CONTENTS FEATURES
=Director
DEPARTMENTS
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ………….…………. 2
TARPA 2013 CONVENTION………….….…. . 5 LAST CALL! ANNUAL GENL. MTG. PROXY AUTH……… 9
TRES. REPT./NEW MEMBERS…………….….... 3
‘DUB’ DAVIS ON GEN. MARK CLARK….… 11 By Capt. Rufus W. Davis
Ed Madigan, Tres. edmadigan@charter.net 775-831-1265
TWA’S (ALMOST) AIRBUSES……...………...16 By Capt. Clark Billie, Sr. HIMALAYAN HIGH………………………….. 17 By Capt. Bud Kuball CHECK OUT JON PROCTOR’S WEB SITE… 23 By former DCS Jon Proctor I FLEW………………………………………… 24 By Brad Baker IN YOUR HEART…………………………….. 41 Unknown TARPA SPRING B.O.D. MTG. MINUTES……43 By TARPA Secy. Mike McFarland MEMBER/SUBSCRIBER APPLICATION…... 47
Copyright © 2013 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 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.
Bill Kirschner wma1012@me.com 775-721-4386
EDITOR’S NOTE …………………………..….… 4 Jeff Hill, Sr. topics_ed@sbcglobal.net 815-338-3551
WEBMASTER’S NOTE…………….…………….. 4 Bob Willcutts capnbobby@bellsouth.net 774-413-9003
GRAPEVINE………………………………….………. 25
By the Editor FLOWN WEST………………………………..… 33 John Gratz jpgratz@charter.net
314-548-6056
Dusty West, 1st V.P. dustygator@tampabay.rr.com 941-538-0729 Mike McFarland Sec. miketwa747@hotmail.com 970-223-1278 Guy Fortier, Past Pres. guy4ta@att.net 775-831-3040 Charlie Wilder, Sen. Dir./Past Pres. clwilder@optonline.net 732-833-2205 Bob Dedman, Past Pres. rwded@cox.net 757-463-2032
COVERS:
Many TWA employees took advantage of their pass privileges and employee discounts to enjoy one or more TWA Getaway vacation packages. Ours were right up there among the best in the industry!
Presidents Message In a recent conversation with one of the principals of the C-1114 committee, I was advised that Judge Sean Lane will make a possible ruling regarding our retiree benefits 15 July, 2013. The feeling is that no matter what the Judges decision, we will ultimately be in civil court suing American for our benefits. Presently there is a fund for this purpose in place, with a nominal amount of cash available for that contingency. Should more funds be needed at a later date there will a request for donations. Approximately forty four thousand retirees are affected, of which about eleven thousand are TWA. So you can see a small amount from each of us would create quite a war chest should it become necessary. Our Attorney Cathy Steege has a preliminary plan should it become necessary. Update from Zana Allen on bringing the Ed Betts collection back home. "The TWA Museum committee met with David Boutros, University Archivist at UMKC, for a discussion about the collection and how to approach the AA Museum officials. The decision was made, since several different groups have been contacting them, and their personnel has changed over the time and we are not certain that those working there presently have current info on those conversations or even where the collection is, we should designate one person to contact them in the future. David is aware of all the conversations he and others have had with the past and present museum officials. David has agreed to contact them, requesting to come to Dallas in the next few months to review the collection. He assures us that is a reasonable request of any museum." Again, our annual TARPA Conventions continue to be the highlight of the year for many. This year we will meet in Washington, DC, 10 Oct.-15 Oct. 2013, at the Crystal City, Double tree. All are welcome and sign up is on the web site convention page at www.TARPA.com or call 888-222-8733. Group code is TAR. Please come on board for camaraderie and fun. Respectively Submitted, Captain, Bill Kirschner, President TARPA
TREASURER’S REPORT June 1, 2013
As of June 1, 2013 the membership is as follows: (R) Retired: 441 (A) Active: 13 (E) Eagle: 329 (H) Honorary: 37 Total: 868 There are also 31 subscribers to Topics and 17 who receive complimentary copies. Following is the financial report for the period from December 1, 2012 thru June 1, 2013: Opening Balance $55,278.68 C.A.C.U (CD’S) $25,862.14 C.A.C.U. (CK) $ 3,791.88 Convention Account $ 8,684.99 Checking Account $29,073.08 Savings Account $19,905.60 Balance 6/1/2013: $87,317.69 Don’t let your TARPA Membership expire. Check your mailing label. If it reads “2012” then it’s time for you to renew. Respectfully Submitted, Ed Madigan
NEW MEMBERS Jack Fotheringham PO Box 243 Springdale, UT 84767
WELCOME ABOARD!
Robert Murphy 1717 Ala Wai Blvd Apt. 2810 Honolulu, Hi 96815 Richard Scott (Ivylyn) PO Box 1769 Edwards, CO 81632 Ralph Lake 3200 Port Royale Dr. N. Apt. 2109 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
Shaun Shattuck (Elizabeth) 7811 E. Crooked Creek Trail Prescott Valley, AZ 86514 Eli Whitney 209 Trent Trail Ct. Front Royal, VA 22630 Wayne Bostick (Nancy) 713 Englemann Oak Dr. Fredericksburg, TX 78264 Jim Lum (Dixie) 823 S. Loudoun St. Winchester, VA 22601
EDITOR’S NOTE The July 2010 TOPICS has been added to the on line archives. You can now view the very first issue, Jan. 1982, through Jul. 2010. Go to www.tarpa.com and click on the ‘Topics Archives’ button on the LH side of the home page. By now, readers have had time to digest the recent changes in our magazine. Much of the formatting was altered to get more ‘miles per page’; narrower margins, less spacing between block paragraphs, two columns for most articles with indented paragraphs, left justification, and others. Cutting the page count reduced the cost dramatically with an added savings on postage. We did not reduce the type font size (for us ‘Mr. Magoo’s)! At first, I feared 48 pages would be ‘way too skinny’, but I got looking at several of the magazines that I receive and although they averaged 80—100 pp, about half the content is advertising which we are blessed to be without! Okay, here’s the bottom line: I was given a TOPICS budget of $20,000 for 2013, 1/3 of which = March issue expenses:………………………………… Printing Mailing Misc.exp. (950 printed= < $5.46/copy as we had c. 2 doz. extras not mailed)
$6667 -4215 - 907 - 67 $1478
Under Budget
If we had two or three people working on TOPICS and took a good hard look at our other expenses, we could probably produce four issues per year? As I write this (Jun. 14) only 12 members have signed up for the 2013 convention, half of whom are directors. There should be important business brought before the membership in DC: Election of officers and directors, appoint TOPICS editor, several items in our by-laws that should be revised, and chart a course for the future. If you need food for thought, read the BOD mtg. minutes at the end of this issue. Now that email has made communicating so much easier than letter writing, I’m hoping we can get a lively discussion circulating that might inject some fresh thought into the annual meeting that is scheduled for 8 AM, at the convention hotel, on October 14. For those of you who want to participate but cannot attend the meeting, we are printing a proxy authorization form along with the convention package (P.9) that one can send with a trusting and like minded friend who will be attending. Please feel free to send anything, be it text or images, that you feel might be of use, or interest to our readers: Jeff Hill, Sr. topics_ed@sbcglobal.net (there is an _ between ‘topics’ and ‘ed’, not a space.)
WEBSITE UPDATE Check out all the latest news and information at www.tarpa.com. You can also view the TARPA TOPICS magazine archives; click ‘topics Archives’ on the home page menu. If you have any comments, suggestions, or need help with the Website, email Webmaster Bob Willcutts at: Webmaster@tarpa.com
FOR A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE D. C. CONVENTION EVENTS, GO TO: WWW.TARPA.COM Oct. 10—15, 2013
Click on ‘CONVENTION 2013’ Leesburg, DC monuments, Arlington Nat. Cem., Air & Space Museum at IAD, Mt. Vernon, Farewell reception and dinner dance.
TWA Retired Pilots Association
TARPA 2013 Convention Washington, DC
Schedule of Events
Thursday, October 10, 2013 Friday, October 11, 2013 10:00AM – 3:00PM 4:00PM – 6:00PM Saturday, October 12, 2013 9:00AM – 4:00PM 4:00PM – 6:00PM Sunday, October, 13, 2013 9:00AM – 4:00PM 4:00PM – 6:00PM
Monday, October 14, 2013 8:00AM – 9:15AM 9:30AM – 3:00PM
Main Arrival, Doubletree Hotel, Crystal City, VA Historic Leesburg, VA Home of General George Marshall Oatlands Plantation & Lunch Hospitality Suite Open D.C . Monuments & Memorials A fully narrated tour of the nations capital Includes Lunch Hospitality Suite Open Dinner on own (variety of restaurants close by) Arlington National Cemetery Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Pentagon 911 Memorial Stephen F. Hazy Air & Space Museum Includes lunch at Tysons Corner Hospitality Suite Open Dinner on own Business Meeting Mount Vernon – exhibits, museum and home of George Washington Group Lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn Hospitality Suite Open No-‐Host Reception Dinner and Dancing
4:30PM – 5:30PM 6:00PM – 7:00pm 7:00PM – 8:00PM Tuesday, October 15, 2013 Hotel Check-‐out *** Proposed event schedule, subject to change*** Any questions? Contact our Meeting Planner: Vicki McGowen -‐775-‐722-‐2811 or vicki@mcgowenmarketing.com
2013 Convention – Washington D.C. October 10 – 15, 2013 Convention Registration Form Last Name_____________________________________First ________________(for name tag) Spouse/Other___________________________________First________________(for name tag) Address______________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip Code____________________________________________________________ Phone___________________________E-mail_______________________________________ Self
Spouse/Other
Total
$_________
$_________
$________
$__________
$_________
Saturday, October 12 Washington Mall – Monuments & Memorials Including Lunch Fee $62.00 $________
$__________
$_________
Sunday, October 13 Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon Memorial Stephen F. Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum Lunch at Gordon Biersch Fee $65.00 $________
$__________
$_________
Monday, October 14 Mount Vernon Tour and Lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn Fee $68.00
$________
$__________
$_________
$________
$__________
$_________
All Attendees Must Register Fee $65.00
$________
Optional Tours: Friday, October 11 Historic Leesburg, VA Outlands Plantation & Lunch Fee $75.00
Final Banquet Dinner Doubletree Hotel/Crystal City Fee $85.00
Make Checks Payable to “TARPA 2013”
GRAND TOTAL
$___________
Convention Registration Form Page 2 We are pleased to announce we have selected the beautiful D oubleTree by Hilton Crystal City as our headquarters hotel. This property is ideally located just across the Potomac River and just minutes from the Ronald Reagan National Airport. They offer complimentary shuttle service from the airport and to the major attractions just minutes away. They are also offering discounted parking at $12.00 per day. See the enclosed page with complete information on our hotel. The hotel is offering our special rate for 10 rooms only on Wednesday October 9th and Tuesday, October 15th for those that might like to enjoy more of the city before or after our convention. Book early to secure these extra nights. Hotel Reservations - Call 888â&#x20AC;&#x201D;222- 8733 for Hilton Reservations or or the hotel direct at 703-416-4100. Remember to request our special rate using our group code: TAR Special Needs Are you handicapped, have dietary concerns or any special requests? Please list your special needs or comments here:
Volunteers Would you like to volunteer to help? We are looking for friendly, fun TARPA members that will help us during the convention. We need assistance at the registration desk, as tour leaders, and for miscellaneous tasks. If you and/or your guest can help please let us know, what interests you, and how you prefer to be contacted. ______Yes, we will help with the TARPA 2013 Convention! Please contact me (phone or email):
Mail this form and payment to: TARPA Convention 2013 Attn: Captain Ed Madigan P.O. Box 3565 Incline Village, NV 89450
Any Questions? Contact: Ed Madigan (TARPA Treasurer) Vicki McGowen (Meeting Planner)
775-831-1265 775-722-2811
AUTHORIZATION TO VOTE BY PROXY
I, the undersigned, hereby acknowledge that I am a member in good standing in the TWA Active Retired Pilots Association (TARPA) and that the person designated below has the authority to vote for me at the TARPA Annual General Meeting scheduled to be held in Washington, DC on the 14th of October, 2013. She/He shall vote: _______ as they wish _______ as I have designated on the front side of this ballot. This ballot must be presented to the TARPA Secretary no later than seven (7) days in advance of the date of the District Meeting or handed to the TARPA Secretary prior to the start of the meeting. ______________________________________ NAME OF THE DESIGNATED VOTER: (please print)
_______________________________________NAME OF THE ABSENTEE VOTER: (please print)
_____________ FORMER TWA PRN OF ABSENTEE VOTER ______________________________________ Signature of Absentee voter
Date _______________
BLANK
‘DUB’ DAVIS REMEMBERS GEN. MARK CLARK By Rufus W. ‘Dub’ Davis, 1920—2013, TW 1942—1988
“You are from Indiana!?'' It was a statement more than a question. The speaker was a youthful two star General who had just fished a jar of Planter's peanuts out of his B-4 bag and was passing it around to my crew when he looked at me and made this observation. I replied, “Terre Haute, and you?'' “Yep, Muncie” “I know two fellows from Muncie, Clyde Shockley and Lee Eikenberry.” “Yes, I know both of them” So the conversation started. He had just returned from the little office near the one little hangar on this little grass airport named Windsor Mills near the town of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. His name was Mark Clark and l learned later that in January 1942 , a month after our entry into the war, General Clark was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Army Ground Forces and in May became the chief of staff. In June 1942, … [“...he went to England Google Images as commanding general of Gen. Mark Wayne Clark, II Corps, and the next month 1896—1984 moved up to Commanding General, Army Forces European Theater of Operations, promoted to major general on August 17, 1942. In October 1942, Clark became deputy commander in chief of the Allied Forces in the North African Theater. Clark's duties in this succession of assignments was to plan and direct the training of units for the invasion of North Africa known as Operation Torch. Part of the preparation for the inva-
sion involved spiriting him into North Africa by the British submarine Seraph weeks before the invasion (Operation Flagpole) to negotiate the surrender or cooperation of the Vichy French at Cherchell on October 21–22, 1942. – Wikipedia] Rufus W. ‘Dub’ Davis, Many years later [?] told Photo from ‘Making of an me that when he was trying Airline’, 1981 to re-board the submarine on departure his gibber [raft?] turned over and he lost $l8,000 in gold - which was still there on the bottom of the Mediterranean as far as he knew! He then returned to Gibraltar and the [?] flew him to Prestwick, Scotland where my crew was waiting with an airplane ready to take him to Washington where President Roosevelt and the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Corps were expecting to meet him. It was only in retrospect that all these events came together. We had been positioned there with our airplane for 5 days to wait for general Clark to show up. We, of course, did not know all this. He arrived and what happened during the next 30 hours would have been hilarious were it not so serious at the time. We boarded our plane, a 4 engine Boeing 307 Stratoliner [C-75] painted in olive drab with the Air Corps white stars, at Prestwick Scotland. Our lone passenger, a two star General, gave us the briefing
Wikipedia Google Images
TWA B-307 / C-75 in war paint
that if we had to ditch it, “This goes overboard first!'' A bundle of 5 or 6 pieces of 24” long galvanized 2 inch pipe that was sealed and weighted. It was my second trip as student navigator. If I did well I would be first navigator on my next trip out of Washington. I did the navigating. First stop was to be Gander, Newfoundland. All 5 of our Boeings were given Indian Names: Comanche, Zuni, Navajo, Apache and Cherokee. We were in the Comanche N-1970. The Indian names were how we referred to them. Our flight was # 62-8; TWA's 62nd … North Atlantic Departure out of Washington…. Projected distance 1,879 nautical, 2166 Statute miles via Rhomb line course. Indicated airspeed to be 144 mph, Date-Sept. 23, 1942. We departed the ramp at 21:2l Z (Green Witch Mean Time) and were off the ground at 2135 Z … also [commonly] referred to the world over as Zulu Time. We departed by way of Tory Island, Ireland…. We had been at Maximum weight for take off and we flew at lowest practical altitude, 1,000’. It
ATC Navigator wing
was the best fuel to mileage altitude which is true for round engines unless winds dictate differently. … Things went well and the first navigator wrote out my satisfactory evaluation which promoted me to first navigator and the Captain also signed it and they advised me of what they had done. Whew! I was glad that procedure was all finished! Normally the pilots took over the navigation once we were flying routes in the states with radio navigation aids. The rest of our flight was not normal, however. During the night our radio operator received a message from Captain Parker who had departed Prestwick about 20 minutes after we did. All messages to and from the airplane, except when we were within range of a control tower, frequency 278 kc, at about 25 to 30 miles out, were by key, Morse code dots and dashes by ‘sparky’, the radio operator. He encoded the message into the code of the day before he sent it. The receiving radio operator then decoded using the same code. Needless to say if you did not
have the code of the day – no communications. However, in 4 years I never heard of one of our radio operators having the wrong one. They were good - some just 18 years old. They could read another operator's key and tell a lot about that person, what country, were they old timers, how or where they had learned the business. If they were using a key or a bug and if the guy on the other end was German, English, American etc. Just as other people could tell where some one came from by their accent. Accents were very prominent in the ‘40s. Television has almost erased accents in the US. When I was in navigation school in the summer of 1942 I shared a house on Prince Street in Alexandria, Virginia with five other navigators. They were from California, Brooklyn, Boston, Amsterdam [?] and Long Island. On Sundays, about 2 PM 1 would call my parents on the farm in southern Indiana. As soon as I went to the front room where the phone was, they all followed. They would just sit and laugh and laugh they had never heard a Hoosier talk to other Hoosiers before. They would then ask me what we had been talking about - I was so non readable! Anyway many years later I had trouble understanding my own Mother. South Pole Parker advised our Captain that some of the flight instruments on the Copilot’s side off his airplane were inoperative and mentioned another item or two and that he wanted to change airplanes with us after we landed at Gander as the two Major Generals he had onboard wanted to go back to Iceland after they had made some phone calls to Washington from Gander. The message was signed by the two, two star generals. Of course Captain Terry saw red! What is Parker up to? Terry then took the message back to our … Two Star General. General … told … radio problem, no one regardless of rank will take … airplane. Terry could not understand but that two Major generals would surely outrank one Major General. He just knew that if we were on the ground at the same time Parker would get our plane and be one up on him! His pride could not let South Pole Parker have our airplane! None of us, Captain included, had any idea of the priority of our flight. …. So he turned to me and said, “Give me a heading for Presque Isle, Maine and give Bill (our flight engineer, Bill Donaldson) our ETA.'' He then asked Bill how much gas we would have at Presque Isle. Then when we got within range of Gander he called
the tower and advised that we were proceeding to Presque Isle. When Parker heard this as he was now on the same voice frequency and in the traffic pattern at Gander he immediately advised Gander the same thing. Terry was furious - he had not thought about that happening as Parker had said his Generals wanted to call Washington when they landed Gander. Terry says he will fix that Bandy legged (Parker was noticeably bowlegged) S.O.B.- he won't get this airplane. Give me a heading for Montreal and give … which I did and Bill said we should leave a little over 100 gallons! We we're very light now and were burning 94 gallons total per hour. We were receiving radio navigation facilities and normally the navigation was up to the pilots and we had radio info now which would take us to Montreal. I had been certified by both the Captain and the Navigator and was off duty but I had not quit navigating . We were over Quebec, Canada now and I was standing behind the Captain. The cockpit of our TWA Boeing 307 was the largest cockpit on any airplane of the day, that 1 knew about anyway. The Flight Engineer’s Station, the Navigator’s table chair and stool and the radio operator’s Station were all part of the cockpit. We would have twelve people in the cockpit for take off when heading eastbound out of Natal Brazil to get the CG far enough forward for the plane to take to the air … it would sometimes [take] as long as an hour after take off to get to 1000’of altitude. Simply put hot weather made flying more difficult for our round engine airplanes than cold weather. So Terry could not wait once again, for Parker to actually land when Parker got to Presque Isle and Terry heard Parker call “On Final'' to the tower at Presque Isle ... advised that he was proceeding to Montreal! (We were several miles away) - Parker shouted, “up gear, take off flaps” - and pushed the throttles forward! Now we were both heading for Montreal. … on my [?] trip out of Washington on the 4th of September, 20 days before, we had stopped at Montreal for North Atlantic weather by McTaggert Coward. He later became head of Meteorology for Canada. I had gone into the Canadian Air Chart Department at the trip out and picked up a good collection of Canadian Air Charts. The like of which 1 had not found in Washington. So I am standing beside Capt. Terry doing pilotage which simply means that I was keeping track of where we were visually and I was checking the info on both our US generated charts
and also on the Canadian charts. Number 4 engine started surging fast then slow - the Captain shouted, “hey, we are out of Gas!” Bill said, “No ,we have 150 gallons. The Captain orders in Select Number 4. The feathering valves were just under the co-pilots window so Virgil selected Number 4. The Captain now said to me, standing close behind him, do you know where we are?'' We were over rough rocky hilly country, it was a beautiful September afternoon about 4 PM. There were widely scattered small thunder storm squalls and scattered small puffy cumulus all over, bases about 2,500’. No roads nor visible land marks, just rocks! “Yes , Sir , Exactly!'' I had just changed to a Canadian chart and where there were no airports on the US chart there was one small red cross which the legend said was an emergency field. I could not see it for the scattered clouds to the southwest of us. Number 3 had already done the same bit as had Number 4. … goddamn it captain, we are not out of gas, we have 150 gallons!'' It sure sounded like we were running out of gas! Only number 1 was still running normally. We had started drifting down. We could no longer hold altitude. I spoke up and said, “Captain, we have an emergency field just to the southwest - can't see it yet but the chart says it is there''. “Look, I will keep heading toward Montreal - let me know when we are due north of it.” It all happened about the same time number ATC patch and pilot two started sputtering and … wings “we are due north of the field now'' (the little red crossly at the same time we were turning toward it and around one of the Cumulus clouds, there was the airport, two miles away right on the nose! No other signs - just a nice grass field it was a small hangar and a few Tiger Moths that made it an airport. An approaching squall was just crossing the southwest boundary of the field. The Captain had Number 1 at full throttle and we ran out of altitude as we hit the grass in the northeast corner of that beautiful little grass primary training field. Truly the ‘Port In The Storm’! The Captain managed to turn toward the hangar. A four engine airplane with a tail wheel does not taxi well with one outboard engine: The squall hit just as we rolled to a
stop and the Captain had to get the airplane secured. cockpit hopes it will fire. I did that once on a DC-3 He ordered … take some one and get the ropes out at Winslow, Arizona, it worked. Terry sent us out to get all the flash lights …the of the emergency box -throw them over the wings grass field to hopefully show parker where to land. It and get some of those people in the hangar to hold did not work out that way. He arrived just at late the wings down - then to several others to go and dusk, found the airfield and made a beautiful drag hold the tail … to some one else go to the hangar across the held about 5 feet off the deck. Every pilot and get everything that looks like a rope or chain learned to do that when I learned to fly in 1939, it and all the help you can get to come out here and hold this thing down - I mean everybody! - he turned was part of the curriculum. When landing in a to me and told me to sit in his seat and hold the con- strange place - drag it first. He thought, however, that we were showing him trols. I was the only one that did not get soaking wet! Now -- What of our Passenger? He was gone! where not to land with our ‘runway lights’ …. we all A short time later after the squall passed he showed thought he would see that it was mud. Next time around he lined up on the mud runway, up, climbed back into the airplane where the crew was all drying off and fished out his jar of Planter's cleared the fence by no more than 2 or 3 feet and Peanuts. After mentioning that he was from Muncie, made a perfect full stall 3 point landing … When he hit the mud he knew instantly what he was into and Indiana he said, “I just talked to Hap Arnold. And Captain Parker will be back here to pick me up in an hour or two! It was our General that had the clout! ... There was some excitement … When we landed we saw that a new runway was under construction. It was an all grass field but work was under way for a surfaced runway. When our Captain got the word that Parker was coming Google Images for General Clark he realized TWA Stratoliner ‘Navajo’ and crew (unidentified) that the freshly plowed dirt poured on the power and pulled off onto the grass area was now all mud from the squall and would look like a surfaced runway, as it had to us, to Cap- before he sank into the mud. He pulled up to the littain Parker as he would be landing at dusk. He sent tle hangar beside our airplane. The airplane was unour radio operator to try to contact Parker. No luck, damaged except for the wing flaps, and ailerons and there was no reason why any one would be guarding elevators which, being fabric covered, were now full of holes. any frequencies as there was no radio here at this The flight engineers found enough material to field and the other radio operator would not have recover them and guessed they could finish beexpected ours to be guarding any frequencies as it fore ,midnight and immediately started washing the takes battery power and in those days the battery mud out. Now both planes were down. Terry inpower was always a consideration. If the batteries sisted that it was bad carburetors (to save face) and were allowed to get too weak to start an engine we would have to get out the ‘sling shots’ and start them grounded the plane till a bunch of mechanics were flown up from Washington in one of our 247s and by hand! A slingshot was a leather sleeve that had two lengths of burgee fastened to it which was theft replaced the carburetors. So we were now back in our airplane with General Clark and he saw a … slipped over the tip of the propeller and then one person held the prop so it was jet short of a top com- Beech parked behind us that had landed just alter we pression stroke and two others would walk away and did. He asked if it was a good airplane and we all answered in the affirmative. He then left us again stretch the burgee as tight as they could then the and went to the little lounge from which he (had party holding the prop lets go and the party in the
made his telephone call to General Arnold less than [?] hours before. He learned that the Group Captain whose airplane it was had come on an inspection tour of the primary trailing fields. But he was ignored EAA OSH Audio/Video Center by the field personnel when he landed because we were getting all the attention, I imagine. Alter all we had a four engine plane which probably no one there had ever seen before and we all had gold stripes which were unheard of in the Canadian and British Military. … … He [Clark] comDub goes over his notes in preparation for his taping at mandeered the group EAA OSH for their ‘Timeless Captain's (a four Voices of Aviation’ project in striper - same rank as November of 2010. an American Bird Colonel) airplane and came back out to our airplane, told us the story, picked up his B-4
bag, the bundle of pipe and took off with the Group captain’s airplane headed west for Montreal. In the meantime, Captain Parker who, as he let us know, was now flying under personal orders from General Hap Arnold, said he would leave as soon as the patching was done. That he did. They went to Montreal where General [?] was now waiting, picked him up and flew to Andrews Air Field at Washington where my friend Bob Adickes, with whom I am still in almost daily contact via e-mail and who was second officer on Parker's crew said that they were met by President Roosevelt and General of the Army Air Corps Hap Arnold. Captain Parker had originally just wanted Terry's airplane but ended up with our priority passenger! He was no longer just South Pole Parker but now he had been flying under personal orders for General Arnold and President Roosevelt! … After that incident, however, we always considered the last 150 gallons of gas in a Stratoliner just might be unusable in some attitudes -- it beats crossing your fingers! I was with Parker two months later en route to Africa via Brazil. Our fist stop was Miami where he died of a heart attack. He was just a little over forty years old.
The “Timeless Voices” kiosk in the EAA AirVenture Museum at Oshkosh where one can select and watch DVDs, “The objective of Timeless Voices of Aviation, a major video history project of the EAA AirVenture Museum, is to assure that the first person oral histories of aviation’s development are preserved for future generations of family members, teachers, students, historians and others.” Many are available on line at: http://www.eaa.org/timelessvoices/
TWA’S (ALMOST) AIRBUSES By Captain Clark Billie, Sr. Enjoyed recent [Nov. 2012] TOPICS and the “MODELED ON TWA” covers. Thought I might add a couple that you missed and a little background. On the Supersonic side I believe Captain Vern Larson was the only TWA pilot to fly the Concorde. He was head of the TWA supersonic program as VP training. The enclosed pictures of two models from my collection are of both the Airbus A-320 and A-330. In the summer of 1989 I travelled to Toulouse France to visit the Airbus factory. TWA was acquiring the A-330. At the time I was VP Engineering and Operations Control, Mt. Kisco, NY. The aircraft had not yet flown and was in the design phase. Airbus was aggressively [promoting] any and all of their aircraft types in an effort to break the North American market [monopoly]. While in Toulouse after thorough briefings on the different aircraft types and their commonality, I flew the A-320 with their Chief test pilot. The specific aircraft we flew was powered by two V-2500 Consortium engines and a crew of Japanese engineers was onboard to observe the engine performance. He graciously sent me home with the TWA A-320 model shown in the picture enclosed. More later on the A-320. TWA actually purchased the A330 in July of 1989 (20 and an option for 20) after a long and arduous negotiation during which Carl Ichan personally became involved. The financing was very favorable to TWA and during the actual contract signing TWA lawyers were careful to leave an exit that eventually ended the contract (at very little cost to TWA) before delivery scheduled for 1992. The TWA A-330 was to be powered by 2 Rolls-Royce RB 211-524L engines designed to produce 72,000 pounds each at take-off thrust.
A-320
The TWA configuration was to seat 301 passengers. When the contract was signed Airbus sent several of us models of the TWA A-330 as seen in this photograph. Back to the TWA A-320. Pan Am purchased 20 A-320's that they could not take delivery of as they went out of business. Those aircraft were already built and waiting on the ramp in Toulouse. Needless to say Airbus was willing and anxious to find another buyer. TWA was contacted with a very favorable financial offer to purchase these aircraft. At the time, in 1991, I was VP Training STL and we were tasked along with TWA Maintenance to do a cost analysis to put these 20 A-320's into service. The training cost (including simulator purchase) was projected to be $20 million. Maintenance (including spare engines and parts) was $80 million. The project cost before any revenue a staggering $100 million. We were directed to proceed. Wendell Rone was selected to be the Flight Operations manager of the project. He was to proceed to Toulouse as we neared contract signing. I well remember working with him to put this together and he was planning to leave for simulator training in Toulouse over the weekend. Alas, not to be. I got a call from NY Flight Operations that the deal was scrubbed at the last minute. The unhappy end to the TWA A-320 story was a call from me to Wendell advising that the deal was off. The aircraft eventually went to America West and I believe still fly in the US Air fleet. Maybe someday another TWA pilot will fly the A-320? Maybe a younger TWA Captain, Clarke Billie, Jr.? [TW/AA 1988-2002 AW to present—Ed.]
A-330
HIMALAYAN HIGH AND OTHER ADVENTURES Photos and text by Bud Kuball, collated by Ms. Carol Ann Hawley [Bud, TW 1953-1989, is a man who enjoyed his air- out the town. One fall, a few years prior, I had line travel benefits to the max.! – Ed.] flown to Churchill to see the Polar Bears. “Tundra Buggy” tours are available to see them. They hang After my Australian motorcycle adventure in Noout around Churchill waiting for Hudson Bay to vember 1994 (See Topics Issue #106, March 2013), freeze over so they may return to their normal sealthe following spring (1995) I was reading Motor hunting activities on the ice. Home Life magazine and saw that one was available Back in Gillam the next day, I pointed the motor with four wheel drive (4WD). I've always wanted home (the factory call them “Scotties” and had something like this for my many skiing and off-road mounted a Scotty dog decal on the front overhang) hunting trips. Not only that, but it was built on a west and was on my way. Dodge chassis. Dodge had recently re-designed their cab and it was also available with a Cummings Turbo-Charged diesel engine. This was a “Perfect Storm” so in June (1995) I drove to the dealership in Sonora, California from Las Vegas to check them out. I liked what I saw, left a deposit with delivery set for November. That summer, while waiting for delivery, I contacted the Travel Department of R.E.I. (Recreational One place I vividly remember was the little minEquipment Incorporated) in Seattle, Washington, ing/lumbering town with the unusual name of Flin and signed up for a two-week hike in Nepal during Flon, Manitoba, Canada. It was named after a fictiNovember 1996. Fall (1995) arrived and I flew to tious character in a paperback novel whose names Pennsylvania to pick up the motor home at the facwas Flintabbatey Flonatin. Nobody could protory in Irwin followed by a drive back to Las Vegas. nounce his name correctly so they just shortened it The remainder of the fall and the spring of 1996 to Flin Flon. Proceeding westward, the plains fiwere spent upgrading the motor home for the forthnally gave way to the beautiful Rocky Mountains of coming trip to Northern Canada and Alaska. An exAlberta, passing through Calgary, Banff, Lake tra fuel tank, hitch-mounted trunk and an electric Louise, Jasper and continuing on north to Northwest winch were added to the chassis while satellite TV, Territories. solar panels and a folding boat were mounted on the I made a side trip to a village on the Peace River, roof. By the middle of April I was ready and dedid some lake fishing around Yellow Knife and then parted Las Vegas. First stop was a specialty shop in west to cross the border into Yukon Territory. The Indiana for further enhancement to the motor Yukon is a sports person's paradise with less people home—refinement to the fuel delivery system on the (30,989) than the city of Fairbanks, Alaska (31,535). Cummings to increase boost plus a less restrictive I particularly like the Dempster Highway, a 500 muffler and air filter. Also installed were three mile gravel road from Dawson City, Yukon, to Inugauges—EGT, Boost and exhaust brake pressure. vik, Northwest Territory (NWT) near the Arctic Then it was north to Canada and Hudson Bay. To Ocean. The highway was named after a Royal Caget to Churchill, on the Southwest side of Hudson nadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer who was Bay, one has to drive to the end of the road at the sent on a rescue patrol in 1911 trying to find a little town of Gillam and do the final 300 miles by RCMP “Lost Patrol” but all he found were the four train. The train comes through around midnight and frozen bodies. One crosses the Porcupine river by arrives Churchill about 0700, stays all day and ferry, which gives its name to the famous Porcupine leaves that evening for the return trip to Gillam and Caribou herd, 100,000 plus—which migrates northWinnipeg. That leaves you a whole day to check ward every spring, crosses the Porcupine River and
ends up in Northeastern Alaska where the females give birth and then work their way southbound to their winter grounds in the Yukon, south of the Porcupine River. The McKenzie River is also crossed by ferry before reaching Inuvik, NWT. After returning to Dawson City I took the ferry across the Yukon River and then over the “Top of the World” highway to Alaska. By the way, there is no charge for river ferries up North as they are considered part of the highway system. On 17 July 1996, the date of the tragic TWA Flt. 800 loss out of New York, I was in Eagle, Alaska, a quaint little village on the Yukon River where pilots land their aircraft on Main Street—park them in front of their homes—where General William “Billy Mitchell was stationed in 1901-1902 and ordered to set up a communications system for the Army throughout the wilderness of Alaska. He later became famous for his stance against the “Battle Ship Admirals” and proved his point by sinking a leftover German battleship the “Ostfriesland” from World War 1 with bombs carried by the flimsy aircraft of the period. My favorite highway in Alaska, the Dalton, is named after James W. Dalton who designed the DEW line (Distant Early Warning), also known as the North Slope haul road 500 miles (all gravel after the Yukon River bridge, from Fairbanks to the North Slope oil fields at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. This road was built for the truckers to carry supplies to the oil fields and was closed to the public until 1994. There is only one developed campground on this route—at Wiseman. Actually, campgrounds are a “novelty” up here as the whole North Country is one big campground. I was self-sufficient with my extra batteries, solar panels and a back-up generator plus getting water from streams and lakes. At Prudhoe Bay I was able to dip my fingers in the Arctic Ocean and place my hand in a cut out in the Alaska Pipeline to Valdez and feel the temperature of the oil as it was flowing through—it was warm! Incidentally, when driving this road, one places plastic over the headlights so they won't get broken from flying rocks by the passing or overtaking trucks. (In Fairbanks, before I left, I was told truckers would apply trailer brakes to spray rocks on RVers, but I found it wasn't so; they were very courteous. Upon returning to Fairbanks, I had to buy a new set of tires—eight (as I have three axles on the motor
home). Gravel roads are hard on tires and these 10ply tires only lasted eight months! After several weeks touring around Alaska, it was time to go home and I arrived back in Las Vegas midSeptember (1996), just five months after I left. I had a month and a half before leaving for Nepal, so I wasn't pressed for time. The only thing I needed to bring was a sleeping bag (not your wife) since the outfitter would furnish the tents and other supplies. The sleeping bag I chose was my favorite—an orange colored “Tangerine Dream” by North Face. It was a synthetic filled bag rated at -300 Fahrenheit and had seven inches of loft. I had a better bag that was rated at -600 F with six pounds of Northern goose down and a wool liner. This would be a great bag for climbing Mr. Everest (29,035') so long as you had a Sherpa to carry it, as it weighed 23 pounds. I am not a technical climber so Mt. Everest would be out of the question. The highest I've been is to 18,635' on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa—and that was just a hike or trek. By the way, what we call a hike in North America would be called a trek in the rest of the world. Also, what we call a trail would be called a track. I remember doing the Milford Track in New Zealand once. The Tourist Bureau billed it as “The finest Walk in the World” but the locals say the Routebourne Track is better. Anyway, rains washed out part of the track so they brought in a helicopter to ferry the “trekkers” around the washout. (No extra charge.) A visa was required for Nepal and that was accomplished by mail. My reduced rate airline tickets were purchased at the TWA ticket office in the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas; Southwest to LAX, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Bangkok and Thai Air to Kathmandu, Nepal. By the end of October I'm off to LAX but had trouble getting out on Cathay Pacific. For two nights I stood by at the airport and the 747 would leave with empty seats because it was weight restricted—a lot of cargo. Finally, on the third night, I was lucky and got a seat—in fact five seats. I was able to get a seat row in back with five empty seats. By folding the armrests I had a nice bed for that long haul (11+ hours) to Hong Kong. Since I had been in Hong Kong several times prior, I just kept on going to Bangkok, Thailand. There I ran into a problem at the airport. Thai Air refused to honor my reduced rate fare to Kathmandu, Nepal, because of a black-
out period due to some holiday. As I was now on a tight schedule, I had no choice but to buy a full fare ticket so I could make my tour departure date out of Kathmandu. It was a nice flight to Kathmandu on an Airbus, arriving there mid-afternoon. The REI tour guide met me at the airport and delivered me to a spacious room at a local hotel. While waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, I wandered around the city and found it to be quite nice with lots of eating places and B & B's (bed and breakfast hotels) a Mecca for the Mt. Everest climbers. The “group” finally arrived—only one person, a nurse from Boise, Idaho showed up. This was going to be a two-person event. I couldn't believe it. How could R.E.I. make a profit with only two persons on a tour? Well, that was their problem, not mine! The next day we're off by van to the Himalayan range north of town. By the way, this was not a mountain climbing expedition. It was only a trek along the Himalayan Foothills, checking out the life style of the people in the little villages along Nepalese children’s ‘Ferris wheel’ the way. There were about six Sherpa (porters) to carry all the gear including tents, a toilet tent, table and chairs (for two), sleeping bags and mattresses, cooking utensils and food. Occasionally, fresh fruits and vegetables would be purchased in the little mountain villages along the track. I would be carrying a small day pack containing my water bottle and some rain gear, if needed, plus some wine. R.E.I. ran a first class operation. They would set up our tents and toilet tent. In the morning they would wake you up by bringing a hot pitcher of tea to your tent (with sugar and goat's milk—if wanted). For breakfast they would set up a table for two with a stunning view of the snow covered Himalayan Peaks in the background—a picture postcard breakfast. (Picture enclosed.) Breakfast usually consisted of (what else??) hot tea, fresh fruit and either hot porridge or eggs. Very satisfying for a hungry
Typical overnight camp site
stomach! I usually walked at the end of the group and one day as we passed by a private residence, the owner, who spoke very good English, invited me inside. We had a nice chat for about 30 minutes while his wife worked feverishly away (Like Saudi Arabia, Nepal is a true male chauvinistic society.) Then the tour guide came looking for me and it was time to go. (The main fear of any tour guide anywhere in the world is that they may lose someone— that is why you see them counting, counting, and counting all the time.) As we approached another village, a strong odor was detected coming from the area. There was a rocky area with big boulders and the residents, with no indoor plumbing, were using these rocks for their bathroom. One village we camped near even hosted a little party for us. On a little (outside) wooden platform, a small band played some music to which female (no male) dancers performed. Some even came over and asked us to dance. I don't know what they call their fancy footwork but a “Nepalese two-step” seemed to do the trick!
Porters resting at lunch stop
Along the way, we always stopped for lunch which consisted of the ever-present hot tea, an assortment of cheeses, and some kind of meat. I carried a couple or three bottles of wine (for medicinal use only??) to jazz up the meals a little. Since the group didn't stop to honor “Happy Hour,” I, (we?)
would have a glass of wine while waiting for the evening meal to be prepared. This was usually hot soup or stew cooked on their small kerosene stoves, with some bread and a dessert of some kind.
Locals along the trail
The last few days of the trek, we worked our way lower, finally ending up in a valley with a small village nearby. Here a car and driver met the group and drove the two of us—the nurse and I—to the next phase of our journey—Royal Chitwan National Park. The road was rough going and the car didn't seem to have any springs—nor did the back seat we were sitting in. We were glad to get out of that car when we arrived at the park. (I later wrote R.E.I. and said it might be better if they used a Rolls Royce on that portion of the trek—No answer!) Anyway, the Lodge at the Park was beautiful, with nice accommodations and good food. A lot of foreign tourists were also here—mostly from Europe. The few days here were passed by trekking the tracks and observing the wildlife. Also, canoeing the waterways was fun—looking for that ever elusive tiger. Probably the highlight of this park was riding the elephants. Getting on one was a challenge
Were we not taught to mount from the left side? Well, an elephant is not a horse, is it?
all by itself, but with the help of a Mahout - elephant handler - the task was a little easier. The elephant would walk along in trail and I would pretend I was a Maharaja in India on a tiger hunt! The park visit ended and the (same!) car and driver drove us back to Kathmandu. The R.E.I. Portion was now over, the nurse headed back to Boise, but I decided to hang around for a few more days to see what mischief I could get into! The first order of business (pleasure?) was to find more affordable accommodations. By walking around I ran into a B & B that provided the basics at a reasonable price. Next, I walked into a tour agency and asked if there was anything exciting going on in the area. She (Pauline) said yes, they had a raft trip going down the Kali Gandaki River in a few days. Wow, that's great, as rafting is one of my favorite things to do. However, a couple of minor details emerged—the meeting place was in the village of Pokhara, about 100 miles northwest of Kathmandu—and from there it was about a five-hour bus ride to the put-in place on the river. Not to worry, I signed on as the price was right, about one-third of that of a similar trip in North America. To myself, ... I was thinking their equipment must be ratty, but I was to be pleasantly surprised. After paying Pauline for the trip I decided to further enhance her financial situation by inviting her out to dinner that evening. She (Pauline) immediately stood up, waved both arms in the air, and hollered at the top of her voice—loud enough for all her co-workers to hear, “I have a date, I have a date.” I couldn't believe what I was hearing! With all the Everest climbers and trekkers passing through Kathmandu every day, you'd think she would have a wide selection to choose from. Pauline was certainly not a #10, but she wasn't a #0 either—somewhere in between. FYI Pauline was a British expatriate working in Nepal. (Remember the silent movie “The Perils of Pauline”? My mother's name was Pauline and I always wondered if my dad mulled over those words before he asked her to marry him! (1920). Closing time was approaching so I wandered down to the Agency to escort Pauline to dinner. She brought along three of her co-workers, (Shades of Tonga!) but they went Dutch so it was no big deal. Food prices were quite reasonable in Kathmandu (1996). Before I left Kathmandu I gave Pauline my Merrill trekking boots, which were still in good
shape, to give to some Sherpa who needed a pair. She also booked me a room in Pokhara the night before the raft trip. The next day I wandered over to the head office of Air Nepal and was able to procure a RTRR Ticket to Pokhara. That's unusual because normally one has to do this before leaving the States (Could never do this in Tahiti). I also purchased a sightseeing trip to Mt. Everest on Everest Air as that would be a little easier than trying to climb it! The day of the sightseeing flight was beautiful, blue skies with a few puffy white clouds floating about. The aircraft used was a high wing twin engine turbo prop—probably Russian. The single flight attendant was a pretty Nepalese girl in native dress. (Picture enclosed.) No meals served on this flight—not even peanuts!
The snow-capped peak of Mt. Everest poked up through what few clouds there were. I was a little disappointed that the pilot didn't go closer to Mt. Everest—or even over it—but he was probably restricted from doing so—or maybe he didn't want to get shot down by the Chinese! Returning to Kathmandu, it was now time to get ready for the raft trip and I was back at the airport the next morning for the short flight to Pokhura. After checking in at the hotel I went to the tour guide's office and found that we would be leaving by bus at 0800 hours in the morning for the river. Upon meeting everyone the following morning, I was amazed to find that almost everybody (about 16 or so) were with the Peace Corps. They were either finishing their tour of duty and returning to the States or going to their
next assignment; a lot of them to India. Most were in their 20's, about half and half guys and gals. Two buses were used for this operation, one for the passengers, the other for the crew and gear, rafts, food, etc. After a five-hour bumpy ride over a mostly unimproved road, we arrived at the river. The Kali Gandaki River flows out of the Himalayas and flows south-southeast ending up in the Ganges—India's sacred river. We all pitched in to blow up the two rafts and set up camp. I was amazed that the rafts were all almost new Avon’s; ditto for the life jackets. My job was to dig the hole for the toilet tent. The crew dished out a good meal and afterward, we got ready for the night by placing our sleeping bags over the ground cloth on the sandy beach— there were no tents provided. Luckily, we had no rain. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we packed all the gear into the two rafts, pushed them into the river and we were on our way. We also had a couple of kayakers, with their kayaks, paddling along with us for safety reasons which I'll explain later.
The portion of the river that we floated was fairly scenic—but not as majestic as our Grand Canyon. The hills were more moderate with a lot of greenery and small farm plots along the way. However, there was plenty of white water (rapids) with quite a few #4's (out of a 1-6 scale). One of the Peace Corps guys was always on my case (we'll call him “big mouth”) saying I'd better hold on good or I'll get pitched off the raft. I remember the oar-person (there were no motors) telling me in his broken English – When I say “hold on.” you hold on. Well, I'm no dummy, and know how to follow orders. Well, guess what, old “big mouth” got pitched out of the raft on the first #4 we hit. Here is where the kayakers come into play. Anytime we are headed for some serious white water, the kayakers are sent out
ahead and line the river—one on each side—to fish out anyone who went overboard. “Big mouth” never mouthed off at me again after he was rescued by a kayaker. Another guy was also picked up. After six days of this, we came to our take-out point and were bussed back to Pokhara. The tour company had a little party for the group to celebrate our “safe” return, followed by the usual tips for the crew.
Early the next morning, I'm at the airport for the flight to Kathmandu. Arriving Kathmandu and checking in for the flight to Bangkok, the agent said the flight was full. He said the same thing to a pretty Thai woman. A few minutes later, she came back and I noticed a $100.00 bill (U.S.) protruding from her ticket envelop. The agent then said, “Welcome aboard, Miss.” As in Las Vegas, “Money talks and bull---- walks.” Being on a standby ticket, I figured I'd never get on, but low and behold, as the flight was being closed out, I was assigned a seat. When on board, I notice several empty seats. … The following morning, I trotted down to the TWA ticket offices. (Remember when TWA had ticket offices scattered throughout the world?) Instead of going back through Hong Kong, I wanted to go via Australia and New Zealand, … and planned on hiking the Milford Track (mentioned earlier) in New Zealand. I was amazed that the TWA agent, a pretty Thai woman, could do this—Cathy Pacific to Sydney, Air New Zealand to Auckland and regional to Christ Church and Queenstown, on the South Island. … Leaving the next morning for Sydney, this time by air, I was able to connect to Air New Zealand to Auckland and then Regional Air to Queenstown on the South Island. Incidentally, the South Island is called “The Land of the Long White Cloud” because of the cloud bank that usually hangs out over the Southern Alps. Queenstown is nestled on the shore of Lake Wakatipu and in their winter
(June-August) is known as the “Aspen of the Southern Alps” because of its proximity to two great ski areas, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables. I've skied both of these in prior years. … The people that ran the Milford Track operation provided some very nice over-night accommodations. These were buildings with a bunkhouse for the guys and the same for the gals. Another building had a sitting area where hot meals were served. Showers were also available. I remember one stop where a piano was located in the sitting room. … As I mentioned earlier, part of the track near MacKinnon Pass was washed out by heavy rains and a helicopter was brought in to ferry the group around the washout. It took several trips for the helicopter to accomplish this. At another over night stop a small air strip was adjacent to the track and the owner of a Cessna 180 was giving scenic rides (for a fee, of course). I signed up for a half hour … ride. There were two Japanese women in the back seat. This area was one of deep and steep canyons and I was tempted to ask the pilot where he would land if the engine quit—but I knew the answer, in the river below! We are now down at sea level, arriving at Milford Sound, after trekking 32 miles. A boat ride on the beautiful sound was provided for all with lunch served on board. Afterward, we were all bussed back to Queenstown, our starting place. … As for the Milford Track being the “Finest Walk in the World,” that is up for conjecture, one would have to trek all the trails in the world and that would be nigh impossible. I would say, though, that it was well organized. This was my first time trekking with a group, I've usually hiked by myself, carrying my “house” on my back, a quieter way to observe what nature has to offer.
Sandfly Point from www.ultimatehikes.co.nz
CHECK IT OUTâ&#x20AC;Ś TWA historian and TARPA member, Jon Proctor, jonproctor.net/ has just added a great collection of photos to his web site covering the New York City airports over the years. The exact page is: http://jonproctor.net/new-york-city-through-the-years/
the
Grapevine
Only a fool would seek words of wisdom in a cookie.
^ [P.S. to last issue’s ‘durdy’ fortune cookies] THE LATEST ‘COCKPIT MAGIC’, from an American Airlines press release and the Airbus web site:
See this short but interesting Airbus video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhzwpa99OPw
“American Airlines Selects Airbus' Runway Overrun Prevention System For Its A320 Family Fleet….” (20/03/2013) “American Airlines has decided to equip all of its A320 Family fleet with Airbus' innovative Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) technology. This onboard cockpit technology, which Airbus has pioneered independently over several years, increases pilots' situational awareness during landing, reduces exposure to runway excursion risk, and if necessary, provides active protection.” "We are proud to be the first airline to equip our entire A320 family aircraft with this state-of-the-art technology," said Capt. John Hale, Vice President - Flight for American Airlines. "Our pilots appreciate the operational benefits that this industry-approved cockpit technology will bring to their daily work." “Runway excursion - meaning either an aircraft veering off the side of the runway, or overrunning at the very end - has become the primary cause of civil airliner hull losses in recent years, particularly as other formerly prevalent categories of aircraft accidents have now largely been eliminated. Furthermore, various industry bodies including the EASA, NTSB, Eurocontrol and FAA recognize this and are fully behind the introduction of effective measures by commercial aviation stakeholders to not only mitigate, but eliminate the risk of runway excursions.” “In line with this, Airbus is working to make ROPS commercially available to other aircraft manufacturers' aircraft. The system could be coupled with the mandatory Terrain Avoidance Warning System already fitted on Airbus aircraft and will utilize an enhanced and specifically developed version of its worldwide runway database.” “The Airbus-patented ROPS computes minimum realistic in flight landing and ground stopping distances while comparing them to available landing distances in real time. The analyses take into account factors such as runway topography, runway condition, aircraft weight and configuration, wind, and temperature. The resulting outcome produces audio callouts and alerts for pilots, making ROPS an awareness tool to assist the crew in the go-around decision making process and the timely application of ground stopping means.” [Pilotless planes coming? Will we just have to push the button labeled ‘Kokomo’, or wherever?—Ed.]
FROM JOHN ROHLFING, TW 1965—1999 (etal )
In the third grade Sister Mary, our teacher, said, “Bobby, quit looking out the window, because when you grow up no one will pay you to sit there and look out the window." Well, I guess I showed her.
FROM GENE HAMMON, TW 1966—1999
See a brief (c. 7 min.) video on the ‘Birth of the Israeli Air Force’ at:
https://vimeo.com/54400569
Remembering back when Captain Wes Mattonen [TW 1955—1986] took me up for a few flights in these JetStar "in-flight simulators" during my FE/FO upgrade. The one in the background had an "N" number of 007 and had been used in a James Bond movie. [Goldfinger; Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, 1964, see below.—Ed.] In keeping with training protocols Wes could not let me land the plane. I had to go-around at 50 feet. I suppose the concern was that visual cues would be permanently branded in our brain's and we would crunch all of our landings in the bigger planes for the rest of our careers.
[To reduce training costs, TWA was innovative in purchasing two Lockheed ‘JetStars’ for the initial flight training of Flight Engineers upgrading to First Officer. Wikipedia.com briefly describes the JetStar: “The Lockheed JetStar (company designations L-329 and L-1329; designated C-140 in USAF service) is a business jet produced from the early 1960s through the 1970s. The JetStar was the first dedicated business jet to enter service. It was also one of the largest aircraft in the class for many years, seating ten plus two crew. It is distinguishable from other small jets by its four engines, mounted on the rear of the fuselage in a similar layout to the larger Vickers VC10 airliner that first flew several years later, and the "slipper"-style fuel tanks fixed to the wings.”]
(LtoR) ‘Auric Enterprises’ Jetstar in P. G.’s hangar; Horrified controllers watch as plane plunges into the sea. Goldfinger has been sucked out a hole in the cabin but James and Pussy parachuted to safety, naturally. see: http://website.lineone.net/~landair/goldfinger.htm Great Fun!
DELTA UPGRADES IN-FLIGHT, ER ... ON GROUND SERVICE “Passengers on a Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) flight that was stranded on the tarmac in Knoxville for three hours after severe weather diverted the Boston to Atlanta flight, were shocked - and a little less agitated - when a stack of pizzas was delivered to the plane. It was not being disclosed early Wednesday as to who ordered the pizzas during the storms on Monday, but the prime suspect is the pilot, Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV reported early Wednesday. A passenger on the flight told WXIA that flight attendants couldn’t stop laughing over the Pizza Hut delivery, which arrived, he said, via police car.” WXIA-TV, Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor, Mar 20, 2013—See the TV news video clip at: http://hapeville.11alive.com/news/news/185822-delta-passengers-surprised-pizza-delivery-tarmac
FROM JON ZACHEM A couple of years ago a friend in Toms River said she was finally cleaning out a desk and came across this calendar we had given her as a Christmas card. She mailed it to us and being a saver, I kept checking it every year to see if it was usable. Finally, this was the year. It is hanging on our frig to remind us of when flying was part of the vacation. I'll bet Jim Schmitt has them all.
See the March 2010 TOPICS for a reprint of an article from the Fall 2009 KENTUCKY ALUMNI on Jon. It’s available on line at www.tarpa.com click the ‘Topics Archives’ button.
AT SANTA PAULA, CA. BY THE ED. AND BARRY SCHIFF A hangar neighbor at 10C took this snap on a recent visit to Santa Paula (SZP). I forwarded it to Barry Schiff for his comments: “I am very familiar with those hangars. Each was owned by a TWA captain, the one on the right by Bob Vanausdell [1921-1995; TW 1948-1981] and the one on the left by Perry Schreffler [1923-2002; TW 1948-1981]. Together and locally, they were known as Wilbur and Orville, both enthusiastic and active general aviation pilots as well as revered TWA captains. Bob was killed in an aircraft accident, and Perry died, I believe, of complications relating to diabetes. Not sure who currently owns Bob's hangar, but Perry's hangar is owned by his son, Kerry.” Photo by Mike Evans
“You are professionals trained to deal with three things that can kill you: gravity, combustion, and inertia. Keep them under control, and you'll die in bed.”— Bill ‘Sailor’ Davis, long-time TWA ground school safety instructor and former flight (and marine) radio operator.
SINGLE-PILOT AIRLINE OPERATIONS STUDIED— MORE ON ‘LESS PILOTS’, IF NOT ‘PILOT-LESS’ OPERATIONS [FROM AVWEB.COM, MAY 30, 2013] A study funded by the European Commission and involving 35 aviation and government groups is taking a serious look at single-pilot operations for airliners. Advanced Cockpit for Reduction of Stress and workload will spend more than $40 million studying creating an electronic copilot to keep the human pilot flying correctly. The project is being coordinated by Thales Avionics. Airbus and Boeing are also taking part in the project. At first, the electronic gear will be aimed at allowing crew rest periods or to take over in case of pilot incapacitation but there seems little doubt about where this is heading according to Forbes contributor Matthew Stibbe. He opines that the initiative may lead to better safety gear for airliners but he wonders whether the flying public is ready for just one warm seat up front.
IN DEPTH (1 HR.) LOOK AT A BA 747 “D CHECK” (BASE OVERHAUL) http://youtu.be/x_yHtfGH0nI INTERVIEW WITH DICK PEARSON BY KAYE CHANDLER “Dick Pearson was CEO of TWA during the Icahn era. He talks about Icahn. He also talks about the hijacking of TWA flight 847 and what it took to get our pilots as well as our airplane out of Lebanon.”
Go to: http://marcbrecy.perso.neuf.fr/dickpearsontwa.html 12 1/2 min.
FROM KEN YECK, TW 156-1984 … Many, many years ago when we were really living the good life, TWA flew into Bombay, now Mumbai. … Most of us went shopping for various goodies. One of the places that received a lot of attention was a jewelry store with exceptional value .… I have visited Mumbai several times in the past two years and we tried to look up Harry to say hello. After a little detective work we traced him to the Grand Hyatt near the airport. He hasn't changed much but now rents a shop called Living Jewels. We enjoyed seeing him again and renewing old friendships. He replaced a crystal on an expensive watch for me at no cost plus some repair work on jewelry my wife had banged up a bit. His prices are exceptional and well worth the effort. I thought some of the old Bombay Rats might enjoy seeing the enclosed picture and to all that might be passing through Mumbai, it would be a great place to visit. … His telephone number is 022 67 02 04 18. It is the Grand Hyatt Hotel. His email is living_jewel@hotmail.com
TWAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S EARLY DAYS IN THE SILVER STATE THANKS TO BILL KIRSCHNER AND GUY FORTIER
TARPA PRESIDENT BILL KIRSCHNER AND PAST PRESIDENT GUY FORTIER ARE REFLECTED IN THE PHOTO (by Bill) OF A PLAQUE MARKING THE RESTORED AIR TERMINAL BUILT BY T&WA AT BOULDER CITY, NV. IN 1938.
THE PLAQUE READS:
TWA TERMINAL BUILDING In 1938 Transcontinental and Western Air Lines, later Trans World Airlines, began serving Clark County, flying into Bullock field at Boulder City. The airline believed that Boulder City would be a more [?] market than nearby Las Vegas, and did not want to lease space at the Western Air Express airport east of Las Vegas. The airport was located here from 1933 until 1990, when a new airport for Boulder City was opened at the current site. This building was built as the terminal for TWA in 1938, and served in that capacity until the airline moved to Las Vegas in 1949. In 1958, the Boulder City Lodge 1682 of the benevolent and Protective Order of Elks purchased the building. Since then, the lodge has operated the building as its home, maintaining the historic structure. Though expanded, the original TWA Terminal Building continues to greet visitors to Boulder City. DEDICATED THIS 21ST DAY OF MARCH, 2010 BY THE QUENO POSSE CHAPTER 1616 OF ECLAMPUSVITUS IN CONJUNCTION WITH BPOE LODGE 1682
Las Vegas was but an oasis in the desert in the middle of nowhere. The building of Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam) on the Colorado River created Boulder City to house the thousands engaged in the construction of the Dam.
Boulder City c. 1938 ^ "LET'S RIDE - Old West cowboys greet an early TWA flight out of the Boulder City Airport. The airport was thought to be the hub for aviation during the early years of flight in the 1930s."
"T W A WAITING ROOM about 1938" ^ Station Agent "Bake" Baker and two passengers"
VERY GOOD VIDEO HISTORY OF PAN AM Go to: http://vimeo.com/26086480 (20 min.)
WHEN FLYING WAS ELEGANT, FUN AND EXCITING Join these honeymooners on a twelve minute Connie flight to LAX. A special point is made of pointing out the Grand Canyon. This was obviously filmed prior to June 30, 1956. Guaranteed to bring back memories, some sad; but mostly happy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuWZXyVsjdE&feature=related
FROM 1996
Ten years later, then editor John Gratz marked the 60th anniversary with these TOPICS covers, photos from 1946.
EVERYBODY LOVES A CONSPIRACY JUST AS WE WERE GOING TO PRESS, THE FOLLOWING FLASH LIT UP THE INTERNET: “The documentary, ‘TWA Flight 800,’ will premiere July 17, the 17th anniversary of the crash. The co-producer of the film, Tom Stalcup, is co-founder of the Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization and has been a longtime and passionate critic of the official investigation. Suspicions that criminals or terrorists were behind the TWA 800 explosion are not new. The FBI conducted a parallel investigation, but concluded that the incident was not a crime or terrorist attack. The NTSB ultimately ruled that the explosion was caused by an electrical short, most likely originating in a fuel gauge line, which found its way into the center wing fuel tank, detonating the lethal fuel vapors there. The NTSB said Tuesday that it was aware of the pending release of the documentary, which will air on EPIX TV network, and of the producers' intent to file a petition to reopen the investigation.” See: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/us/twa-crash-claim/
BUT NOT ALL WERE CAUGHT UP IN THE HYPE FROM AVWEB.COM, 6/20/13 Filmmaker Challenges TWA Flight 800 Crash Report A documentary film called TWA Flight 800 is attracting attention through its claims that the NTSB's four-year investigation into the 1996 crash included intentionally falsified information and a phony conclusion, and that the case should be reopened -- but some key players are, so far, unimpressed. Tom Stalcup, the documentary's co-producer, says the movie does not explain the explosion of the jet. He told CNN the documentary presents "solid proof that there was an external detonation" and "radar data shows an asymmetric explosion coming out of that plane," contrary to the findings of investigators. He says the documentary includes six former investigators and eyewitness accounts, and the producers say they intend to file a petition asking the NTSB to reopen the case. TWA Flight 800, a Boeing 747-131, exploded in the air over southern Long Island on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 onboard. Investigators determined the cause of the explosion was a fault common to several other explosions. In response to the documentary the family member of one victim was direct in his criticism of the filmmakers. "Personal self-fulfilling motives by exploiting those who died on TWA800 is nauseating," Matt Zimkiewicz, who lost his sister to the flight, told ABC news. Zimkiewicz said both he and his family had "full faith and confidence" in the NTSB's findings. The NTSB determined that "the crash occurred as the result of a fuel/air explosion in the airplane's center wing fuel tank," and the ignition energy "most likely" entered the tank through the fuel quantity indication system wiring. (PDF) The NTSB stated that neither the location of the ignition within the tank, or "the ignition energy release mechanism," could be determined from the available evidence. It also stated, "There was no evidence of a missile or bomb detonation." Asked why the government would hide a "real" reason for the crash, Stalcup said he refused to speculate. Sources at the NTSB stand by their conclusions and say they are open to any new evidence. The NTSB's computer models predicted that, on average, an aircraft would suffer a similar fuel tank explosion every four years. In May 1990, a Philippine Airlines 737-300 had suffered a center-wing fuel tank explosion. In 1996, Flight 800 exploded. In March 2001, a Thai Airways 737-400 exploded while sitting on a hot ramp at Bangkok. In 2006, a Boeing 727-200 suffered a fuel tank explosion in its right wing while the aircraft was on the ground at Bangalore, India. Multiple Airworthiness Directives were issued by the FAA for different Boeing models to address the problem many years after the TWA explosion. Each gave operators years to address the issue. In 2012, some of those directives met formal opposition from airline trade groups, which sought to delay implementation, citing cost concerns.
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN JOHN E. RICHEY, JR. NOVEMBER 17, 1920 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2012 TWA 1945 – 1980
From MAKING OF AN AIRLINE, 1981
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN DREW C. WASSON, JR. JANUARY 8, 1921 – JANUARY 10, 2013 TWA 1948 - 1986
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ROBERT L. HOLLOWAY MARCH 8, 1937 – JANUARY 30, 2013 TWA 1959 – 1987
IN MEMORY OF DAVID E. GRIGG DECEMBER 3, 1921 - FEBRUARY 1, 2013 TWA 1946 - 1986
From MAKING OF AN AIRLINE, 1981
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN WAYNE L. HAGGARD MARCH 19, 1923 – FEBRUARY 5, 2013 TWA 1945 – 1983
Wayne L. Haggard, 89, loving and beloved Husband, Father, Grandfather and friend passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on February 5th, 2013. He was born on March 19, 1923 in Long Beach, CA a third generation Californian. He claimed it was a dark and stormy night but that was never confirmed. His parents were Irma and Lawrence Haggard. Wayne spent his school age years in Bakersfield, California. Wayne was an honored World War II Veteran. He joined the army in 1941. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Cargo and flew a C-47 with that squadron to India/Burma. When he finished the tour dropping ammunition and supplies up close to the British Army fighting in Burma he requested a transfer to the 82nd Bomb squadron. There he flew a second combat tour. He left the service in August of 1945 and joined TWA August 30th 1945. Wayne flew for TWA for 38 years. He flew the DC-3, DC-4, Martin 404, all versions of the Constellation, all 707s and the Lockheed 1011. He spent his last years piloting the 747 on the polar route from LAX to London. In addition to flying, he spent half of his career leading and negotiating for the ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association, International). He was twice elected Master Chairman and four times chairman of Pilot Negotiating Committees. His strong and innovative leadership was instrumental in achieving many significant improvements in the professional life of TWA pilots during the course of their careers. Wayne lived most of his life in Manhattan Beach. He served as Chairman of the Cities Board of Adjustments for a few years. He was an avid sailor. His boat named UNO MAS was as familiar anchored at Catalina Island as it was on the racecourse where he won his share of trophies. Later in life, he took up taking college courses; topped by a memorable term at Cambridge University in England. His last years were enjoyed living in Fallbrook, CA. He served eight years as a member of the Fallbrook Sheriff’s Senior Volunteer Patrol. He and his wife Judy traveled the world enough to satisfy anyone’s wanderlust. He is survived by Judy and three daughters Lauren Rossin, Christine Gregory and Scott Elaine Case. Each daughter provided three delightful grandchildren, Meagan, Chase, Avery, Submitted by Judy (Mrs. Wayne) Haggard Brent, Duncan, Evan, Blake, Dillon and Colby.
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM D. POWELL APRIL 2, 1928 – FEBRUARY 10, 2013 TWA 1956 – 1988
From MAKING OF AN AIRLINE, 1981
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN HUGH G. GRAFF DECEMBER 25, 1919 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FEBRUARY 17, 2013 TWA 1944 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1980
With gratitude for a life well-lived, the family of Hugh Graff announces his passing February 17, 2013. Service will be 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at the First Christian Church, 125 S. Pleasant, Independence, MO 64050. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. prior to the service. Private burial at Mt. Washington Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the First Christian Church or Crossroads Hospice, 9237 Ward Parkway, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64114. Hugh was born Dec. 25, 1919, on a farm near Rosendale, Mo., to Irvin and Myrtle Graff. During the depths of the Depression, Hugh supported himself with the "most lucrative paper route in town" for the St. Joseph News Press and Gazette. He formed the Hugh and the Arcadians Dance Orchestra and acted as leader, arranger, sax and vocal soloist. He was a lieutenant in Central High School ROTC and graduated in 1937. In 1939 he graduated from St. Joseph Junior College and received his private pilot's license at Rosecrans Field, St. Joseph. As the war escalated, Hugh joined the Civilian Pilot Training program and then the McFarland Flying Service in Pittsburg, Kan., where he instructed glider pilots for the military. He was hired by Trans World Airlines as a mechanic 1944, and checked out to Captain in 1946. Before his retirement in 1979, Hugh had piloted every airplane TWA had: DC-3, Constellation, Convair 880, Boeing 707,727, 747 and Lockheed 1011. In 1960 Hugh moved to the flight training staff in Kansas City as an instructor pilot. In 1968 he became director of TWA's satellite training facility in New York, playing a key role in the development of training and operations standards for the Boeing 747 and the Lockheed 1011. He later served as manager of pilots at Kennedy International Airport in New York before being named general manager of flying for TWA in Kansas City. He had administrative and operational responsibility for nearly 600 pilots. After his nearly 36 year career with TWA, Hugh worked as a business consultant with Commerce Bank of Independence. He was a member of KCI and Independence Rotary clubs (traveling to Seoul, Korea, for the Rotary International Convention), Independence Junior Chamber of Commerce, and committees for the revitalization of the Bingham Waggoner Estate. Hugh served as a deacon and an elder of the First Christian Church, where he was a member for nearly 70 years. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and times in the Lake of the Ozarks with family and friends. He treasured being Papa of the SACK Pack. He was preceded in death by his wives, Susanna Hitz Graff and Norma Cottingham Graff. He is survived by his children, Shirley Graff, Lake Tapawingo, Mo., Natalie GraffBaker and husband Les, Lafayette, Calif., Hap Graff and wife Susie, Lake Tapawingo; step-sons, Reed Cottingham and wife Phyllis, Orlando, Fla., and Bruce Cottingham, Kansas City, Kan.; grandchildren, Kristen Graff-Baker and husband Jonathan, Walnut Creek, Calif., Sarah Graff, Lake Tapawingo, Amanda Graff-Baker, Portland, Ore., Carson Graff and wife Adriane, Lee's Summit, Mo., Samantha Cottingham and Ashley Cottingham, both of Orlando; great-grandchildren, Natalia GraffBaker and Zachary GraffBaker-Bishop both of Walnut Creek. He was the consummate gentle man whose integrity, hard work ethic, kind spirit, and love of life continue to inspire us to Live Life Well. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.speakschapel.com Arrangements: Speaks Suburban Chapel, (816) Published in Kansas City Star on February 19, 2013 373-3600.
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN RUFUS W. “Dub” DAVIS JULY 14, 1920 – FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TWA 1943 – 1988
Photo by TOPICS ed. Nov. 2010.
‘Dub’s daughter, Jaime, wrote, “Yes, [he started on] ICD—ATC in 1942 [as a navigator]. … and retired as captain at age 60 (1980) and then flew as F/E until 1988; 1942-1988 in the cockpit. Retired #1 on the seniority list. His takeoffs and landings always came out equal!” “...He is survived by 6 loving children (ages 49 - 65) and 4 grand kids (ages 2-47). He was a true American gentleman who lifted people up wherever he went, across the globe or across the street. He saw the humanity in everyone from the paperboy to the farmer to the international airline captain, because he was all those things. About flying, he said ‘I sure loved living life up there.’ He truly lived his dream. His life was an adventure lived to the fullest. He has written wonderful stories I'd love to see TARPA publish. Stuff about Encounters with Rickenbacker, Gen Mark Clark, Doolittle,… He was trained to fly by Roscoe Turner! Oh the stories there!” [See the first re: Gen. Mark Clark in this issue—Ed.] And, daughter, Denise Davis Shaughnessy, wrote, “His final westbound flight was February 27, 2013 and he was last seen (literally!) with his radio earphones on and a smile on his face. It was a very peaceful departure in his First Class sleeping quarters—at home.” [I first met ‘Dub’ at the Scottsdale TARPA convention in 2010. He had a really nice collection of all TWA/ATC insignia from WW II to the present. I met Dub again in Oshkosh, also in 2010, where he recorded his memoires for the EAA Timeless Voices project—see http://www.eaa.org/timelessvoices/ and ‘Dub Davis Remembers Gen. Mark Clark’ in this issue—Ed.]
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN CLIFFORD V. SPARROW, JR. MARCH 20, 1920—MARCH 12, 2013 TWA 1944-1985
Clifford V. Sparrow, III, age 92, a longtime resident of Monument, Colorado, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at his home in Woodmoor. He had retired after serving over 41 years as a TWA pilot. Clifford Vernon Sparrow, III was born on March 20, 1920 in Washington, D.C. to the late Clifford V. Sparrow, Jr. and Lillian Sparrow. He was a 1938 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C. and of the University of Maryland at College Park in 1942. He served in the United States Army Air Corps, Transcontinental & Western ATC during WWII and flew in the European, African,
and Middle Eastern theatres, as well as briefly in the Asian theatre. He married Mary Eileen Aitken on November 30, 1948 in Washington, D.C. During his TWA career, he was domiciled at JFK International Airport in New York, New York. He was an avid equestrian and loved "riding to hounds". He was a member of the Board of Directors of Bijou Springs Hunt Club, a member of the TWA Active Retired Pilot's Association (TARPA), a 28year member of Monument Hill Sertoma, and a current member of the Monument Kiwanis. He is survived by his wife, Mary, of Monument; his son, Gregory (wife, Suzanne) Sparrow of Colorado Springs; and his daughter, Dawn (husband, Frank) Casey of Stratford, Oklahoma. Rest in Peace, Captain Sparrow [Cliff was the F/O aboard the ‘Star of Cairo’, our L-49 that crashed on approach to SNN Dec. 27, 1946. See the July 2009 TARPA TOPICS for his account of the accident and several related articles. The issue is available on line, go to www.tarpa.com—click on ‘Topics Archives’.
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN WARREN J. AHR JUNE 24, 1935 – MARCH 24, 2013 TWA 1966 – 1992
Captain Warren Ahr peacefully passed away at home March 24, 2013 with his cherished wife by his side. Warren was born in San Antonio, Texas at Santa Rosa Hospital. In six years, he was in another Santa Rosa, this one in California where his father had been transferred to the Naval Air Station there. Warren attended St. Rose School, Santa Rosa High School and Santa Rosa Junior College. His love of flying led him to work part time to pay for flying lessons, and he earned his Private Pilots License before he entered the Air Force Pilot Training Program. After two years of Cadet training, he graduated and received a Regular Officers Commission. He liked to say that he acquired his wings, a new car and his beloved wife in the space of one week. During his nine and a half years in the Air Force, he served in the Strategic Air Command. He flew many classified missions in the Airborne Command Post during the Cuban Missile crisis, and also a number classified missions in the Far East. While serving in the Air Force, Warren earned his college Bachelors Degree under a joint Government and University of Maryland program. This included a course in Russian needed in flying the Airborne Command Post. In 1966 Warren decided to relinquish his Regular Officers Commission and join TWA as a commercial pilot, starting as a Flight Engineer, then First Officer and then as Captain. In 1987 Warren was given the TWA Award of Excellence for Flight Operations as Outstanding pilot for the year 1986. He retired in 1992. During his school years he was active in sports, tennis, basketball and baseball. He played semi-pro baseball one summer in Santa Clara. During the TWA years and after retirement, those sports gave way to his passion for golf. Warren was a member of Marin Country Club for 43 years. He served as VicePresident on the Board of Directors when the club was purchased to become a private members only club.
Warren met the love of his life, Jeannie, when they were in high school. Both had college and USAF pilot training commitments which resulted in a seven year courtship. They were married in 1958 sharing a deep love for one another for 54 years. Warren faithfully maintained close friendships with High School, TWA and Marin Country Club friends. These bonds he valued highly. Warren is survived by his cherished wife, Jeannie, his devoted son Michael, treasured grandchildren, Carolyn, Andrew and Madelyn Ahr, Morgan, Julianne, Hayley and Jaimee Herrera, sister JoAnn, and numerous nieces and nephews. Submitted by Jeannie Ahr
IN MEMORY OF FRANK HEILESEN, JR. FEBRUARY 6, 1922 – MARCH 24, 2013 TWA 1946 - 1984
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN GLENDON W. HANSON SEPTEMBER 15, 1924 – APRIL 13, 2013 TWA 1953 – 1984
From MAKING OF AN AIRLINE, 1981
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN MARVIN H. WOLLF OCTOBER 12, 1930 – MARCH 26, 2013 TWA 1955 – 1990
After a valiant battle with cancer, Marv succumbed on Tuesday the 26th of March. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Doris. He also leaves behind three children; John, Diane and Elizabeth as well as their spouses and six grand children. Marv’s aviation career began in a Piper Cub in 1950. He earned his mechanic’s certification while in the Air Force. His ATP followed shortly and he became an integral part of the Convair legacy. A long career with TWA offered many hours in the 707, the 727 and ultimately, the Lockheed 1011 before his retirement in 1990. In addition to being a great mechanic and machinist, Marv developed into a man of letters in his later years, voraciously devouring philosophical treatises, the writings of political pundits, and even cosmology. He carried his zeal for travel and exploration into his premature retirement. Would that we all could keep our minds so open for 82 years! Now, his left seat has been vacated, and the void in our hearts will never be filled, but our Pilot-inCommand will not be forgotten. Submitted by Janice McCarthy
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ELERY E. “BUD” WOLFE MAY 12, 1928 – APRIL 24, 2013 TWA 1954 - 1988
Bud passed away in the Mayo Hospital on April 24, 2013 after a 13 year battle with Alzheimers disease. Thankfully, his passing was very peaceful. I was with him along with our daughter, Janice. Bud was born in South Bend, Indiana. He lived in a number of homes around South Bend with his parents and nine siblings before settling in Bremen, Indiana, where he graduated with honors from Bremen High School in 1946. He immediately enlisted in the Army Air Force, applied for pilot training, was accepted and trained at several bases around San Antonio, Texas. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant at Barksdale Air Force Base in 1948 and was [assigned] to a ferry squadron. He was with a group of nine others ferrying airplanes to the French in Saigon when the Korean War broke out. Bud then flew 50 bombing missions over North Korea where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. He always brought his B-26 and his crew back safely. After his Air Force years, Bud went back to Indiana where he helped an old friend from high school build a home. It is still standing! Early in 1954 he decided to go to a deep sea diving school in California. He was en route when he stopped in Kansas City to visit Bill Watson, a buddy from the service. Bill, who had just been hired by TWA urged Bud to apply also, so he did. He drove all the way to California and the school only to find out when he arrived that TWA had [hired] him. So he turned around, drove back to Indiana, packed up and left for Kansas City where he was in the pilot class of March 1, 1954. Bud flew almost every airplane that TWA operated over his 34 year career. He retired on May 11, 1988 flying an L-1011. Bud and I met on a Martin flight on November 11, 1954. I was a TWA Hostess and Pete Myers was our Captain. We were taking off from Pittsburgh, bound for Philadelphia and had to abort the take off. After checking everything out, we did get off the ground for Philadelphia. I never had another trip, or another “aborted” take off, but the “spark” was there and we married in October 1955 and lived in Illinois until 1972 when we moved to Arizona. During that time, Bud was quite a gardener, and had a longstanding friendly rivalry with Captain Rex Painter over who would produce the first ripe tomato each year. Bud was also an avid model airplane builder and flyer, and just one of those people who could do almost anything! He was artistic, able to repair anything that went wrong in our homes or cars. He went all over the country for AMA contests and rarely came home without a trophy. He also never lost his “Hoosier” twang, and many pilots could identify him on the radio just by hearing his voice!
He retired in 1988 and spent many hours working on models, gardening, grafting plants. He really enjoyed the life of a “retiree.” He never wanted to do much traveling, but our daughters, Peggy and Janice and I took every opportunity to “go somewhere.” Needless to say, we will always miss him. He was a great husband, father, grandfather of two, and friend to many, both here in Arizona and everywhere else he had lived. submitted by Helen Wolfe, Bud’s wife.
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN RICHARD M. GUILLAN MARCH 1, 1922 – MAY 9, 2013 TWA 1945 – 1982
Richard “Dick” Guillan was born on March 1, 1922. He started flying in 1941, paying his own way for lessons until the CPT, Civilian Pilot Training Program took over training where he received his instructors license in 1942. Upon graduation from the Army Central Instructors school in May, 1941, Dick was assigned to Albany, Georgia where he taught Primary Cadets until the school was closed. He then joined TWA as a pilot navigator in the Intercontinental Division (ICD), where he made twelve ocean crossings. When TWA went totally commercial in 1943, he flew the DC-3, Martins, Constellations, Convair 880s, 707s and retired in 1982 at the mandatory age of 60 as a Captain on his favorite plane, the L-1011. In 1982 Dick established a “choose and cut” Christmas tree farm in Glendale Springs, North Carolina until a severe stroke caused him to sell the operation. He and his wife Peggy, formerly of Albany, Georgia enjoyed almost 67 years of married life. They lived in Clemmons, North Carolina. Dick is survived by his wife Peggy, his daughters Rebecca Guillan, Candace Cape and Janice Carey and grand children Shannon Parks, Stacey Manley, Jeffrey Cape, Daniel Cape and Natalie Carey and six great grand children and his brother Bruce Guillan. by Dick Guillan, submitted by Rebecca Guillan
IN MEMORY OF DWIGHT T. KERNS NOVEMBER 2, 1921 – MAY 17, 2013 TWA 1953 – 1983
From MAKING OF AN AIRLINE, 1981
IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN LEONARD J. EAGLESTON JUNE 3, 1927 – MAY 28, 2013 TWA 1952 – 1986 From MAKING OF AN AIRLINE, 1981
IN YOUR HEART Submitted by Judy (Mrs. Wayne) Haggard, author unknown
When tomorrow starts without me and I'm not there to see, if the sun should rise and find your eyes all filled with tears for me, I wish so much you wouldn't cry, the way you did today, while thinking of the many things we didn’t get to say. I know how much you love me as much as I love you, and each time that you think of me, I know you'll miss me too. But when tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand, that an angel came and called my name, and took me by the hand. He said my place was ready in heaven far above and that I’d have to leave behind all those I dearly love. But as I turned to walk away a tear fell from my eye for all my life, I’d always thought I didn’t want to die. I had so much to live for, so much yet to do, it seemed almost impossible that I was leaving you. I thought of all the yesterdays, the good ones and the bad and I thought of all the love we shared And all the fun we had. If I could relive yesterday, Just even for a while I’d say good-bye and kiss you and maybe see you smile.
But then I fully realized, that this could never be, for emptiness and memories, would take the place of me. And when I thought of worldly things, I might miss come tomorrow, I thought of you, and when I did, my heart was filled with sorrow. But when I walked through heaven's gates, I felt so much at home, when God looked down and smiled at me from His great golden throne, He said, "This is eternity and all I’ve promised you.” Today your life on Earth has passed but here it starts anew. I promise no tomorrow for today will always last, and since each day's the same day, there’s no longing for the past. You have been so faithful, so trusting and so true, though there were times you did things you knew you shouldn’t do. But you have been forgiven and now at last you’re free, So won’t you take my hand and share your life with me. When tomorrow starts without me Don’t think we’re far apart For every time you think of me I’m right there in your heart.
FLOWN WEST REPORTING
Revised Dec. 2010
The procedure for reporting a pilotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death is for survivors to call American Airlines Survivor Support: 1-800-447-2000. The primary reason for that is to determine eligibility for Insurance benefits. They will want complete information on the deceased and the beneficiary; that is, full names & address's and Social Security numbers of both, along with the date and cause of death, beneficiariesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; relationship to the deceased plus funeral home information. Beneficiary will later have to submit a certified copy of the death certificate. Initial contact must be by telephone. American Airlines wants voice contact. Have the information at hand before the call. If beneficiary is unable to call, and if someone else calls for them, beneficiary must be on hand. American Airlines and TARPA maintain these records. TARPA uses the information for the Flown West section of TARPA TOPICS, and also for inclusion in the In Remembrance section in our Directory. All TARPA Members should save this notice and provide a copy for their family members. Family members and friends may send Memorials for TARPA Members who have Flown West to TARPA TOPICS Editor Emeritus John P. Gratz. Memorials can be sent online or by mail to: John P. Gratz, 14300 Conway Meadows Ct. E#205, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Tel. 314-548-6056, or email jpgratz@charter.net
Again, the number is: 1-800-447-2000
TARPA BOARD MEETING April 10, 2013 Conference Call Conferees: President Bill Kirschner First V.P. Dusty West Second V.P./Secretary Mike McFarland
Past President Guy Fortier Senior Director Charlie Wilder Hospitality Director Bob Dedman Event Coordinator Vicki McGowen
Quorum established 1000 PDT. Presidents Report: Captain Bill Kirschner We are now involved in obtaining Captain Ed Bett’s TWA memorabilia collection from AA’s CR Smith museum in DFW and moving it to MKC, in conjunction with TWA museum Director Pam Blanchum, Captain Bob Malone or the AA grey Eagles and other interested parties. We, TARPA, got the idea going in the right direction, but I am stepping back to allow the interested parties to resolve any conflicts they may have. They are keeping me informed as to their progress and will advise as information comes in. I attended the Grey Eagle convention in Savanna, Georgia last September and was treated royally. I want to thank you all for your support in joining the Grey Eagle Convention 5-12 Oct. 2014. Captain McFarland attended a Grey Eagles BOD meeting in DFW for a preliminary contact along with Captain West and I in attendance by conference call. Captain Fortier and I were invited to meet with the convention delegation and Harrah’s management in LAS last month and all went well. Nothing is signed at this time, but I am negotiating limited TARPA liability regarding room, food and beverage guarantees. I am working on that with their Treasurer as we speak, and will e-mail all of you regarding any proposals before anything is signed. AA Chapter 1114 filing. Latest information as of April 10th at 1300 EDT is that Judge Lane makes his next decision on the APA contract. Our TARPA support for the Gray Eagles C-1114 select committee of three is truly appreciated. We increased their number of retired pilots by almost a third and they have been keeping us informed. As all of you know by now the USAir/AA merger was recently approved by Judge Sean Lane. Where this leads us is unknown at this time, however, I am a little optimistic that our benefit situation will remain unchanged and pass privileges may improve. USAir uses a seniority system very similar to TWA’s as opposed to AA’s first come first serve. I’ll continue to pass on current information as it is received. You can also check Jet Net for the AA point of view. Another plea for Membership will be published in the up-coming TWA Seniors Skyliner for members of all TWA organizations to contact known past TWA employees and encourage them to join some TWA affiliation to stay informed. Captain Bob Willcutts, since taking over as Web Master on January 1st 2013, is doing a magnificent job. He is always open to suggestions for improvements. I am planning to go over a day early to help Captain Dedman set up. My plan for the DCA convention BOD meeting is to utilize our convention suite or separate meeting area after a briefing by Vicki on the time and date. The By-Laws now reflect the removal of TOPICS Editor and Editor Emeritus from Directorship on the Board of Directors. TOPICs Editor, Jeff Hill is stepping down after the November issue. I contacted Captain Bert Botta, friend and author of “Fast Lane To Faith”. I highly recommend his book.
He has volunteered to help Jeff but is not sure if he can handle the entire publication by himself. If you have any ideas in this regard, it would be most helpful. Many thanks to Jeff Hill for developing a new format when producing TARPA TOPICS. This has saved us a great deal of money when publishing our magazine. Any thoughts on using some funds to help defray convention costs? Captain Ed Madigan, Treasurer, is asking to be replaced. We are all very grateful for Ed’s many years of dedicated service to TARPA. He is now back working full time in Real Estate and his valuable time is limited. Again, any suggestions would be appreciated. We need help in updating addresses as we did in 2008. Would each BOD member take 20 or so names? Ed will supply more info. Second V.P./Secretary Captain Mike McFarland I recently attended a Grey Eagle’s BOD meeting in Dallas. I was given a very warm welcome. The meeting covered a great many topics regarding retiree issues much the same as ours. I told the AA B.O.D. that we were grateful that they included us in their approach to the retiree benefits issues that are being fought over in bankruptcy. We also discussed the possibility of TARPA having a side by side 2014 convention in Las Vegas. A TARPA POLL was performed to find out what the membership feeling is with regard to joining with the AA Grey Eagles convention in Las Vegas 2014. The results were tabulated by Mike McFarland; Yes—68, No—5 Mike expressed concern regarding the low response numbers responding to the poll. Mike applauded Vicki McGowen, our event coordinator, for her past and present work in setting up our many conventions. He also said that if per chance TARPA ultimately merged with the Grey Eagles he would definitely promote Vicki as a potential event planner for the combined organization. [Ed. Note—Ms McGowae is also the event coordinator for the AA Grey Eagles.] Directors report: Captain Charley Wilder Charley agreed with everyone on the board that considering the many major issues we are confronted with today, President Bill Kirschner has done a wonderful job of guiding TARPA through these troubled waters. Regarding the data base that has been kept for many years by Captain Bob Sherman, Charlie reminded the Board that Captain Guy Fortier had asked to take that job on. Charlie had no objection. Charlie indicated that he is maintaining all the obit notices that John Bybee sends out. Treasure’s report: Captain Ed Madigan Nothing to add at this time. Hospitality Director’s report: Captain Bob Dedman Bob offered his concern about joining the Grey Eagles 2014 convention. The loss of choosing our convention sites as well as many of the contract issues that we must confront when performing a side by side convention in Las Vegas to mention a few. Also, Bob indicated his concern that we somehow maintain our name if we ever joined in the future with Clipped Wings or TWA seniors etc. Event Coordinator: Vicki McGowen Vicki presented an overview of the 2013 Convention scheduled for Washinton DC this fall. The
offi-
cial dates are Thursday, October 10 through and including Monday, October 14, 2013. A review of the daily activities was presented. Vicki offered her comments on the proposed joint 2014 TARPA/Grey Eagles Convention in Las Vegas. While it appears the offer is with only the best of intentions, Vicki made a strong case for considering a 2014 TARPA only Convention in Reno. Much lower room rates and a plethora of activities including the Reno Air Races occurring at the same time made for additional consideration. Old Business: None New Business: In light of concern some of the board members have as to how far we have progressed with the Las Vegas proposal as well as possibly burning bridges with the Grey Eagles, a lengthy discussion followed. Mike McFarland suggested we sleep on it. It was agreed that the issue be tabled and to reconvene in a week. At 1135PDT, a motion to adjourn was made by Charlie Wilder and seconded by Bob Dedman. APRIL 16, 2013 CONFERENCE CALL A quorum was established at 1000PDT. The board was all in attendance except for Captain Dusty West. Vicki McGowen was also in attendance. Captain Guy Fortier made a motion to hold our 2014 TARPA Convention in Reno. Seconded by Captain Bob Dedman. A lengthy discussion followed which included a well developed convention plan presented by Vicki McGowen. A unanimous vote followed in favor of holding our 2014 TARPA convention in Reno. At 1045PDT the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Mike McFarland *** “HISTORY IN THE MAKING: This photo was taken of Captains Marv Horstman and Bill Dixon, and Flight Engineer Jim Hackett as they prepared to depart from Los Angeles … for Peking, China. They carried network engineers to install a satellite station to cover President Nixon’s historic visit. When the 707 arrived in Peking (now Beijing) on Feb. 1, 1972, TWA became the first airline into China from the U.S. in 23 years. Horstman retired in 1974, Dixon in 1978, Hacket in 1984.” —Bill Dixon C. Marvin Horstman, 1914—2005, TW 1937—1976 Jas. L. Hackett, b. 1920; 1939—1984 Wm. A. Dixon, 1918—2009, TW 1936—1978
FIGHTER PILOT HEAVEN From the Internet, author unknown
Everybody's a lieutenant, except God. He's either a General or Admiral as the mood strikes Him! You only come to work when you're going to fly. You fly three times a day, if you wish, except on Friday. You never run out of fuel. You never run out of ammo. Your missions are one hour long (or longer if you desire) and no briefings are ever required. Sorties are air-to-air or air-to-ground, your choice. You shoot the gun on every mission. There are no check rides. It is always VFR, and there are never any ATC delays. You can fly out of the MOA and down to 10 feet AGL, if you want. There are no 'over G's.' The airplanes never break. Never any Fatals.... I mean..... you are already there! There are never any duty officer assignments. You always fly overhead landing patterns with initial approach at 20 feet, then break left. You can go cross-country anytime you desire... the further the better. There are no ORI/UEIs. There are no flight surgeons. There are no Staff Jobs. There are no additional duties. Friday Happy Hour is mandatory. It begins at 1400 hours and lasts until 0200+ hours. The bartenders are all big bosomed and friendly. Beer is free, but whiskey costs a nickel. Country and Western music is free on the jukebox. You never lose your room key and your buddies never leave you stranded. The sun always shines, and you can put your hat in your pants pocket. Flight Suits are allowed in the O Club at all times. The BX always has every item you ask for, most being free. There are never any crosswind landings, and the runways are always dry. Control tower flybys for wheels-up checks can be made at 600 kts. There are never any noise complaints. Full afterburner climbs over your house are encouraged. Fitness reports always contain the statement, 'Outstanding Officer.' Functions requiring mess dress never occur. 'ACE' status is conferred upon all Aviators entering Heaven.
And... You Never Have To Grow Up!
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION All former TWA cockpit crewmembers are eligible for membership in TARPA. Annual dues are $50.00. EAGLE’S (75 and older) dues are $40.00. If you wish to have two addresses listed for Directory and TOPICS mailings, please provide months of the year at each location along with the appropriate phone number.
Name _____________________________________________________ Spouse/Guest ______________ Last
First
Address 1 (From _________ to __________) every year. If not, explain: _________________________ Month
Month
Street _______________________________________________________________________________ City _______________________________ State _______ Zip ______________ Telephone ( ___ ) ____ ______ E-Mail ______________________________________
Address 2 (From __________ to __________) Month
Month
Street ________________________________________________________________________________ City _______________________________ State ________ Zip _____________ Telephone ( ___ ) ____ ______ E-Mail ______________________________________ Capt. ͚ F/O ͚ F/E ͚ Other ͚ ________________________________ Retirement date _____________ Mo./Year
Signature ____________________________________ Date _ _ /_ _/_ _ _ _ Mo
Day
year
TARPA TOPICS SUBSCRIPTION ONLY 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 rev.11/2009
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