Foil: 14 Panel: Retired United Pilots Association Column: 3 Line: 48

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

My fascination with aviation began the day I was hired. September 14, 1956. and it continues even though I retired June 1. 2002. The operation of our airline is akin to a concert orchestra. Each individual has to know his or her own music (job) and be able to play (perform) at precisely the right time. And when it is done exactly as it should be it is a grand performance.

I have enjoyed the many stories I have heard over the years. As a young person I had the opportunity to meet some first generation commercial aviation employees and enjoyed listening to their tales from the "old days." I was once in conversation with one of our Dispatchers who told me that when he started as a Dispatcher there were a total of 2 of those positions in the airline, he and another person. He then told me, to my amazement, that they worked 12-hour shifts, 7 days a week. When I asked him how long he worked those shifts, he replied, "Oh about 3 years." He said that he got married after about a year and the other Dispatcher had to work for him. The hard part came the next day when he had to pay him back

We had a Captain who had started his career as a barnstormer and a wing walker. He was never ready to move the aircraft until he retrieved a red baseball cap from his flight bag and put it on his head. Those were interesting days, as well as the days that followed.

I won't bore the reader by trying to explain what I have accomplished. To tell you the truth I just enjoyed being there. "There" is defined as Washington, New York, Chicago. Cleveland and finally Dulles International Airport. I learned a lot, met many good people along the way, and made some life long friends.