JOSEPH "JOSE" GRANT by John P. Gratz Recently, several TARPA Members sent me copies of Jose Grant ' s hometown newspaper in which he was featured. Their story was told from the local business angle. Everyone at TWA for any time knows of the famous puzzle rings he has made. Since I had spoken to Jose on our Cruise last year about doing a story for us, this made me more determined to push him some more. After many telephone calls, and mailings both email and ground, I was able to piece together this short story about his long life and all of his fascinating life adventures. He told me many humorous and interesting stories about events from his adventures as he traveled the world. Joe Grant, like many TWA pilots was born on a farm, but unlike most, his family farm was in Florida. Not one to be kept down on the farm, Joe left to see the world. There were twelve kids in his family, of which Joe was the second. Times were tough back then and his mom and dad often had trouble feeding the family. There were some days that they had no food at all. The kids tried to help by selling what little produce they could on the local streets. At age 19 Joe decided to take his motorcycle and head out on his own. He hit the road in search of fun and excitement. He took odd jobs throughout the South, then Texas and on to the Midwest. Eventually, he got together with his younger brother Roy, and worked as an airplane mechanic in Buffalo, New York. Before too long Joe got a job at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore. It was good steady work and, while there he took courses in aeronautical engineering at the Maryland Institute. He and his brother saved their money and soon bought a Curtiss Wright airplane. Of course they had not learned to fly yet, but they were undaunted and charged ahead. They paid five dollars an hour for flying lessons and were soon full-fledged aviators. They soon launched a new career flying as barnstormers. Theirs was a familiar story as they just landed anywhere that they could scare up a crowd. Aviation had almost no rules or regulations in those days and they were free as birds. Joe and Roy only had 25 hours between them when they began taking passengers up for $2.00 each and before long, they had made quite bit of money considering the times and the value of a dollar. Joe considers himself lucky for flying in an era when," there was no CAA or FAA to keep us from killing ourselves." We didn't even need a License before the Department of Commerce took on the job of issuing them. We learned a lot from other pilots hangar flying during times of bad weather. Those were the days of OX-5 airplanes, prohibition and good old home brew. We had it all! However, as barnstorming became less attractive, Joe went to work for Pennsylvania Central Airlines and then for TWA flying overseas on ICD, the Intercontinental Division. While there, Joe was picked to go to Saudi Arabia to help set up an airline, because as World War II was ending, President Roosevelt gave King Abdulla Aziz Ibn Saud a DC-3, and TWA supplied the crew. Before Joe returned to the USA, they had five DC-3s.
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