“Do You Think That’s Funny, Son?”

Eastern Airlines, 1987, Atlanta, Georgia

Captain Johnny Gillespie sat down in the left seat of our Boeing 727, shook his head, and started laughing. After a few moments he turned to me and First Officer Larry LaVern, and said: "The Chief Pilot just gave me two free positive space passes." I said: "That's great, Boss! What did you do to earn those?" Still chuckling, he said: "I got an attaboy letter! Some old lady sent a note to Eastern. She wrote that Captain John Gillespie recited a poem about High Flight over the PA, and it was wonderful! Apparently I'm the only Captain Gillespie at Eastern Airlines. The higher-ups loved the old lady's letter—now I have two free positive space passes." Larry asked: "What poem did you recite?" With a giant grin, Johnny replied: "Never in my life have I recited a poem over the PA. All I can think is someone must have recited the poem, High Flight, over the PA, said it was by John Gillespie Magee; and all the lady heard was John Gillespie. But it was wonderful!"

Eastern Airlines, January 1989, Atlanta, Georgia

Our flight to LAX has just lifted off from Runway 26 Left. After observing a positive rate of climb on his VSI, the first officer states: "Positive rate." The (very senior) Airbus A300 captain replies: "Gear up." After the first officer places the landing gear switch to the up position, I check my flight engineer panel to make sure all is well with the green hydraulic system as the landing gear retracts. Out of the corner of my eye I see the captain grasp the PA microphone that is mounted on the aft left corner of the pedestal. It was a well rehearsed move—decisive. At 400 feet AGL he keys the mic: "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds." "John Gillespie Magee." I couldn't help myself; I started laughing. . . He gave me the stare—the blood chilling; you've really stepped in it this time; good luck in your next career stare. (The old timers know what I'm talking about.) After a moment he said: "Do you think that's funny, Son?" After composing myself, I replied: "I'm not laughing at you personally, Boss, but I flew with a 727 captain a couple of years ago that I'm pretty sure got your free positive space passes!"

BB&C Flying Service, Part One

Sign courtesy of Dic Kruse

It was September 1989.  Wayne Broome was working in Conway, South Carolina, fourteen nautical miles inland from Myrtle Beach on South Carolina's Grand Strand.  As Hurricane Hugo approached the southeast coast Wayne moved his 1947 Taylorcraft BC-12D seventy-one nautical miles northwest to the Richmond County Airport in Rockingham, North Carolina, safely out of harm's way---or so he thought.  Hugo made landfall slightly north of Charleston, South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane with winds gusting up to 160 mph.  The storm tracked to the northwest and was still a Category 1 hurricane when it passed seventy miles west of Rockingham.  Unfortunately, seventy miles was too close.  Gusty winds caused a Cessna Cardinal to break free from a tie-down and smack Wayne's pride and joy on the right wingtip, breaking the aileron and cracking both wing spars.  Heartbroken, Wayne disassembled the airplane and placed it in a storage unit, hoping to make repairs as soon as possible.

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.  John Lennon

Wayne's Taylorcraft first entered the Jellystoners' zone of consciousness in 2006 when Wayne and Brother Baker were paired together at Freedom Airlines.  You can learn a lot about a person when you sit beside him (or her) six to nine hours a day, three or more days a week, flying a monthly schedule.  After one leg you know if your flying partner is a true aviator, or someone just collecting a paycheck flying airplanes.  You can see where this is heading; Wayne and Brother Baker got along famously!  While swapping life stories Wayne described how his little yellow T-Craft came together with a Cessna Cardinal in the Big Blow of 89---and how for seventeen years he was hoping to make repairs as soon as possible, but life kept getting in the way. . .

In 2010 the Brother Baker asked Wayne if he would consider selling N5113M.  The Taylorcraft seemed like a reasonably simple first project for the restoration department at Jellystone Air Park.  Wayne said, "No."  Then he commissioned a drawing depicting a Hawkins & Powers C-54, his dog Spot, and the Taylorcraft.  Maybe the drawing would be the spark to get the fire burning. . .

Drawing by Joe Baker, 2010

Eight years later we gave it another try.  This time Wayne said, "Yes."

Remember the wisecrack about the old hound dog chasing an automobile?  What's he going to do when he finally catches the car?  The Jellystoners had just offered to purchase, sight unseen, a seventy-one year old tube and fabric airplane that had not seen the light of day in twenty-nine years. . .   

Brother Barbeau was out of town; so with flashlight and Maule fabric tester in hand, Brother Baker and I met Wayne in Rockingham, North Carolina on a hot day in June of 2018.  N5113M was everything Wayne said it would be, and more.  It was a complete airplane, all of the parts were in one place.  The fuselage tubing was corrosion free, even the tail post---a nice surprise, because this is a known problem with tube and fabric airplanes that sit for long periods.  Wayne's attention to detail---preserving the engine; storing the airplane in a level attitude; keeping metal parts off the floor---was our good fortune.  Even the circa 1973 fabric tested OK, except for the big hole in the right wingtip.  Another surprise:  Seaplane doors!  The 337 Form in the logbook is beautiful, and the doors are works of art---but as far as we can tell, One Three Mike has never been on floats.         

N5113M in the storage unit in Rockingham, North Carolina, twenty-nine years after Hurricane Hugo.

The mighty Continental 65---only 150 hours (after a complete overhaul) when Wayne preserved the engine for storage.

No corrosion!

No electrical system.

February 16, 2019

The recovery team:  Bob Cottom, Joe Baker, Pop Cottom, Gary Barbeau, and Wayne Broome.

On the road to Jellystone Air Park.

BB&C Flying Service

Stay tuned, our adventure is just beginning!

The French Foreign Legion

A little over three years ago I bumped into an old friend in the crew lounge at LaGuardia.  His name is Don Miller, and we have similar backgrounds:  Both civilian trained, former Eastern Airlines pilots; thankful to have survived the "angry times" that permeated the airline industry during the 1980s and 1990s.  Don is a couple of years senior to me at Big D, and like the Exotic Guy (UAL Captain Duncan Flett) is a second generation airline pilot.  His father, Lee, was the senior Atlanta based 727 captain at Eastern Airlines when we were new hires in 1985---and possibly the nicest gentlemen I have ever shared a cockpit with.  It's not surprising that Don inherited his father's disposition.  I always enjoy our chance encounters.

This particular meeting took place shortly after Big D had announced it's plan to retire the "Maddog" fleet.  All of the one hundred and ten MD-88s, and most of the sixty-five MD-90s, would be retired by 2020.  Cincinnati was closing immediately; New York by the end of the first quarter in 2018; Minneapolis and Atlanta would follow.  Don was flying the Maddog out of Atlanta.  I asked what his plans were with regards to the draw down.  He said, "I'm going to the ER. (Boeing 757/767)  I'll be on reserve; but I live in the area, so it's not a big deal.  I got the award on the last advance entitlement."  When he asked about my plans, I said, "I've been trying to decide what to do for quite a while.  Five years ago I would have said the ER.  Now I don't want to commute to reserve.  I liked flying the 737, but it's extremely noisy on the flight deck.  I'm seriously considering the A320.  Everyone says it's a nice retirement airplane."  As we were parting Don said something that I haven't been able to put out of my mind.  He said, "I turn sixty next month.  In the old days I would be retiring; but instead I'm going to school on the ER.  It's not how I imagined it would all shake out."

I was dreading making the call.  For years I harassed the EG about flying a sissy French airplane---now I was considering joining the French Foreign Legion!  Like Don, I was looking at going back to school at age sixty.  The Airbus A320 was the first transport category airplane designed as a fly through computer aircraft---totally different from anything I had ever flown before.  The EG was the most experienced A320 pilot I knew.  Before I signed on the dotted line I wanted to know if he thought an old Maddog pilot could learn new tricks.  Another concern:  Did Captain Flett resent being called a sissy for the last fifteen years?  It was time to take my (well deserved) lumps.

I won't lie to you.  Captain Flett was amused!  He was also very reassuring.  Exactly what you would expect from an experienced, senior line check airman.  Towards the end of our conversation he said, "I think you will really enjoy flying the airplane---you are going to love the tray table!"  For those that are unfamiliar, the A320 has a side stick controller; as opposed to a control yoke on the MD-88, and other conventionally designed airplanes.  Tray tables are located in storage compartments below each pilot's instrument panel.  Squeezing a lever on the bottom of the panel allows the table to extend into position.  Squeeze the lever again and the table retracts back into the panel.  Operation is completely manual.  (Allowing the table to slam shut is a serious faux pas.)  Airbus pilots are always talking about the tray table.  I used to think it was because they couldn't think of anything better to say about the airplane.  Boeing 757 pilots will expound for hours about the performance of their sweet handling machine.  My friend, Rick Maury, has this to say about the A320, and it's fly through computer system:  "It's a good airplane.  It will make a weak pilot look good.  It will make a strong pilot look good."  There you have it---everything is good.

But the flight deck is great!  My hat is off to the team that designed the cockpit.  It really is a nice working environment.  The seats are comfortable, there is plenty of room, and the EFIS displays are well thought out.  The air-conditioning system is fantastic.  I flew the MD-88 for eleven years; I know what I'm talking about!  After two years, and twelve hundred hours, I think I know why the Airbus folks only talk about the tray table.  I think they worry that if everyone knew what they knew, everyone would want what they have, and some of those folks might be senior to them.  It really is that nice.     

The EG was right.  I love the tray table.

The KUZA Flyers & Red Bird: N489AC

Red Bird

In the fall of 2017 a group of airline pilot-aviation enthusiasts (not all airline pilots are) from North and South Carolina banded together to form a Gentleman's Flying Club headquartered at Rock Hill-York County Airport in upstate South Carolina. The primary objective of the newly formed KUZA Flyers, LLC, was to secure a nice late model "easy to fly" American Champion Citabria.  But not just any Citabria.  The Gentlemen Flyers were looking for an airplane that would immediately put a smile on your face when you open the hangar door.  An airplane that would remind you why you got in to the flying business in the first place. . .

In January 2018 the KUZA Flyers were the first to respond to a listing, on Barnstormers, for a 1999 160 hp 7GCAA Adventure, located in Petaluma, California, that had less than 700 hours on the airframe.  The owner, who took delivery at the factory, was the only pilot to ever fly the airplane.  Only two mechanics had ever worked on the airplane. It was a cream puff; and stunning!  In short order the KUZA Flyers were the proud new owners of N489AC. We call her Red Bird.

Rick Maury, Gentleman Flyer, Petaluma, CA February 25, 2018

Rick, Ken Nelson, & Louis Kantor, Rock Hill, SC March 3, 2018

Red Bird departed Petaluma, California on February 25th and arrived at her new home in Rock Hill, South Carolina on March 3rd. Rick Maury flew her to Arizona, Ken Nelson brought her home.  Since that time the Gentlemen Flyers have added ADSB and put over 100 hours on the airplane. We could not be happier.

A special thanks to Bill Mork of Petaluma, California for providing such a nice flying machine.

The KUZA Flyers:  Bob, Nick, Rick, Paul, Steve, Ken, Louis, & Sherman (not pictured.)

Eight Romeo Mike Has A New Tuxedo!

Jellystone Air Park neighbor, Rick Maury, dropped his RV-7 off at the paint shop on October 2nd; he picked it up December 11th.  Now it looks as good as it flies!  Here are a few pictures from my first viewing.

Rick said the original plan was to have a checkerboard rudder---but at the Triple Tree Fly-In last summer twenty-nine out of thirty RVs had checkerboard somethings. . .

Top left corner:  Reflections on a Grand Accomplishment. . .

Where Can You Get A Bite To Eat Around Here?

How many times have you heard that question?  Probably more than you care to remember.  Especially if you've served penance in a FBO pilot lounge just about anywhere.  Finding something to eat at a big city airport is usually not a problem.  In fact, the old Butler Aviation operation at Washington National Airport had a cafeteria right inside the lobby.  And most FBOs have a courtesy car available---which is great, as long as there's a restaurant close by (that's open.)  Out in boondocks it's an entirely different ballgame, even if they do have a full service FBO.  After regular business hours, anywhere---forget it.

I remember sitting on the ramp in Elizabeth City, North Carolina one hot summer evening early in my career.  The FBO was closed.  Our passengers were out raising funds for a now defunct religious organization that was headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The only food anywhere close to the airport was the catering tray on our airplane - fruit, cheese, and apple danish squares that our customers ignored on the flight over.  Five hours in to our three hour layover, my boss said:  "Robert, I'm hungry.  Open the tray!"  Who was I to disagree with the Director of Flight Operations?  Later, when the head fundraiser asked about the catering tray, I said:  "That stuff turns to mush when it sits out in the heat.  We had to toss it"  But I did not say where.    

The Baker family gets plenty of coverage here at Jellystone Air Park.  Friends may remember a post from September 2012 titled, Life Comes Full Circle For Brother Baker.  It was a brief photo essay centered around Brother Baker's grandfather, Ray Baker, and the FBO/Aeronca dealership he operated at Detroit City Airport in the 1930s and 1940s.  It was a follow-up to Brother Baker's Ferry Service, a post about helping Joe deliver an Aeronca L-16 from Alexander City, Alabama to Durham, North Carolina that same month.  This is a follow-up to both of those stories, and once again, about Ray.

Grandpa Ray was a jack-of-all-trades during aviation's golden age.  Owner, manager, pilot, mechanic, flight instructor, and aircraft salesman were just a few of the hats he had to wear while operating the Aeronca dealership at Detroit City Airport.  I suspect he pumped gas too.  That was before World War II.  During the conflict he was Wing Commander of the Michigan Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.  After the war he put the hats back on and peddled Cessnas and Stinsons to the good people of Detroit.  Yes, Ray Baker was a busy guy.  But wait, there's more!  He was also a restaurateur---across the street the from the FBO, at Baker's City Airport Restaurant, where patrons were asked: 

Please sign the register!

Official Logbook - Baker's City Airport Restaurant

The inscription on the inside cover reads:

Official Log Book:

Baker's City Airport Restaurant

Ray Baker, Pilot & Chef 

Lucille Baker, Co-Pilot & Waitress

What follows is a who's who in aviation (and entertainment) during the 30s and 40s. . . 

     

James H. Doolittle

Renowned B-25 pilot, Medal of Honor recipient, and oh so much more. . .  Interesting side note:  Eighteen years ago, while commuting to work, I had the pleasure to sit beside a retired Air Force Colonel who was on the board of directors of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Savannah, Georgia.  The gentleman appeared to be in his mid to late eighties.  We chatted about pilot stuff for most of the flight.  Knowing that Doolittle was in charge of the Eighth Air Force at the time of the Normandy Landings, I asked if he had known the man.  He said:  "I guess after Lindbergh, General Doolittle was the most gifted pilot I have ever known."  I was flabbergasted!  "You knew them both?"  He reflected for a moment (I imagine thinking back many years) and said:  "I knew them both."

Eddie Rickenbacker

World War I flying ace, Medal of Honor recipient, racing car driver, and longtime leader of Eastern Airlines.

Roscoe Turner

Air Racing Legend and the only pilot to win the Thompson Trophy three times.  "Mr. Turner . . . How would your lion like his steak cooked?"  The Alabama Flash was Birmingham, Alabama native, Ben Chapman, who batted .302 over 15 years in the Big Leagues.  Chapman played for the New York Yankees from 1930 to 1936.  He managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1945 to 1948.

Wiley Post

First pilot to fly solo around the world.  Also discovered the jet stream.  His Lockheed Vega "Winnie Mae" is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.  Post, along with American humorist Will Rogers, died in a crash near Point Barrow, Alaska on August 15, 1935.

Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan

In 1938 Douglas Corrigan departed Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York for Long Beach, California, but due to a "navigational error," landed in Ireland.  Below Corrigan's signature is boxer, James "Cinderella Man" Braddock.

Allan H. Lockheed

Allan and Malcolm Lockheed (Loughead) founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company in 1913.  Today it is known as Lockheed Martin.

Helen Richey

First female airline pilot in the United States.  Hired by Greensburg, Pennsylvania based Central Airlines in 1934.  She was forced to resign by the all-male pilots union.  That had to suck!

Arthur Goebel

Hollywood stunt pilot.  Winner of the 1927 Oakland-Honolulu Dole Air Race (shared with his navigator USN Lt. William V. Davis, Jr.) in the Travel Air Woolaroc.

John T. Daniels & Adam D. Etheridge

Members of the Kill Devil Hills (North Carolina) Lifesaving Station.  Daniels was responsible for capturing one of the most reproduced images of the twentieth century.  William Tate was the postmaster at Kitty Hawk.  It was his reply, along with weather station chief, John Dosher, to Wilbur Wright's inquiry about wind conditions on the Outer Banks in 1900, that sealed the deal for the Wright Brothers.

December 17, 1903.  Photo by John T. Daniels

William B. Stout

Aircraft designer and founder of the Stout Metal Airplane Company.  (Sold to the Ford Motor Company in 1924.)  His redesigned Stout 3-AT was the forerunner of the Ford Tri-Motor.

Howard Hughes, Jack Benny, & Mary Livingstone

Hughes was a huge (yuc yuc) success in the aviation and entertainment industries.  Livingstone was Jack Benny's wife.

The Andrews Sisters

LaVerne, Maxene, & Patty.  Their hit, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, is ranked Number Six on the Recording Industry Association of America list of Songs of the Century.

 Andy Devine

Character actor best known for his work with Roy Rogers.

Johnny Weissmuller & Lupe Velez

Weissmuller won five Olympic gold medals (swimming) during the 1920s.  You may remember him as the original Tarzan.  Mexican actress, Lupe Velez, was Weissmuller's second wife.

Will Rogers

American Humorist and Radio Personality.

Keeping Track Of Time

First the bad news:  Time flies.  Now the good news:  I'm the pilot!

On October 9th I celebrated my twenty year anniversary as a pilot with Delta Air Lines.  Four days earlier, on October 5th, I surpassed 20,000 flight hours!  So what does twenty thousand hours look like?  In my case it looks like forty-one small crew logs of various colors, shapes, and sizes, compiled into six master logbooks.  A complete record of my life's work since the mid 1970s---all of which (except for the five in the picture above) are stored in a safe deposit box in a bank vault close to our home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Many airline pilots stop keeping a logbook the day they get hired.  That could have been me; but a plethora of rapid-fire job losses early in my career forced me to keep my logbook up to date.  The late 1980s/early 1990s were challenging times in the flying business.  The airlines were just learning how to cope with deregulation when the first gulf war came along.  I was an Airbus A-300 flight engineer at Pan American World Airways when Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Republican Guard overran Kuwait in August 1990.  When the US-led coalition forces retaliated in January 1991 international airline passenger traffic died.  Pan Am, already weakened, would not survive the year.  I was furloughed on October 28, 1991.  Operations at the World's Most Experienced Airline ceased on December 4, 1991.  Interestingly enough, I heard about the shutdown while interviewing for a corporate pilot position with a banking firm in Atlanta, Georgia.  The chief pilot conducting the interview remarked:  "I'm reluctant to hire furloughed airline pilots because they usually get recalled.  But I heard on the radio this morning that Pan Am just shut down, so I guess that won't apply to you."  I still didn't get the job.

In 1993 FLYING Magazine published an article chronicling the life aviator-author Ernest K. Gann.  Among the illustrations that accompanied the story was a photograph of a logbook entry made when Gann was an American Airlines pilot serving with the Air Transport Command during World War II.  The photograph was captivating---an elegant description of a simple flight segment that only Ernest K. Gann could pen.  I remember thinking, Now that's a logbook entry!  Since then I have tried my best to record my entries with similar grace and style---or at least the same spirit, I'm no Ernie Gann.

Having a camera handy helps too!  I've carried one since day one.  In the early days it was an Agfa Instamatic.  When I was a senior in college I bought a 35mm NIKON FE2.  It was a fantastic piece of equipment, and an essential part of my flight kit throughout the 1980s and 1990s.  It was replaced by a small digital point and shoot---and has since been replaced by an iPhone. All six master logbooks are stuffed to the gills with photographs, and other "stuff" collected during the adventure.

Dates:

First Solo:  June 13, 1975.

Private:  August 6, 1980.

Instrument & Commercial:  August 18, 1982.

Multi-engine:  January 23, 1983.

CE-500 Type Rating (Cessna Citation):  July 26, 1984.

ATP:  August 16, 1985.

Flight Engineer, Turbojet:  January 7, 1986.  (Eastern Airlines)

DC-9 Type Rating:  May 10, 1993.  (Private Jet Expeditions)

Boeing 737 Type Rating:  December 15, 1997.  (Delta Air Lines)

Boeing 757/767 Type Rating:  November 10, 2004.  (Delta Air Lines)

Tailwheel Endorsement:  October 23, 2009.

Numbers:

Total:  20,023.1

Single Engine:  768.3

Multi-engine:  19,254.8

PIC:  8,450.8

SIC:  7,885.4

FE:  3,686.9

Instrument:  Actual:  755.5
                    Simulated (Hood):  55.2
                    Simulator:  608.2

Instructor/Line Check Airman:  1,135.0

Tailwheel:  243.1

"Stuff" Between The Pages:

At NCNB Corporation (now Bank of America) it was standard operating procedure for the co-pilot to go back and check on the passengers after we were level at cruising altitude.  The King Air 200 had a fully stocked bar, and occasionally someone would ask for a drink.  On one occasion when I was the co-pilot, we had renowned musician, and big band leader, Benny Goodman, on a flight from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina.  When I asked Mr. Goodman if he needed anything, he glanced at his watch, smiled, and said:  "I believe it is after noon.  May I have a Bloody Mary?"  I smiled too, and replied:  "Absolutely!  And if it's up to snuff, may I have your autograph?"         

Proof that no eardrums were damaged. . .  Barograph from Eastern Airlines Flight 571, Atlanta to Orlando, April 16, 1986.  (A gift from the jump seat rider who just happened to be a competition sailplane pilot.)  Pilots are judged by one thing:  Landings.  Flight engineers are judged by three things:  Keeping the fuel balanced; keeping the landing gear warning horn silent; and how well they manage the pressurization system.  The Boeing 727-100 had a manually controlled pneumatic pressurization system that required a certain degree of finesse to operate.  This was a good day.

Rainbow walk around in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  March 16, 2012.

Chasing the sunset near Jackson, Mississippi.  Flight 1911, ATL-DFW, March 23, 2012.

Pond Branch Airfield Flour Bomb Contest, April 21, 2012.

With The Great Barbeau . . . Rutherford County, North Carolina to Rock Hill, South Carolina, August 24, 2013.

Boatload of ice!  Flight 2413, ORD-MSP, November 10, 2014.

Numbers Five and Six.

20K!  October 5, 2017

20,000.2 hours!  With my friend, and flying buddy of 34 years, Gary "The Great Barbeau."  On the grass at York, South Carolina.  The Bush-N-Vine Produce Stand is in the background.

The Bush-N-Vine.

My Twenty Thousand Hours Award!

20K Time Machine. . .

20K Selfie.