Daniel Edward Eyles, Sr. (1923-1996)
1943-1945 During WWII
During Dan’s time in the U.S. Army Air Corps he completed the equivalent of 2 years of college and flew many planes including specific training on the:
• PT-19
• PT-13
• AT-10
• B-17
• B-25
• AT-6
• B-29
At his 50th Wedding Anniversary, a fellow cadet pilot said “Dan was the best pilot I ever knew. He was even granted permission by the Army Air Corps to fly one of their planes from Waco, Texas to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit his wife Dottie while she was in the hospital for polio in 1945.”
Military chronology:
• February 25, 1943 inducted into the U.S. Army in LaCrosse, Indiana
• March, 1943, Basic Training in Miami, Florida
• April-May, 1943, Aircraft Armament School in Lansing, Michigan
• (May 1, 1943, married Dorothy Spier in LaPorte, Indiana)
• Aircraft Armaror at DeRidder Army Air Corps Base in Louisiana; took test for cadet training
• McDill Army Air Corps Base in Tampa, Florida; orders arrived for cadet training
• Based again in Miami, Florida
• C.T.D. at Austin College in Sherman, Texas
• Classification and Pre-Flight in San Antonio, Texas
• PT-19 Primary in Ballinger, Texas
• Basic PT-13 at Goodfellow Army Air Field in San Angelo, Texas
• AT-10 Advanced at Blackland Army Air Field in Waco, Texas
• B-17 and numerous others in Yuma, Arizona
• B-25 and AT-6 in Bakerfield, California
• B-29 in Roswell, New Mexico
• October, 1945, released to U.S. Army Air Corps Reserves
• 1960 Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force Reserves

1946-1952
Within less than six months of being out of the Army he owned his own plane and during the weekends and evenings he did flight instruction, aerial photography, passenger rides, and barnstorming. On a Sunday afternoon as many as 30-40 lucky passengers would have their first ever airplane flight. During this time period he owned four planes:
• PT-19 Monoplane (190 in line Ranger, 2 place)
• PT-23 Monoplane (220 Radial Continental, 2 place)
• J-3 Cub Monoplane (75 Horsepower Continental)
• Cub Cruiser PA 12 (3 place)
He used the flying field on the Austin Williams’ property across from Charles Hill’s service station in LaPorte County. Prior to flying with United Airlines, he accumulated more than 630 flight hours.

March, 1952 to May, 1980 United Airlines
When Dan started flying for United, they had more than 1,000 pilots and 140 airplanes. He flew the:
• DC3
• DC4
• DC6
• DC7
• Convair340
• Viscount
• Caravelle
• Boeing 727
• DC8
He flew out of Chicago’s Midway (1952-1955), Denver’s Stapleton (1955-1961), and Chicago’s O’Hare (1961-1978). In the 1960s he was the featured pilot in the Discovery TV Show’s documentary “The modern Jet Pilot.” In the late 1960s he was hijacked to Cuba and had the FBI showing him photos of suspects for years.
In addition to the planes listed above, Dan also has flown:
• Taylorcraft BC-12-D
• Numerous Taylor Crafts and Cubs
• Waco UPF-7
• Drigs Skylark Biplane
• Swallow
• Laird
• Stinson
• Piper PA-12
• Deringer (2 engine/2 place)
• Steermans
• Vultee BT-13 Valiant
• C47
• Twin Beach
• Bell P-39 Airacobra
• Bell XP-59
• Douglas A-20
• Martin B-26
• P-51 Mustang

As Dan left to go fly he would tell his wife Dotty, “I’m going out on a wing and a prayer.” In his hand-written biography he ended with, “2023: one hundred years old, Coffin with Wings!”