spelling out all the benefits of tetraethyl lead as an additive for high octane gas. Eventually, I did graduate with a B.S. in Aero Engineering and went to work for Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica in their Missile Division. This was a lot more interesting than school, although I continued taking classes in graduate school at UCLA. However, my real pleasure was found on the other side of the airport at a flight school called Santa Monica Flyers. Here I started flying lessons in Cessna 150’s. After getting my private license I joined the Douglas Flying Club. Flying with them was really cheap. The more one flew, the less it cost per hour. I could fly a C-182 for as little as $8/hr, wet (fuel included). I flew all over Southern California and places like Las Vegas, even landing on a dry lake out in the desert just to see what it was like. In March of 1964, a friend from the flying club was going to an interview with United Airlines at LAX. I tagged along and after taking all kinds of tests, including the dreaded Stanine, where you learned that you hate your mother more than your father, until 20 questions later, where you learned the reverse. The logic of that test is still a mystery to me. At the end of the day both of us had successfully survived the weeding out and the 100 or so applicants had been reduced to 10 or 12. I was amazed to see military pilots with log books a mile thick being sent away. I think my knack for taking tests helped me. However, my big mouth did me in. A couple of captains asked me where I saw myself 5 or 10 years from now and I told them that I really wanted to do test flying, that I didn’t want to be a “fancy bus driver” for the rest of my life (yes, those were my exact words). They sat stunned for a few seconds and then said that they did not think I would be very happy at United, and I agreed. That’s why I did not wind up flying 747-400’s across the Pacific, as did my friend who chose his words more wisely. Of course, I tell my wife I did it for her, although we hadn’t met yet. I tell her that if I had gone with United then, we would not have met, she would not have taken up flying and she would not have become a United captain some thirty years later. I sacrificed my career for her. That’s when symptoms of her physical affliction appear. Her eyes roll back and she mutters something about “here we go again!” I sometimes sense a lack of appreciation and gratitude. At that time I did not know a thing about the profession of airline pilots, nothing about seniority etc. I certainly was not prepared for the interview, and, perhaps, not all that interested. I lived in Manhattan Beach, just south of LAX, and enjoyed the beach life in So. California. I had also switched jobs and now worked for the aircraft division of Douglas at Long Beach airPAGE 61 ... TARPA TOPICS

port on the proposal for a giant new jet transport for the USAF. In late 1965 I asked someone who all these guys were that never seemed to work, always had lots of money to spend in the joints at the beach, and always were surrounded by goodlooking women. He said that they were airline pilots. You are kidding! It just so happened that the airlines were looking for pilots and TWA had an ad in the LA Times announcing that they would hold interviews at their hangar at LAX the day after Thanksgiving. I, and a hundred or so others, showed up and at the end of the day I again was still there. The guy running the show was Kril Jackson, whom many of you will remember. He asked me if I could start training in Kansas City that next Monday and I said “No, I have to give two weeks notice”. He said to call when I was ready. I also interviewed at Eastern and United, again, and was hired by both. But I liked the fact that TWA did a lot of international flying, so I said “No, thanks” to EAL and UAL. Just prior to this I met a pretty 21-year old gal, Joy, in one of the beach joints. A friend, who also was later hired by TWA, and I told her that we were United pilots sent to pick up a new DC-8 from the Douglas factory. I took her flying in one of the club’s planes over LA at night and that is all it took to convince her that I was heaven-sent. I did have to confess that I was not an airline pilot just yet. I also learned that she had a 1-year old daughter from a marriage that was being dissolved. Things got serious because in January we flew from Santa Monica to Baton Rouge, LA in a Piper Cherokee to introduce her to my parents. My father had transferred here, still with the Ethyl Corp. About this time Lockheed was awarded the contract for the new transport, designated C-5. I could not resist their offer to go to work for them at double my salary, even though it meant moving to Marietta, GA just north of Atlanta. Meanwhile, there were some minor things that needed to be worked out before I could start at TWA, like a commercial license and an instrument rating.

OUR LIFE AS PILOTS n June Joy and I got married in Palos Verdes, west of Long Beach, CA and then we went right to Georgia. In August I finally received the letter from TWA with a starting date of August 26th, 1966 and off we went to Kansas City. My class was being trained as 727 F/E’s. Training lasted until the end of the year and I was given EWR as my domicile. But all the line training took place at JFK and LGA. After just a couple of months on the line I went back to Kansas City to train as a 707 F/E so I could fly internationally. And that was what I did. Paris, London, Madrid, Frankfurt, Rome, Milan and, Lisbon became rather routine destinations for that summer. I must have inherited my desire to see the world from my grandfathers. My mother’s father used to travel to Egypt to buy cotton for his shirt factory and my paternal grandfather made it all the way to Australia with the German Imperial Navy. Then, in December of 1967 I thought I had won the lottery. I was on reserve and crew schedule called to tell me I was scheduled for Flight 740 the next day. I knew that 740 was the beginning of a Hong Kong pairing but I knew that only the very senior guys flew that trip. The scheduler could not understand my question about how far I was going on this trip. I thought PAGE 62 ... TARPA TOPICS

maybe just Frankfurt. He finally got through to me that I was flying the whole pairing – JFKFRA-ATH-TLV-BOM-COLOMBO-BKK-HKG and back. Holy smokes! Was I lucky or what? What a marvelous trip. The captain, Walt Hawkins, was hired in 1936 or 37, the F/O, Don Snyder, was hired in the 50’s and here I was, still on probation. The flight attendants after FRA were Rome-based, a mix of Italians and Germans. In those days we stayed at the best hotels, signed for meals in expensive restaurants, and were treated like VIP’s. In 1968 I got to fly to some more exciting destinations like Cairo, Nairobi, Dar-es-Salaam, Tunis, Tripoli and charter flights to Bermuda and Curacao. Life was good. In 1969 it was time to go back to Kansas City to get trained as a F/O on the 707. All my flying time was in single-engine light aircraft and now I was moving up to a 300,000 lb 4-engine jet. After the 707 simulator the next six hours were flown in a small 4-engine Lockheed Jetstar for those with no previous jet time. TWA had acquired two of those to make the transition easier. My scheduled flying partner had not shown up, so the first 707 flight was just the IP, F/E and I. We flew from MKC up to MCI, which was not in use yet for scheduled traffic. We were going to do visuals to Rwy 9 into the haze and early morning sun. On my first attempt I was high and the captain snarled, “You have no more idea of the slot than the man in the moon. You should be over that farmhouse at 600 feet.” I told him that I had never flown here before and that he had not exactly volunteered that information beforehand. I was not about to descend on a visual when I could not see the runway. I landed long and the next attempt was not much better. Smiling Bob (my nickname for him, he was the most dour looking person I have ever met) took the airplane to show me how it was done. On approach I commented that it looked a little high to me when we picked up the runway. He said, “Maybe a little.” Sort of like being a little bit pregnant. We landed very long and the next one was no better. He made my landings look like undershoots. After liftoff he told me to ask for a heading back to MKC. Now I thought I was in real trouble, he had seen me smirk. But on the way back he said that today was not a good day to shoot visuals. That was it. I did finish training and went back to JFK for my line training. When I checked in for my first flight I was horrified to see that my scheduled 890, Captain Manelski, had been replaced by Captains Horstman and Frankum. Marv Horstman was the Chief pilot in NY and Ed Frankum was our VP-Flt Ops, the Black Knight. Now, I knew they were after me. However, I was just deadheading to LAX. Captain Frankum did not have the hours of jet time that Boeing wanted for pilots coming to check out on the new 747, so he was flying a few line trips. The trip back to JFK was with Captain Horstman. I was flying as a copilot on the 707 and I did not have a multi-engine rating. You would think that the FAA would have just given it to me at this point but that is not the way the government works. So I went to a flight school at Opa Locka airport in Miami and flew around a few hours in an old Piper Apache to get my multi-engine rating to show that those couple of hundred hours in the 707 by this time were not a fluke. In July of 1970 our son Glenn was born and in September we moved from New Jersey to Boca Raton, FL and I started commuting to NY. TWA was looking for people who had 1200 hours so they could get type-rated and fly international F/O and I was trying my best to get there. But then things slowed down, pilots were furloughed and I bid back to F/E where I could fly one round-the-world trip a month. In early

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1973 I got lucky again when I was called for a 24-day round-the world charter. The old timer F/E who was scheduled for it did not want to be gone that long. What a trip! We went to Casablanca, Canary Islands, Angola, Southwest Africa, Capetown, Johannesburg, Victoria Falls, Seychelle Islands, Nairobi, Bahrain, Shiraz, Kabul, Rawalpindi, Kathmandu, Calcutta, Singapore, Bali, Hong Kong, Guam and Honolulu. From there we deadheaded back to JFK. In the Seychelles on 1973 around the world charter

In 1974 I got caught on an old standing bid back from 1966 that I had forgotten about and I had to commute to LAX for a year. This meant going back to Kansas City to check out as a 727 F/O. After that year I bid Chicago so I could fly L-1011 F/O. But that didn’t happen so I was stuck another year flying the 727 out of ORD. Eventually, I made it back to Kansas City to get my 707 type rating and I was able to fly international F/O out of JFK. Later I checked out as F/O on the 1011 and the 747. Again I got some nice trips. We changed our route to Bombay and we flew the 1011 from Cairo to Bombay. On the 747 I got to fly a charter to Rio de Janeiro. We had also started flying to several new destinations in Europe like Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm, Munich, and Stuttgart, and in Ireland we had changed from Shannon to Dublin. So there were plenty of new things to discover that kept life interesting During all this time we took full advantage of being able to fly for free or very inexpensively. Our kids got to go on safari in East Africa, rode donkeys in the Valley of Death in Luxor and camels around the pyramids in Egypt, visited France, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Greece, Ethiopia, the volcanoes in Hawaii, and the caribou on the north slope of Alaska. One time we picked up a new Chevy Blazer in Detroit and delivered it to a lady in Anchorage via the Alcan Highway. What a trip, 5500 miles in 11 days, and the gas was paid for. The kids were not even 10 years old during most of this traveling. We also did a lot of domestic traveling to see all 50 states and visit grandparents and other relatives. My wife had been whining for some time (like forever) that it was not fair that my job seemed to be so much fun while hers (office type) was boring and that I got paid so much more. I told her that complaining about it did not do any good unless she did something to change it. In February 1976 I signed her up for flying lessons at the Boca Raton airport and came home and told her to be at the airport the next day at 1 o’clock. She assumed I meant Ft. Lauderdale and asked who was coming now. In the winter in Florida you always have lots of visitors. I told her that it was at Boca and that she was going to start flying lessons. Her reply was “NO WAY! Not again.” She remembered the time a few years earlier up in New Jersey when I tried to teach her. That did not work out too well, to put it mildly. I assured her that it was with one of their instructors. She went and that changed our life forever. The kids and I saw very little of her for the next two years. Two months later she had her private license and two years later she had her ATP and F/E license. She built her time by flying every miserable job that came along, any time of the day. I told her she had to do that because she started flying so late in life, at age 31.

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She happened to run into a legend in the early Learjet charter business, Harvey Hop, at Ft. Lauderdale Executive airport and that got her started flying jets. Then she took a job for a wealthy man who had a couple of Lears and a Swearingen turboprop. She flew around a lot of celebrities like Jerry Lewis, Helen Reddy, the group Chicago, and others like that and Henry Kissinger. Kissinger apparently liked her because his office called to set up another charter and asked for my wife to be one of the pilots. The owner did not think any customer should tell him who the pilots should be, so he waited a couple of weeks and then had his staff call Kissinger’s office the day before the flight to cancel it. She did have some nice trips, like one to Shannon, Venice and Sicily. At this time the airlines started to hire female pilots and my wife had interviews with Western, United, and Delta. But she did not get hired. She was too old at 34, too married, who would watch her children etc. There were a lot of stupid things going on at the Learjet outfit and I told a friend, TWA captain Art Danley, about the situation. He said he had a friend in management at the aviation department of GE and that they currently were trying to recruit a female pilot. He had my wife contact GE and she was hired to fly Falcon 20’s, the first female in their pilot group. The year was 1980 and GE’s aviation operation was based at Westchester Co. airport in White Plains, NY, just north of NY City. That meant leaving Florida and in November of 1980 we moved to Connecticut. Now she was flying the top dogs of one of the top US companies around and they had definite rules. One of their new pilots was fired when the CEO, Jack Welch, happened to see him walking through the lobby of the hotel in Hong Kong wearing shorts and a T-shirt. That was not the image that GE wanted to present to the world. A couple of years later GE bought some new Bombardier Challengers, the forerunner of today’s CRJ’s, one of the most widely used airline jets for the smaller markets. My wife was the first female pilot to get checked out on that aircraft. She had some nice trips – the Paris Airshow, the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. And here she also flew some celebrities like Neil Armstrong. Meanwhile, at TWA the new 767’s were coming on line and I went to Kansas City again to get checked out. Then I flew the 767, the 1011, and the 747, still as a F/O. I flew each airplane for a month to keep my landings current. Amazing, flying a 2-engine, a 3-engine, and a 4engine airplane all at the same time. It was legal but maybe not such a good idea. One time, flying a 767 into Munich I could not go slow enough to stay behind a helicopter on the ILS and we had to fly a missed approach. My hand was busy trying to find the autothrottle disconnect because I could not remember exactly where it was. In 1987 the big moment finally arrived. I was scheduled for captain upgrading, on the 1011. I made it through, perhaps against the better judgment of some of the 890’s and flight managers. Then I got to fly my solo trip from LGA to STL and LAS, and return the next day from LAS to PHX and JFK. The F/O was “Nobby” Hall, who had just flown his solo trip a week earlier. I was very fortunate to have my wife come along in the jump seat. She was kind enough to write up a lengthy list of all the things I could and should improve on for future flights. Thank heaven that I did not have her as one of my 890’s during the upgrading program. I probably would not have made it through. I got even later.

“Nobby” Hall, Bernd and Tom Hackert on 5 Dec 1987 at PHX

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I still could not hold a captain bid so it was back to the right seat. In 1988 TWA signed a contract with All Nippon’s freight division, Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) to supply 100 747qualified pilots. We would do training in Tokyo to get a Japanese ATP and then fly out of JFK to Anchorage, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and from Anchorage to Tokyo and over to Amsterdam and Milan. San Francisco would also be a crew base. During the interview at (JFK) Bldg. 95 the Japanese administrator, Tanaka-san, noted on my application that I was born in Germany. This woke up the Chief Pilot, Captain Saito, who said, rather loudly, “Germany? We in Japan learn many good things from Germany”. Afterwards I asked Captain Joe Hitzel, the TWA rep, how he thought things went and he said “You’ve got it made”. Training in Tokyo was quite an adjustment for both us and the Japanese. When the Japanese are faced with an unpleasant situation, they suck air in through almost clenched teeth. Man, a lot of air was being sucked while we were there. When it came time for the JCAB type-rating check ride, I gave the JCAB guy a somewhat humorous answer to a question (I thought so). My instructor sucked in air big time but the checker just laughed. Of course, by Japanese standards we were lazy and incompetent. Its a wonder any of us made it through. For us, it was a win-win situation. If NCA/ANA sent us home, we still had a job at TWA. The only time the Japanese let their guard down and acted normal (by our standards) was when they were drunk, not all that uncommon. The GE-powered 747 freighters were well-maintained and were a real pleasure to fly. And the layovers in Anchorage, at least in the summer, were great. I was constantly jump seating on Alaska Airlines, Wien Air, Reeve Aleutian, Northern Air Cargo and small commuters to see as much of this great land as I could. I saw Adak and Shemya way out in the Aleutians, Cold Bay, St. Paul’s, Nome , Kotzebue, Barrow, the Red Dog Zinc mine, Valdez, Juneau, Cordova, Ketchikan , Seward, Homer and such well-known places as Eek, Quinhagak and Platinum – settlements of just a few houses. I went to Fairbanks on United in the winter just to see how cold -46F was, and it was. I landed on a glacier on the side of Mt. McKinley a couple of times in a ski-equipped airplane to see the Great One “Denali” up close. We used to do flybys on the way back from AMS at FL210 or 220, just above the top at 20,320 feet. If there were any climbers on top, they probably were ready to jump when they saw us coming. I drove wherever one could drive and then did a lot of hiking. In retrospect, a lot of that was, as my wife says, using no common sense. I had encounters with bears and moose with young that even today make me nervous just thinking about it. Imagine being on your hands and knees out in the Alaska bush, with a cow moose 10 feet away, her head down on the ground at your eye level, staring at you, trying to figure out what you were. Her calf and the bull were about another 30 feet behind her. I stayed down so she would not perceive me as a threat. She could have stomped me to death in a second because there was no place for me to hide. Talk about being scared. And coming across bear tracks the size of dinner plates on a river bank and a still steaming pile of bear poop is guaranteed to raise your breathing rate substantially. He could have been only a few feet away in the willow brush, thinking of me as lunch. One time I had hiked a mile through the woods from a dirt path to a lake. On the way back to the car, I started to sense something was not right. My suspicions were confirmed when half an hour later I was almost back to the same spot on the lake where I had started. I had made a complete circle. The sun was directly overhead which does not help with getting bearings. This time, when faced with a left or right choice, I always went left and made it back to the car. If I had missed the lake, I would probably still be out there wandering in circles. PAGE 66 ... TARPA TOPICS

I hiked on mountain ridges with a group of Dall sheep following me below. They were probably discussing what kind of idiot that was up there. I also did a lot of salmon fishing just north of Anchorage and halibut fishing down in Homer on the Kenai peninsula. We got to see some spectacular Arctic scenery in the summer. The northern coast of Alaska, far northern Canada at 82 degrees north, the north tip of Greenland, Spitsbergen between Greenland and northern Norway all became familiar sights. In the winter the sky was beautiful. With no ground lights to affect the view, we could enjoy all the stars, the Northern lights, and the satellites. One time I saw three satellites meet at the same spot at the same time. But I was a little disappointed that a fraction of a second later all three continued on their own separate ways. They obviously were at different altitudes. It was so nice to be able to do all this and miss the turmoil that was going on at TWA at this time. In 1994 it was time to go back to TWA. NCA wanted the F/O’s to upgrade to captain, but the screams from TWA prevented that from happening. My wife had made a career change during this time. In 1988 she and GE parted ways and she was hired by United. Ten years earlier she was too old and had children etc. but now that did not matter. United pointed out, to my wife’s dismay, that she was the first grandmother to be hired for a cockpit position. She started training in Denver as a DC-8 F/E at the same time I went to Tokyo, January 1989. About a year later she became a 727 F/O and soon after that a 767 F/O. United had just expanded their route system by buying many of PanAm’s former routes, especially South America. She was flying trips to all the big cities down there, plus to Europe, New Delhi and Hong Kong. I jump seated a lot to see all the places I had not seen before like Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Trinidad, and Rio de Janeiro again. I also went to Ushuaia down at the bottom of S. America in Tierra del Fuego while she flew a turnaround to somewhere out of Buenos Aires. Another time we went to spectacular Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil. From London we would go nonstop to New Delhi and one trip I went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. That was truly a very, very impressive sight. No picture I have seen does it justice. The sun reflecting of the white marble is blinding and I was surprised to discover that the white marble has a lot of painted and inlaid colorful flowers, vines etc. all over it. The ride there and back was just like in Bombay. Camels, horses, cows, elephants, tractors, trucks, cars, overloaded wagons, motorbikes, bicycles and people were all crowded on the two-lane road. It was best to close one’s eyes so one would not have to see all the near-disasters. I never flew on the New Delhi – Hong Kong leg. But when my wife did a 3-month HKG TDY, I went over on United across the Pacific and we spent five days in Beijing. The city was full of banners celebrating the impending “return” of Hong Kong to China. I, an escapee from a communist country, got a kick out of helping some Red Army soldiers push a stalled army truck across Tiananmen Square and visiting Mao’s tomb. I also helped a group of Chinese visitors who were taking each other’s pictures. I offered to take a group photo and they were delighted. I think they may have been from Mongolia. Our guide, a college girl, dismissed them derisively as “just peasants”. I pointed out to her that these peasants probably grow the food she eats. She had told us that her sister had spent a year at Ohio State. When I asked her how her sister had liked that she said “She didn’t”. Thank you, Miss Personality! The Dragon Air flight back to HKG was full but the British crew let us ride in the cockpit. Thank you. My wife used this TDY and a later one - month stint to see as much of that part of the world as she could. Borneo, Bali, Malaysia, Thailand, mainland China all were visited, some several times. PAGE 67 ... TARPA TOPICS

By this time I had moved up from the 727 to the 767 and was flying some international trips. My wife would jumpseat on my trips with 5-day layovers in Cairo. I would jumpseat on her trips to S. America. Our son, after graduating from college in 1992, fulfilled his Army ROTC obligation on a brief active duty stint and then inactive reserve. He got a job flying sightseeing trips over the Grand Canyon in single engine Cessna’s and then he flew right seat in commuter turboprops at Mesa Airlines. From there he went to TWA in 1996 and flew as 727 F/E and F/O. 1998 was a year of change for us. I was approaching retirement in September but left TWA five months early when NCA asked me to come back. There I could fly until age 63, right seat only, still out of JFK. Again, the FAA’s logic on that issue defied understanding. If the a/c registration number of a 757/767 began with an N, it was unsafe to fly past age 60. If the registration number of a 747F began with a JA, it was perfectly safe to continue to fly out of U.S. airports until age 63. That same year my wife upgraded to 767 captain and our son moved from TWA to United, Where he started out as a 727 F/E again but moved to a 767 right seat within a year. In 1999 they achieved a “first”, in the history of commercial airlines, when they flew a trip together from JFK to LAX as Captain Mom and F/O Son. Things were pretty quiet for the next three years. Then 9/11 happened. I had been scheduled to go on my last flight on 9/12 to Anchorage and back. That, of course, did not happen, but they did call on the 14th, asking if I was interested in taking that ANC trip the next day, returning the evening of the 17th. You bet, my last flight after 35 years, I would not miss it. For a couple of years it was hard to get used to the idea of not going on another flight but reality eventually settled in. My wife retired in 2004 and my son and I went on her last flight wearing our uniforms. My TWA uniform got some curious looks from the United pilots in LAX Flt Ops and from the TSA personnel at the security check point. We even went out on the ramp to have a picture taken in front of the airplane. After a year of retirement my wife got bored and she took a part time job as an agent for Northwest Airlines at McCarran airport here in Las Vegas. We are learning things about the passenger side of this business that pilots do not even begin to imagine. A lot of these people should not be allowed to travel on their own. Her job at NWA gives me passes on NWA and Delta, in addition to the passes on American and United. I also get really cheap standby tickets on JetBlue, so I have a lot of travel options. And I take advantage of that. I travel every month between Las Vegas and JFK to check on our house in CT, mow the lawn, plow the snow, pick up mail, and keep in touch with the real world, which surely is not the case in Las Vegas. Our daughter never was interested in flying. She spent 3 years in the Army, some of that time in Germany, and then five years in the Air Force. She and her family live in Montana where she is a postmaster for the US Postal Service. I met an interesting old gentleman, Lt. Col. Ron Wood, USAF (ret), at a car dealership here in LAS. He was reading aviation magazines so I started talking to him. I learned that he had flown B-17’s during WWII out of England, C-54’s during the Berlin Airlift, F-86’s in Korea, and AC-47 gunships in Vietnam. When I asked him if he remembered any of the raids he flew out of England he said he did and the worst ones were to the synthetic oil plant at Merseburg

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due to the heavy defenses. I shook his hand and said that we almost met in 1944. He was puzzled until I told him that I was a 5-year old living in the town next to that plant. We became good friends, which surprised him since he had come close to killing me with his bombs. I told him he probably did not want to be there anymore than I did. Another example of how small the world is. At TWA I ran into two pilots whom I had known in high school. One was Cliff Waeschle from my freshman year in Birmingham, MI and the other was Curt Greene from my days at Ft. Lauderdale H.S. I think back on my 35-year airline career and I must be the luckiest guy alive. I was lucky to have the job and it did not ruin my life that, so-and-so at airline XYZ, made Captain in only 5 years or earned more money. I loved what I was doing, you couldn’t buy that kind of happiness …. I got to see a big chunk of the world and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I got to fly on the original commercial passenger jet, the De Haviland Comet, from Cairo to Luxor, and on the fastest, the Concorde SST, from LHR to JFK a couple of times. I met a lot of great people who all had their own wonderful stories to tell. Just think of people like George Gay at Midway, Stew Gilbert in Italy, or Dieter Dengler in Laos. And I have a wife who was fortunate to be able to have a career similar to mine. It did not hurt my ego that she made captain in only 9 years and was paid a whole lot more than I was after 30 years. Sadly, the time has come for so many to “Fly west”. I have fond memories of so many of them with whom I had the pleasure of flying, yes, even the 5 “P’s”. After going over this story several times, tears come to my eyes just thinking about some of the events that took place in my life, both bad (very few) and good. And I think of all the people, family, friends, acquaintances and strangers, who had a hand in making it possible for me to have had the life that I did. Most of whom I never thanked because at the time it seemed just perfectly normal, especially when you are a kid. It may be too late now but I thank them anyway.

Bernd, Joy and Glenn Klopfer on Joy’s retirement flight in Sep. 2004. “My TWA uniform got some curious looks from the United pilots in LAX Flt Ops and from the TSA personnel at the security check point. We even went out on the ramp to have a picture taken in front of the airplane.” - B. K.

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REMINDER

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“TWA SENIORS SKYLINER”

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THE ANDES BECKONED Once again, the travel bug got into “Indiana Bob” and wife Ilse. This time it was a voyage through South America, starting with Peru. First of all, let me go back to why I have gone back so many times. My family, during the depression, went to Peru where jobs were available. I studied in Private Catholic schools until it was time to come to the US to learn English. I studied in Wilmington, Delaware and the University of Maryland. After the term (5 years) in the Air Force with pilots school and all, I returned to Peru to fly for PANAGRA, a joint venture of Pan Am and Grace lines. (Founded 1929, merged with Braniff in By Bob and Ilse Dedman 1967-Ed.) I knew all the pilots and families so it was like coming home again. Flying the Andes was indeed a challenge. Go back to 1958, not much in NAV aids so we depended on good eye sight, maps and NO IFR. Approaches through the mountains... Strictly VFR. We flew Hyper DC-3's. These were modified DC-3's with R 2000 (DC-4) engines. The props were modified DC-6's with tips cut off to clear the fuselage. These airplanes had hi-lo blowers so out of La Paz. 13,400 ft. and Quito we used high blower to get airborne. We then flew all over the Bolivian jungles or up north in Ecuador. We were like the airborne grocery stores as we carried, animals, bank money, crates of food and people as we were the only act in town. All the airports looked and were the same, 1500 meter, grass strips. We also carried JATO bottles on each aircraft so if you lost an engine after V-1, you fired it off, got V-2, and fired off the second one. Worked well but I never had to use them. Panagra’s maintenance was the best that you could ask for. With the advent of the DC-8's, we, the bottom 8 co-pilots, were laid off, but, being ALPA members, were offered 1 year recall for each year of service. It did not do me much good with only 2 years service so I went to Panagra hat badge Capital airlines, but that is another story. and F/O wings

This country is primarily known for its great ruins at Machu Pichu but it has so much more to discover. Let us go back in history for the beginnings of the continent. The first Peruvians were descendants of the nomadic tribes which crossed into the Americas during the last Ice Age (40,000-15,000 BC). There is archeological evidence of them centered in the Ayacucho Valley area back around 15000-20000 BC. The oldest site, Pikimachay cave, dates back to 12000 BC. There is evidence (that, around 4000 BC) they grew crops of cotton, beans, squash and peppers. Later, more advanced cultures such as the Chavin introduced weaving, agriculture and religion. Around 300 BC, the Chavin inexplicably disappeared but several other cultures became important, namely the Nazca (near where I grew up), Paracas and Huari. The next era, the Classical, saw the emergence of numerous distinct cultures, both on the coast and in the Andes mountains. Among these were the Moche and the Nasca (famous for the lines in the desert), and the Tiahuanaco, around Lake Titicaca in the high sierras. Those were the forbearers of the more famous Incas. This period was around 200-1100 AD. By the early 15th century, the Inca Empire had expanded and had rule over an empire that at the time was probably the largest in the world. Their possessions included what is now Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and part of Brazil. 1400 AD was the biggest growth of the Empire. Between 1526 and 1528, Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro explored the Peruvian coastal area and was drawn to their riches, especially gold. He returned to Spain to form a new expedition. Upon his return with horses and soldiers of questionable backgrounds (criminals,

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etc.) he rapidly defeated the Inca armies. The mobility and rapidness of his horses were the turning point in their defeat. He also captured the Inca (there was only one Inca at a time and he was the supreme ruler) Atahualpa, ransomed his life for a room full of gold, then, executed him anyway. Pizarro went on to found Lima in 1535 and was assassinated six years later by his rival. His body is entombed in the main cathedral in Lima. Our departure was out of Miami on LAN Chile. Very good airline that is growing fast with branches in Peru, Ecuador and Argentina. We arrived early morning in Lima and had to wait 3 hours for our connecting flight to Cusco, our first leg of the journey. The flight to Cusco was 1.5 hours and the Wx. was good. The airport is about 10,200 ft elevation and the runway is about 11000 ft long and they use most of it. Upon arrival at our hotel, a beautiful old restored convent, we were given a cup of “coca” tea. This helps you adjust to the altitude and no, it is not cocaine but it is the same leaf, only boiled not refined. Works. Cusco has about 250,000 inhabitants and has become a very pretty city. During the Inca times, Cusco was considered the center of the universe. The first INCA ruler was Manco Capa who is said to have risen out of Lake Titicaca and founded the city. There are many ruins surrounding the city, the main one being Saqsaywaman. It is incredible since buildings were constructed from stones, hand chiseled to perfection so that no mortar was necessary to hold them together. Some of these stones weighed more than 140 metric tons. It was originally a temple of worship for the Sun God. Because the use of the temple was by the Inca and priests, security was very good and a fortress was build around it. It is believed to have taken 20,000 people to build it all and took over 50 years. It was in full use when the Spanish arrived. The Spanish used the smaller stones for their own homes but ironically, after years of earthquakes and weather, the Spanish parts crumbled while the Inca Saqsaywaman, inset (lower right) is an example of Inca polished dry stonework. R.W.D. foundations still exist today. Another structure, Puca Pucara, called the Red Fortress, had a commanding view of the valley and was believed to be an inn for travelers and warriors since they always took care of their own. Anytime the Incan army conquered an enemy, they would not kill them off, but rather, absorbed them into their society with freedom to practice their religion and customs. They were also given jobs of their specialty, i.e.. farming, building, metalwork etc. Thus it was a win-win situation for the Inca as they were working for the empire, sharing the food, protecting the populace and best of all, still living. The next valley over from Cusco is the Vilcanota/Urubamba and it is truly an agricultural area and it too has some large ruins, the main one being Ollantaytambo. This was a massive fortress above the valley with a large temple on the top that was never finished. The stones were mined in a quarry across the valley, 4 miles away. Manco Capa escaped from a disastrous battle with the Spanish at Saqsaywaman (pronounced almost like “sexy woman”) and came here. The Spanish came but suffered defeat. They returned later and won the site so Manco Capa fled to his jungle strong hold in Vilcabamba. Much more can be found on Google about this lost city. The other city in this valley is Pisac. About 20 miles from Cusco, this village is in the valley while the fortress is on the side of the mountain. Pisac is still a famous market on weekends with art and crafts, food and drink abounding. Good bargains. Nice Spanish church still in use. The fortress had the very familiar terraces like Machu Pichu and some are

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still in use. This area is still called the “Sacred Valley”. Early the third day, we got up very early to board the train for our 4 hour ride to the highlight of the visit—MACHU PICHU! The train is now run by the company that owns the Orient Express and features hostesses and stewards, meal and beverage service and video and music. The ride down the valley is slow, single narrow gauge track with several switch-backs for climbs and descents. Although there is only one track, there are 25 train movements every day, controlled by radio from Cusco with pull-offs spaced out. Very efficient even if it is not modern...no semaphores anywhere. This was my 5th visit and Ilse’s second. Each time, we see great changes. My first visit, when I was ten, consisted of a bus mounted with rail wheels, five hours of travel, crossing the Urubamba River (large) by rope bridge, a 2,000 ft climb, 2 hour visit to photograph, back down and on the bus, called an Autovagon, and back in the Hotel after a six hour up hill return. Now there are hotels, bus service with new Mercedes, hotel with large restaurant, rest rooms and lovely pathways. All in all, it is still a long day but well worth the trip. The large peak you normally see is called Huana Pichu and it houses the temple of the moon on its peak. It is a very hard climb especially since you are at 8,000 ft. Originally, the history of Machu Pichu was mixed, some believed it was a religious retreat, others said it was a place for kings and priests to stay for extended periods of time but very recent diggings and investigations (reveal) that the city was built for strategic importance,

Machu Pichu (“Old Peak”) in 1911 (left) when, after being forgotten for centuries, was brought to worldwide attention by American historian Hiram Bingham. National Geographic devoted an entire issue to it in 1913. Photos at right and below by the Dedmans, 2008. 1911 photo and map from Wikipedia.

mainly the conquest of the lower Brazilian jungle. They have now found that craftsmen and artisans lived there leading to the conclusion that they were there in preparation for moving in on new lands to build fortresses and homes. This was all very new to us. Columbia University is doing some new excavating now. The Incas always took advantage of nature by utilizing natural rock contours to make their walls. Many huge rocks have as many as five finished and joined sides. The temple and royal buildings were easily identified because they were always done by the finest stone masons. Their lasting so long and PAGE 73 ... TARPA TOPICS

being in such remarkable condition, is testament to their craftsmanship. The huts you see in pictures with the thatched roofs were the farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homes while priests and nobles had log braced roofs and finer stone work. The Citadel, as it is known, is divided into three areas, the agricultural sector comprised of a network of terraces and water channels, the urban sector which is divided into two sectors, one containing many temples, ritual chambers and a royal bedroom and the second one, containing many houses for the noblemen and their servants and a large plaza dividing them. Over fifty burial sites have been found with more than 100 skeletal remains. The Citadel is built on top of a mountain surrounded by the Urubamba River on three sides. The scenery is magnificent with the mountains being green and wild life abounds around the area with condors being seen from time to time. There are several llamas and alpacas living in Machu Pichu and they earn their keep by being the lawn mowers of the Citadel. They do a very nice job and require no tipping. When the Incas lost Ollantaytambo, they destroyed the path to Machu Pichu and since it was such rough terrain, the Spanish never followed them. The Incas finally burned part of Machu Pichu and abandoned it around 1540. Nature then took overâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;everything got overgrown with bushes and vines and it was not until the late 1900's that some Indians ran across it. Then Hiram Bingham came and began to uncover what today is still considered one of the most beautiful living museums in the world. So much information can be found in books and the internet. What is still amazing is how the terraces have endured; the water system from the far away mountains still runs through the site. It is now a UNESCO site which is helping with funding to keep things in good condition because over 1.5 million people visit there every year. It is one of Peruâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest money makers. There are rumors that they are going to install large (70 Pax) cable cars so as to expedite the movement of people since the bus ride up the mountain takes about 20 minutes. This would also eliminate the busses because since it is just about at the jungle line, it rains a great deal and the roads keep washing away and causing damages. Having one more night in Cusco, we had a fine meal at the Hotel and around 10 AM the next day, we loaded our bags (they were actually loaded for us) and off to the airport and back to Lima. This being the Capital of Peru, one must visit the Plaza de Armas where the main cathedral is located along with the Royal Palace and government offices. It is a beautiful plaza but unfortunately, the area surrounding it is not safe and not too clean. Five blocks away is another fine plaza, San Martin, the liberator of Peru and a national hero. It too is surrounded by office buildings and a famous old hotel, El Bolivar, and many a famous person has stayed there, including our family. Old world charm and decor with a large lobby where doing tea time, one could hear Mozart or Schubert from a small chamber ensemble...ah, those were the Plaza de San Martin R.W.D. days. There are many fine museums in Lima which house fabulous Inca gold, pottery and artifacts and are a must see. Very early the next day, off to the airport to join LAN Chile on the next leg of our journey, Santiago, Chile. It had been over 40 years since I last flew in there with Panagra and what a change has occurred. It is a lovely city located at the foot of the snow topped Andes mountains. It has many sky scrapers even though it is located in the Nasca Plate earthquake zone. PAGE 74 ... TARPA TOPICS

It has a clean and safe subway system and many underground highways to ease congestion, which is a big problem. We had a morning city tour by bus and enjoyed the many places one would not ordinarily see on ones own. One such site was the Cousine Palace. We had to put on shoe covers so as to protect the floors and rugs. Built in 1708 by a very wealthy boat fleet owner, with mines, agriculture and wineries, it took 8 years to build. It was truly a glimpse into what tons of money could buy in those days. We also visited the great Cathedral which was severely damaged in the 1960 earthquake but has been rebuilt. Our hotel was another landmark, the Plaza as it was known in the 1940-50's (now a J. W. Marriott) and was the crew hotel for the Panagra and Pan Am crews and is located at the Plaza San Martin (same as in Lima) the hero of Chile. He also liberated Ecuador and Argentina. Chile has two main sea ports, Valparaiso and Antofagasta. We visited the former. The city of Valparaiso is located on the sides of hills looking down into the port. Located 75 miles from Santiago, it is lined with cobble stone streets, winding all around along colorful homes. Being located along the Humbolt current, fishing is a major business and we ate lunch at a typical restaurant and were served King Clip or Corvina, you could not ask for a better meal. Needless to say, pisco sours, wine and beer were plentiful too. Our group really enjoyed our visit. Next on to Vina del Mar which is a very popular and well known resort in South America and Chile. Founded in 1874, it has all the amenities of any famous resort along with the summer home of the President, casinos, hotels and a lively night life along with horse racing in season. Chile went to war in 1862 with Peru and Bolivia over the northern Atacama desert and nitrate mines. Chile won the war, Peru retreated some and Bolivia lost its only assess to the Ocean. It is still that way today but Peru did recover some land. Our next stop and overnight visit was to Santa Cruz, located several hours South of Santiago in the Colchagua Valley. This valley is irrigated by the Tinguirrica River and the main product in this whole area is wine...fine wine. The climate is always perfect and it is probably the best region in the world to grow grapes. Diseases are almost non-existent. Every vineyard has roses by the dozens as an indicator of insects or diseases, and since the rose is weaker than the vines, damage will be noted on them first and preventative measures can be taken to protect the grapes. There are other wine regions in Chile, Valley Central, Aconcagua and Itata Valley to name a few. They all have their specialties. Santa Cruz is most famous for red wines such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. They do however, make Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.

Hotel Santa Cruz

R.W.D.

Two highlights of Santa Cruzâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Hotel, charming with flairs of Spanish Colonial styling along with the most extensive private museum we have had the privilege of visiting. Starting out with the beginnings of life, followed chronologically room by room up to modern times. Truly a breath taking event. Second, we visited Santa Rita winery (one of 34 vineyards in the valley). They treated us to a cable car ride up to an Easter Island museum on top of a hill. The vista from the top was magnificent with vines as far as the eye can see. We then went down by cable again and enjoyed a Chilean BBQ with huge hunks of meat, chicken, and sausages cooked over wood pits. Pisco sours were also plentiful as was their wine. It is a

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known vineyard in the States—try them out. Wine was introduced to Chile in the 16th century by the Jesuit priests as a means of converting the natives. The next morning, after a breakfast feast, we departed for a 3 hour ride to the Santiago airport for our next country to visit; Argentina. The highway we took was the Pan American #5 which runs from Alaska to Puerto Montt, in southern Chile. This time we flew LAN Argentina in an Airbus 320. Had a nice lunch aboard which is something long forgotten in the USA. Good service and clean airplanes. LAN is rapidly becoming one of the best airlines in the Southern Hemisphere along with TAM from Brazil. Every leg we flew on this journey was full. Maybe we can learn something from them. After taking off to the West, we climbed out and turned East and began our crossing of the Andes. Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America at just over 23,000 feet, loomed in the distance and the view of the Andes was much like leaving Geneva and crossing into France—beautiful. Much nicer crossing in a jet than a prop, believe me. Argentina is the second largest country in South America and the eighth largest in the world. The Capital is Buenos Aires (good airs), and is home to more than 12 million inhabitants. It is located at the delta of the Rio de la Plata (river of silver) and across from the country of Uruguay. The earliest arrivals to this country came 12,000 years ago. Over the millennia that preceded the arrival of Europeans, widely varying cultures developed. Some of these, such as those of the Pamapas, were dependent on nomadic, terrestrial hunter-gathering. The Yamana came from Chile, the Guarani from the subtropical forests in the northeast. The total population of these people was about 400,000. The arrival of the Europeans started in the 1500's. The first Spaniard was Juan Diaz de Solis in 1516. The Spanish Crown did not find much in mineral resources so largely neglected the country. Its main trade partner was Lima, Peru so to avoid feuds within the Spanish empire the development of the colony was stunted. In 1776, Buenos Aires became the capital of the new Viceroyalty and became an important trading center. Rich merchants started pouring money into Estancias, or cattle ranches and they became highly profitable enterprises. With them was born the Gaucho. Of mixed race and many with shady backgrounds, they roamed the land and lived off the herds. The American “cowboy” would be a similar counterpart. Dissatisfaction with the Spanish bought about the revolution of May 25, 1810 and their eventual independence. All was not peaceful as the Federalist battled the Unaterists. After a long and tyrannical period of rule by the Federalist, Buenos Aires and the Unaterists prevailed and ushered in a new era of growth and prosperity. With prosperity also came problems as excessive foreign interests made the economy particularly vulnerable to world economic downturns. Wealth was concentrated in the hands of a very few and unemployment rose as small holdings failed and farmers had to leave the land and head for the cities. This lead to the military coup in 1943 with the rise of Juan Peron. He along with his wife Eva, instituted stringent economic measures and stressed domestic industrialization and self-determination. The rest is history. Argentina was, and is, the largest beef producer in the world and I can attest that it is the best. As part of our tour, we went to a ranch North of Buenos Aires. The family (owners) raises polo horses with prices ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per so you know they were wealthy. They were wonderful to us, greeting us with riders carrying the American and Argentine flags. We were served a welcome drink, shown around the ranch, had a display of horse riding and handling of Bolas and some stunt riding by Gauchos. After the show, we sat down to an Asado. Meat cooked outdoors on stakes (like they do in the fields) and sau-

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sages and pieces of chicken cooked over wood. Salads and veggies and wine made for a wonderful afternoon. The Tango is the national dance of the country. We were given lessons but it is not that easy. We attended a famous Tango night club to witness the real dance. Beautiful when done right. The next day brought us a bus tour of the parks known as Recoleta. Large and well taken care of, Asado y pollo! R.W.D. these parks are always with folks exercising, resting, eating and just “hanging out”. We also went to the famous, or infamous, “Casa Rosada” from The Peron and Evita days. It is no longer the residence but is only used for government uses. The square in front has many homeless people sleeping in boxes and it is the place where most of the major protests and uprisings occur so there are steel fences all around and can be moved to block any area. We also bussed up to the area known as El Tigre and took a boat trip along the many inlets to view the summer homes of people who want to get away from the city in summer as it does get hot. We ate lunch at a very nice waterside restaurant, El Gato Blanco, The White Cat. Very pleasant. (Interesting aside...The president and vice-president must be Roman Catholics and although Argentina is large, its total population is about the same as the state of California). That evening, Vantage, our tour company out of Boston, hosted a cocktail party and had a guest speaker who discussed the economic situation in Argentina. Good prospects but much work is needed to get them accomplished. We then adjourned and got dressed to go to a “home hosted dinner”, one of the nice features of our tours. Mother and daughter put on a regular meal and we engaged in lively conversation about Argentina and answered their questions about the USA. Nice way to end our stay in B.A. as the city is known. Early the next morning, we boarded our bus for a short trip to the river-side airport that serves local flights only. Nice terminal and rather short runway but no worse than La Guardia. Again, a full flight on what appeared to be a new Airbus 320. Hard riding plane but nicely appointed inside—all glass cockpit. Flight was nearly two hours and took us to the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina to visit the third largest falls in the world, Iguassu. Taller than Niagara and over four times as wide, the falls consist of 275 cascades (depending on the time of year and rainfall). These are spread out in the shape of a giant horseshoe. The falls were created by volcanic eruption. The grandeur of the falls cannot be described, you have to be there to see and HEAR them. A tremendous amount of water (est. avg. 553 cubic ft/sec but during rainy season as much as 450,000 cubic ft/sec) thunders down 269 feet. The tropical location and sheer beauty led Eleanor Roosevelt to comment, when she visIguassu Falls Wikipedia PAGE 77 ... TARPA TOPICS

Iguassu Falls

R.W.D.

ited the sight, “Poor Niagara, this makes Niagara look like a kitchen faucet.” The falls are also a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. The main section of the falls is called “The Devils Throat”, where the drop is 350 feet and there is always a cloud of spray, with rainbows for free. Iguassu river does provide a huge hydroelectric plant built jointly by Paraguay and Brasil. Completed in 1991, the dam is a tourist attraction but most importantly, it provides over 12.5 million Kilowatts of power. The most fun for a bunch of old folks was to take a Zephyr rubber raft right into the falls. We got soaked for sure, (cameras in Ziplock bags) and the screams of joy and laughter cannot be described, we were young again and what fun it was. Raft had 2/200 HP outboards to fight the very swift currents and we managed to hit some very hard bumps. Strange thing about this river is that due to volcanic eruption, the river runs East to West. The river starts at about a 6,000 ft height and at Iguassu it is at about 500 ft. quite a drop, thus the forces. Some information—1934, a Park was founded, wooden walks installed. 1983, concrete bridges were installed during low water levels. 1992, bridges wash away due to heavy rain falls. 2001, new bridge installed, metal this time. 2005, 40% washed away by huge rain flows and trees. All was good for us though the rivers were quite high. Another aside. Brazil is 25% of South America and 15% is still jungle but being “raped” by the wood cutters. Next morning, out to the Brazilian airport...quite modern, lots of glass, quick check in and then to our gate—Number 1, the only gate and you walk out to the airplane. Efficient though, coach from rear stairway and front coach through the forward stairway but the aircraft is ALL coach. We left on time, got a nice snack and beverage and some video antics. All in all, efficient and well done. Arrival at Rio was delayed because of runway change so 20 minutes in holding pattern and then, nice landing at Carlos Jobin airport (‘girl from Ipanema’ fame). Huge airport, but our bus was waiting and baggage loaded for our ride to down town. Our guide informed us that Rio has 7 million people but including the surrounding areas, there are more than 11 million. 80% of them are Roman Catholics, a carry over from the Portuguese. The Portuguese used slaves from Angola, Africa and through the years, assimilated them into their society and interbred with the result being a very beautiful race of people. The locals there are called, “Cariocas”. The wonderful statute of Christ was paid for by Catholic contributions and is perhaps one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. It stands on Corcovado peak (means hunchback in Portuguese), stands 38 meters tall, and took 10 years to complete. The hands and arms were made in France, the body in Brazil and it was dedicated October 12,1931. To get to the top, it is a 20 minute ride on a cog rail, escalator and finally, steps. PAGE 78 ... TARPA TOPICS

Aerial view of Rio

Wikipedia

On the way up, you pass through a small rain forest, Acresi Tuaca National Park (appr. 45000 acres) with tropical foliage, bread fruit trees, orchids and other flowers. The crowds are always large for the trip up and once you see the views, you know why. After we came down we took a bus tour through the famous beaches, the newest being Ipanema and Copacabana the oldest. Our tour guide then took us to a typical Brazilian restaurant where we started with a welcome cocktail, bean soup, pork skins, sausages, rice, stew bowl of vari-

ous meats, wine coffee and desert. Very good. Next beautiful morning, after a fantastic breakfast at the Marriott, we went on a boat tour of Guanabara Bay. Our vessel was a sail boat but we used only the diesel because of calm winds. We toured the whole bay including the naval repair base where they are also repairing their off-shore drilling rigs. Brazil has many of the rigs about 15 miles offshore. We saw the old fortresses that were used to protect the bay from the French. Many are now museums. For our last night in Rio, Vantage gave a farewell dinner which was excellent. We were then treated to a group of very young Samba “wanabees”. These are poor people who try to get out of the Ghettos by dancing. Many do. It was a lovely parting gift and a nice memory of Brazil. The next morning, we had the luxury of sleeping in as our flight to Miami did not leave until 11 PM, so we took to the bus again and toured another part of the city, the financial center. Next to this district is the Cathedral that was started in 1964 and completed in 1976. It is so totally different that you would never know it is a church. From the outside, it looks like a gigantic brick drying kiln but inside is so open and airy and has four giant walls of stained glass. Its name is San Sebastian and was created and built by Oscar Niemeir, a Brazilian architect. It is 75 meters high,(165 ft) open vents to cool it and can hold several thousand worshipers. Final stop before the airport was Rio’s great Carnaval Street. We always thought it took over the whole city, but no, the route the performers parade down is only a quarter of a mile with grand stands on both sides seating 30,000 people which costs from $300 for a ticket to $3,000 for a small box. The contestants are given a certain amount of time to perform and going over or under deducts points but the grand pay-off can be over a 1/4 million dollars.

Copacabana from our Marriott room Christ the Redeemer

Sugar Loaf

Rio from Sugar Loaf

R.W.D.

And so ends our wonderful journey. Flight to Miami routine but we had a 13 hour wait for our connection home. Now we have to think about where else to go before we cannot, anymore.

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“My wife, Betti, passed away Sep. 25, 2008. She was a former TWA Link Trainer Operator at LaGuardia. Some time ago, she wrote this, which I discovered it going through her papers. August 1, 2008 was our 60th wedding anniversary.” Mickey Wind, Nov. 3, 2008 PAGE 80 ... TARPA TOPICS

Flown West

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN NORMAN F. ANDERSON JANUARY 27, 1930 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 Norman F. Anderson, 78, Sarasota, formerly of Barrington, Illinois died September 18, 2008. Norman was a graduate of Northwest Military Academy and a graduate of Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois where he was a member of Theta Chi Fraternity. He served in the Air Force with honors from 1954 to 1958 and was the last pilot to return from North Korea. Norman was a pilot with TWA, retiring after 26 years of service. He and his wife, Carolyn, traveled a lot, but most of all enjoyed their stays at their summer cabin in Franklin, North Carolina. Captain Anderson was an avid fly fisherman and enjoyed fishing out West, in North Carolina and in Canada. He also enjoyed volunteering at the Pelican Man Sanctuary. He will be missed by his many pilot and fishing friends around the country. Survivors include his wife of 32 years, Carolyn; a daughter, Karen Roske; sons Charles D. Clark and Gary R. Clark; a brother, Roger; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and a sister-in-law, Velda L. Turner Sarasota, FL Herald Tribune

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IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN RICHARD LUDWIG NOVEMBER 15, 1919â&#x20AC;&#x201D;AUGUST 4, 2008

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN JAMES S. HAGER MARCH 3, 1920 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AUGUST 17, 2008 Jim Hager was born and raised in Sterling, Nebraska. He attended Nebraska State University prior to entering the Army Air Corps in 1942. He flew as a B-17 pilot in the 347th Squadron of the 99th Bomb Group and flying 50 missions in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Jim was awarded the Air Medal with 9 Oak Leaf clusters and the Silver Star. For most of the war years, Six Hager brothers were on active duty at the same time. Jim joined TWA in August 1945 as a First Officer and has lived in the Bay Area since that time. Captain Hager had flown the DC-3, DC-4, Martin 202/404, Constellations, Convair 880, Boeing 707 and Lockheed 1011. His initial Captain qualification was in 1949. During his 36 years with TWA, he frequently served as a line check Captain on the Constellations, 707, 880 and the L-1011. Captain Hager passed away at his home in Los Altos, California on August 17, 2008. His wife of 57 years, Christine survives him along with children Jim, Steve, Barbara and Tim and grandchildren Matthew, Caitlin, Alexandra and Michael and also brothers Thomas, Warren, Calvin and sisters Mary and Dorothy. by Christine Hager

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IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN RICHARD V. JOHNSON JULY 12, 1936 – FEBRUARY 25, 2008 Richard (Dick) Johnson, 71, of Pine, Ariz. Died Feb. 25, 2008. He was born in Sterling, IL. on July 12, 1936. He was a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy. Afterward, he became a lifelong professional pilot: first as a Navy carrier pilot and later as a captain with Trans World Airlines. Johnson was a devoted family man. Together with his beloved wife, Sandy, he looked after his family with strength , guidance and compassion. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Sandy, sons Rick and Rob Johnson, daughter Kris Emminger and granddaughters Isabelle and Brooke. by Rob Johnson

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN LEONARD W. CRASE MAY 31, 1924 – DECEMBER 30, 2008 IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN FRANCIS J. DOHERTY AUGUST 12, 1919 – DECMBER 28, 2009 IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN LEO E. WOTIPKA AUGUST 24, 1937 – DECEMBER 25, 2008 IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN JOSEPH W. SALZ AUGUST 17, 1922 – DECEMBER 11, 2008

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IN MEMORY OF DOCTOR CHARLES C. GULLETT 1921 - OCTOBER 28, 2008 Doctor Gullett was for many years the Director of Medical Services and Safety Engineering of Trans World Airlines in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Gullett received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1947. Following internship, he entered active duty in the U.S. Air Force, where he graduated from the Aviation School of Medicine and was designated a Flight Surgeon and Aviation Medical Examiner. Upon his discharge from active duty in 1953, he was appointed to the medical staff of Trans World Airlines in Kansas City, and was later appointed director in 1958. Dr. Gullett also served as medical advisor and consultant to Ethiopian and Saudi Arabian Airlines. Dr. Gullett was active in every phase of aviation medicine, giving particular emphasis to the investigation and application of methods directed to the promotion of health and prevention of disease in airline personnel. With the progress from propeller to jet aircraft, Dr. Gullett conducted studies on the need for commercial oxygen masks, and developed the first of what is now the familiar drop-down oxygen mask available on all commercial flights that can be donned in less than five seconds. Dr. Gullett also organized and directed the launching of the Occupational Medical Department for the Cape Canaveral Apollo Space Program under a NASA contract. Under his guidance this department was responsible for the medical and environmental employee health at the Merritt Island launch area. Dr. Gullett was certified in aerospace medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. He was very active in association work, serving on some of it most important committees, and he was president of the Airline Medical Directors Association. He organized and conducted a third year Aviation Medicine Residency Program at TWA, in conjunction with a faculty appointment he held as Clinical Assistant Professor of Preventative Medicine at Ohio State University. Dr. Charles C. Gullett was unanimously awarded Honorary Membership in TARPA for his contributions to the health and welfare of TWA flight crews during his tenure as Medical Director of TWA. Dr. Gullett's greatest contribution to the employees of TWA was the origination of the Special Health Program. Many pilots owe their continued careers to his preventive medicine programs and to his intervention with the FAA on their behalf. After leaving TWA, Dr. Gullett accepted a position with Aviation Insurance Co. In Atlanta, Ga. Upon retirement, he moved to Sedona, Ariz. Dr. Gullett passed away on October 28, 2008, in Prescott, Arizona. He was 87 years old. He is survived by his loving wife, Adamae Gullett of Prescott, children and spouses, Charly and Edwin P. Gullett; grandchildren Terra, Elizabeth, and Sadie; great grandchildren Madison, Sam, Sophie, and Jacob.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;J.P.G.

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IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN LACELLE “LES” WOOLSEY APRIL 15, 1923 – AUGUST 5, 2008 Les Woolsey, as he was known to his friends, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he attended West High School and the University of Utah. He served in the United States Navy as a torpedo bomber pilot in World War II in the Pacific. Les and his wife Barbara made their home in Los Altos, California for fifty years. He flew as Captain for TWA out of San Francisco where he served as check pilot and also as a Union Representative for the Air Line Pilots Association. He had a lifelong passion for flying, and was still flying light aircraft at the age of eighty. His is survived by his wife Barbara, who now lives in Alpine, Utah, and three children Wendy Ulrich, Eric Woolsey and Carla Hickman and eleven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. by Carla Hickman

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN LAWRENCE A. MURCHAN AUGUST 9, 1917 – DECEMBER 20, 2008 IN MEMORY OF FRANCIS EARL JINNETTE DECEMBER 15, 1916 – OCTOBER 25, 2008 IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ALBERT “DICK” HAWES AUGUST 9, 1928 – OCTOBER 18, 2008 IN MEMORY OF C.W. “RED” MCKENNEY FEBRUARY 5, 1916 – OCTOBER 16, 2008

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IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN DENNIS J. TAYLOR DECEMBER 7, 1925 -NOVEMBER 17, 2008 Captain Dennis J. Taylor grew up in the small town of Morganville, Kansas, population 200. A barnstormer came to town when Dennis was 11 years old and was giving rides to the wideeyed young farm boys for 50 cents. Dennis fell in love with flight at that point and that love affair never ended. He left Morganville after high school, was accepted into the Army Air Corps in 1943 and eventually became a Second Lieutenant flying B-29s out of Guam. Fallowing his discharge in 1947 he was hired by TWA in the Flight Planning Department. In 1952,one of his mentors at TWA, Gordon â&#x20AC;&#x153;Parkyâ&#x20AC;? Parkinson, told him he should contact Superintendent of Flight Engineers, Louis Proctor, as they were going to start hiring Flight Engineers again. Proctor told Dennis if he would get an A&E license they would take a look at him. Dennis spent that summer working nights in Flight Planning and days at the Maintenance base studying and acquired his A&E. TWA then hired him as a Flight Engineer on the Constellation and he was "flying high". For the first 6 months he flew International and then returned to Domestic, based in Kansas City. In 1956,he joined the Training Center where he remained until he became a Co-pilot on the B-727 in 1966. He was Co-pilot Flight Deck Man of the Year for the Kansas City domicile in 1968. Dennis checked out as Captain in the early 70s, flew the B-727, and quickly became a line instructor. In 1979 he was awarded Captain of the year system wide and also won the Charles C. Tillinghast Award, the top TWA award for exemplary service. He was one of the first pilots to check out on the B-767 for TWA and one of the first to fly it on transatlantic flights in the early 1980s. He was on the Board of Directors of the TWA Credit Union for 13 years and served us President in 1978. Rather than retire at the age of 60 in 1985, he reverted to Flight Engineer and flew the B-747 overseas for 6 months. On his first trip after submitting his retirement papers, the flight he was deadheading on from Rome to Athens was bombed and four passengers lost their lives as they were descending into Athens. He and his deadheading crew continued their ten- day trip with no further incidents. The plane was repaired, and Dennis and his wife flew on it as passengers some years later. Dennis met his wife, Jane Springer, at TWA in 1954. Jane worked as a secretary for Captain Ray Rowe, Captain U. J. Kampsen, and Flight Engineer Al Brick. Dennis and Jane were married in 1955 and moved to Independence, Mo in 1962. They have three sons, Dennis, Mitchell, and Tim. The oldest son, Dennis, is currently a pilot with United Airlines flying Boeing's 777s. PAGE 86 ... TARPA TOPICS

Along with the great majority of pilots in the Golden Years of the Airlines, Dennis loved his career and would have done it for nothing (at least he always said he would). He was a stickler for details (as anyone whoever flew with him could tell you), but as a check pilot he loved encouraging pilots to do it right each und every time. There were many times over 53 years of marriage that we would be on a flight (usually a First Class seat on International) and I would tell Dennis I was going to write TWA and thank the powers that be for the wonderful benefits we all enjoyed. Regretfully, I never didâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but would like to take this opportunity to (tell) all who may read this article about Dennis, thank you, thank you thank you. Thank you to all the wonderful employees, management, union, office staffs, etc. who helped make TWA the airline it was. for Dennis' career, for his family's benefits, & for all the friends on earth and those who have gone on aheadâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;what a terrific "ride"! Dennis joined all those wonderful people on November 17, 2008 after 7 years of Alzheimer's disease. by Jane Taylor

IMPORTANT FLOWN WEST NOTICE American Airlines has changed the procedure for reporting the deaths of our Members. They have outsourced the collection and recording of that information to a company called Mercer. The primary purpose of that notification is to determine eligibility for receiving insurance benefits. Also, American Airlines and TARPA maintain these records for future reference. TARPA uses the information for the Flown West section of TOPICS and for the In Memoriam section in our Directory. All TARPA Mem-

bers should save this notice and provide it to their family members. The people at Mercer responsible for collecting the information are: Diane Aguillar 1-972-720-3900 Ext 3602 Jamie Arvie

1-972-720-3900 Ext 3660

<diane.aguillar@mercer.com> < jamie.arvie@mercer.com>

Family members and friends should send Memorials for those who have Flown West to John Gratz, TOPICS Editor Emeritus. They can be sent online or by mail to: John P. Gratz 1646 Timberlake Manor Parkway Chesterfield, MO 63017 636-532-8317 <jpgratz@charter.net>

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VERNON L. “BILL” BOWMAN Recently, Secretary-Treasurer Ed Madigan received the following letter from Mike Bowman about his late father, Captain Bill Bowman. Captain Bowman left TWA in 1959, twenty years before TARPA was created and he never joined thereafter. And so, while he does not qualify for inclusion in our Flown West section, he did make many friends during his brief time with TWA and his life and passing is properly included here. Bill Bowman typified the many patriotic men who volunteered to fight for freedom. He was a consummate pilot and will be remembered by all who knew him at TWA and beyond.—J.P.G. Vernon L. "Bill" Bowman, age 89, devoted husband, father and career pilot, died October 5, 2005 of cancer, in St. Joseph, MO.

Captain Bowman, seen on the merchant ship “The Empire Lawrence.” In the background is a Hawker Hurricane on a catapult that was to be used by him for convoy protection. Obviously, if used, it would have to be ditched at sea, so desperate was the need to protect our ships.

Bill was born in Rosendale, Missouri on January 8, 1916, to Jesse and Ollie Bowman, and was raised in Savannah, Missouri. Adventurous from a young age, Bill became interested in the emerging field of aviation, and was soon spotted in and around the skies of Savannah and St Joseph at the helm of small aircraft.

His love of flying was matched by his love of country. Bill joined the World War II effort before our country entered the conflict. In September 1940, he trained with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and immediately volunteered for overseas duty. Bill ultimately wore the decorations of four countries, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the United States. On his 93rd mission, Bill was shot down over Germany and remained a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft I, at Barth Germany until war's end. Always modest about his war record, Bill said at the end of his life that he would like to be remembered as one "who did his duty -and perhaps a little more." After the war, Bill flew for fifteen years with TWA, then joined Elmer Meyers as co-owner of St. Joseph Flying Service, a position he held from 1966 until his retirement in 1980. Bill's love of flying was passed down through the generations. Son Mike Bowman was a career Navy pilot and is a retired Vice Admiral, USN. Grandson Geoffrey Bowman is currently an FA-18 pilot and Lieutenant, USN. Bill was a devoted husband married for 65 years to his beloved wife, Martha Jean, still of the home. Married in December of 1940 in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, Bill and Jeanie raised son Mike and daughter Susan, and were later proud grandparents to Geoffrey and Ashley and great- grandparents to Rebecca, Taylor, Porter and Michael. Bill is also survived by Sister Charlotte Bryant of Denver CO, and sister-in-law Katherine Bowman of St. Joseph. Bill Bowman was a man of great presence. Known for his honesty, integrity, wit, generosity and loyalty, He will be deeply missed by his extended family, as well as the many friends and business acquaintances he developed throughout the course of his long life. PAGE 88 ... TARPA TOPICS

THE “CAROLE LOMBARD ACCIDENT” 16 JANUARY 1942—MT. POTOSI, 35 MILES SW OF LAS VEGAS TWA Flight Plan. TWA 3 proposed departure 6:45 P.M., cruise 8,000 cross Palmdale 6,000, Newhall 4,000, Burbank one thirtythree. KF ATC TWA cleared to Burbank Tower, cruise 8,000, cross Palmdale 6,000, Newhall 4,000. TWA Some delay on TWA 3 in Las Vegas. I don't have the approximate departure time. ATC OK. TWA TWA 3 was off Las Vegas at zero seven, and he was in Las Vegas at 36, sixthree-six. ATC OK, thank you. ATC WC 7:08 P.M. ATC Traffic for TWA 3 is northeast bound Western 10, estimated Daggett seven fiftynine, climbing to 9,000. ATC WC 7:34 P.M. TWA I haven't been able to contact TWA 3 on Silver Lake check. Silver Lake is an authorized check point-- I mean required Airways check point, isn't it? ATC That's right. Yes. TWA Thought he might understand he just give us time to Daggett as his first estimate, and he might have been under the impression didn't have to check over Silver Lake. ATC Well, don't forget to give him the traffic of Western 10. TWA I'll broadcast that to him on day and night. (day and night HF freq.s—Ed) KF ATC 7:50 P.M. ATC Burbank Airways (Answering call on Las Vegas line) LQ I got a report from ah-- the operator at Arden, a Mr. Flare from Blue Diamond Mine near Arden Beacon, that they heard a plane go over, and shortly after a crash, there's a fire burning over in that section now. I have no planes in the vicinity, do you know of any? I checked with TWA and TWA cleared here at seven-O-seven, ah, ah-- there's no reports since he left. The above information is from dictaphone records in the Burbank Airway Traffic Control Center. The above photo is from the Civil Aeronautics Administration's mishap report compared with a view of the crash site today. TWA Transcontinental and Western Air radio Dispatch Room. ATC Airway Traffic Control Center, Burbank, California. LQ Airway Communication Station, Las Vegas, Nevada. KF Mr. Korf, Radio Operator, Transcontinental and Western Air.

TWA’s Flight Three was on the final leg of a transcontinental flight from New York to Burbank when it crashed approximately 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas on 16 January 1942. Actress Carole Lombard and 21 others were killed when the aircraft struck a cliff, approximately 500 feet from the mountain top.

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Wreckage was located from the air on the morning of 17 January. The first ground party reached the crash site later that afternoon. Inspection revealed that the aircraft collided with the lower part of an almost perpendicular cliff. As a result of the crash and ensuing fire, the aircraft was completely demolished. The largest piece was the shattered tail section, found inverted and approximately 30 feet down the rocky slope. Little debris remains today. A small amount of wreckage was wrestled off the mountain by the original search crew. Present day salvagers have removed all, but the smallest pieces of aluminum. The largest pieces are remains of the engines and landing gears. Ms. Lombard was returning to California following a successful war bond drive in Indianapolis. She was returning to the 18 January opening of "To Be or Not to Be" costarring Jack Benny. At the time of the accident, Ms. Lombard was married to Clark Gable. I visited the crash site a few years ago. One of the gentleman in the party came across pilot wings. Unfortunately, focusing a camera remains a challenge for me. The wing reads, "Transcontinental and Western Air." By Chris McDoniel. See his very interesting web site, featuring air fields, crash sites and other nearly forgotten aviation memorabilia of the Southwestern U. S.

http://www.p-38.com/

Carole Lombard, born Jane Alice Peters Oct. 6, 1908 in Ft. Wayne, IN. Hostess Alice Getz, Captain Wayne Williams, b. 1900, h. TWA 1931 and F/O Morgan A. Gillette, b. 1917, h. TWA 1940.

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THE

SURELY YOU WILL REMEMBER THIS PHOTO!

By retired Delta Captain Larry Pullen from the Internet

The story behind the picture of the Convair 880 on takeoff attests to one of the most unforgettable moments of my life. For two years prior to the airplane's retirement, I photographed the machine from a crewmember's viewpoint. I had gotten plenty of decent shots but still needed something unique that would leave a lasting memory-a picture with impact. Thus, the idea of a head-on image was born. We had four early-morning 880 departures out of our Houston base during the window of opportunity, when the sun's angle would be just right. With permission from our chief pilot and the FAA, another second officer, Tom LeBoutillier, and I showed up at the airport one morning to discuss our plan with all four captains who would be departing at the critical hour. Tom would take color photographs, and I, black-and-white. Each captain promised to hold his climbout down for the picture. Loaded with more enthusiasm than good sense, we managed to get the FAA to drive us to the end of the runway in a government car. The guy behind the wheel was anything but friendly and seemed intent on being as uncooperative as possible. We walked the last hundred yards to the easternmost end of the east-west runway. Feeling decidedly uncomfortable on an active runway without the attachment of an airplane, I watched the first Convair taxi into position almost two miles away. The signature black exhaust confirmed that he was rolling. Closer and closer it came, then ... liftoff. He passed well overhead; far too high for the shot we needed. The same was true for the next three. I knew each captain was doing his best to help in the effort, but when all my prints were developed that night, I had nothing but pictures of 880 underbellies. We'd have to try again the next day. With several 8x10s as illustrations, we showed the next morning's crews what didn't work the day before. They were all eager to help. PAGE 91 ... TARPA TOPICS

Just before leaving operations with the same FAA guy, one of the captains, John Steiger, approached with a grin on his face. "So you need a little help, huh?" His was to be the third of four departures. Knowing he would rise to the occasion, I replied that we did. "I'll take care of it," he promised. I wondered about the sly smile on his face as he walked away. The first two takeoffs were as unproductive as those of the previous day. Then John's airplane took the runway, blackening the air behind him as he brought the power up. There was slow movement at first, then the speed became noticeable. Liftoff. He kept the machine near the ground, but the gear remained extended. "C'mon, c'mon, John," I urged aloud, "get the gear up!" Closer and closer he loomed. Finally, the wheels began to retract. My initial elation changed to something more visceral when facing the approaching airliner with four exhaust plumes blowing hard against the concrete. The airplane filled the frame as I released the shutter a final time. In horror, I threw two cameras over my head and went for the dirt, certain there was no way out of our foolish predicament. As soon as he boomed by, I grabbed one of the cameras and cranked off a few more frames from the prone position, then glanced at the FAA guy. He had come to life and was bent over with laughter. Several years after that memorable morning, I was flying copilot for Steiger on a Lockheed 1011. Sitting comfortably at altitude, he turned to me. "Do you remember that picture we did of the 880?" "How could I ever forget it, John?" "I was wondering if you'd like to re-create it with the 1011?" "Go to hell!" AFTERWORD Working at my new position as chief pilot in Houston one afternoon in 1988, a mechanic friend walked in to talk about the large 880 picture hanging behind my desk. "Do you know where that airplane is now?" he asked. "Actually, I thought it had been scrapped." "It never was." he said. "Elvis Presley bought that very ship, and it's now on display in Graceland." "Are you certain of that?" I asked. "Absolutely. See that patch on the lip of number four engine? I put it there, and it's on the one in Memphis." It made me feel good to know the old beast was still intact.

http://www.LarryPullen.com Both of Elvisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; airplanes, the Convair 880 and the Lockheed JetStar are still on display at Graceland in Memphisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Ed.

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FROM BOB DEDMAN via email < rwded@cox.net>

Back when I was an instructor on B707 in Bldg. 95 at JFK, we had a schedule that started on the latest period so West coasters could come in and not be too much out of the time zone. Each day, of five, we would move up the schedule until the last day which would be the 7 AM period report , after which they could catch a flight back home. Well, it was early winter, rainy and cold. I drove in from my commuter pad with my bag packed to go home after the period as were they. I started out in my "old" Mercedes. Driving along Rockaway Boulevard was always a rollercoaster ride but this day was to be very special. Here I was, coat and tie, drivng along when suddenly I was totaly inundated with water. The back seat was behind my head, water everywhere, and the windshield was all fogged over. I managed to stop on the side of the road to evaluate what happened. It seems that the floor board behind me had broken away and when I went through a puddle of water, it was scooped up at 50 MPH. I thought I had left the window open but no, it was an "internal job". When I finally got composed, and knew that I had to be at the briefing, I drove on to Blg. 95. I was totally waterlogged so I told my students, I have to strip off some of this wet stuff but we would do the briefing. They agreed so I did it in shirt and pants. When we finally got to the simulator, I was getting dryer but cold so I hung up my pants, shirt, and jacket next to the F/E station as that was the warmest spot and I wanted to go home and look half way presentable. So..believe it or not, I did the 3 hour sim check for Capt and F/O in my underwear, frooze you know what, but I wanted to get back home and they were a good crew and they too wanted to go home so it was a win, win situation but surely the coldest check I have every conducted. Ray Schmidt would have fired me for not being there or being there but my friend never knew and to this day, all is well. x

INTERESTING ITEM FROM THE INTERNET

If you’re interested in things mechanical, check out this miniature “small block” Chevy V8 and yes, it runs (video)! <http://www.moyermade.com/chevyV8.html>

QUOTES BY HENRY LOUIS MENCKEN, 1880-1956, popular writer and journalist until his unpopular views on WW II and F.D.R. alienated many. A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn't know. HLM

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin. HLM

A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers. HLM

H. L. Mencken

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BERLIN TEMPELHOF (EDDI) 1923– 2008

Berlin’s historic “downtown airport”, Tempelhof, passed into history when all flight operations ended October 31, 2008. Tempelhof was the victim of it’s location, much like Chicago’s Meigs Field; land just, too valuable to waste on an airport, and Berlin’s mayor, “hellbent on a shutdown, ignored organized protests and referenda conducted by local citizens and the general aviation pilot community.” Just like Chicago’s Richard M. Daley at Meigs, he intends to turn Tempelhof into a parkland (perhaps for a future Olympics venue bid). Tempelhof’s history predates the advent of aviation. It goes back to the middle ages when the Knights Templar owned the field and it was known as “Tempel” “Hof” (court). In modern history, in 1909, Orville Wright demonstrated his Model B Flyer there. Lufthansa (German Airlines) was founded there in 1926 and, of course, it became world famous during the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49. When the jets came along, most airlines moved their operations to Tegel, itself scheduled for closure in 2012 at which time all airline operations will move to Schoenfeld which will be known as Berlin Brandenburg International.

C-47s offload cargo at Tempelhof in 1948

An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup. HLM

Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood. HLM

All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it. HLM

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VETERANS’ SALUTES DURING NATIONAL ANTHEM From U. S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Affairs: 202-461-7600WASHINGTON, Oct, 30, 2008/PRNewswire-USNewswire/— Veterans and active-duty military not in uniform can now render the military-style hand salute during the playing of the national anthem, thanks to changes in federal law that went into effect this month (Oct. 2008). “The military salute is a unique gesture of respect that marks those who have served in our nation’s armed forces.” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “This provision allows the application of that honor in all events involving our nation’s flag.”

The new provision improves upon a little known change in federal law last year that authorized veterans to render the military-style hand salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag, but it did not address salutes during the national anthem. Last year’s provision also applied to members of the armed forces while not in uniform. Traditionally, members of the nation’s veteran service organizations have rendered the handsalute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag while wearing their organization’s official head-gear. The most recent change, authorizing hand-salutes during the national anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel, was sponsored by Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, an Army veteran. It was included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which President Bush signed on Oct. 14, 2008. (I know most of you guys have been doing this all along, but thought you would be interested, never the less—Ed.) x

THE STORY OF TWA’S B-707 –331, PLANE # 7661 (N761TW)

There was an interesting article in the October 2008 issue of AIRWAYS magazine, “The Story of TWA’s 761” by Ed Davies. <www.airwaysmag.com> This plane was the 69th 707 built and the first of our dash 331 “intercontinental” models. TWA took delivery on November 10, 1959 and on November 23, it inaugurated our trans-Atlantic jet service, NYC-LON: the plane was named “London

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Town”. (Sir Frank Whittle, Britain’s pioneer turbojet designer, made his first flight on a jet powered airliner on the westbound return flight.) On March 7, 1972, TWA received an anonymous call demanding $2 million. If an extortionist’s demands were not met, bombs aboard four TWA aircraft would be detonated at six-hour intervals! Flights were delayed or cancelled as planes were searched. A 707 flight to LAX from JFK, just airborne, returned to JFK and when searched. A bomb was found it the cockpit area, taken to a remote area and detonated. Plane #7661 was one of more than 200 aircraft searched that day and nothing was found. It flew from JFK to LAS where it was searched again with nothing found. Almost seven hours later, just after the aircraft had just been prepared for it’s next flight, an explosion nearly blew the cockpit off the fuselage. Boeing repurchased the remains of 7661 and trucked most of it back to Seattle where they found some valuable data while autopsying the 12 year old carcass, not only on the effects of the bombing, but also on the effects of aging and corrosion on the structures and materials. Also, much of the aircraft was salvageable. What was not salvageable was broken up for scrap— except for a forward section of the fuselage left in LAS which TWA LAS maintenance converted to a parts storage “shed”. x

LAS Maintenance Parts Shed

THE LAST ISSUE’s (NOV. ‘08) BACK COVER depicted this TWA Flight Safety poster. Can you identify those pictured? Were you one of them? If so, please tell all! GrapeVine_Ed@yahoo.com.

CAN YOU ID THIS AIRCRAFT?

It’s one of the three SaundersRoe Princess flyingboats (SR.45) prototypes, ordered in May 1946, which were intended for nonstop transatlantic service by BOAC, but early post-war appreciation that landplanes could From <www.aviastar.org> operate on this route just as safely and more economically killed all interest. Instead, the boats were to be completed as long-range military transports for the RAF, but the lack of a suitable powerplant brought even these optimistic hopes to an end. Larger than the Martin Mars and heavier than the Bristol Brabazon I, the Princess prototype was flown for the first time on 22 August 1952 and spanned 66.90m with its wingtip floats retracted, weighed 156,492kg on take-off, and could attain a maximum speed of 579km/h on the power of its 10 2386kW Bristol Proteus 600 turboprop engines. These were mounted in the wings as two single outboard engines and four inboard paired engines, but development problems with the gearboxes of the inboard engines contributed to the decision to end development. The second and third Princesses did not fly and were cocooned. <www.aviastar.org> You can see it fly on another great web site <www.airlinefan.com> The exact page is <http://www.airlinefan.com/view_video.php?photoid=9110381>

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Legacy of Leadership G/S instructor Jerry McNelley explains some intricacies of the L-1011. The clock on the wall indicates that in just 50 minutes, he will yield to Master or Mixology, “Capt” Sam Suputo on the second floor of the Hotel New Yorker. Then, off to supper, probably to the “G” Gardens after which it’s back to the room to re-read the F.H.B, Chapters 1—23.

From a ‘70s “Lancet”

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IN THE LAST ISSUE WE SHOWCASED THE “HEAVY TWIN” (75/767) Maybe we could get away with calling the “little DC-9” a “light twin”, but the later DC-9 mutants, like the MD-80 series were neither little nor light so, here’s the “Middleweight Twin”,

THE MD-80 PANEL DRAWINGS

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Captain’s Panel

CAPTAIN’S INSTRUMENT PANEL

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FIRST OFFICER’S PANEL

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CENTER INSTRUMENT PANEL

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OVERHEAD PANEL

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CENTER PEDESTAL

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FROM WALLY MORAN via email

(Bob Dedman’s mention, in his “The Andes Beckoned” article found elsewhere in this issue, about the use of JATO on Panagra’s DC-3 s, prompted an e-mail exchange that brought this response from Wally Moran. Wally was one of many of Purdue University’s Aviation Technology program students hired by TWA and Ozark in the ‘60s. Purdue’s program was unique in that second year students got to fly co-pilot on DC-3s for a Part 121 (non-sched.) affiliate, Purdue Aeronautics Corp., which was a charter outfit catering mostly to college athletic teams and other groups.—Ed.) You are asking me to go back a long way in the memory to think about the Purdue DC-3’s. But yes, they did have JATO installed; I believe it was to meet (engine out) second segment climb requirements (allowing a considerably higher MGTO weight). The Purdue airplanes were equipped with the Wright 1820’s rather than most DC-3’s which had Pratt 1830’s. My recollection is that the controls for the JATO were mounted just aft of the throttle quadrant and consisted of two guarded switches and a master switch. The master switch was much like an automobile ignition switch and could only be activated with a key. Only the Captains were given keys. Once the system was activated, one only had to raise the guards and push the toggles forward and the JATO bottles would ignite. Of course once the bottles ignited there was no stopping them until they burned out. Naturally, it was better for the airplane to be moving through the air when this happened. The published procedure was for the Captain to arm the system with the key just as you took the runway for takeoff and then deactivate it shortly after takeoff. Rumor had it that one Captain accidentally caught his coat sleeve on the toggle switches as he advanced the power for takeoff and activated the bottles. As a result of the consequences of that event, most Captains only put the key in the ignition but did not turn it on during takeoff.

Google Images Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO, sometimes RATO for Rocket Assisted Take off) is a real kick in the pants. At left, it assists a DC-3 through second segment climb. At right, an F-100 is launched from a trailer with no take off roll.

Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends. HLM

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking. HLM

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FROM IDUS INGLIS Nov. 6, 2008

What a debt we owe John Gratz for all the work he has done with TARPA. That “thank you” goes way back to his work with ALPA, long before TARPA. That “thanks” goes for too many to mention here…. I greatly enjoy, and thank you for your work. x

FROM ROBERT O. BUCK, Capt. DAL, Ret.—son of TWA Capt. Robert N. Buck

As always, it is a pleasure to renew our TARPA membership. We’ll go with the full regular membership fee to keep the tradition going! Always great to receive and read each wonderful issue of the magazine. Amazing stories and great memories for us all, even if only “TWA kids”. Hope all’s well your way. Am again retired, ...started with EOS Airlines in January ‘08, it went out of business 26 April. My son was with me on a London layover when it all happened. All worked out okay as he got the last seat on the last scheduled flight...an education for him! I was co-pilot on the last flight, backside of a charter already in progress at bankruptcy. The captain was Steve Green who was TWA /AAL and went to EOS while on furlough from AAL. It was an honor to fly with him, a.k.a. TWA experienced captain! Best to all for the holidays and New Year! x

FROM JEAN D. KRUMBACH Nov. 14, 2008

I know I receive the TARPA magazine free but I’d like to pay for it. I’m a widow of Captain Otto A. Krumbach and I enjoy keeping in touch with TWA pilots through the magazine. Good luck and keep up the good work! x

FROM FRED MORSE

All is well in Oceanside. Happy to include dues and will as long as I can write a check. Kathy and I are approaching the, “still can do, but less often and not as well stage”, but no major problems. Our best to everyone and thanks for TARPA TOPICS. I promise to make 800 next year. x

FROM BILL AMAN

Still getting along well. TARPA TOPICS is the best in the industry—I show it to my United golfing partners—they can’t get over how great it is. x

FROM DALE BEBEE

Ed (Madigan), Does “regular member” mean, same time every morning? For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. Our friends seldom profit us but they make us feel safe... Marriage is a scheme to accomplish exactly that same end. HLM

I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because I detest the sort of people who go to lectures and don't want to meet them. HLM

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FROM BARNEY GARRIOTT (TWA 1948—1973)

(The following is excerpted from a letter and local newspaper articles sent by Barney. See the November 2004 TARPA TOPICS, P. 64-78 for a most interesting article by Barney in which he reflects on his career at TWA Engineering and as a TWA F/E—Ed.) “Barney likes barns. He and his wife, Betty, often travel rural IN back roads and photograph old barns. … which sometime have pictures of ducks, horses, etc. woven into their roofs by using different colored shingles. This gave Barney the idea, “Why not an airplane?” The Connie has the most personality of any aircraft Barney has flown, so he created a 20’ model made of the white plastic used around shower stalls. It has created quite a bit of comment!” “When Barney left Washington County in 1940, it was to attend Lincoln Aeronautical Institute in Lincoln, NE. He went to work for the Intercontinental Division of TWA in Washington, DC as a mechanic. He later became a flight engineer and during World War II crossed the ocean many times carrying strategic materials and personnel to help the war effort. Washington County (IN) Leader After the war, Barney flew as a pilot for TWA out of Kansas City His (25) year career with TWA included 10 years in power plant engineering and four years in test flights. That career ended with open heart surgery. Upon recovering, Barney entered the real estate business as a broker/agent, recently retiring.”

The farm to which Barney and Betty recently returned, about 20 mi. NW of Louisville, is “...One of the oldest in Washington County, homesteaded in 1818 ...by Simeon Garriott, Barney’s great-grandfather.” “...Simeon added 127 ac. In 1825 at $3.33/ac.” Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice. HLM

It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place. HLM

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FROM DENNY COX WHO SENT THESE PICTURES AND TEXT BY CHARLES â&#x20AC;&#x153;BLACK DOGâ&#x20AC;? DAVIS

There was a very substantial reason for applying 'Shack Bunny' to the nose of this brand new B-17. Arriving on a Saturday, a memorable day when one of the squadrons was allowed to toss a nocturnal party, it was towed into a hangar for re-fitting. The procedure for acquiring female guests to embellish this occasion was to scurry around nearby villages and round up those who were interested. It was never any problem. Sedateness was called for at the beginning of the soiree since one table was loaded with brass. They left early, however, perhaps to fret about a mission the next day or any day. The scene changed. Imbibing got more popular and the dancers started getting more familiar with their partners. Around midnight couples began scurrying around the base searching for an empty barracks or any decent enclosure. There were none. There was an all-out early morning effort and everybody was sacked out. A hurried search took place. One of the chaps with an exceptional desire and urgency mentioned the hangared B-17. There was no dissension and the group tripped down to the flight line. Rank had to be pulled when arguments ensued over who got the favored spots (The nose was most sought after). It was settled when the size of the individuals was the deciding factor. The next day, about mid-morning, the base artist shoved a step ladder up against the fuselage and went to work.

Front row, left to right: Carter Hart, bombardier; Mellilo, navigator (there's a story here, see next page); Me; Larry Fostmeier, copilot; Rex Cantrell, navigator (part of the story). Back row, Smitty, top turret gunner; Lausen, ball turret; Kazmarek, radio operator. Pete Marino, waist gunner; Kopie, tail gunner and a waist gunner were not available for the photo because they were on 'flights'.

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Story: Cantrell sneaked on a three hour milk run to northern France (launching gads) but got some flak and lost the hydraulic system. They had to land on a short runway F4F field and instead of bracing himself in the radio room he stayed in the nose and went through it when the aircraft banged into a masonry gun revetment. He was hospitalized. Mellilo was assigned to my next mission. I was leading the low squadron and his aircraft commander, Grey, had the flight behind. We were over Regensberg at 18,000 feet and on our bombing run when Greyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ship took a direct hit in the nose. Our tail gunner announced the happening loud and clear over the interphone. Some cigarette smoke drifted up in the cockpit. Mellilo had removed his oxygen mask and lit up. He was thinking it over. Hart, Fostmeier, and Kazmarek were twenty years old. Smitty and Lausen were in their high thirties and would not have even been draft material. They just wanted to get with it. Kazmarek was a Brooklynite and talked a lot. No one understood a word he said.

Your Grapevine Editor is patiently awaiting your submission: GRAPEVINE_ED @ YAHOO.COM

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ITEMS FOR THE FFA IMPROVED FEB 3 1964

NORMAL

EDITOR

TOPICS

______________ AFTER

CHECK LIST

READING _________________

1. RESUME NORMAL BREATHING 2. SEND ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING TO THE GRAPEVINE ED.: ¾ ANY AVIATION RELATED ITEMS YOU COME ACROSS (ESP. AIRLINE, ESP. TWA) – INCLUDING PHOTOS & GRAPHICS! ¾ ANY INTERESTING WEB SITES YOU COME ACROSS ¾ A PARAGRAPH OR TWO ON YOUR BEST TRIP, YOUR WORST TRIP, YOUR FIRST TRIP, YOUR LAST TRIP, YOUR MOST MEMORABLE TRIP, JUST LOOK AT YOUR OLD LOG BOOKS, THEY’LL GIVE YOU IDEAS! ¾ ANY NEWS ABOUT OUR OLD BUDDIES. ¾ WHAT YOU’RE DOING – HOBBIES, ORGANIZATIONS, ANY THING… ¾ RECOLLECTIONS OF UNUSUAL AND INTERESTING CREWMEMBERS. ¾ ANYTHING THAT YOU THINK WOULD FIT WELL INTO THE GRAPEVINE. INCLUDE YOUR WHOLE NAME, NICK NAME, YEARS AT TWA AND WHERE YOU’RE LOCATED – AND IF YOU HAVE AN INTERESTING IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE, BY ALL MEANS, WRITE ONE, OR AT LEAST PASS ON YOUR IDEA. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________add as many pp as you like

Topics_Ed@sbcglobal.net

– or : Jeff Hill 9610 Hidden Ln Woodstock, IL 60098

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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION All former TWA cockpit crewmembers are eligible for membership in TARPA. Annual dues are $50.00. If you wish to have two addresses listed for Directory or Topics mailing, please provide months of the year at each location along with the appropriate phone number. Name ___________________________________ Spouse ______________________ Address 1 (From _________ to _________ ) Street _______________________________________________________________ City ____________________________ State ___________ Zip __________________ Telephone ( ___ ) ____ ______ E-Mail ______________________________________

Address 2 (From _________ to _________ ) Street _______________________________________________________________ City ____________________________ State ___________ Zip __________________ Telephone ( ___ ) ____ ______ E-Mail ______________________________________ Capt. ƛ F/O ƛ F/E ƛ Other ƛ _______________ Retirement mo/yr ___________________ Signature ____________________________________ Date ____________________

TARPA TOPICS SUBSCRIPTION For our friends who do not meet our membership requirements, TARPA offers regular subscriptions to our magazine, TARPA TOPICS. Simply fill out the application above, indicate “subscriber”, and make your check out for $40.00.

Make checks payable to TARPA Return form to:

Ed Madigan Tarpa Secretary/Treasurer P. O. Box 3565 Incline Village, NV 89450

edmadigan@charter.net

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ON THE JACK DANIEL DISTILLERY TOUR—LYNCHBURG, TENNESSEE