Dave Manzel was born September 22, 1945. He learned to fly when he joined a flying club while a student at Michigan State University.

Dave began as a flight instructor and private pilot for General Aviation (Lansing, Michigan) He was hired by United Airlines as a DC-6 Second Officer in November of 1967. In 1989, he made Captain on the B-737. Over the course of his 37-year career, he would fly numerous other aircraft: DC-8, DC-10, B-727, B-737, B-767, and B-777. His favorite routes were his longest trips to and from Beijing, China, during the last years of his career on the B-777.

Dave capped his long career with a final, familiar route on the B-777, from O'Hare to London and back, landing on August 29, 2004.