Born just eighteen years after the Wright Brothers made powered flight a reality, he was inspired by the spirit of flight, and has loved aviation all of his life. From a boyhood of building airplane models and a fascination with all things mechanical, he learned his sight would not allow him to be a commercial pilot, but that did not deter him. After attending college, he decided to chase his dream of flying as far it would take him.
Although he knew earning a living as a pilot was out of reach, in 1939 he decided to become a mechanic and be as close as he could get to flying. So he enrolled in a school in San Diego to become an aeronautical mechanic. Believing that if he was going to keep airplanes flying that he should be able to fly them his Grandmother gave him the money to take his first flying lessons. He spent as much time as he could at the new airport in Reading PA. He worked with the mechanic to learn all he could while taking flying lessons. He even learned to sew the fabric covering onto the wings.
He loved the cross-country flights that he took and the instructor as far as New York, over the green fields and mountains or Pennsylvania and the growing cities of the east. The sky was wide open and you could fly pretty much anywhere without seeing anyone else.
After he arrived in California he enrolled in school until the war broke out and then went to work for Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego. He helped to build PBY's until he enlisted in the Army and went to Texas for training. There he maintained a squadron of AT-6 training planes until he was shipped out to Alaska where, as a carburetor specialist, he helped prepare planes the U.S. gave to the Russians.
As with many dreams, life interrupted, but in the 1960's he returned to his dream and became a private pilot again. As his son, he shared the joy of aviation with me, took me flying, to air shows, and aircraft museums. We climbed around in the old B-25s and Mosquito bombers that were slowly rotting at Whitman airport in Sun Valley California.
He taught me that flying isn't just an activity, it's an attitude and a belief system that can take you anywhere you want to go.