Foil: 14 Panel: Retired United Pilots Association Column: 4 Line: 40

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Nadine B. Craine

In 1927, the same year Charles Lindbergh made his historical flight across the Atlantic, Richard Perry Craine soloed a Curtiss 0X5 Waco in the wide open spaces of the Pacific Northwest. After a year as flight instructor in Seattle, 'Dick' moved to Wyoming and became chief pilot for Cheyenne Air Service. He obtained Wyoming's first pilot's license (signed by Orville Wright) and proceeded to inaugurate the 500 mile run between Omaha, NE and Watertown, SD, earning him the title of the Northwest's youngest air mail pilot.

In 1931 Dick flew the mail from San Francisco to Chicago in a biplane for Boeing Air transport - a fleece-lined flight suit and a Colt 32 served as his uniform. The 40B mail plane flew at an airspeed of 100 mph. Soon he graduated to the fast flying Boeing 247, transporting passengers between Cheyenne, Omaha and Salt Lake City at 170 mph. Comprised of 4 early airlines, Boeing Air Transport merged to form United Airlines and thus kicked off a career spanning 39 years with UAL.

During World War II, when the airlines were under contract to the government, Dick flew cargo throughout the South Pacific from Alaska to Australia - this would be the only other time a firearm was to enhance his uniform. After the war he became a flight instructor at San Francisco International Airport, then was appointed flight manager for United in 1951. Dick Craine missed the 'hands on' aspect of piloting and traded in his mahogany desk for the open skies again in 1956. A year later, he became the world's first line pilot for the DC-8 jet and flew the proving run from San Francisco to New York as well as the inaugural flight from Honolulu to San Francisco. Captain Richard Craine retired in 1970 with the distinction as #1 senior pilot with United Air Lines.