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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Susan Whitelaw

A 1958 Christmas gift of a shiny new Peugeot 12 speed, thin tired, Campanello running
gear equipped bicycle was the beginning of my flying career. The new bike allowed me, at age 13, to get from my parents' home in north Long Beach, California to Long Beach's local airport. Daugherty Airport was located on Spring Street in south Long Beach, a distance I covered each weekend by bicycling over 24 miles. Often I would pick up my cousin Gary Estabrook, whom I thought extremely fortunate, as he lived on the west side of Daugherty, just a few hundred yards away from the action and noise of the airport.

Befriending Jack and Louise Roberts at Daugherty Airport, owners' of Haskell Flying Service, made my dreams come true. Imagine, Jack allowing me, at 14 years of age, to drive their small 500-gallon fuel truck. I would pull under the wings of his fleet of Cessna 120s and Cessna 140s and stand on the fuel truck to refuel the high wing aircraft and clean the bugs from their windscreens. This weekend adventure became my job and at age 14 allowed me to trade my time refueling and hangar sweeping for flight training.

My first logged flight time was on July 13, 1959 in a Piper Apache, then July 15 in a beautiful Cessna 170, and on July 17 in an all fabric covered Cessna 120. The skies were mine at 14. I was hooked on airplanes and aviation and would be for the rest of my life.

Jack Roberts was my first flight instructor. He had been a U.S. Army Air Corp pilot with many missions overseas before he purchased his flight school from the Haskell brothers in Long Beach. George Black, my next flight instructor, had reportedly flown in World War I (WWI) and was quick enough to challenge me to a flight in an old BT-13 open cockpit trainer. The bet was to see if I could keep my breakfast down while he put the old BT-13 through every maneuver he knew. If I could, he would pay for the flight, if not, I would pay for the flight. The flight tested my mettle and had me swallowing hard, but thankfully at no cost to me.

Soon after starting my job with Haskell Flying Service, I was lucky enough to meet the owner of a surplus World War II PBY seaplane. The owner was refitting the old PBY for use in a Canadian and Alaskan charter business and offered me all the old pilot and co-pilot flight instruments and radios if I would help him remove the thick rubber that was used to encase the fuel tanks. The rubber was used in the hopes of stopping penetration by enemy gunfire.

Our family garage in Long Beach had a shelf built about four feet high, which extended across the back wall. By leaning an old box spring mattress up on end against the shelf, I had room for two wooden chairs for the flight deck crew. The PBY flight instruments were placed between the box spring slats and provided room for two complete sets of instruments and radios. At 14 years of age, I had my own flight simulator and I probably "flew" several hundred hours, flying the "bed" before my first ten hours in the Cessna. At the time there were plenty of flying war movies on our black and white 13" Magnavox television to keep me motivated.

Fortunately for me, my primary flight instructor Dick McKelvey, had just crashed his crop duster for the third time and figured he had better give up the agriculture spraying business. He became my instructor soloing me at age 17 on April 3, 1962 in a Piper Colt, followed by my Private Pilot License at age 20 on October 18, 1965 in a Piper Tri-pacer with FAA designee examiner Fran Brea.

I earned a Commercial Pilot License on January 30, 1966 at age 20 in a Cessna 150 with FAA examiner F. W. Tossen. I built my flight time ferrying new Piper Cherokees from Piper's factory in Vero Beach, Florida to Long Beach, California. Four trips across the United States averaging 33 hours each, brought my cross-country experience without an instrument rating to my scary realization that an Instrument License would have to be next. My days as a scud runner and VFR-On-Top pilot were going to be over.

During those Florida to California cross-country flights, I remember one flight racing an oncoming storm into Wink, Texas. The Flight Service Station gave me a Direction Finding steer to Wink, where the fixed base operator had an old World War II hangar open and signaled me to taxi in to avoid the hailstorm just a few miles away. The wind was blowing so hard it ripped the Cherokee entrance door out of my hand, breaking the metal bracket that held the door from opening too far. It was a minor repair to the door, but a very good lesson at my age of the severity of Texas thunderstorms.

Another departure from Vero Beach in a new Cherokee 180 with a full panel of instruments and radios allowed me to climb on top of an overcast layer only to have the only microphone fall apart in my hand rendering the communications radios useless. The rest of the trip was only marginally better than the early trips with no radios except for the "coffee grinder" six-channel whistle-stop tuning portable radio I used in the early '60s.

My flying career was put on hold for three years when I was 21. I was drafted in March 1966 into the United States Army; I attended basic training at Fort Ord, California, followed by advanced infantry training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Artillery Officer Candidate School followed at Fort Sill. I married my beautiful wife Susan on September 24, 1966. I was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington as my first duty station for my second year in the military then on to Korea as a nuclear weapons officer for the Honest John Rocket Battery at Camp Casey, South Korea.

March 1969 completed my three years' service obligation, and I was back to Long Beach, California for additional flight training provided by the G. I. Bill at Flight Safety, Inc. On June 22, 1969 at 24 years of age, I obtained my Instrument rating with FAA Designee Abe Pastor in a Cessna 172. A short week later on June 29, 1969, I was awarded Multi-Engine Land Rating with examiner Abe Pastor in a twin engine Cessna 310 which belonged to the singer Ray Charles. On July 18, 1969 I earned the rating of Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) with FAA Examiner Mr. Savoy in a Cessna 150 followed on September 9, 1969 with the Certified Flight Instructor Instruments (CFI-I) with FAA Examiner Ozzey Nelson in a Cessna 172. After building the required 1200 flight hours I received my Airline Transport Rating (ASEL) on June 9, 1970 with Mr. Gallagher in a Cessna 172. The following year on March 16, 1971 in a Douglas DC-3, I received my Airline Transport Rating (AMEL) with FAA Examiner E.J. Bollyh. The Basic, Instrument and Advanced Ground Instructor ratings were obtained July 10, 1970 when I was 25 years of age. By August 4, 1970 my only child, a beautiful little girl, Robin, was born to Susan and me.

During this wonderful experience of obtaining pilot licenses my first flight instructors were Jack Roberts, George Black, Dick McKelvey, Bliss Hanson, Bob Hancock and Don Wright.

FAA check rides were provided by Fran Bera, Abe Pastor, Mr. Savoy, Ozzey Nelson, E. J. Bollyh, Reed Novisoff, Hank Smith, Don Older, Virgil Gilliland, Louis Barr, Richard Lathrop, Alfred Hancock, M. Dally and Tom Clements.

During my flying career I have been blessed with the opportunities to fly the following aircraft: Cessna 120, Cessna 140, Cessna 150, Cessna 152, Cessna 170, Cessna 172, Cessna 180, Cessna 182, Cessna 210, Cessna 310, Cessna 340, Cessna 421, Beechcraft BE 18, Beechcraft Bonanza BE33, Beechcraft Bonanza BE35, Beechcraft Bonanza BE36, Beechcraft BE-45 (T-34), Beechcraft Baron BE55, Beechcraft Baron BE58, Beechcraft Pressurized Baron BE58P, Beechcraft King Air BE90, Beechcraft King Air BE90C, Beechcraft King Air BE100, Beechcraft King Air BE200, Cessna Citation I C500, Cessna Citation I C501SP, Cessna Citation II C500, Cessna Citation Bravo C550, Cessna Citation Excel C560, Lockheed LodeStar L18, Lockheed JetStar L1136, Piper Cub, Piper Colt, Piper Tri-Pacer, Piper Cherokee 140, Piper Cherokee 180, Piper Cherokee 235, Piper Cherokee Six, Piper Cherokee Arrow, Piper Comanche, Piper Twin Comanche, Piper Apache, Piper Aztec, Dehaviland DH125, Douglas DC-3, Boeing 727, Boeing 737, Bell C47, Citabria, Husky, and Lear Jet.

During the last 45 years of flying I have worked for Haskell Flying Service, Aircraft Associates, Aztec Aviation, Flight Safety Inc., Cal Jet Airways (Frank Sinatra), and H & L Tooth Co. (Richard Launder). I am owner and operator of Whitelaw & Associates established in 1979. The corporation provides aircraft management services and piloting services for A & A Ready Mixed Concrete (Kurt Caillier), ARB Inc., and Tower Industries. I am the director of flight operations and chief pilot for Carlton Forge Works (Alan Carlton).

The co-captains who have brightened my life and shared with me hours of boredom along with a few tense moments and lots of great hunting and fishing stories have been: Brian Launder, Marina Spear, Kevin Savord, Jeff Brown, John Endsley, Gary Prestegard, Dennis Moran, Randy Hale, Kevin Herrell, Bill Tonic, Keith Rowe, Carl Hinewinkel, Lisa Marshall, and Jerry Liggett.

In-flight engine failures include: Cessna 172 fuel selector valve; Beechcraft Baron B58P automatic mixture control diaphragm; Douglas DC-3 unfeathering pump oil pickup inoperative; Cessna 421 waste-gate turbo failure; Beechcraft King Air power turbine failure; Beechcraft King Air fuel control failure; and Lockheed Lodestar L-18 fuel selector valve.

In-flight system failures include: Cessna 421 electrical failure and 11 alternator failures; Bonanza wing tip in Tucson with Jerry McClellan; pressurized Baron door seal failure over Mt. Rainier, Washington; King Air ni-cad battery fire on return from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, while watching "the green flash" at sunset; King Air B100 cabin electrical fire; Citation Bravo Primus 1000 EFIS failure of five tubes and Meggitt standby gyro; Cessna Citation lightning strike with John Endsley resulting in all static wicks being blown from the aircraft and two, one inch holes being burned in the trailing edge of both wings; blown tires in Cessna 172 Lockheed LodeStar L-18, and Beechcraft B100; Liz Taylor and Richard Burton DH125 trip home from Mexico with dog on outflow valve causing in-flight depressurization; Baron severe icing out of Butte, Montana followed by emergency landing with full power at satellite airport; and loss of all pitot-static instruments in a Beechcraft Baron while completing an instrument landing in Casper, Wyoming.

The last 45 years of General Aviation and Corporate Aviation have changed technologically from crude air driven flight instruments and external battery powered six channel radios with whistle-stop-tuning to EFIS (electronic flight instrument systems) and FMS (flight management systems) that are programmed before takeoff and fly the aircraft all the way to destination with very little pilot input and communication radios that have hundreds of frequencies. The low altitude flying method of following roads has been replaced with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that now provide point-to-point navigation and high altitude flight in the 45,000-51,000 foot range.

I am proud to be part of the WHITELAW Family that has served 137 years of flying service between the two brothers and their two sons as follows:
Robert Gene Whitelaw 35 years; Leland Blair Whitelaw 37 years; Mark Whitelaw 20 years; and Ronald Blair Whitelaw 45 years and still flying.

Just the other day, while doing a preflight, I glanced up to check the windscreen and there were my grandsons grinning from ear to ear peeping over the controls of the Citation. Time flies, here were my daughter Robin and son-in-law Douglas’ sons ages five and eight, eager to take to the skies. I was only 14; their time is soon to come.