2001.07.TARPA_TOPICS

JULY 2001

HELP PLAN

OUR FUTURE

-CONVENTION 2001

SEPTEMBER 19-22

PHILADELPHIA

CONTENTSTARPA TOPICS THE MAGAZINE OF THE TWA ACTIVE RETIRED PILOTS ASSOCIATION

9

FEATURE ARTICLES:

TARPA CONVENTION `01by Clark Billie

DEPARTMENTS:

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEBob Dedman 3

AN OLD PILOTREMEMBERS ALASKA

by William E. Townsend

EDITOR'S NOTEJohn Gratz 4

29SECRETARY/TREASURE

CARRIER LANDINGS Rufus Mosley 5by Stu Nelson 32

LAND SPEED RACING2000 DIARY

by Ardun Doug King

NIXON OPENS CHINA 1972by Bill Dixon

STILL CHAMPby Jim Breslin

33

56

60

TARPA TOURSby Jean Thompson 20

GRAPEVINE

FLOWN WEST

by Hank Gastrich 41

65

A COMMON PASTby Associated Press

WHOPPER SNOWSTORMby Bill Dixon

IT DOESN'T GET BETTERTHAN THIS

by Jim Breslin

Material contained in TARPA Topics may be used bynon-profit or charitable organizations. All other use ofmaterial must be by permission of the Editor.

All inquires concerning the is publication should beaddressed to : John P. Gratz, Editor

TARPA TOPICS1646 Timberlake Manor ParkwayChesterfield, MO 63017

62

64

81

TOPICS is an official publication of TARPA , a non-profitcorporation., Editor bears no responsibility for accuracy orunauthorized use of contents.

Cover Photo Courtesy: Editor

PAGE 1 ... TARPA TOPICS ... MARCH, 2001

EDITOR John P. Gratz 1646 Timberlake Manor PkwyChesterfield, MO 63017 (636) [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR David R. Gratz 1034 CarollSt. Louis, MO [email protected]

GRAPEVINE EDITOR Gene Richards 221a Levelland Ln.Modesto, CA 95350 (209) [email protected]

HISTORIAN Felix M. Usis M 1276 Belvoir LaneVirginia Beach, VA 23464-6746 (757) [email protected]

FLOWN WEST COORDINATOR John S. Bybee 2616 Saklan Indian Drive #1Walnut Creek, CA 94595 (925)938-3492

INTERNET WEBMASTER Jack Irwin 2466 White Stable RoadTown and Country, MO 63131 (314) [email protected]

TARPA TOURS COORDINATOR Jean Thompson 11 Shadwood LaneHilton Head Island, S.C. 29926 (843) 681-6451

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS, 2000 - 2001

PRESIDENT Robert W. Dedman 3728 Lynfield DriveVirginia Beach, VA 23452 (757) [email protected]

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT Chuck Hasler 8 Rustic WaySan Rafael, CA 94901 (415) [email protected]

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT H.O. Van Zandt 1810 Lindbergh LaneDaytona Beach, FL 32124 (904) [email protected]

SECRETARY/TREASURER Rufus Mosley Box 2086California City, CA 93504 (760) [email protected]

SENIOR DIRECTOR Harry A. Jacobsen 848 Coventry StreetBoca Raton, FL 33487 (567) 997-0468

DIRECTOR Larry Ashcraft 15435 E. ShoreBig Fork, MT 59911 (406) [email protected]

DIRECTOR Jack Irwin 2466 White Stable RoadTown and Country, MO 63131 (314) [email protected]

PAST-PRESIDENT John P. Gratz 1646 Timberlake Manor PkwyChesterfield, MO 63017 (636) [email protected]


PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

So much has happened since our last TARPA TOPICS, but I believe that we have weathered thestorm and we can see calm seas ahead. It has not been easy for all of our people, but I believe inthe long run, we will all prosper and that even though our beloved name TWA will not bearound, the memories will linger long after we have departed. After all, TWA was one of themost recognized logos in the world. It will not disappear overnight! Our reputation for quality,service, and professionalism will endure for a long time. We can all be happy that we saw,participated in, and nurtured our airline through some very tough times and events, yet wemanaged to come out on top. Unfortunately, the times changed and we found that our airlinewas unable to extricate itself from the Icahn onus and other burdens, but with great accomplish-ments from our CEO Bill Compton, our airline became a valuable asset. American Airlinesseized the opportunity and has indeed inherited the best that "money CANT buy" and that is theintegrity and devotion of its employees.

Throughout all of the hearings at the Senate level and the bankruptcy courts, we tried to showthat our people were very important to the negotiations and even though we were not given anytrump cards, I feel we played our hand as best we could. Yes, there will be losers and for that Iam sorry, but when you figure what the MAJORITY received, we did as well as we could. Thereare so many people that worked behind the scenes to make it all possible and to mention all ofthem is not necessary, as they volunteered their time and expertise to do what had to be donewith no reward asked for or expected. We can all expect changes down the road, but that too, islife. I hope we can continue what we have been doing for some time now, which is getting to ourconventions, taking some TARPA tours, and mainly staying in touch with each other both byreading and submitting stories to the Topics.

I have been posting some notices on the TARPA Web site concerning the upcoming conventionin Philadelphia but for those who may not have access or use the internet, I have been asking ourmembership to make this an "Epic" convention. As of this writing, TWA passes will continue tobe in place just as before including boarding priority on TWA LLC. If you must use AA, thenyou will go under their boarding system. Our volunteers in Philly have been working the betterpart of a year to get ready for this big party. Lets show our support by showing up and having agreat time.

Hope you all have a wonderful summer. Wishing you all the best of health and happiness, Ilseand I will see you in Philadelphia.

Robert "Bob" DedmanPresident Tarpa


EDITOR'S NOTE

To say that this issue of TOPICS was the most emotionally challenging since we took this jobcould be an understatement. In the beginning, the question was how to bridge our historicperspective and reflections on our years with TWA with our hopes for an interesting andexciting relationship with American Airlines and its people. Before long, that concern was madeovershadowed by the loss of three of our most respected and loved TARPA colleagues.

We lost Ed Betts, one of our most respected pillars of TARPA and TWA. Ed wrote extensivelyfor TOPICS, the TWA Skyliner and numerous other aviation periodicals. He has been honoredby R.E.G. Davies, who dedicated his recent book to Ed for his many contributions to aviationhistory and, Ed will soon be recognized by Jon Proctor in the June issue of Airliners Magazinewhich is also dedicated to him.

Our longtime Grapevine Editor, Hank Gastrich passed away suddenly while still working on theGrapevine for this issue. Hank has been not only a very talented and hardworking organizer ofthe many stories and photographs sent in by our members and friends but he also added his ownspecial touches to Grapevine. Hank helped us get started when we took this job and was alwaysa pleasure to work with. Hank had many other interests that he found worthwhile but, the thingthat earned him the most respect, many believe, was his return to College where he had justcompleted the requirements for graduation.

A.T. Humbles was one of the most well known and recognizable TARPA Members ever. A.T.worked for his fellow pilots almost from the beginning of his career with TWA. He was electedby his peers on numerous occasions to represent them and their interests. In TARPA, A.T.served as an Officer and as Editor of TOPICS. He and Betty did that job from start to finish.They both did heavy lifting that is no longer undertaken. They addressed each copy and tookthem to the Post Office. This Editor has always respected that level of commitment.

I regret to say that in addition to those prominent Members above, an unusually large number ofother friends are included in the Flown West section of this issue. Their loss is just as deeply felt.

It seems then, that this is a very appropriate time for us to gather again with old and new TARPAfriends at our Convention in Philadelphia. Clark Billie and his Committee have arranged anexciting program in the City of Brotherly Love and the hotel chosen is right in the heart of oneof our Nation's most historic places, our first Capital and the site of the drafting of ourConstitution.

You will find herein several interesting stories submitted by Members in which they shareevents from their past and some describing their present activities. In closing, you should knowthat there are several publications available which contain articles about TWA's proud history.Two of them are, Air Classics and Air Progress. The third one is Airliners, of which TARPAsubscriber and frequent TOPICS contributor, Jon Proctor is author of a fine article and alsoEditor of the magazine. Jon sent us an advanced copy of the story in the June issue. Wewholeheartedly recommend this for your consideration. Airliners can be obtained at most largebookstores or by calling their Hotline 800-875-6711.


SECRETARY/TREASURER'S REPORT

May 3, 2001

This is my first report to the membership. Phil Belisle has served as Secretary/Treasurerfor the last four years, and was ready for a break. Bob Dedman asked me if I would bewilling to step in and I agreed. Having just retired last summer, I haven't become boredyet and thought this would fit right in. It didn't take long to find out how much WORKPhil has been doing! Hope all will join me in thanking Phil for a job well done.

As of today, we have $38,422.98 in the bank. There are some dues payments still comingin as a result of the reminder cards that I sent out as my first official duty. If you got oneby mistake, please forgive me and blame Phil (just kidding, Phil). We have two moreissues of Topics to produce this year, which should leave us slightly in the black for theentire year.

This past Tuesday, May 1, I attended the Los Angeles pilot's get together at the AcapulcoMexican Restaurant in Santa Monica. There was a great turnout, close to 100 showingup. Although I was never based in LAX, I talked with many friends from through theyears there. A good time was had by all. After drinks, lunch, drinks, lies, and more drinksMEC Chairman Capt. Bob Pastore spoke to the group and answered questions. They tellme this event only happens once every two years. Maybe they should consider doing itmore often.

Please bear with me as I break in to this job, and let me know what I can do to serve youbetter.

Sincerely,

Rufus Mosely


C. RUFUS MOSELYBOX 2086

CALIFORNIA CITY, CA 93504 U.S.A.760 373-3043

rufus767 @ hotmail.com

MINUTES of the March 27, 2001 TARPA Board meeting.

Present: Bob Dedman, H. O. Van Zandt, Harry Jacobson, Larry Ashcraft, Charles Hasler,Phil Belisle, John Gratz, Rufus Mosely, David Gratz, Clark Billie, George McKellar-President, American Airlines Gray Eagles, & Dan Scott- President, Ozark Airlines SilverSwallows.

The meeting was called to order 4:55 PM by President Dedman.

President ' s Report: Pres. Dedman reported on the Senate hearing, the bankruptcy hearing

in Wilmington, Del., the Committee for retirees which John Gratz attended as theTARPA representative, he was elected Chairman of the committee. He also discussedsites for future TARPA conventions: Dave Saks resigned as site chairman, site for '02-San Antonio?, chairman- Rex Pitts?, '03- SFO?

First Vice President ' s report: Chuck Hasler said that he will help find a chairman for the2002 convention. San Antonio is being considered as a strong possibility for the site.

Sec./Treas. Report: Phil Belisle reported that at the end of Jan. we had approx $60,000 inbank. 240 members have not pd. 2001 dues, worth about $8,000. Phil resigned theSecretary/Treasurer position and Rufus Mosely was unanimously elected by the board tofill this position until the next regular election.

Second Vice President's Report: H. O. Van Zandt stated that he is compiling an E-mailnetwork, he also has a seniority list from day one of the airline. Also, the DAP willcontinue to operate.

2001 convention chairman: Clark Billie reported on plans for the September conventionin Philadelphia. Plans are coming along nicely, and he is looking forward to a big turnout.

Retiree committee: John Gratz reported on activities of this group, which addressesinsurance issues only. He was elected chairman. They have approved by-laws & hired anattorney. Insurance for retirees WILL be modified Expect more info on Tues. 4/2.


John also said he was willing to continue as TOPICS editor, and that the deadline for thenext issue is 5/15.

Nominating committee: Jim Breslin, Fred Arenas, Norm Gray: no action.

Dan Scott, President of the Silver Swallows addressed the Board on that group'sactivities, including the restoration of a C-47 to Ozark configuration and their willingnessto consider a possible merger with TARPA. The following MOTION was made by RufusMosely and seconded by Chuck Hasler: RESOLVED, that the TARPA Board ofDirectors go on record as agreeable to a merger with the Silver Swallows of OzarkAirlines. This motion PASSED unanimously.

George McKellar, President of American Airlines Gray Eagles addressed the Board. Thatgroup is composed of AA retired cockpit crew & actives over 50, they have 3200members including widows, annual dues are $75, they have a convention once a year. Heoffered to be of assistance to our group in any way possible.

President Dedman thanked both of these gentlemen for taking the time to attend themeeting.

MOTION was made by Chuck Hasler & seconded by Larry Ashcraft to adjourn, passed,& the meeting was adjourned at 5:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

C. Rufus MoselySecretary/Treasurer


This past week John Gratz phoned me to ask if I would available to take over the Grapevinesection of Topics. Hank Gastrich felt it was time for him to move on to other things. I waspleased to be asked and said that I would call Hank and get all the particulars as to how theGrapevine worked. Twenty minutes later John called back to say that he had just spoken toHank's daughter and that Hank had passed away that morning.

I didn't know Hank personally but I have admired and respected his work on the Grapevine forthe past seven years. I also admired his work ethics in going back to school at an advanced age.That's something I have always wanted to do but "never found the time."

With the help of the membership and John I will do my best to maintain Hank's standards.

Gene Richards

New Members

(R) Capt. Bill Barnett (spouse- Lisa)Rt. 9 Box 1313Burnsville, NC 28714828 [email protected]

(R) Capt. Paul Boylan (spouse- Margaret)3119 Autumn Trace Dr.Maryland Heights, MO 63043314 [email protected]

(R) Capt. Donald F. Brady (spouse-Jeanne)724 Count Pourtales Dr.Colorado Springs, CO 80906719 [email protected]

(R) Capt. Donald J. Cook, Jr.234 Lake Merced Hill NorthSan Francisco, CA 94132-2908415 [email protected]

(R) F/O William H. Maurer(spouse- Beverly)P. O. Box 20322Kansas City, MO 64195816 [email protected]

(R) Capt. Tom Mullins (spouse- Victoria)7640 N. 173rd Av.Waddell, AZ 85355623 935-4833temullinsus@yahoo. com

(R) Capt. Andrew Murray#33 16th St.Hermosa Beach, CA [email protected]

Capt. James P. DoneganP.O. Box 10087Truckee, Ca [email protected]

Photos in this issue of Topics courtesy of: Hank Gastrich, Larry Hecker, Rufus Mosely, MarkRuth and Bill Townsend


.. TARPA TOPICS ... MARCH, 2001

Time to BID a 96 hour Layover in PHL

Welcome to one of TWA's oldest cities. We will be staying in downtown Philly,across from the old Bellevue Stratford Hotel, in which so many of us have had greatlayovers. Philadelphia has had a wonderful rebirth, while retaining all of its colonialcharm.

We are planning tours to the famous Longwood Gardens(which is a spectacular botanical garden), the Harley-Davidson Factory, and of course many Historical Sites.Hundreds of interesting places can be accessed by localcity tour buses or even walking. Walking through the cityis always fun and of course the "shopping" is excellent.

Aside from our planned events, information will be pro-vided for you to take advantage of the theatres, restaurantsetc., many of which are within walking distance of ourhotel. We will be staying at the DoubleTree Hotel atBroad and Locust Streets across from the Academy ofMusic.

There will be lots of opportunity for those who would justrather "hang out" at the hospitality room and see oldfriends. A comfortable and easy convention is planned.

The committee members are looking forward to TARPA 2001 and to

seeing all of our great friends

We know how difficult it is to plan so far ahead, but we appreciate any effortyou can make to sign up as early as possible.


TARPA 2001 PHILADELPHIA

September 19-22

SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAYSEPTEMBER 19

THURSDAYSEPTEMBER 20

FRIDAYSEPTEMBER 21

SATURDAYSEPTEMBER 22

1300-19001400-18301900-2000

0900-1700

1100-17001400-1830

0900-16001000-14001400-18301800-2230

0900-11001000-14001200-14301400-16301800-19001900-2300

REGISTRATIONHOSPITALITY SUITEBOARD MEETING

HARLEY-DAVIDSON ANDAMISH COUNTRY TOURREGISTRATIONHOSPITALITY SUITE

LONGWOOD GARDENS TOURREGISTRATIONHOSPITALITY SUITEDELAWARE RIVER DINNER CRUISE

GENERAL MEETINGREGISTRATIONHISTORIC PHILADELPHIA TOURHOSPITALITY SUITECOCKTAIL HOURBANQUET AND DANCING

SUNDAY 1100 CHECK OUT TIMESEPTEMBER 23

THE ABOVE TIMES ARE BUS DEPARTURE TIMES......PLEASE BE AVAILABLE AT

LEAST 10 MINUTES PRIOR TO DEPARTURE TIMES TO ASSURE AN

" ON TIME DEPARTURE"


Tour Information

Harley-Davidson/Amish Country Tour - Thursday, Sept 20, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM

The tour will depart the DoubleTree by bus at 9 Am on September 20, 2001. We will beguided around the shop floor of the H-D assembly plant and get a close look at the assembly line.A visit to the Motorcycle Museum is included.

Lunch will be at the Hershey Farm Restaurant and is included in the cost. Time will beavailable after lunch to shop and visit the on-site gardens.

Our bus will return us to the DoubleTree at approximately 5:00 PM.

Longwood Gardens - Friday, Sept 21, 9:00 AM-4:00 PMIn 1906 industrialist Pierre S. duPont purchased a 42-acre farm to preserve trees, which

had been planted there as early as 1798. Since then Longwood Gardens has grown to encompass1,050 acres of gardens, meadows and woodlands; four acres of greenhouses containing 20 indoorgardens; 11,000 different types of plants; a rich collection of trees, statuary and fountains.

Our walking tour will be self-guided so that you can select your area of interest - roses,orchids, cacti, fountains or arboretum. Wheelchairs will be available if walking is a problem.

Lunch will be on your own at the Terrace Restaurant or the self-service cafeteria.Transportation to and from the gardens will be provided by bus, leaving the hotel at 9:00

AM and leaving Longwood for return at 3:00 PM. The cost of this event includes admission tothe gardens and transportation.

Historic Philadelphia Tour –Saturday, Sept 22, 12:00 noon-2:30PMThis is what Philadelphia is all about! Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House.

Christ Church and many other wonderful stops on this four-hour guided tour of early colonial PhiladelphiaThe "City of Brotherly Love". The tour includes transportation and a professional guide as well asadmissions. taxes and gratuities when required. This is a walking tour!

Transportation will be provided to and from the hotel, departing at 12:00noon.

The above tours are space limited

Dinner Cruise - Friday, Sept 21, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PMThe Spirit of Philadelphia Cruise Ship departs Penn's Landing on the Delaware River at

7:00 PM for three hours of dining, dancing and sight-seeing; some points of interest are Penn'sLanding, the Ben Franklin Bridge, the New Jersey State Aquarium and the Naval Shipyard, toname a few.

Transportation will be provided by bus to and from the hotel, departing at 6:00 PM.


On Your Own

For those individuals who desire to tour the city of Philadelphia and nearby areas on their own, here is a listingof several places of interest. Some of these sites are included in the Historic Philadelphia Tour, which is being offeredon Saturday.

City Hall Located at Penn Square, Broad and Markets Sts. Constructed between 1871 and 1901, it featuresa 37-foot bronze statue of William Penn atop the tower. Monday thru Friday a 90-minute guided tour, including thetower, is offered at 12:30. Tower tours are available every 15 minutes, Monday thru Friday from 9:30 to 4:00. Free.215-686-2840.

Masonic Temple This magnificent structure is significant because of its architecture; seven differentstyles are found in the seven lodge halls. Tours include the Grand Lodge Museum. All tours are guided; Monday thruFriday at 10, 11 AM, 1, 2 &3 PM. 215-988-1917.

Atwater Kent Museum Located at 15 S7th

St. The accent is on the history of the city and archeology.Open Wednesday thru Sunday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Admission $3. 215-922-3031.

Christ Church Burial Ground Located at5th

and Arch Sts. The site of Benjamin Franklin's grave.The United States Mint Located just north of Christ Church at

5thand Arch Sts. Open 9:00 AM to

4:30 PM. Free. 215-408-0114.

Independence National Historical Park Located three blocks north and approximately eight blockseast of the DoubleTree Hotel. The following is a partial listing of points of interest in or near to the park.

Independence Hall Located on Chestnut St between5th

and6th

Sts. Where the Declaration ofIndependence and Constitution were signed. Admission by guided tour only between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Free.215-597-8974.

Liberty Bell Pavilion Located between 5 th and6th

Sts on Market St. The bell can be viewed fromoutside 24 hours a day but is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. Free. 215-597-8974.

Second Bank of United States Located at 420 Chestnut St. This 1824 structure houses the PortraitGallery of Independence National Park. Call ahead for hours. Admission $2. 215-597-8974

The Betsy Ross House Located at 239 Arch St. This is where the first American flag was sewn. OpenTuesday thru Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM. Donations. 215-627-5343

Elfreth's Alley Located just east of the Betsy Ross House. Purportedly the oldest continuously inhabitedstreet in the US, it is lined with quaint homes from the early 1700s.

Penn's Landing Located between Market and Lombard Sts along the Delaware River. It marks the sitewhere William Penn landed in 1682. This is also home to several historic ships maintained by the Philadelphia ShipPreservation Guild. 215-629-3200.


The above-listed attractions could be visited on foot; however, for those needing transportationPhiladelphia's Phlash service runs every ten minutes from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. And as theyadvertise, "Hop on and off all day for $4.00."

Farther removed from the DoubleTree are the Franklin Institute Science Museum and the FelsPlanetarium, located at 20

thSt and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Open daily from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Combination tickets, which add either the Fels Planetarium or the Tuttleman Omniverse Theater, are $12.50, $10.50 forthose over 62. 215-448-1200.

The Academy of Natural Sciences, located at 19thSt and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, was founded in

1812 and is the oldest continuously operating museum of its kind in the US. Open Monday thru Friday from 10:00 AMto 4:30 PM. Admission $7.75, $7 over 65. 215-299-1000.

The Rodin Museum, located at 22 nd St and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, houses a 124- piece collection ofRodin originals and casts; second only to the Rodin Museum of Paris. Donations. 215-763-8100.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is located at the end of the Ben Franklin Parkway at 26th

St. This is trulyam outstanding art museum, presenting works by Cezanne, Monet, Poussin, Renoir, Rubens and Van Gogh. Works ofmodern artists are also included. Hours: Tuesday thru Sunday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with guided tours available hourlyfrom 10 to 3. Admission $8, $5 over 62. There is limited free parking. 215-763-8100.

The Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site, located at 532 N7th

St, contains a visitor's center within thehouse where Poe lived 1843 — 1844. Open Thursday and Friday 1:30 to 5 PM. Free. 215-895-2424.

Across the Delaware River in Camden, NJ are a couple of major attractions. The Thomas H. Kean NewJersey State Aquarium is located on the banks of the Delaware River and features 400 species of fish. Ferry serviceis available from Philadelphia's riverfront. Open daily 9:30 AM to 4:30. Admission $10.95, $9.45 over 64.Reservations recommended. 609-365-3300.

The battleship, USS New Jersey, is scheduled to be opened to the public on September 2, 2001. This 887-footship was mothballed in 1991 and is presently undergoing restoration. Areas open to the public will include the maindeck, #1 gun turret and the superstructure with its quarters and command centers. Phone 856-966-1652.

The Brandywine River Museum is located in nearby Chadds Ford, PA at the intersection of Routes 1 and100. It is housed in a restored 19th century gristmill and displays the best of area artists, including Pyle, Schoonover, andthree generations of Wyeths. Daily 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. $5.

Should you be interested in attending the Theater while in town for the TARPA convention, it is suggested youcontact directly, any of the theaters listed for their features:

Academy of Music — across the street from the DoubleTree 215-893-1999Forrest Theater — Walnut St between 11 th and 12 th Sts 215-923-1515Walnut St Theater — America's oldest theater, founded in 1809. Walnut St between 8th and 9th Sts.215-574-3550Wilma Theater - 265 S. Broad St. 215-893-9456, box office 215-546-7824The Pennsylvania Ballet — 215-551-7000

Telecharge — 1-800-447-7400Further theater listing are---http://www.theatrealliance.org/popup.html

For more information and maps you can go to the Web.

http://www.gophila.com/gettinghere/


FURTHER INFORMATION

The DoubleTree Hotel is located in the very heart of Philadelphia at Broad and Locust Streets, justtwo blocks from City Hall across the street from the Academy of Music and The Bellvue StratfordHotel. Most of the historic parts of the city are within walking distance from the hotel and convenient,inexpensive bus or taxi may easily reach those that are not.

Hotel parking is $15/day in the attached garage.

Those traveling to PHL International can reach the hotel by taxi (about $20, 4 people max),Airport SUPPERSHUTTLE (about $8/person) or train to Market East then a 4-5 block walk or taxito the Hotel. The train costs about $5 or $1 if you are 65 or older. All major car companies arerepresented at the airport.

The hotel has all of the usual facilities such as pool, restaurants, gym, business center etc. as well asin-room computer access outlets.

For those flying privately: at PHL the FBO is Atlantic Aviation and at PNE (Northeast Philadelphia)the FBO is Hortman Aviation (sound familiar? Yes, originally Norm Hortman, now run by his son).

For RV parking please call or E-mail Jim Breslin at 910 977-2448 [email protected] are no RV camps nearby, so hopefully we can get some of you to travel together to the hotel.

When making hotel reservations be sure to specify the "DoubleTree at Broad and Locust Streets inDowntown Philadelphia," because there are two DoubleTree hotels.Call directly to 215 893-1600 or 800 222-8733. Advise "TARPA 2001" for the special room rateof $112/night.

Atlantic City casino trips are available by contacting the hotel concierge.

TARPA 2001 Convention Committee

ChairmanCo-ChairmanTreasurerSecretaryCommitteeCommitteeCommittee

Clark BillieJoe GallagherEphe OlliverBonnie OlliverMarlene BillieJim AndersonChris Anderson

215 297-8436610 825-5122215 345-0768215 345-0768215 297-8436215 672-1297215 672-1297

[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]


GET READY TO TIPTOE THROUGH THE TULIPS WITH

TOURING THOMPSON

The 12-day trip leaves the US April 11, 2002 and begins in Brussels. You fly home fromAmsterdam. The price quoted in the material that follows was supplied by Vantage DeluxeWorld Travel and includes airfare from the US to Europe. If you wish to use your pass, Vantagewill quote you a price for the land and riverboat portion only.** When you contact Vantage tomake your reservation be sure to say you are with TARPA. I advise asking for information onthe insurance package.

2002 is the Floriade in Holland. The Floriade is held every 10 years and is a wonderfulhorticultural exposition. It features flowers, vegetables and trees grown in the Netherlands. It issupposed to be magnificent and we will have an opportunity to see it as well as the fabulousKeukenhof Gardens and the other delights Holland has to offer.

The riverboat "Explorer" is brand new. The travel agent I'm dealing with went on its inauguraltrip and raved about it. You may choose from 4 categories of outside cabins. Category C is atthe waterline and has windows that you have to stand or kneel on the bunk to see out of. A, B,and C cabins are the same size with larger windows in A and B. In category AA there are suitesthat are a little larger. There is an elevator aboard. There is single seating dining in a diningroom with panoramic views of the Dutch waterways on which we'll be cruising.

- - Note that almost all meals are included as well as all shore excursions -

Get your reservations in as soon as possible. Vantage is holding 20 places for TARPA. Theywill have no trouble filling this cruise during tulip time in a Floriade year and they will not holdspace for us after August 1. I have made my reservation and I hope you'll join me.

**I plan to fly from Atlanta and there is a $100 add-on from there. Because of the difficulty ofusing my Class 9 pass; I usually buy the package that includes airfare.

IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THE POST CONVENTION PEEKS AND VALLEYS TRIPGET YOUR CHECKS TO ME PRONTO.

SEE THE LAST TARPA TOPICS FOR THE DETAILS.Jean Thompson


You'll be surrounded by vibrant blooms at Holland's celebrated Keukenhof Gardens

here's nothing quite like Holland and Belgium at tulip time. At each bend in the river and all along theintricate network of bridge-crowned canals, you'll see every conceivable hue of tulip — bursting from ablanket of emerald green into rainbows of vibrant color. And there's no better way to explore Holland's

incredibly historic lowlands — festooned with spring flowers — than aboard Vantage's prestigious ms RiverExplorer. This luxurious "floating hotel," custom designed by Vantage Deluxe World Travel to suit North Americantastes, is one of the best ships sailing Europe's rivers today. Glide to the heart of the continent's most scenic venues,with quaint villages and great cities just outside your cabin door. Think of it. The resplendent waterways of Hollandand Belgium — all yours, at the height of tulip time. And, if you like, you can add Belgium with 3 nights in Paris,or end with 2 nights in Amsterdam

Your Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1 Depart HomeBegin with an overnight flight to Brussels.(If youelected to start with the optional pre-extension inParis, you'll transfer by motorcoach to Brussels.)

Day 2 Brussels, BelgiumArrive in Brussels and transfer to the Deluxe SASRadisson Hotel, located in the heart of the city. Thisevening, meet your fellow travellers at a WelcomeDinner.Deluxe SAS Radisson Brussels Hotel (D)

Day 3 BrusselsSet off on a half-day panoramic city tour, highlight-ing the cobblestoned main square — Grand Place

Vantage Deluxe World Travel presents

Explore Amsterdam's canals


— flanked by Gothic halls and 15th- and 16th-cen-tury gabled houses, many recently restored. Nearbyyou'll stop to see the famous Mannekin Pis boy-hero fountain. The afternoon is yours to explore atleisure. You might explore near the Palais Royal(Royal Palace), strolling the Grand Sablon, the city'smost sophisticated square brimming with cafes,restaurants, art galleries, and antique shops. To seethe height of Art Nouveau, which flourished inBrussels more than anywhere else, visit the British-owned department store, Old England; the buildingitself is a marvel. If you admire great art, be sure tovisit the Musee d'Art Moderne (Museum ofModern Art), the building itself is a feat of modernarchitecture.Deluxe SAS Radisson Brussels Hotel (B)

Day 4 BrusselsSet off on your full-day tour to the picture-perfectFlemish city of Bruges. Last evening's lecture comesalive as you explore this virtual open-air museum,full of romantic canals and medieval architecture.You'll have time for lunch on your own — try thepommes frittes — and to browse shops offeringexquisite handmade lace. To experience Bruges at itsbest, you'll enjoy a delightful included boat ridealong the city's lovely canals. After an exciting day,return to Brussels to relax or enjoy more timeexploring at leisure.Deluxe SAS Radisson Brussels Hotel (B)

Day 5 Brussels / Amsterdam, TheNetherlands / Embark ms River ExplorerAfter breakfast at your hotel, bid farewell to Brusselsand travel by motorcoach to Amsterdam. You'll stopfor lunch along the way and enjoy a panoramic citytour of The Hague, the seat of the Dutch govern-ment and the International Court of Justice.

After lunch, you'll visit splendid KeukenhofGardens, where you'll gaze in delight at a rainbowof tulips, hyacinths, and narcissus — more thanseven million blooms in all.

Then, arriving in Amsterdam, you'll embark thems River Explorer and settle into your spaciouscabin. Celebrate your river cruise at the Captain'sGala Welcome Dinner this evening.Deluxe ms River Explorer (B, L, D)

Day 6 Amsterdam / RotterdamCruise through the lowlands to Rotterdam. From hereit's a short drive to the ancient river town of Gouda,where you'll enjoy a walking tour in the morning.Gouda is the quintessential Dutch town centeredaround majestic St. John's Church with 70 fabled,stained-glass windows. You'll overnight on board in


Rotterdam, but first take an excursion to charmingDelft, including the Royal Delft Factory where theworld-renowned blue-and-white porcelain is made.Enjoy a short panoramic city tour of Rotterdam enroute to the ship. This evening, delight in a Dinnerwith entertainment by the traditional Dutch SingingCaptains group.Deluxe ms River Explorer (B, L, D)

Day 7 Rotterdam / Schoonhoven / ArnhemDepart Rotterdam in the morning, winding throughtulip country to Schoonhoven. Disembark to wanderamong the spectacular 18th-century windmills atKinderdijk — a series of 19 windmills that line thepicturesque canals. It's the quintessential image of TheNetherlands! Then, step back in time on a walking tourof Dordrecht, the town that inspired so many 17th-and 18th-century painters, such as Ferdinand Bol, Janvan Goyen, Albert Cuyp, Pieter de Hooch, and others.Your vessel is underway again at noon, headed forArnhem, remembered for the air battles that took placeduring World War II. On the way, an expert lecturer onboard will put some of the war's events in perspectivefor you. After dinner, take an evening stroll ofArnhem's open-air museum of cottages, barns, wind-mills, and workshops.Deluxe ms River Explorer (B, L, D)

Day 8 Arnhem / UrkToday you'll visit the Airborne Museum, commemorat-ing the Battle of Arnhem (September 1944), which youlearned about during yesterday's lecture. Part ofOperation Market Garden, the largest airborne operationin history, the battle included men from the 82nd and101st American Airborne Divisions, the 1st BritishAirborne Division, and the Polish 2nd Brigade.Deluxe ms River Explorer (B, L, D)

Day 9 Urk / Makkum / EnkhuizenDisembark in Makkum for an excursion through theLake District and Province of Friesland, an area of ver-dant farmland. A highlight is the Eise EisengaPlanetarium. Ahead lies Enkhuizen, where you'll bedelighted on a walking tour of the Zuider Zee Open-Air Museum of Dutch history. A traditional, Dutchfolkloric show aboard ship, featuring the WestfriesDance Group, highlights the evening.Deluxe ms River Explorer (B, L, D)

Day 10 Enkhuizen / Hoorn /Volendam / Amsterdam

Your ship moves on to the Zuider Zee village ofHoorn, where you'll enjoy free time for shopping.Savor a free afternoon in Volendam, where somelocals still wear traditional costumes.

This evening, enjoy a lecture on Van Gogh as youcruise to Amsterdam, followed by an enchantingCandlelight Canal Cruise. The city takes on a specialglow, with reflections dancing off the water as youglide past storybook, step-gabled houses and beneathgraceful bridges. Slip back to a time when lanterns litthe waterways and the only sounds in the night airwere the songs of boatmen.Deluxe ms River Explorer (B, L, D)

Day 11 AmsterdamYour full day in art-filled Amsterdam begins with apanoramic city tour. You'll see the Gentlemen's Canal,lined by grand, patrician houses; the Criers' Tower,where a plaque marks the point from which HenryHudson set sail for the New World; and stop in at adiamond-cutting workshop. After lunch, you'll travelabout a half-hour out of town to see a spectacle that'sout of this world: Floriade, the horticultural exposi-tion that's held just once every decade! It's Holland'slargest event, featuring flowers of countless varieties,shrubs, and flowering trees — an absolutely breath-taking sight to behold. In the evening, say goodbye toyour new friends at a festive Farewell Dinner aboardship. Deluxe ms River Explorer (B, L, D)U.S. Departure Date—March 21 will visit theRijksmusem.

Day 12 Return Home or Begin OptionalAmsterdam Extension (B)

Discover romantic Bruges, Belgium on an included excursion


Exclusive Included Highlights Exclusive Included Features

• Visit the famed Floriade — a horticultural eventheld just once every 10 years!—March 21 date willvisit the Rijksmusem instead

•Visit magnificent Keukenhof Gardens when thetulips are in full bloom

•Enjoy walking tours of Gouda and Enkhuizenwith just 25 guests per guide!)

• Delve into Delft, where you'll visit the RoyalPorcelain Factory

•See the 19 windmills at Kinderdijk

•Explore Arnhem, with a visit to the AirborneMuseum, enhanced by a shipboard lecture

•Half-day visit to the Floriade horticultural exhibitionon all departures except March 21)

•Tour the Lake District and visit Eise EisengaPlanetarium and Zuider Zee Open-Air Museum

•Take in the splendor of Amsterdam on your citytour with a visit to a diamond cutting workshop,and an evening candlelight canal cruise-Explore Rotterdam, The Hague, and Brussels onpanoramic tours

•Enjoy a Brussels panoramic city tour

•Soak up the medieval splendor of Brugeson a full-day tour including a canal boat ride

•Learn about Arnhem's role in WWII, Vincent vanGogh, and the architecture of Bruges at threeonboard lectures

•Local folkloric entertainment on board

A charming Dutch scene: spring breezes s tulips and a windmill

Accommodations7 nights aboard one of Vantage's deluxe, privatelyowned ms River Explorer; 3 nights at the centrallylocated, deluxe SAS Radisson Brussels HotelAirfareIncluded round trip international airfare to Europefrom select cities; all transfers and baggage handlingincluded; optional Business Class upgrade available atan exclusive Vantage discount25 Meals10 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 8 dinnersExclusive Vantage ExtrasVantage Program Managers and Concierge Deskson board and at your hotelAll-Inclusive Sightseeing11 included sightseeing tours led by local guides(a value of $500 per person)

All transfers & Bagage Handling(Except in customs areas)

Extend Your Vacation

Add three nights in Paris before your cruise, two nightsin Amsterdam after your cruise — or both!

AmsterdamAdd two more nights in canal-laced Amsterdam, alively, culturally rich city with plenty to do, includingthe Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House.You'll stay at the Deluxe Golden Tulip BarbizonPalace situated in the historic and bustling part ofthe city. Your two-night extension includes breakfastdaily, one dinner, and transfers.

ParisImagine immersing yourself in the Rive Gauche, orLeft Bank, strolling beneath the icon of Paris — theEiffel Tower. You can do all that, and more from youraccommodations at the Superior First-Class LeMeridien Etoile Hotel or Le Meridien Montparnasse.a panoramic city tour will show you Notre Dame,the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe. You'll alsoenjoy a dazzling illumination tour of "Paris byNight." Plus, your stay includes daily breakfasts, onedinner, transfers, and ample time at leisure for shop-ping or simply strolling around "The City of Light."

EOD02


Tarpa Tours Presents

WATERWAYS OF HOLLAND AND BELGIUMA 12-Day Memorable Journey® including 7 Nights of scenic cruisingaboard Vantage's Deluxe, privately owned River Explorerand featuring the World Horticultural Exhibition "The Floriade"


AN OLD PILOT REMEMBERS ALASKABy

William E. Townsend

The letters I see in the Topics are a good reminder of many experiences, and I enjoy them. I havea story that might be of interest about my Navy years in Alaska and the new 4 engine R5Ds.

When I was called back on duty in the Navy in 1942, after 212 years with TWA, I was sent toVR-2 in Alameda, as I had had lots of time in seaplanes, (I had even been loaned out by theNavy to fly as Relief Pilot on Pan Am Boeing Clippers to Lisbon, Portugal several times) and 9days later I was on my way to Honolulu in old 4 engine PB2Y2 service plane -14 to 17 hrs. flighttime across the Pacific. After several trips there, I was sent to - where else? Sandpoint NavalStation, near Seattle, and from there to fly cargo and VIPs to Alaska in R4Ds. As a Senior Lt.Cdr., I had the Operations job. Our flights were from Seattle -Kodiak - Adak and Fairbanks, andthen, when the oil fields were opened at Umiat, we flew in the first equipment and most allsupplies for the test wells. We also had flights to Pt. Barrow to service the Navy SeaBees. Wealways had caribou sandwiches when we left to go back to Fairbanks.

I got to fly some of the VIPs from Washington, D. C. and some of the celebrities with the USO,and one VIP, who later became President - Harry Truman. The trip around Mt. McKinley, justNorth of Anchorage was a "Must See" for our VIPs. When we stayed overnight in Fairbanks, wehad quarters in the same building with the Russian pilots, who were there to ferry U.S. fighterplanes back to Russia, as part of the "Lend -Lease plan", I was told. Vodka, of course, was ontheir menu -a U.S. man would not last long in that outfit.

My first to Alaska, when we stopped in Anchorage, it had one center street about 7 blocks long,one small hotel, a few bars, population about 8,000, with animals - moose and elk all around; Iguess now the population is more like 225,000. Kodiak was our first real base when we started.

About 4 months later, VR-5 was commissioned and scheduled to pick up the first Navy 4 engineR5Ds, and I was asked by the skipper to go to Douglas at Santa Monica, Ca. and get the first fiveplanes (lucky me!) I was more than willing. The person that my crew and I reported in to atDouglas was Benny Howard, the well-known test and race pilot. Next A.M. I checked in withhim, #9 was on the line and ready -what a briefing-I'm co-pilot in a strange 4 engine aircraft -quite a change from the old R4D. After a brief cockpit check, we were off; flew around someand he says, "You've got it." I made a few turns, some more briefing and we made a helpcontrolled landing with a rolling takeoff. After 3 or 4 landings, he said "Enough", and after 3more landings the next A.M., he said, "take it away". Douglas sent an engineer with us for thenext six weeks, and my crew and I ferried the planes to fly the Alaska chain to Attu from Seattle.

With the help of the Douglas engineer and a smart First Class Seaman, Bill Gieger, anotherTWA employee, we wrote the first set of flight instructions for that plane. In all the next 2+years we never damaged a plane. We just gave Alaska weather reports due respect and flewsome real weather!


One experience I remember well: one late night flight, Adak to Kodiak, in an R4D, I had 6 Navymess boys on board, going back to the States. Somewhere West of Kodiak Island a very lowceiling came in and ice started to form on the wings - so we went down low; the radio operatorlet out the radio antenna to full 50 ft. and kept a hand on it, so if I got too low he would feel theweight hit water. It was now black-out, as you would know; Kodiak had strong East winds andthe field had no night approach from the West, due to a hill. A charter PAA was ahead of meabout 15 minutes. and I listened to the pilot talk to Kodiak, and he was not happy. Some fewminutes later I heard him say, 11welre going in" -they had 20 on board. My time was stillcoming. I tried a North cross-wind landing, but could not get on ground to stop. I told theco-pilot we would make a blind turn and land East - visibility was very poor. We made it! I don'tbelieve the airplane rolled 100 feet, the wind was so strong. What a close call!! A jeep came outand led us into the hangar. The mess boys got out and kissed the floor - they looked to me to bea gray color. For the co-pilot, and myself it was just another day flying the Aleutian chain -Oh,Yeah! ! I swear my hair turned white a short while later. (We learned later the PAA plane landedin the water close to the shore line -all got out safely, very cold and wet, but OK.)

I can think of only one other time out of the many situations we would find ourselves in that I gotreally concerned. On a daylight approach into Anchorage in an R4D; letting down we ran intoheavy icing. We were close to landing, and I thought there was no problem. But ice built up veryfast on the wings, and more and more power was needed. I saw the field ahead, and when Itouched down I had full power on. Ice flew all over the place. It was not one my best landings,to be sure. We walked away, so it must have been okay.

One other occurrence of a different nature: A small Alaskan plane pilot had a forced landing justNorth of Wiseman Village, on the edge of the U.S. Arctic Park. We went up to get the pilot withan R4D cargo plane. I landed on a very small area of flat ground and found all okay, pilot andpassenger ready for pickup. As I stepped down from our plane, a cloud of mosquitoes hit;daylight was almost blacked out. One of the native tundra residents was smoking a pipe and paidno attention to the swarm that was all over his face and head. I quickly retreated back into theplane, and could hardly wait to get airborne and open the windows. As I look back, I think thosemosquitoes were more the size of hummingbirds with the same length and beak!

Just East of Whitehorse is the first part of the Alcan Highway. Highway #1, which goes throughto Fairbanks. While it was being built most of us pilots flew at least once over the constructionroute to take a look. What maps we did have had so many white areas (unsurveyed) that we hadto make note of peaks and altitudes, etc. Finally, after almost two years, charts were madeavailable that better mapped the terrain.

An amazing thing we would see from above was a dog sled way out on the snow of the ArcticPlain, making an unbelievably straight line to some distant place. Once, on my way to Pt.Barrow, I followed for miles and noted the straightness of the line of travel; I'm sure he didn'thave a compass.

At another time, I had the wonderful experience of seeing the great migration of caribou Southof the Brooks Range - thousands of animals spread out for miles. Also we could see the


magnificent Big Horn sheep on the mountainside, almost close enough to touch. We would takeoff from Kodiak, and just South of the airport, in season, we would see mother Grizzly Bearswith their cubs. If a load of GIs were on board, we would circle so they could see the motherbears rare up at the plane.Near Ketchikan is an island called Annette, where Canada maintained an emergency strip,which was used by at least two of the VR5 pilots, because of weather. On the approach on theSouthern end was a big sign that said, "Check for Bears and Deer before Landing!

I also had the experience of taking the first airplane into Attu right after the Japanese weredriven from that last Island on the link of the Aleutian chain. The few GIs that were there wereoverjoyed to see us and to receive the fresh milk, real eggs, newspapers and mail that we broughtin.

When I think back on my experiences I realize it was an excellent training ground, and I sureenjoyed all of the headaches as well as the feeling of a job well done. I was very lucky to havethe access to the best part of Alaskan flying. There was very little of central and West Alaskathat I did not see in my time there.

The best to the last -I think the Northern Lights, as they are viewed from South of the NorthPole, at 10 -12,000 feet, on a clear night, is the most impressive sight that Mother Nature canoffer. I saw this on several trips, color you can't believe. Something no one can adequatelydescribe! I felt privileged to see it.

Adak, Alaska 1943. Author, Bill Townsend, third from the right.


CARRIER LANDINGSBy

Stu Nelson

In reviewing old issues of Tarpa Topics, I encountered Dick Davis's Wingman, and HankGastrich's treatise on landing the F4U Corsair on a carrier. This reminded me of my first carrierlanding, which just happened to be in that venerable bent-wing bird.

I was a member of VMF 312 based at K-18, Kangnung, Korea in December 1951. Our workconsisted of close support, rail cuts, and deep interdiction. We lived in four-man tents heated bya pot-bellied stove, and baby it was cold outside! After two months and 48 missions of this,when the Wing decided to send the squadron aboard a carrier, I was ready to go. One smallproblem, I had never been near a carrier!

My regular friends told me about the living conditions, warm quarters and what a piece of cakethis carrier flying was. They also mentioned that you really couldn't call yourself a NavalAviator until you've flown off a carrier.

We were off to Japan, and for the nextfour days flew FCLP [field carrier land-ing practice] off an old Jap fighter stripat Hanshin, near Osaka. On the secondday, one the pilots who told me aboutthis easy piece of cake, spun in at the 90and bought the farm. It took another dayfor the LSO [landing signal officer] toslow me down!

After another day of this practice, the heavies decided that we were ready for the big leagues andwe set course for the ship. The ship was the USS Bairoko, CVE 115. It was constructed on atanker hull, was 400 feet long, and would cut through the waves at a top speed of 16.7 knots. All24 planes landed uneventfully, with only two waveoffs. I think even the Navy was pleased.

The Navy had a rule that you could not fly combat unless you had eight carrier landings in yourlogbook. Two of us each had one. On the way to our operating area in the north China Sea, thenext morning, we were shot off the port and starboard catapults, made three touch and goes anda final trap. I now had my total up to five. That afternoon I made a deck launch, two more touchand goes, and the qualifying trap. This effort readied us to confront the enemy, and provided aday's entertainment for the troops!

As soon as CVE 115 and its destroyer screen were in position, four of us took off to strike a blowfor the free world. The bad guys didn't appreciate our actions, and promptly shot up myhydraulic system. This meant no flaps. With the help of the wind god, the ship managed toprovide 25 knots over the deck, I added ten knots, made a flatter than normal approach andcaught the number three wire. Number nine was one of my better landings.


Land Speed Racing 2000 DiaryBy

Ardun Doug King

Fellow TWA'ers, Let me introduce myself My name is Doug King, a pilot for TWA from1966-90. Many of you knew me as "The Headset Guy " . Early in my career an electronicsentrepeneur I knew from the North American Navion Society gave me a couple of lightweight"hang-it-on-your-ear" type general aviation headsets to evaluate on my next flight. As it turnedout the Captain on that late 60's 707 F/O trip was SFO's Curt Graves. Sometime after takeoff heasked to see the new listening device I was using. When he refused to return it to me, insistinginstead on buying it, I found myself in the headset business. Between that date and the time Iretired I sold literally thousands of the Multitech TI-1 headsets to my fellow TWA crewmem-bers.

Now, to the reason for this story. As a teenager in high school I was fascinated by cars,particularly hot rods. In high school and college I was a minor league drag racer, quitting thatwhen I started a family in the late 50's. I graduated to the pre-1916 Horseless Carriages in theearly 60's but my first love remained the high-performance Flathead Ford V-8 powered hot rod.

In 1962 I was an outside salesman for Valvoline Oil Co., covering the East Bay area of the SanFrancisco region. About the time that Valvoline purchased a full-page ad in one of the antiqueautomobile club magazines they also hired a new salesman for San Francisco and assigned meto introduce him to the product line by traveling with me for a couple of weeks on my route.

As it turned out the new salesman was an antique car enthusiast who introduced me to the localHorseless Carriage Club (restricted to pre-1915 cars). In that club were TWA pilots Herb Keyserand Bob Campbell. I had been exposed to aviation since my Dad bought and flew an Ercoupewhen I was a kid and never got over my interest in airplanes I was constantly quizzing Keyserand Campbell about airline flying.

Herb and Bob tried for three years to get me to take flying lessons before I made thecommitment to take advantage of the hiring boom that TWA started on. I took my first flyinglesson on my 28th birthday in 1965 and was in F/E school in MKC on 660411.

By the mid 1970's my family had outgrown our 2 passenger 1914 Ford Roadster and I wasbeginning to realize that my true automotive love was the venerable old Flathead Ford V-8, bythen an antique instead of the performance icon it reigned as between its introduction in 1932and its retirement in favor of the next generation overhead valve engines of the mid 1950's.

During the end of the Flathead Ford V-8 era a couple of Belgian born engineers namedArkus-Duntov, who happened to be outside engineering consultants for Ford Motor Company,designed and produced a limited run of conversions for the Flathead V-8 that repositioned thevalves into new aluminum cylinder heads with hemispherical combustion chambers. Thisconversion, intended for Ford trucks that were notorious for overheating and cracking cylinderblocks, was named the ARDUN. In those days Ford passenger cars and trucks shared the sameengine.


About 1949, when the Brothers Arkus-Duntov introduced their engine conversion, Ford replacedthe V-12 powerplant in their Lincoln line with a newly designed heavy-duty flathead V-8 whichthey simultaneously offered in their heavy-duty trucks, wiping out the Arkus-Duntov Bros.market.

It was during this era that the Zora, the elder Arkus-Duntov brother, left the partnership andwent to work for General Motors in the Chevrolet Performance Division. He would go on tobecome the driving force behind the conversion of the infant 1953 Chevrolet Corvette intoAmericas most ferocious sports touring car, featuring the now legendary Small Block ChevroletV-8 that would supplant the Ford Flathead V-8 as this country's performance icon.

The ARDUN engine conversions were used in Allard sports touring cars until being replaced bythe Kettering Cadillac V-8, eventually falling into the hands of hot-rodders.

The emergence of the Arkus-Duntov designed Small Block Chevrolet V-8 into the hot rodperformance field was the final "nail-into-the-coffin" for the Flathead Ford V-8 and the ARDUNengine conversion that the brothers had designed.

In the early 1980's when drag race promoters began sponsoring nostalgia events early racerssuch as myself started dusting off the old speed equipment and recreating cars in which theycould continue their childhood.

About the same time, the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) expanded their LSR(Land Speed Racing) classes to include vintage engines manufactured prior to 1954.

Land Speed Racing originated in the mid 1930's on the dry-lakes of the Mojave Desert. Prior toWorld War II the SCTA held monthly 1.3 mile straight-line acceleration contests every summerat Rosamond Dry Lake, presently the site of Edwards AFB. The cars were classified by enginedisplacement and body type (coupes, roadsters, unlimited, etc.) and timed one at a time afteraccelerating down the 1.3 mile course.

When the Army Air Corps took over Rosamond Dry lake to build Edwards AFB during WWIIthe SCTA moved a few miles south to El Mirage Dry lake and resumed their racing schedule in1945, a tradition that endures today.

By 1949 the SCTA racers were attaining speeds that needed a longer course, so they added anannual meet called Speed Week on the Bonneville Salt Flats near the Nevada-Utah border closeto Wendover AFB, the site of training for the Enola Gay squadron that dropped the atomic bombin Japan in 1945. The Bonneville Salt Flats offered 11-13 miles of perfectly smooth rock-hardsalt on which to run their cars.

Today there are 2-4 annual LSR events conducted at Bonneville by various sanctioning groups,6 events on the 1.3 mile El Mirage Dry Lake each summer, and a 1.5 mile reunion event on theRosamond Dry Lake at Edwards AFB.


I had completed my latest LSR race car, a highly modified 1927 Ford Model "T" roadster, latein the 1999 race season and had campaigned it at one El Mirage meet and one Bonneville meet.The engine class I run in has no limitations of fuel so we can run anything from gasoline to amixture of methanol and nitromethane. My final pass at Bonneville in 99 was clocked at198MPH, running against the oldest car record in the book, a mark of 201MPH set in 1969.After rebuilding the engine that wounded itself on the 198MPH pass I had the ModifiedRoadster ready for the June El Mirage, running a listless 174MPH on a 184MPH record. Duringthe post-race checkout I found a problem with a couple of valves in the Ardun heads as well asa magneto coil needing replacing.

I removed the offending head and ground the seats in preparation for a chassis dyno run (runningthe car on a device that measures rear-wheel horsepower) which yielded 327HP on gas and425HP on 55% nitro. After the dyno session Son Brian and I competed at the Muroc Reunion(Edwards AFB) and set records of 172MPH on gas and 192MPH on a mixture of 55%nitromethane/45% methanol. At this meet I again experienced the valve problem and discov-ered that in the assembly process I'd given the exhaust valves inadequate seat pressure, causingthem to "float" and damage the seats. Off came the heads again to increase the spring pressures,a fix that cured the problem.

The car was in the trailer 2 weeks before Bonneville. Talk about a spooky feeling, wonderingwhat I'd forgotten and when the second shoe would drop.

Thursday noon the 10th, Son Brian and I left Castro Valley (Bay Area) Calif with a 2 carcaravan and his Basset hound Othella. Friday at 3:30AM found us at the Salt Flats, very sleepy.

We pulled on to the salt at 7:00AM, found pit space that a friend had saved for us, unloaded theroadster, and were in the technical inspection line at 9:00 waiting for the inspections to begin at10:00 as advertised. Fortunately the inspection started early and we were back in our pit with the"Inspected" sticker before 10:00AM. The rest of the day we "kicked-back" as much as can bedone in 100 deg. weather, renewed old acquaintances, and made some new ones.

Saturday morning brought the driversmeeting at about noon and the start ofthe long lines of cars waiting to run.After all the trouble I'd had with thismotor I was preparing myself for thethrash of changing to our spare "bullet"(the rebuilt 1999- 198MPH engine) af-ter the first run. This particular Ardunhad given me "fits" from the git-go,mostly due to my own mistakes andcarelessness.

The race course is laid out with a 2 mile acceleration course followed by a 1/4 mile trap in thefirst part of the 3rd mile, followed by a 1 mile trap on each of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th miles.


About 2:30PM Saturday we were at the front of the line with me strapped into the car and readyto go. The "moment-of-truth" with the Ardun always seems to be at the 2-3 shift. It will pullpretty well in low and second, but if the tune-up is off or the engine drops a cylinder it won't pullpast 5500RPM in high gear. In low gear it doesn't do much but spin the wheels, but after the 1-2shift the aerodynamics of the car help it to get "hooked-up"

On this run I made the mistake of shifting 1-2 with full throttle and the thing nearly swappedends on me. After gathering my wits I got down to concentrating on keeping the car between thecones and the black lines, made the 2-3 shift at 6500, and was delighted to watch the tachometerstart its climb back from the bottom of the camshafts RPM range. When it passed 5500 wellbefore the 2 mile marker I knew it was doing OK. The car handled very well but took constantattention due to a small amount of wheel spin and the drivers tendency to over-control

Leaving the 3rd mile the tach was slowly creeping past 6300 and I knew that we had qualified onthe 1969 record of 201MPH. As I passed the 4 mile marker I knew the car was several MPH overthe record and started slowing, turning out before the 5 mile marker and coasting to a stopbehind another crew on the return road. They hadn't heard my speed but gave me a welcomedrink of ice water. The sight of my crew coming toward me with the horn blaring told me whatI wanted to hear. We had a 1/4 mile trap speed of a little over the record, a 3rd mile speed ofabout 205, and a 4th mile speed of 208.

We then took the car to impound, checked in with the SCTA official, replaced the nitromethane/methanol mix with gas in preparation for the next mornings warmup, read the plugs, calculatedthe density altitude for our run (7800') and waited for the morning return pass.

The evenings get pretty short when you have a car in Impound. By the time you get to the KOA,take a shower, and eat dinner it's often 11:00PM Mountain time. In order to be at the"end-of-the-road", fed, shaved, and ready to start preparing the car by 5:45AM we had to get upat about 4:30AM (3:30 on my Pacific Time watch).

Sunday morning brought a density altitude of about 4800' so we richened Saturdays fuel mixture(more dense air requires more fuel), warmed the oil with our electric oil pan heater, warmed theengine on gas, replaced the gas with a 55% nitromethane and 45% methanol mixture, and wereready to follow the official out to the starting line at 7:00AM.

On the second leg the car behaved well, turning 202MPH in the 1/4trap, 208MPH or so in the 3rd mile, and 211MPH in the middle mile.Not wanting to flog my 50 year-old engine block I slowed and turnedoff the course after the 4 mile marker and was on the return roadbefore passing abeam of the 5 mile markers.

Back to the Inspection lines again for the event I'd been dreaming ofsince first attending Speed Week as a spectator in 1968 and drivingat Bonneville in 1987, the induction into the Bonneville 200 MPHClub. What I'd wanted for S000 long but dared not anticipate hadfinally happened.


In Impound the officials measure the displacement of your engine to make sure it's within the325 cubic inch class limit, ascertain that the car is legal for the class, and where appropriatecheck your fuel. The SCTA official, who happens to also compete in the Vintage Engine classes,did the engine measurement with a folding device I furnished that fits down the spark plug holeand confirms the engines bore and stroke.

Following the impound session came the ceremonial induction into the Bonneville 200MPHClub, every Land Speed Racers ultimate goal. If I'd been any help to my crew before getting myred 200MPH Club "hat" I was completely worthless afterward. I was on a different planet.

Back to reality, it was Sunday morning and we had achieved our main goals on the second dayof the meet. A friend from Nebraska with an engine similar to mine had upped his ownSupercharged Vintage Engine Street Roadster Ardun record and was ready to go after my 1988Normally Aspirated Vintage Engine Street Roadster record of 143. Not wanting to go outleaving anything on the table we changed classes and started after the friends 151MPH VintageEngine Gas Powered Normally Aspirated Modified Roadster record with Brian driving.

Back in the pits we discovered a long split in one of the welds in our coolant tank. Brian, and theother crewmembers scrounged some J-B Weld, silicone from town, and aluminum angle trimfrom my trailer, and fashioned a temporary "fix" that stopped the leak. I knew from myexperience at Muroc that the Ardun on gas needed a lower gear ratio than it did on nitro. Brian,however, insisted on trying the 2.48:1 differential (rear axle) ratio that we'd used on the previousrun on. We changed fuel injector nozzles, reset the fuel injection valve for gasoline, changedspark plugs, fuel, mixture jet and were at the front of the line at 2:30 Sunday.

When Brian made the 2-3 shift the engine had a helluva time pulling it, finally getting back to5600RPM at the end of the first timed mile for a speed of 179. Still, we had qualified and headedfor impound. In impound we discovered another split in the coolant tank and the guys went towork with more J-B Weld, silicone caulking, aluminum trailer trim, and sheet metal screws, thistime fighting the 4-hour window allowed for preparing the car for the return run.

Monday morning found Brian with the differential gears changed to the recommended 2.7:1, theengine warmed, and ready for the second leg of his record run. On the run he turned a 186MPHin the first 1/4 mile trap of the 3rd mile but the car got a little ill handling and he backed off thethrottle in the full 3rd mile, slowing to 184MPH. The average of the two days runs was still181MPH for the record, Brian's first at Bonneville. He's been driving our Ardun poweredDragmaster at the nostalgia drags since 1992 but this years Muroc Reunion was his first LSRrecord.

Meantime, it was Monday afternoon and we still hadn't had the rockerarm covers off, the oil wasstill looking OK, and the oil filter looked clean, so we decided to do Rookie runs on gas for ourother two crewmembers. You should have seen the smiles on their faces. Now they're REALLYhooked.

Tuesday the car just stayed parked in the pits. Brian took the chase pickup and headed for home


with grand-dog Othella. He is starting a new high school teaching job in Napa, CA, moving intoa new house, and has a lot of preparation to do. By afternoon the weather looked prettythreatening so I trailered the car, cleaned up the pit, and moved the rig to the "bend-of-the-road"to avoid a soggy mess if we got hit by a thunderstorm.

Wednesday night was the Two-Club banquet. Lots of vintage engine people there includingseveral other Vintage Engine guys who had set records at over 200MPH. Thursday AM I headedwest, arriving home in 11 1/2 hours. Now the cleanup starts.

It's now Tuesday night, August 22, and everything's cleaned up and de-salted, the Ardun's vitalsigns look OK for the November El Mirage 2-day meet, and I can spend some time getting readyto test-n-tune the dragster powered by the supercharged Ardun. Hopefully we'll be introducingthis engine to the modified roadster soon.

My street roadster, the Wife's car, and my 1958 Morris Minor LCV Van are all now sporting"Bonneville 200MPH Club " license plate frames.

The November 2-day El Mirage meet was to be the season finale. I had originally wanted to runone day against the 160mph gasoline Vintage Modified Roadster open minimum and one dayagainst the existing 1983 Unlimited Fuel class record of 184mph. SCTA rules, however, prohibitchanging classes at El Mirage meets so we decided to concentrate on the fuel mark.

Tech inspection is the day before the meet so instead of electing to leave home at 4:00am Friday,arriving at El Mirage by noon with plenty of time for Tech, for some reason I left Thursdaymorning, still arriving on the lake bed after dark. After dinner I realized that I had neglected tobring any reading material, leaving me no choice but to hit the sack at 7:00pm. Lancasterweather was showing 29 deg. as the daily low but in reality it was closer to 10 deg. that night.

Friday afternoon I got my car through Tech inspection with no comments or problems. After theinspection people go over your car a few times they get used to the individual competitorsworkmanship and attention to detail so consequent Tech sessions usually go pretty well. Eachrace car has its own log book similar to that of an airplane. Each race has the vital technical andperformance data entered and each car has it's own certification number affixed to the chassis.By sundown the normally desolate desert dry lakebed was occupied by over 100 race teams andthe pit area was starting to look like a "happening" was in the forecast. My crew wasn'tscheduled to arrive until Friday night or early Saturday AM, so it was the same routine, dinner at6:00, sack time at 7:00.

Saturday AM we started preparing the Roadster for the first run only to find that the mag wasdead after 6 runs at Bonneville and the water pump was frozen solid in the 10 deg. weatherdespite the antifreeze in the system. The record holder in the class was on hand helping usprepare the car. Where else but in Land Speed Racing can you find the record holder helpingprepare the car that's challenging his record? We were #98 to run but they were up to #125 whenwe finally got to the starting line a little after noon. The temperature (60's) dictated adensity-altitude of approximately the elevation of the dry lake, somewhere between 2000' and3000'.


The Roadster launched pretty well, pulling hard in low and second. In high gear the engine waswilling, but ran out of real estate about 5500rpm, netting a new record of 188mph. By then thecourse was getting pretty chewed up and the normally docile Roadster was a handful the last 1/2mile. A couple of times I thought that I was about to drift off the course or spin whileovercorrecting. To add to the problem, the chute failed to deploy at the end of the run. The pinpulled out of the cord OK but the pilot chute spring couldn't overcome the friction of the cordgoing through the eyelet's of the chute-pack. I was hoping for 200+mph but it looked like thecombination just plain didn't have the "grunt" to do it. Anyway, a record is a record. We towedback to Impound to do the paperwork. Since the engine was still sealed from Speed Week therewas no displacement measurement required and we were on our way back to our pit in shortorder. The spark plugs looked about right so we decided to give the engine some mor "grunt" byupping the nitromethane percentage from 55% to 65%. We mixed some fuel, richened the fuelinjector bypass pill a little and started trying to figure how to keep the thing from freezing thatnight.

That night some fellow Vintage Engine racers had a barbecue at their RV so the evening went alittle faster. With the entire 4 man crew there was at least someone to visit with.

At 4:00am Sunday Crew Chief Ed Weldon stuck his head in the RV door and said that thetemperature was below 10 deg. and I'd better fire up the oil pan heater on the race car. I hit theOnan generator starter switch next to my bed (the generator was hard-wired to the oil pan heater)and went back to sleep. At about 8:00 Roy Creel (SCTA Vice President, owner/driver of the onlyModel "A" engine powered car in both the Bonneville Two-Club and the El Mirage Two Club)stuck his head in the RV and asked what differential quick-change gear we were pulling on theprevious days 188mph run. When I told him that we had left the 2.48:1 Bonneville gear in it hesuggested that we remember that El Mirage was nothing more than a long drag race and that wedrop the gear to what will make the engine scream at our target speed, 200mph. Son Brian saidthat he'd change the gear if I wanted to, so we calculated that the 2.70:1 gear set would net205mph and Brian set about removing the rear belly pan and making the change. The coolnttank that gave us so much grief at Speed Weekwas developing new leaks, probably caused bythe overflow line being too small and pressuriz-ing the thing when the engine steam was intro-duced into it. The crew removed the filler capgasket, taped up the leaking seams, and wedgeda plastic covered ground pad around the tank tokeep the hot water off of the driver in the eventit leaked more during the run.

Sunday was a little warmer than the previous day, reaching 60 deg. by the time were in line at11:00am. The course had been moved to fresh dirt and there was no significant wind blowing.The launch was a little more slippery due to the lower gear, second gear traction got a little looseas usual right after the 1-2 shift, and the engine quickly accelerated back from 4500rpm to above5000rpm after the 2-3 shift. A glance down the course told me that we had a pretty good amountof real estate before passing the 132' long timing trap opposite the SCTA timing trailer. The


new course was much better than the "marbles" I'd been running on the previous day, but the carstill was spinning the wheels enough to need constant attention and small steering corrections.The Ardun engine was really liking the extra 10% nitro and the lower gear, pulling really hardand showing 6500rpm as the finish line flew by.

I hit the parachute and fuel shutoff levers together and this time the chute deployed, instantlyslowing me nearly 100mph. As the car slowed to about 60mph I started a slow left turn off thecourse toward the Patrol guy on the edge of the race course and his big helium filled yellowballoon, knowing that he would be able to give me my speed since he was listening to the"party-line" CB channel. He said that I'd gone 200+. Boy was I happy!

About that time SCTA VP Roy Creel came roaring up in his car and presented me with mybrown El Mirage 200MPH Club hat. The actual time was 202.44mph, breaking the 188mphrecord I'd set the day before.

Back to Impound we did the paperwork again and were presented with the official "Dirty TwoClub" tee-shirt, decals, hat, etc.

What a weekend! ! ! ! ! ! What a year!!!!! ! ! Four meets, five records (okay, okay, two of the recordswere open with no minimum speed), and two 200mph club membership hats. I am one happyand lucky guy.

If it weren't for the support and encouragement of my wife Mary Lou (AKA the Queen Mum),my son Brian, Crew Chief Ed Weldon who's been with me from the beginning in 1988, KentWalton, Mike Gorvad, Luke Taylor, and 2000 Speed Week draftee Elon Ormsby none of itwould have happened. I keep telling Brian that someday he'll tell his grandkids "you wouldn'tbelieve what your Great Granddad and I used to do with some contraptions they calledinternal-combustion-engines on the dry lake beds and salt flats that are covered with housesnow".

Thank you for all of you that have had the patience to read this missile.


Friends of Hank Gastrich knew that for some time his health was not what we would haveliked He had to be hospitalized late last year for heart problems and in the past various otherproblems prevented him from doing many things he enjoyed such as attending our TARPAConventions. That bothered him because he could not personally be with the pilots he loved andfor whom he worked so tirelessly. However, he was able to attend our most recent convention.

Hank sent a letter, dated April 6, in which he requested replacement as Grapevine Editor afterthis July issue because of health problems. He stated that his health problems were not linked tohis work for TOPICS but that there could come a time when circumstances beyond his controlcould cause a delay in producing it. In the letter, Hank said that he was compiling the Julymaterial and expected to produce his usual twenty-six pages on schedule. Unfortunately, Hankwas not able to finish another Grapevine.

On May 6, I called Hank to give him the "good news" that we had his replacement, only to hearthe terrible news that Hank had passed away suddenly the day before. His daughter Sue told methat there was a lot of material on Hank's desk and that she was sure that it was for Grapevine.She offered to send it to me and I told her that it might not be a time for her to bother with suchthings. She assured me that she would like to send it because her dad loved the job and alwaysworked so hard on it. I thanked her and asked if there was anything we could do for her and herfamily. She said she just wanted us to carry on with his work.

We have worked with Hank on TOPICS for more than four years and have been constantlyamazed at the quality of his work product. This time however, Hank did not have time to finishwhat he started. What we received this time was the "raw" file containing a very large numberof E-mail messages and letters from his friends and the membership. This Grapevine then, is ourfeeble attempt to use his collected material to offer this July 2001 Grapevine to you gentlereaders in Memory of Henry E. "Hank" Gastrich.


GRAPEVINE (cont'd)

4TH BI ANNUAL TWA GET-TOGETHERA bunch of the boys - just whooping it up! Tuesday, May 1, 2001 at the Acapulco

Restaurant in Santa Monica, California, more than 125 pilots, mostly retirees, gathered for theannual TWA mini-convention luncheon. MEC Chairman (ALPA) Bob Pastore attended andinformed the attendees of the latest developments in the court approved TWA-AAL alliance.


GRAPEVINE (cont'd)

4TH BI ANNUAL TWA GET-TOGETHER


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

The following consists of letters, e-mails and photographs that Hank received fromTWA/Navy friends reminiscing about their days aboard the aircraft carrier Princeton.

Hank ... Who was the source of the Princeton story ... I too, was on the Princeton fromcommissioning thru the canal and out to the Pacific. We did tie up beside an old dock. Lots ofrats. Also had Manual Quezon's body aboard. A great statesman from the P. I. Old memories diehard. I was in VT 81. We ended up on the beach on Saipan. Several other TWAers were also onboard. Emil Smyer for one

Larry


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

Larry,

I find this hard to believe but you and I served in the SAME airgroup on the SAME ship and lateron the SAME island -at the SAME TIMEM. I was in VF-81 (The Freelancers) commanded byLCDR Reuben Johns, my hometown buddy Charlie Johnson was in VB-81 and Commander BobDose was Air Group Commander. The skipper of the "new" Princeton was Pegleg Hoskins whohad lost part of a leg when the original Princeton (a CVL I believe) was sunk off the Philippinesin late 1944 or early 1945.

I joined VF-81 in Norfolk in February 1946 and carrier qualified on the USS Guadalcanal,somewhere off the Virginia Coast. We then spent some time in New York Harbor area (Charlieand I were asked to leave the "Club 21 " for some long forgotten reason. We later went toTrinidad, to Guantanamo and thru the canal, scraping not only rust but gun mounts from thePrinceton's siders.

We flew into San Diego from off shore California and while we were on liberty (spent mostly inthe San Diego Hotel and U S S Grant) and then left SD for Manila. We had President Quezon'sbody in state on the hangar deck. Spent a day or two in Pearl (I was restricted for some reason)and did not get to go ashore. Then to Manila and finally to Kobler Field on Saipan.

When we flew ashore at Kobler, I was Commander Dose's wingman. Dose was waved off on hisapproach and I became the first to land in Saipan. As we did in those days, I landed on theextreme left side of the runway and as I turned off at the end I looked back down the runway andsaw about 4-5 more Corsairs, each alternating on the extreme edges of the runway. When Iturned off the tower came on the air and said, "Navy XXX , you know you all landed on the coralpart of the runway. The Marsden Mat (?) is in the center. The coral sides are not strong enoughto support "heavy" airplanes.

We later "acquired" a jeep when we left an Officer's Club dance at Marpi Point after theweapons carrier that brought us to the dance left without us. We (4 of us) drove that jeep into anempty Quonset hut, painted it with Olive drab khaki airplane dope and put a Freelancer insigniaon the hood with a fictitious number under the windscreen. A few days later when Marine SP'swere checking ALL the jeeps on the island, when they saw "ours" they made mention that it wasNOT on their list, Cody or someone said "that's because it just came off the ship." The Marineanswered, "Oh, well let me put it on the list " which he did.

I was married on 3 February 1947. Somewhere around April or May 1947 Mary Lee camerunning up the steps to our apartment, waving an envelope and screaming, "Look what we got!Look what we got!" What "WE" got was a letter addresses TO LT (jg) Hank Gastrich containinga cashier's check for $2xx dollars (237 I believe) and a short note explaining that was MY shareof the proceeds the others got from selling our jeep in National City.

I was sent to Guam to return to the US and civilian status in Aug or Sep 1946 - went back up to


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

fly a couple of search flights for Charlie Johnson who had flown his SB2C into the MarianasTrench off Marpi Point. I inventoried his stuff and then went back to Guam -to Frisco and home(to Illinois outside of St Louis).

I wonder if we ever "drank or partied" together anywhere?

Your Old SHIPMATE

PS: Pm glad I keep my "stories" pretty close to what the truth was or is! Ray Lahr was a cadet atKingsville, Texas when I was a VF9N) Night Fighter instructor when I did a little "night job" ona section of railroad north of Alice. He might also remember the night Red Ryder and I tried toset the base commanders house on fire with a Very Pistol but only succeeded in starting the fieldNEXT to his house burning - and then might have been in the auditorium when the basecommander gave Red and me a "commendation" for using the floor rugs in our quarters andtrying to put it out. That was the last time I ever drank Vodka and water (the coke machine wasempty.

Hank

Hank,

What a remarkable coincidence ... cannot believe it.

I was part of the original Air Group 81 right out of Pensacola. We were sent to Pasco,Washington to train, then via various routes, Quonset; Hyannis, to learn to drop torpedoes usingconcrete blocks. Dropped one amidships on the old 4 stack destroyer we called "Maggie". (NotMe) Maggie headed for Boston with a big hole in her side, which scuttled the entire operation.No one was hurt except the pride of one of us Turkey pilots. Then went to Sanford Maine. Then,I believe to Philadelphia to join CV 37.

Dick Nickerson one our group, eventually married the daughter of Captain Hoskins. EmilSmyer was in VBF 81. I think he is in Sedona, but I lost track of him. I have all sorts of pictures

of that great operation.

Bob Dose replaced Harvey Lanham as CAG. Bob Rouse was CO of the SB2C group beforeJohnson.

Did you ever hear about we Turkey pilots cutting down the post in our BOQ in Pasco one nightas it interfered with our pool playing. Many of spent about a month in hack for that adventure.

This coincidence is one for the Topics. Good on you Shipmate!

Turkey Pilot


GRAPEVINE (Coned)

Wow! I definitely agree about this needing to be in the Grapevine (or in TOPICS for sure). I justchecked my Directory 2000 and Emil Smyer is in it - and does live in Sedona. He doesn't havean Email address but when I go off line I damn well plan to call him.

I got out of the Navy in Dec 1945 and Charley Johnson (he was only an Ensign and I can'tremember the skipper of VB-81) and I registered to start college at Washington University in St.Louis. After the paper work we ended up in the girl's dormitory (by invitation) and was asked tounenroll which we did. That led us to applying for orders to return to duty -Charley to Norfolkand VB-81 at Norfolk and me to NAS Grosse lie. When I got to Grosse Isle the base was damnednear decommissioned so I called BuPers and got reordered to Norfolk and to VF-81 (I wasCorsair qualified and had about 100 hours)

Sort through your pictures and let me have any you think worthwhile and I'll get started on thearticle, et al to get you and Emil agreeing. I'll guard them very well and get copies made atKinko's and send yours back real quick like. Emil might have some pics also. I think we can gofour pages or so -2 prose and 2 pictures. I have one fairly good (clearness) and a couple of meand Charley taken in front of my Corsair and his SB2C.

You might remember a day when an SB2C hit the aft gun mount and tore off the tail, engine andboth wings. The deck officer gave the crew 5 minutes to take the clock and something else andthen shoved all the rest over board. Neither Charley nor his gunner was hurt. Some two weekslater Charley and his REGULAR gunner went in off Marpi point.

If I remember right, we "killed" seven pilots in 11 weeks and that was AFTER the war. Basedon Saipan was when I shot Frank Morgan down off Rota Island. He was brought in safe (bellylanded his Corsair in the water). Frank also tore a wheel off in the catwalk and then made a onewheel landing on deck. He also was the plane that kept over shooting the groove to we damnednear sailed up on one of the Philippine islands. AND, he happened to pass through STL thenight Mary Lee and I planned to get married. He came along with a date he found in the lobbyof some hotel but on the way back from Festus, MO. he ended up in the back seat of my 1936Chevy, trying to make out with my brand new wife. More laterHank

From:To:

HECKAIRHankflew

Shipmate. When we were put ashore on Kobler we all lived in Quonset huts, as you will recall.We turkey pilots very quickly commandeered some Jap POW's and made them our orderlies.Having raided the Army stores up on the northern part of the island, we had lots of beer and ice.First thing when we awakened the POWs were instructed to shove either a beer or coke in ourhand so that we could greet the day in an appropriate fashion. We must have partied together.

I'll hunt the pictures down ASAP.

Shipmate


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

Hi Larry,

I remember after we "acquired" our wheels, we went up to an Army PX or Canteen on MarpiPoint and bought 180 pounds of frozen steak meet (Prime beef marked 30 cents a pound. Wetook three 60-pound boxes along with several cases of green beans, corn and peas. We stackedit in between two of us in the back seat and when we went through the "drive-through" check outthe army guy checking us out said, "60 lbs of beef at 30 cents a pound is $18, 1 case ... etc." Oneof the guys in back started to correct him but was unable to before he was belted by the otherone, so to speed this up, we got 180 lbs of beef and three cases of vegetables lbr a little over$20!!! 1 also remember we bought Pabst Blue Ribbon beer from the Navy at 7 1/2 cents a canand would get fresh eggs from the natives -giving us steak and eggs for breakfast and steak and\vegetables for dinner -while most every one else was eating "franks and beans".

As I recall, the USO came and played at each of the bases and I believe they started with theNavy (US) and by the second or third night, the four of us in the jeep drove to the Army AirCorps field and saw the show again -where some of the girls recognized us. Speed this up; westarted picnicking, etc with them during the days.

We built a raft out of drop tanks and six of us (3 guys and 3 gals) sailed across the strait to Tinian-then had to row most of the way back because none of us knew how to sail into the wind - wegot back around 2200 that night.

I will start working on a TOPICS story shortly and also send Emil copies of our Email. He men-tioned a squadron picture -did the VTs also haw one? I had one with postage stamp size pic-tures, in order Top left to right and then down and had my own picture enlarged to 8 x 10 butsomewhere along the way cannot find the original of the entire squadron. If you and Emil hadsimilar photos, we could use those along with a Corsair, Dauntless and Avenger -I guess we allwere in our wry low 20's. More coming

Hank


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

187 Shadow Mountain Drive,

Sedona, Arizona 86336.

Emil and Ann Smyer


GRAPEVINE (Cont' d)

April 17, 2001.

Dear Hank,

Many thanks for your recent letter, and the outline for the first page of TWA's 3 Musketeers'.We think it is an excellent start, and look forward to seeing the rest of the article take shape.

Don't really know what details you want from Emil, but if you have any specific questions hewill be very happy to try to answer. (I think Larry may be a better source in some ways, as Emil'smemory is very poor these days.)

We tried to make a time-line for Emil's service on the Prince ton', and this is what we came upwith

1) Emil is a plank owner of this particular 'Princeton '. His certificate is dated November18. 1945

2) Emil was at the Commissioning in Philadelphia.

3) Emil was in VR-8 when it started.

4) There was a shake-down cruise, and the Princeton' was briefly in New York. (Emilthinks Larry might have met his first wife at this time.)

5) Emil then went through the Panama Canal on the ship, and ended up in the Philip-pines.

6) They went on to Guam, and then to the ship's base in -

7) Emil eventually left the ship, and returned to the mainland where he was released fromthe navy. He was later recalled during the Korean conflict, but did no more carrier fly-ing.

8) The navy has a Princeton' today, but it is not a carrier.

We were sorry to hear that you have been unwell and in the hospital. Do hope your health is nowimproving, and that you are feeling better.

Our regards to Mrs. Gastrich.

Emil and Ann Smyer

GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

Gastrich

Smyer Hecker

U.S.S. Princeton


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

FROM SHIPMATE BILL SOLWELL

On July 13th 1946 Princeton left San Diego with the body of Manuel Quezon on board. Quezonwas the first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and had been evacuated fromCorregidor in 1941 and subsequently died in the US in 1944. We were to return his body toManila for burial, which we did on July 27th. Leading the official Government party on hoardwas Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Frank Murphy. Murphts ties to the Philippines wentback a long wayS He had been Governor General of the Philippines an the first HighCommissioner of the Commonwealth hack in the thirties. As befitting his status. Justice Murphywas assigned a Marine orderly whenever he left his quaners. lie followed hini wherever lie wentand stood at parade rest whenever he stopped. The latter resulted in a series of events thatmarked the first time this sailor ever felt true sympathy for a Marine.

I was a 1st class Aviation ordinance man in VF14A, the F4U squadron on board, and after flightquarters secured I saw a lot of justice Murphy. lie was a frequent sun battier on the forward endof the flight deck around the catapults. He was a slight, frail I looking man and most days lie wasthere in a baggy set of shorts and no shirt, lying on a towel, soaking up the rays of the hot Pacificsun. Of course his orderly stood at parade rest behind him, in starched khakis, neatly knottedcrisp tie and spit shined shoes. I always thought lie could have sent his orderly into the islanduntil he was ready to leave.

One time he picked a sun bathing spot near the track of the starboard catapult. That afternoon Iwas preparing the catapult for a tow-plane launch the next morning. The target had been securedon the deck near the bow and several hundred feet of line had been flaked over it. The remainderwas to he trailed hack down the catapult track to the launch point, for attachment to the plane.Justice Murphy lay right in the way. With the line in hand I looked at his orderly and he lookedat me. I then took the line and made a detour loop around the Justice. One doesn't bother aSupreme Court Justice while he's sun bathing.

Captain (Father) O'Callahan a Catholic Chaplain who won the Congressional Medal of Honorfor his actions on board the USS Franklin when she was hit, was also part of the official party.He would walk the flight deck after flying secured, saying the rosary with his eyes closed. If notfor his Marine orderly, he would have fallen into the catwalk a number of times.(Emil Smyer was on board the Princeton for this trip.?

This past week John Gratz phoned me to ask if I would available to take over the Grapevinesection of Topics. Hank Gastrich felt it was time for him to move on to other things. I waspleased to be asked and said that I would call Hank and get all the particulars as to how theGrapevine worked. Twenty minutes later John called back to say that he had just spoken toHank's daughter and that Hank had passed away that morning.

I didn't know Hank personally but I have admired and respected his work on the Grapevine forthe past seven years. I also admired his work ethics in going back to school at an advanced age.That's something I have always wanted to do but "never found the time."

With the help of the membership and John I will do my best to maintain Hank's standards.


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

A big-city, New York lawyer went duck hunting in rural Kentucky. He shot and dropped a bird,but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence,an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.

The litigator responded, "1 shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going into retrieveit. "

The old farmer replied. "This is my property, and you are not coming over here."

The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in New York and, if you don't letme get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own."

The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we do things in Kentucky.We settle small disagreements like this with the Kentucky Three-Kick Rule "

The lawyer asked, "What is the Kentucky Three—Kick Rule?"

The Farmer replied. "Well, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times, and soon, back and forth, until someone gives up."

The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily takethe old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.

The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller. His firstkick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees.His second kick nearly wiped the man's nose off his face.

The barrister was flat on his belly when the farmer's third kick to a kidney nearly caused him togive up.

The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet and said, "Okay, youold coot now it's my turn."

Then the old fanner smiled and said "Naw, Igive up. You can have the duck."Someone once said: What goes aroundcomes around soWork like you don't need the money.Love like you've never been hurt.

Dance like nobody's watching.Sing like nobody's listening.Live like it's Heaven on EarthTHE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE1) You believe in Santa Claus.2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.2) You are Santa Claus.

A pipe burst in a lawyer's house, so he called a plumber. The plumber arrived, unpacked histools, did mysterious plumber-type things for a while, and handed the lawyer a bill for $600.The lawyer exclaimed, "This is ridiculous! I don't even make that much as a lawyer!" Theplumber quietly replied, "Neither did I when I was a lawyer. "


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

In the early Connie days, occasionally, boredom in the cockpit developed into dreamingup pranks to play on the "new hire hostesses" as they were then known.

Thanks to the `elephant like memory" of Capt. Herb Riebling I was recently reminded ofan incident involving a hostess whom I mistakenly took for a "rookie."

This young lady entered the cockpit to report a malfunction in one of the lavatories."What's the problem," I asked? "The toilet won't flush," she replied.

"That's no problem, I explained. The valve is probably shut off. All you have to do israise the lid of the toilet, reach down inside and open the valve."

She gave a quizzical look and left quietly.About two minutes later the cockpit door slammed open and in she came with both

hands dripping wet! She flicked water in my face with a smile and said "it worked, alright," thendeparted slamming the door behind her!

I'll never know!! Earl Jinette

Golfer "I've played so poorly all day; I think I'm going to go drown myself in that lake.Caddy: "I don 't think you could keep your head down that long."

Golfer: "I'd move Heaven and Earth to be able to break 100 on this course."Caddy: "Try Heaven" advised the caddy. "You've already moved most of the Earth."

Goiter: "This is the worst golf course I've ever played on!"Caddy: "This isn't the golf course, sir! We left that an hour ago. "

Golfer: "Well, Caddy , how do you like my game?'Caddy: "Very good, Sir! But personally I prefer golf

Golfer `Well, I have never played this badly before!"Caddy: "I didn't realize you had played before, Sir."

Golfer: "Caddy, do you think my game is improving?'Caddy: "Oh yes, Sirl You miss the ball much closer than you used to."

Golfer: "Please stop checking your watch all the time, Caddy. It's distracting!"Caddy: "This isn't a watch, Sir; it's a compass!"

Golfer: "Caddy, do you think it is a sin to play golf on Sunday?" Caddy: "The way you play, Sir,it's a sin any day of the week!"

Golfer "This golf is a funny game."Caddy: "It's not supposed to be."

Golfer: "That can't be my ball, caddy. It looks far too old." Caddy: "It's a long time since westarted, Sir,"

Golfer: "Do you think I can get there with a 5-iron?' Caddy: "Eventually."

Golfer: You've got to be the worst caddy in the world"Caddy: "I doubt it. That would be too much of a coincidence."

Judge in the courtroom: "Do you understand the nature of an oath?"Boy on the stand: "Do I? I'm your Caddy, remember!'


GRAPEVINE (Cont'd)

LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY

At the end of December 1947 Randy Kramer, Ed Hoffman and I were assigned to Rome toreplace co-pilots who were returning to Kansas City for Captain check-out. Ed and Randy hadbeen in Italy as Air Force pilots during the Big War so they knew a little about the customs andhabits of the natives.

Married pilots lived in apartments but us single pilots stayed at the Mediterranio Hotel. It was amodem hotel with marble everywhere. A very nice dining room and I was told there was a baroff the lobby. The domicile had been established for some time and was well organized underCaptain Polizzi who as you may have surmised spoke Italian fluently. There was a link trainerwhere we could spend some care-free hours when we were weary of sight seeing.

A few of the Captains were; Judd, Charles E. Davis, Wadsworth, Zell Stanton, Herman, Wirth,and probably the youngest John Beede.

Our planes were Connies, DC-4 and an engine carrier DC-3. Our flights were to Cairo, Madrid,and Paris. I remember one flight to Paris with Captain Davis. We had some time so we did whatevery tourist does; Go see the Eiffel Tower. The first time I saw the famous site was from thecockpit of a B-24 on a sunny summer day in 1944. We were on a mission to bomb Orley Field.We were greeted with flak from German anti-aircraft batteries.

On February 24 1948 I was summoned to the airport by crew schedule for a flight on the DC-3with Captain Polizzi and a CAA man (That's FAA to you new hires.) to meet with the cityengineers in Milan to establish a new airport. It was colder in Milan than Rome and there was alight snow on the ground. There were a few abandoned small landing fields and no radiobeacons. We landed at an airport where there were some old buildings. Jim got out of the plane,knocked on the door of an old building; nobody home. We flew to another field with the sameresults. At the third field we were greeted by city engineers who took us inside. I wasn't at themeeting but some time later we took off and headed for Rome. On the way back we circled overthe Tower of Pisa. It was very interesting to see this historic site. I wish we could have spentmore time there for it seemed to me its collapse was imminent. I later learned it has been in thatstate for many centuries.

In 1978 1 was on one of my last flights as a 707 Captain. We flew into Milan, As I saw that air-port with long runways and a beautiful terminal I recalled that day in February 30 years earlier.


PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON OPENS UP CHINA --1972A strange country, a different life

By Bill Dixon

What a difference 29 years makes! Last year China overtook Japan as the country with thelargest trade gap with the United States -- selling us billions more than we buy. This conflictswith the situation in 1972, when President Nixon, at the height of his popularity, flew to Peking(now Beijing) to meet with Mao Tse Tung, leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

A mere two and one-half years later, Nixon was forced to resign over the Watergate scandal, buthis pioneering step led to the U.S. and China of today, We are maintaining generally courteous,if sometimes shaky diplomatic relations.

Returning to 1972, I had the good fortune to be the copilot with Captain Mary Horstman on aspecial White House charter carrying 80 CBS, NBC, and ABC TV technicians into Peking acouple of weeks ahead of Nixon. Jim Hackett was the flight engineer. We returned for them aweek after Nixon left China. This time I was the captain with an all San Francisco cockpit crewconsisting of Captain Chuck Thompson as copilot and Gail Howell as flight engineer. I kept adiary covering both trips. The following impressions come from those notes.

A TWA passenger Boeing 707 was reconfigured for cargo and passengers to carry the networkexperts picked to help China construct the satellite station that would broadcast the details of themeeting to the world. The fully loaded plane left Los Angeles on January 28, 1972, and after arefueling stop in Honolulu we continued to Guam for a four-day rest and briefing stop.

Special navigation and airport charts were delivered to us for the Guam-Shanghai-Peking route.We and our passengers were told by key White House personnel what to expect on arrival. Theyexplained Chinese are very patient, meticulous and that principal is everything to them, and weshould not touch men or women, such as a pat on the shoulder, as it is not there custom. They doshake hands with Westerners since this is our custom. We departed from Guam on February 1stfor a nonstop flight to Shanghai. The aircraft was loaded to the maximum takeoffweight of334,000 pounds.

As we passed over Okinawa and turned towards China, we were heading directly for the bufferzone bordering China, which we always avoided so carefully when flying to Hong Kong. Sufficeit to say we were a bit nervous when we were handed over to Shanghai traffic controllers, whospoke perfect English. After an instrument approach (the ceiling was reported at 400 feet) welanded successfully at Shanghai. It was the first time a commercial aircraft from the U.S. hadlanded in the "People's Republic of China" in 23 years.

A group of about 25 smiling persons met the flight, all dressed essentially alike in black or darkbrown Mao designed jackets and trousers, both men and women, and is the one thing that standsout most in my memory! Today, western attire is common; the old Mao dress is uncommon,especially in the cities, and the women dress more colorfully. But in 1972, it was hard to tellmen from women.


At Shanghai, we pilots requested to go to the bathroom prior before lunch. We were escorted tothe terminal's basement toilets, but the big surprise to us and to her, was to see a womanstepping outside a cubicle while pulling up her slacks over a black automatic strapped to hercalf. She was more embarrassed than we.

Our crew was served an elaborate late lunch, given a weather briefing, the aircraft was toppedoff with 55,000 pounds more jet fuel, and we departed after a couple of hours for Peking, with aChinese radio operator and navigator, neither of which we really needed, but were required tocarry on both trips. We were not permitted to take pictures from the air, but could on the ground.

Our landing at Peking in relatively clear weather was uneventful. It had two concrete runways,each 10,500 feet long. The terminal lobby, virtually empty, was dominated by a huge statue ofMao Test Tong. The passengers were taken to a hotel downtown, and the crew to a small hotelnear the airport. We slept for about 5 hours, had a light snack, and took off to return to Guamabout 2 a.m. We were on the ground in Peking about 10 hours, longer than planned as theChinese had trouble unloading the equipment, much to their chagrin. Our special aircraft satin Guam for a month awaiting the return flight to Peking. The crew returned to the states.

By far the most interesting part of the China experience, in spite of the excitement of the originalentry, was returning on March 1, after Nixon had left. to pick up the passengers we had leftbehind. This time the crew was scheduled to remain in Peking for approximately 24 hours. Wewere housed in the Friendship Hotel in downtown Peking, and we were picked up there aboutnoon following arrival, and taken on a tour in four automobiles to the Forbidden City, where wemade two brief stops to take pictures.

From there, our cars wound their way out of the city on the way to the Great Wall. Our drivershonked their horns almost continuously. There were bicycles and buses in great number; alsomany trucks, but practically no automobiles – much different than today. Our cars carried aspecial sign in the windshield that obviously carried a lot of clout! All traffic, from horse cartsto trucks to pedestrians, scurried out of our way!

A dominant impression-- everyone had a task. Examples: a party of 12 women digging in a field;two women wearing wind masks, sweeping stones from the shoulder of our narrow highway.Everyone stopped and stared as our four-car cavalcade drove swiftly by. The highway becamenarrower, with many curves, as we neared our destination 60 miles from Peking.

We saw no golf courses, tennis courts, green lawns, swimming pools, or suburbantowns. Houses were in groups, surrounded by walls, which blended into the dreary landscape.Windbreaks of cornstalks were in wide use, largely to protect garden plots.

THE GREAT WALLArriving at the Great Wall -- the main area were natives and tourists visit – we were struck bythe spectacle it presents. The wall here was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty and was inmagnificent repair. Before leaving our hotel, our guides suggested we wear rubber-soles shoes ifwe had them, since the stones are smooth and the climb along the top is steep in places. Toiletfacilities were really primitive!


"It is Chinese legend," our guide leader, Mr. Lee, joked, "that no man can be a hero unless he hasseen he Great Wall. You can go home now," he laughed, "and be a hero!" I'm still waiting!

MING TOMBSNext in this tour-packed day were the Ming Dynasty Tombs (1403-1620). Huge elephants,tigers, camels and other animals were placed along the road to guard the 13 tombs; only oneexcavated at that time. It contained huge vaulted chambers for the royal coffins. Each chamberwas protected by a keystone, which, if improperly removed, would cause the archway tocollapse on intruders. We were careful!

THE PEOPLEWe witnessed many workers walking home from fields; men and women carrying spades,rakes and hoes over their shoulders. Children, we were told, start school at age 6 and attend sixdays a week.

All the women wore pants and jackets. Never saw a skirt or dress. Most surprising to us, and anexample of the total control of the Communist regime, was that women in large cities areforbidden by law to marry until age 28. It is difficult for young men and women to meet socially,an interpreter revealed, except at universities. Couples went to plays, movies and for walks forentertainment. Public affection was discouraged.

"Can you change jobs?" I asked.

"Oh, yes," was the proud answer, "with approval of the authorities."

PEKING DUCKWe were bussed to The Peking Duck Restaurant for dinner. We sat 10 at a table, with the twoU.S. Air Force crews still there, and our TWA crew of three pilots and four flight attendants (3women and 1 man) scattered among the half-dozen tables. Regular silverware plus chopstickswere beside each plate. As pilot in command of the TWA plane, I was seated next to the topofficial, a constant smoker and typical bureaucrat. I think I surprised him by using thechopsticks, which I had learned to do in flight layovers in Hong Kong.

The Chinese Communist officials hosting the dinner were men, and all wearing well-tailoredMao suits of good cloth. They wore black leather shoes, another mark of distinction. We hadnoticed previously the common people wore what appeared to be tennis shoes. The few womenthere in typical dark jackets and slacks -- were part of our guide group, nice but not verytalkative.

Toasts of Mau Tai were offered and the feast was on. "In China," one of the men at our tablesaid, "we eat everything but the feathers." We applauded as beautifully bronzed roast duck werebrought in for ceremonial showing before being placed on the tables. The servings includedeven a tidbit of duck brains. Eggs and vegetables also were served. Cold hors d'oeuvres and souphad opened the dinner.


Duck-bone soup was served as part of the finale. We were told it was made by boiling theground-up duck bones and straining the liquid. Very savory.

GIFTSMr. Lee paid my room a visit at the Friendship Hotel after the dinner. First though, we stoppedenroute at a store, which was kept open for us to shop. We all bought a few things. For verylittle, I purchased an acupuncture set. It still sits in my attic! Lee was dressed in a nice-lookingstriped dress shirt open at the throat. I had seen the shirts at the airport shop and wondered whowore them. He was the first man I had seen in China without his Mao jacket. He obviously hadworn his black jacket over the shirt at the restaurant.

He had gifts with him, which he said "were gifts from my government for you and your crew asmementos of your visit." There were, for each of our seven crewmembers, two bottles of MauTai (I still have one unopened), two cans of jasmine tea, a framed picture of a ceramic bird andtree in Chinese design, and an embroidered tablecloth, plus big Chinese wall calendars. (Mine isstill hanging in the garage).

MARCH 3, 1972: HOMEWARD

Our wakeup call at 6 a.m. was two rings -- no one was on the line. One call was it! I took a quickbath in the huge tub before retiring; there was plenty of hot water. Two packages of cigarettesand a thermos of water were on the bedside table.

Forty to 50 Chinese, mostly men, saw us off. I was able to persuade Mr. Lee, as we alwaysaddressed him, to accept several boxes of cigars and cartons of American cigarettes, and someTWA fountain pens and flight bags as token gifts. He at first demurred, but I told him it wouldhurt our feelings if he turned us down. He was about age 30, spoke excellent English, told us hewas married, no children, and worked for the diplomatic corps.

A large bag of pears and tangerines was placed in the cockpit as a final gesture of hospitalitybefore take-off As we headed back for the U.S. from Peking, our cabin attendants begandefrosting hamburgers and hot dogs as a surprise for our passengers. The announcement wasgreeted with loud applause.


Still ChampBy

Jim Breslin

I was at ringside when the bell tolled the end of the fifteenth round and the end of a contestcourageously and gallantly fought. And as the judges took time to review their cards foraccuracy, making sure that there were no errors or omissions before handing them in, we waitedfor the announcement hoping against hope that this wouldn't mark the end of an era that hadbeen both romantic and daring in its' undaunted pursuit of new frontiers to be challenged andconquered, and even swashbuckling at times as both men and women alike dared dream theirdreams along the shorelines of space.

As the announcer broke the news that none of us wanted to hear, not even the challenger as isoften the case under these circumstances, the news media rushed into the ring, but the jubilationwas markedly hushed, for the loss was everyone's loss and it weighed heavy in everyone's hearts.

The gloves had been unlaced and lay on the mat still clenched next to the water bucket, whilethe hand wrappings hung from the ropes, testimony to a contest that had been gallantly foughtover fifteen championship rounds. And on a stool in his comer the Champ sat quietly alone inreflection, his distinctly recognizable red and white robe draped over his shoulders.

As I approached him from a distance across the ring he looked up and gave me one of thosewarm, welcoming Mohammed Ali smiles, and I had to wonder what he was thinking inside. Andwhile still walking towards him, and by way of introducing myself, I said, "Champ, you foughta gallant and courageous fight, but tonight it just wasn't to be.", and his gentle smile invited meto pull up a stool and to sit down beside him. It seemed that he wanted to talk, but first hewanted to hear what I thought of him in and out of the ring.

"Championships come and go, we all know that. It's the story of life and it's inevitable.", I said."But "Champ" is the crown that is yours to wear forever. It's the trophy of recognition that youhave earned through your professional excellence, your keen insight and vision and determinedhard work, and it is something that's yours to keep and to wear with pride all the days of yourlife."

"You started out as a fledgling eaglet so long ago it seems, when the only reward you sought wasthe opportunity to spread your wings and soar higher and farther than any eagle before you. Andover the years, through diligence and persistence and confidence, you rose to the top of theheavyweight division where you reigned for so many years with justifiable pride, yet always inrespect of the eagles around you. And now your time to refire has come and you've done thatwith grace and with dignity, which is not surprising of you. And Champ, it doesn't got anyclassier than that. God bless you."

The Champ reached out for my hand and like a wise old sage passing on knowledge, clasped itgently between both of his and held on to it all the while that he talked. "First of all, thank youfor those kind words. They are deeply and sincerely appreciated."


"To the thousands of people who have tended to me over the years I want them to know this. IfI flow higher and farther than any eagle before me, you were the wind beneath my wings. If Ibroke barriers and opened up new vistas and flyways, north and south, east and west, and aroundthe world, it was your trust and confidence in me that gave me the inspiration to "go for it". Andif my red and white feathers were welcomed and hold in respect around the world, it was youwho went forth to earn that respect, for you my dear friends are the soul and the spirit of me andthrough you the eagle lives on."

"Champ, were you ever hurt in any round of this gallant battle you've just fought? " I asked. "Ohyes." was his honest reply. "I took one or two blows that were low in the latter rounds of mycareer and they slowed me down some."

I paused to clear the choke from my throat before asking the toughest question of all, of achampion. "Champ, you were slipping behind on points and needed a knockout to win, but yourarms had dropped slightly as a sign that your arms were tiring in those later rounds. Yet youcame back round after round to force a decision. Was there ever a time that you thought aboutthrowing-in the towel?" The Champ looked me straight in the eye and his eyes became focused,and his jaw became set, and in a gently-soft and reflective voice he whispered, "Never."

"Champ, if you were to pick two trainers you've most revered throughout your career, whowould they be?", I asked. "Oh, that's easy.", the Champ replied with a look of fond nostalgiawritten all over his face. "The first would be Jack Frye, and the second would be AngeloDundee." In the few minutes we have remaining, what advice can you pass on to those of us whoare left behind." I asked.

"Well, first of all, be grateful that you have not been orphaned. You've been adopted by achampion that I deeply respect and hold in the highest esteem, more now than ever before, aneagle who has recognized your thoroughbred breeding and has offered to take you under hiswing. When you enter his home walk proud, but not arrogantly. Be humble but don't lot yourhead hang low. And wait until you are asked, to offer your suggestions. Then be ready to standbehind those suggestions with confidence and unselfish dedication. You have the tools to makea difference - do it with dignity. You may not all be able to keep your own bedroom, and someof you might have to share some of your toys with your now siblings. Make me proud of you asI hover above you watching your progress, and know that I'll always be there to inspire you on."

By the time we got finished talking, the stadium had been cleared, the hotdog wrappers and thepaper cups cleaned up, the ring dismantled and taken away, and only the floodlights shone in onthe stadium as a final show of appreciation and respect for the Champ, just newly retired. Andnow, in the still of night and under the stars, the stadium became filled with a solemn quietnessas I cradled the eagle in both of my hands and walked out to the fifty-yard line.

There, all alone, I lifted the Champ high over my head and gave him a gentle nudge into thewind. And his wings beat stronger than ever before as he took flight and circled higher andhigher overhead before turning west The eagle had left us, but his soul and his spirit lives on, forwe are the soul and the spirit of T.W.A. That red and white jersey has been retired and will takeits' place in the Hall of Fame among all of the others that are proudly displayed there for all toremember with fondness.


Associated Press Writer

American, TWA

By MELISSA WILLIAMS

Share a Common Past

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- The spirit ofSt. Louis touched American Airlines longbefore it acquired Trans World Airlines.

On April 15, 1926 -- almost exactly 75 yearsago -- Charles A. Lindbergh took off fromChicago for St. Louis in a DeHavilland bi-plane with one bag of mail. That became thefirst regularly scheduled flight for what wasto become American Airlines.

At the time, Lindbergh was chief pilot forRobertson Aircraft Corp., one of severalcompanies that eventually were merged and,in 1934, became American Airlines. After hispioneering solo flight across the Atlantic in1927, Lindbergh did consulting work forTWA and Pan Am. "It's kind of ironic thathe's more associated with those two airlinesthan with American," said Don Bedwell,American retiree and author of "Silverbird:The American Airlines Story" (Airways Inter-national, 2000). But that's the American way:understated. Results-oriented. Unencum-bered by dramatic flair.

On Monday, American acquired the assets ofbankrupt Trans World Airlines in a $742million deal. Unlike some of aviation's high-profile fliers, American's corporate culture isbland as a navy-blue uniform. "AmericanAirlines has been referred to at various times

as the 'stainless steel airline' very, very effi-cient, very smooth-running, but perhaps alittle on the cold side," Bedwell said.

Contrast that with Southwest Airlines and itsflamboyant longtime chairman, Herb Kelle-her. It's hard to imagine American chief exec-utive Don Carty deigning to arm-wrestle an-other airline CEO for the rights to a disputedadvertising slogan.

TWA had its own glamorous aura. It was thefirst airline to offer coast-to-coast air service.In its prime, it catered to popes, movie starsand other celebrities like Joe DiMaggio, whomade flights west on TWA to visit wife Mari-lyn Monroe in Hollywood.

And remember Braniff International Air-lines? The Dallas-based carrier became fa-mous for its glamorous, Pucci-uniformed"hostesses" -- but faltered amid the deregula-tion that helped propel American to newstrength under the leadership of chairman andchief executive officer Robert Crandall.

In the post-1978 era, Crandall enhancedAmerican's reputation for innovation withdeep-discount fares, frequent-flier programsand hub-and-spoke routing systems that mademany flights more convenient. But his tacticsoften infuriated unions, rivals and regulators,who weren't amused when Crandall describedthe airline business as "the closest thing tolegalized warfare."

In the past several years, American has with-stood several costly employee actions, in-cluding a 1993 flight attendants' strike duringthe Thanksgiving holidays and a 10-day pi-lots' sickout in 1999 that resulted in the can-cellation of nearly 6,700 flights. The com-pany's three biggest unions objected to theTWA deal, contending American should con-centrate on growing internally rather thanthrough acquisition. (Cont 'd)


(Cont 'd)

On the other hand, management has beenvindicated to some extent by its results. The"stainless steel carrier" now flies 720 jets to240 cities; with TWA, it became the world'sNo. I airline. Carty expressed confidence thetwo companies would build on the similari-ties that stem from a common heritage."These companies have very similar roots,"Carty said. "They've done business in verysimilar ways over the years. Certainly, in themost recent decade or so, American has beenmuch more successful than TWA, but in thefirst 50 years of the two carriers' operation,these were very similar airlines with verysimilar histories and very similar cultures."

At American's corporate museum in FortWorth, where silver jets roar overhead hun-dreds of times daily from Dallas-Fort WorthInternational Airport, a timeline traces thecompany's growth from the puddle jumpermail-route days to the modern era. Collectionscurator Ben Kristy said TWA likely will keepmost of its vintage uniforms and other memo-rabilia in St. Louis, where "it means the mostto the people who worked there."

But some items will come to Fort Worth,Kristy said, where TWA's newest chapter willunfold.


NEW YORK CITY'S WHOPPER SNOWSTORM -- 1978By

Bill Dixon

New York's last really big blizzard started on the evening of January 19, 1978, and ended thenext day. It's severity was unexpected, and made its week-end storm of March 3-5, 2001, readlike child's play. I know. I was there in 1978.

My wife, June, and I drove into New York City late that afternoon from our home in Manhasset,Long Island, and checked into a hotel near the CBS broadcast studios. I had retired from TWAon January 9, as chief pilot in New York, and we had been invited to attend Walter Cronkite'sbroadcast the evening of the 19th and be their guests for dinner.

We hadn't see Walter or his wife, Betsy, or had any contact for almost 40 years, until I droppedhim a 1977, Christmas note. We had known them briefly in Kansas City, Missouri, when heworked for Braniff Airways, before returning to reporting (a smart move!), and I was a ticketagent across the hall for TWA -- but that is another story. He had become a famous journalist inthe interim.

Suffice it to say, following his broadcast, we hailed a cab and headed for noted Orsini'sRestaurant for a memorable evening of reminiscing. Despite his renown, they were the samemodest, happy couple we remembered. As we left the restaurant -- where he obviously wasrecognized by almost everyone - we were surprised it had started to snow. We were withinwalking distance of our hotel. The Cronkites managed to grab a cab back to their apartment. Bynow it was snowing fairly heavily. Walter mentioned they were catching a TWA flight to LosAngeles the next day. They didn't makeit!

When we awakened late the next morning, we couldn't believe the sight from our window. Thestreets, sidewalks, and stalled cars and trucks were blanketed with deep snow. No traffic wasmoving, except a couple of people on skis, no less! Snow had almost stopped. The radio said allflights from the New York airports had been cancelled for the day.

After lunch we enjoyed a short walk through the over foot-deep snow to a nearby theater wheretickets usually had to be reserved at least two months ahead. There were so many cancellations,we easily got good seats for that evening's popoular performance of "Annie". Another blockaway was a well known steak house. We stopped by it and reserved a table for after the show,unheard of on short notice.

There was no hope of driving home, although by late afternoon a few streets had been plowed .We stayed another night at the hotel, and started home in early afternoon of the 21st.

It was slow going, especially across the bridges, and when we reached our house there was nochance of getting in the garage. The snow in our front yard was over 18 inches deep. I shoveledenough clearance to park the car in the driveway. The airports still had restricted operations. Itwas a storm we shall never forget.

It made us all the happier we were returning to California for retirement!


CAPTAIN EDWARD G. BETTS

AUGUST 21, 1920 - MARCH 30, 2001

Edward Gardner Betts, Jr., died at his home in Pacific Palisades on March 30, with his wife,Donna, at his side. He had been at home with hospice care for six weeks. He was 80 years old.

Ed was born in Santa Monica on August 31, 1920, to Madeleine and Edward Betts, Sr., wholived in Calipatria/Brawley at the time. The family soon moved to Santa Monica, where Ed grewup and attended local schools, including SamoHi and Santa Monica City College.

While in his senior year in the Engineering School at UC Berkeley, on the Friday before PearlHarbor was bombed, Ed enlisted in the Army Air Corps and trained as a bomber pilot. CaptainBetts became the commander of a B-25 in the 57th Bomb Wing serving the campaign in NorthAfrica and later on Corsica. He flew 74 combat missions and was decorated with twoDistinguished Flying Crosses and a Purple Heart. He was honorably discharged in 1945 with therank of major.

In August 1945, Ed was hired by TWA and began flying as co-pilot on DC-3s based in San


Francisco. In 1946 he flew with a new hostess, Donna Breckenridge from Plattsburg, Missouri,who was also based in San Francisco. Donna and Ed were married on December 7, 1946. Ed wasa regular volunteer in service to others; in ALPA, the American Legion, the Masonic Lodge andthe Boy Scouts. He was active in the TWA Seniors Club and served a term as President of theSouthern California Chapter.

After Ed was transferred by TWA to the Los Angeles base in 1955, the family moved to a houseon Asilomar in Pacific Palisades. Two years later they moved to the Marquez Knolls neighbor-hood, and in 1960 they bought their cur-rent home on Las Lomas. All three, of their childrenattended Marquez Elementary, Paul Revere Junior High, and Palisades High. In 1970, Ed wasTWA Flight Deck Man of the Year and in 1976 he received the Award of Excellence.

Ed continued to fly for TWA until his retirement in 1980 after a 35-year career. At that time hewas flying as 747 Captain on international overseas flights. Donna would often travel with himto exotic destinations. In retirement, Ed became involved with early TWA history and publishedmany books and articles as an authority on the subject. He and Donna were very active in theTWA Active Retired Pilot's Association and the 57th Bomb Wing activities and reunions. Theytraveled extensively during these years, visiting Europe, Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. Edhad a daily routine of long, brisk walks throughout the village in Pacific Palisades. He was aregular sight to many people on his route, and he could be seen daily resting by the fountain atthe Village Green.

Ed is survived by his wife Donna, sons Thomas and "Breck" (Don); daughter Janet; sevengrandchildren, and brothers Warren and Thomas, and sister Ellen Wikle. by Breck Betts

IN MEMORY OF

BENIJA F. HURT III

NOVEMBER 19, 1922 - AUGUST 28, 2000

Benija Ferdinand Hurt III, 77, of Park Hall died Monday, August 28, 2000 at St. Mary's NursingCenter in Leonardtown. Born November 19, 1922 in Bunceton, Missouri, he was the son of thelate Benija Ferdinand Hurt II and Matilda Langkop Hurt. Mr.Hurt served in the United StatesArmy Air Corps during World War II.

Ben was hired by TWA in 1945 where he worked as a flight radio officer until 1957. In 1952 heowned and operated the T.V. Workshop in Falls Church, Virginia. He went on to open fouradditional stores in the Northern Virginia area before retiring in 1984. He was a member of theFalls Church Presbyterian Church where he served, as a deacon.

His wife Ruby E. Hurt of Park Hall; three sons, Steven S. Hurt, Dr. David L. Hurt and Allan T.Hurt; a sister, Lois L. Woods; a grandson, Nicholas A. Hurt and his former wife, Dorothy BrownHurt, survive him. A sister, Clothilde "Cody" Rowles preceded him in death.


FRANCIS J. GILGIN

APRIL 26,1922 - FEBRUARY 3, 2001

Francis J. "Frank" Gilgin was born in Lorrach, West Germany near the Swiss border on April 26,1922, the only son of Joseph and Magdalena Gilgin. He was educated at the Julliard School ofmusic, Brooklyn College, Queens College in New York and the University of Kansas, earningdegrees English, Music and a graduate degree in philosophy. Frank composed many pieces ofmusic which were performed by orchestras and artists in Kansas City and Lawrence, Kansas

In retirement, Frank founded and was President of the Tonganoxie Community Theater forfifteen years. He wrote and acted in two musicals for them, and one for the Basehor Centennial.He also composed an Easter Cantata, which was performed in Tonganoxie and Baldwin. Frankwas an International cockpit crewmember for TWA for 32 years, commuting from Kansas Cityto fly from New York on Lockheed Constellations, Boeing 707s and finally the LockheedL1011. He was manager of Flight Engineers in Kansas City for 15 years. After he retired, Franktaught philosophy and logic at KU and at Kansas City Community College.

Frank was a member of the Society of American Composers, the Masonic Lodge, the LyricOpera Guild, the Germania Club, the Mercedes Club, the Tuesday Morning Romeos andTARPA. He was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tonganoxie where he hadlived since 1970.

Frank is survived by his wife of thirty-nine years, Patricia, their two daughters and one granddaughter. by George Anton

IN MEMORY OF

GEORGE A. HIBBELER

MAY 28, 1921 - FEBRUARY 10, 2001


CAPTAIN FRANK PETEE, JR.

MARCH 22, 1921 - JANUARY 30, 2001

I feel very honored and privileged to bring you this information about my good friend andmentor Frank Petee. Frank grew up in Willoughby, Ohio and became interested in flying afterseeing Col. Charles Lindbergh in a parade in Cleveland. Frank said, "Lindbergh waved at me.He really did! From then on all I wanted to do was something with airplanes." He learned howto fly at age 13 at the Lost Nation Airport. He earned flying lessons by washing & fuelingairplanes but had to wait until 1937 when he was 16 to receive his license.

Frank entered Kent State University in 1939 on a journalism scholarship, which he used later inlife. After graduation he was hired by Transcontinental & Western Air on Sept. 17, 1942 as aSecond Officer in the Intercontinental Division flying the B-307. He was upgraded to Captainin 1944 at age 23 and in 1946 he transferred to the Commercial Division flying the DC-4 and049 Connies. He left TWA in 1948 to fly for Icelandic Airlines as a Captain and FlightInstructor on their new DC-4's.

On January 31, 1949 Frank was hired by All American Aviation to be a DC-3 Copilot. He wasfortunate enough to be able to fly as Copilot on a few of the Air Mail Pick-Up flights on theStinson SR-10 before that operation was shut down. On March 7, 1949 he was the Copilot onthe Inaugural passenger flight of All American Airways, flying the DC-3. A few days later hewas upgraded to Captain.

Some of Frank's accomplishments include designing the 1st livery used by renamed AlleghenyAirlines on their DC-3's & Martin 202's. He wrote The Triple A Story and Fly without Fear andwas the editor of the Allegheny employee newspaper The Air Commuter and later Flight CrewView. He also became the "Ed Betts" of USAir & Allegheny by becoming the Chief Historian.One of his most notable creations was the publication of the little RED Flight Crew Log Bookscarried by Flight Crews around the world. His brother-in-law produced them. He also set up theFearful Flyers program at Allegheny & USAir. That program was awarded the best travelpromotion program by the American Travel Institute in 1986.


He joined TWA in August of 1945 and retired August 8, 1978 as an L1011 Captain at ORD.

He resided in Sun City, Arizona and when it got too warm he and Pauline retreated to theirsummer home in Prescott. He died on the tennis court doing one of the things he loved most. Hiswife Pauline of 56 years, three sons, three daughters-in-law and five grandchildren survives him.

by Howard F. Hofmeister Hofmeister

RUSS OLSON

DECEMBER 17, 1920 - DECEMBER 19, 2000

Russ was born December 17, 1920 to Clifford and Gladys Olson, New Munich, Minnesota. TheOlson's had five children: Earl 'Now, deceased), Russ, Elaine, Orville, and Mavis (Tiny). At 17he departed the cold' climes of Minnesota and traveled westby hopping freight trains alsoknown as, " riding the rods", to California where he joined his brother Earl.

He worked in a lumber camp for a while and then returned to Minnesota. In 1940 he wasworking in one of the National Youth Administration Camps, also known as the CivilianConservation Corps.

In 1941 he and five of his friends, traveled in a Model A Ford back to California. One of hiscompanions on this trip, Harlan, became his brother-in-law, when he married Russ' sister Elaine.

After arriving in California he worked in a small paint shop that did sub-contract work for theLockheed Aircraft Company. As a result of his association with Lockheed he became enrolled inan Aircraft and Engine apprentice program.

In 1942 he married Helen Lewonte. From this union there were two children: A son Jeffery, whopreceded him in death, and a daughter Jan (Gerry) Douglas, who gave him two grand childrenBrendan and Cydney. (Sidney)


With the help of his friend, TWA Capt. George Duvall, he and 4 others founded what was thenknown as the Allegheny Airlines Credit Union in 1953. After many years and several namechanges, it is today known as the US Airways Federal Credit Union

In December of 1959 he entered the Flight Training Department on a temporary basis, whichlasted 20 years. He became the Manager in 1961 and the Director, Flying Training & Standardsin 1972. He was responsible for the development of pilot ground, flight and simulator trainingprograms.

Frank retired from active flying in 1981 and became the Director-Special Projects (Flight). Hefinally retired from USAir on May 1, 1996 after 47 years. He spent his remaining years withwife Helen in Altoona, PA. His love of flying passed down to daughter Sherry who was a FlightAttendant with USAir and Granddaughters Jennifer Wechs, an agent with American in PIT andHolly Wechs, a DO-328 pilot for US Airways Express/PSA Airlines. Grandson Jason Wechs isstill in College.

Frank's ready smile, quick wit, wonderful friendship and historical knowledge of both TWA andUSAir will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved him. He was one of my heroes andI shall miss him dearly. by Jim "JET"

HARRY H. WILLIS

AUGUST 8, 1918 -MARCH 31, 2001

Harry was a good friend for 45 years. The picture is from 1976 when he was chosen "Captain OfThe Year" for the Chicago domicile. As his sons so aptly put it at his memorial service "whatyou see is what you get". Always a pleasure to be around with a unique sense of humor thatallowed him to laugh at himself.

He was born in El Paso, Texas -grew up in Columbus, Ohio and joined the Army Air Corp in1941. He flew B-17's out of North Africa and after 50 plus missions, instructed at Galveston,Texas.


After Marriage Russ worked for Fairchild Aircraft, which took him to South America where heserviced Lockheed P-38 "Lightnings" and Douglas A-26 Invaders. Following this stint he servedin the United States Air Force from 1944 until 1946.

Russ was employed by TWA for 36 years as a Flight Engineer. He retired from this position in1986. In 1990, his wife Helen died. In 1992 he married Gloria. Together they traveled in theirMotor Home, with many trips around the United States and Canada. He loved to hunt groundsquirrels and prairie dogs in order to rid the farmers of these pests. He enjoyed fishing and couldsit for hours even if he didn't catch a thing. Russ was a member of the Compton Hunting andFishing Club for more than thirty years.

Russell had a full wonderful life and will be missed by many.

CAPTAIN ARTHUR R. (DICK) SCHMIDT, JR.

JANUARY 20, 1915 -JANUARY 13, 2001

Dick Schmidt's lifetime love of airplanes and flying began at age 14, when a barnstorming pilotflew into his hometown of Hayward, Wisconsin. Dick learned to fly from the pilot, Bill Leitholdof Ely, Minnesota, in exchange for selling rides and helping to service the plane. He earned hisfirst pilot's license at age 15.

By the time he was a student at the University of Minnesota, he owned an old bi-wing StandardAircraft. He went on to get his instrument rating, and in 1942, when he had the option of beinghired by Northwest, American or TWA, he chose TWA, and the rest is history.

During Dick's 33 ears with TWA (31 as a captain), he had a deep pride in the airline. He wasoriginally assigned to fly for the Military Air Transport Command. He flew a variety of aircraft,his favorites being the DC-3 and the Connies.

He also served as a Pilot-Flight Dispatcher and as a Jet Instructor in Transportation Training. Forhis last several years, he elected to go back on the line to fly the Pacific.Having to retire at 60 and give up the cockpit was probably the biggest disappointment in his


life. He filled the void with having more time with his four sons and eight grandchildren, withhis private flying, traveling the world, golf and study He was always learning.

Dick was a Quiet Birdman, a member of TARPA, and an Elder in his church. He belonged to theAirline History Museum (Save-a Connie) and until a few months before his death, was devotedto helping with the restoration of old #388, A DC-3 he had flown in the 40's.

The coincidental dates were pointed out that in January 1975, Dick had to retire from thePacific-A month or two later, TWA gave up the Pacific. Now he is gone, and TWA is about tosell down their proud name and heritage. by Dorothy Schmidt

ROBERT J EARLEY

FEBRUARY 14, 1922 -DECEMBER 13, 2000

Robert James Earley was born February 14, 1922 on a ranch in the sand hills of Nebraskaeighteen miles west of the Irish town of O'Neill. Along with his two brothers and one sister, hewas expected to put in at least six hours of ranch work daily before and after school.

Bob graduated from St. Mary's high school, and with the draft breathing down his neck, hedecided to join the army air corps. After graduating from flying schools in Texas, he foundhimself flying the Hump at age nineteen -India to China and back to India. After a little over ayear there he started flying transports in the Pacific-took some training in Kansas City, and metsome TWA pilots there, and decided his goal after WW2 was to get a pilot's position with TWA.Bob hired on with TWA in October of 1945. Since he had more training in four-engineequipment, he flew co-pilot on the old Boeing and then the constellation. Bob and I met duringthe "Connie" days when I was a TWA Flight Attendant. We were married on February 26, 1949.

Bob flew International for several years and was called back to the Air Force for 2 years duringthe Korean War. Upon his return he worked in the Training Dept for a number of years. He spenthis last years with the company back flying International.


Bob loved TWA, flying, his family, and golf. We have 3 daughters. Peggy Earley Jakes, KerryEarley Moreo, and Mary Kathryn Earley. Bob's last year was spent in chemo for bile duct cancer,but never complained, and had a great faith that the best was ahead of him. We have lived thelast 11 years in Las Vegas. by Virginia Morgan Earley

TRACY MARVIN STRIGHT

JANUARY 24, 1927- FEBRUARY 12, 2001

Tracy passed away at the Hospice of the Valley, Scottsdale, Arizona on February 12th, 2001 at 74years of age after a long battle with cancer.

Tracy leaves behind his wife Eileen, a brother and a sister and three daughters by a previousmarriage, Sandra, Melinda and Katy and six grandchildren.

Tracy was born in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and learned to fly while still in high school,knowing that he would fly for an airline at some time, and this he accomplished making him avery happy man. Tracy served in the Air Force before joining TWA in 1954. He retired in 1992.

When Tracy retired, he started building radio-controlled planes. He taught local schoolboys andBoy Scouts to fly them too. This gave him much pleasure and also earned him many variousawards. He lived a full life and always gave freely of his time and knowledge in helping othersin ways too numerous to mention.

Tracy was known as the quiet gentleman and, as his wife, I know that he was truly that. He wasin touch with his all his TWA and flying club friends right to the end. I know that Tracy will bemissed by all those who knew and loved him. By Eileen Stright


CAPTAIN GEORGE C. TOOP

JUNE 13, 1920 - MARCH 12, 2001

We unexpectedly lost our Dad this past winter. He was admitted to the hospital with a kidneystone and, after complications, died peacefully a month later in South Miami Beach, Florida. Itwas his time. Dad lived a full and rich life, amazingly healthy and pain free, for his entire eightyyears. When we complained of our various ailments he would say that he "would outlive all ofus". We often thought that he might.

He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey of immigrant parents. After graduation from high school,he took advantage of one of the Depression Era work programs and learned to fly at a small dirtairstrip in Red Bank, New Jersey. He subsequently won a scholarship for flight training on CapeCod. Later, flying out of Rockville, Maryland, he trained pilots for the Army Air Corps. Hejoined TWA in 1942 and flew in the Air Transport Command. His career encompassed flyingmost of the TWA fleet including the DC-3, Martin 404, Lockheed Constellation series, Boeing707 and the 747, which he flew until his retirement in 1980. The Connie was his favorite and wewill always remember him wearing his "Save the Connie" cap.

Always stationed in New York, it seems (to us) that he flew as an international captain out ofJFK most of his career. And what a career it was! How many of us are fortunate enough to haveour careers parallel the growth of an industry and retire at its peak? He loved flying and he lovedTWA. How ironic it is that his death occurred at the time of the sale of the airline to American.He leaves us with so many memories including many stories such as De Meo Patacca and A TwoHour Simulator Ride, articles in the November 1999 and 2000 TARPA TOPICS. We are allproud of Dad's achievements both as a pioneer aviator and in life.

All of those years flying international (his favorite bid was New York to London, Frankfurt andreturn) allowed him to develop a thriving nursery and landscape contracting business that heactively maintained up until the time of his death. Even at age 80, Dad could outwork most ofus and he did. As all of us, he also went through various "men and their toys" phases in his life,including sailing. Some of us will never forget those "dead reckoning" legs off shore at night in


the fog, rain and heavy seas. However, his favorite toys had to be the Vermeer tree spades andother contracting equipment that he would ride around the nursery from dawn until dusk. Hewas an active member in the community where he was a longtime member and past president ofthe Lincroft Fire Department and a charter member of the Lincroft Village Green Committee.

Since retirement in 1980, Mom and Dad were snowbirds living at Laurelwood Farm in NewJersey in the summer and in the Florida Keys in the winter. Always active, in retirement, Daddesigned and built not one but three houses, the last one on the ocean overlooking the beach inMarathon. We will always remember him sitting on the deck, on one of those beautiful sunnydays with the ever constant tropical breezes, looking out at the ocean and saying, "Another hardday at the office... another day in paradise."

Dad was a wonderful husband and father who lived life to its fullest. He is survived by his wifeGinny, by the five of us, his children George Jr., Linda, Richard, Stephen and Peter, by ninegrandchildren and one great grandchild. He will be missed by all that knew him.

We will miss you Dad! by George C. Toop, Jr.

IN MEMORY OF

CAPTAIN JAMES M. FROELICH

NOVEMBER 3, 1925 — DECEMBER 30, 2000

IN MEMORY OF

CAPTAIN ADOLPH URBAS

JUNE 22, 1919 - JANUARY 24, 2001

IN MEMORY OF

CAPTAIN MEREDITH MOFFETT

JUNE 18, 1925 — FEBRUARY 5, 2001


CAPTAIN FLOYD VALENTINE

AUGUST 11, 1909 - FEBRARY 9, 2001

Born on August 11, 1909 in New York. Captain Valentine's first plane ride was in September1928 (OX5). He attended Park's Air College in St. Louis from February to June 1929. He soloedan OX5 Travelair and completed an A & E Mechanic course. Captain Valentine bought an OX5WACO-l0. He received his Private and L.C. and F.A.I. Licenses in 1930 and Transport #14256in June 1931. He flew mostly OX5s for the next couple of years, at Princeton, New JerseyAirport. He flew for Hadley Airport from 1935-39. Then he was hired as a co-pilot for CanadianColonial Airline on DC3s till he went with T.W.A. at LaGuardia in February 1940.

Captain Valentine flew as a co-pilot on four Engine Boeing 307s while he earned his Captainrating in DC3s in 1942. He served as Assistant Flying Manager at Newark Airport, New Jerseyfrom 1947-55 checking Pilots on DC3, DC4, Martin 202/404s and Constellations.

He bid for the International Division in 1955 flying Constellations and Boeing 707 Jets until hisretirement on September 1, 1969. He held a Commission in the U.S.Navy Reserve AV-(t) from1935-53. Also in 1933 he towed signs with Pitcairn Autogiros. He has a total of over 25,000hours flight time. While flying jets with TWA he broke the air speed record from Paris to NewYork. He was a member of Quiet Birdmen and was a 32nd degree Mason.

Captain Valentine is one of 22 TWA pilots known and listed in the OX-5 Aviation PioneerHistory. Two sons and a sister survive him. He was married to Betty Valentine for fifty-nineyears. She preceded him in death in 1995. Captain Valentine passed away at the age of 91. Hewill be greatly missed. by The Valentine family


JOHN THERWANGER

AUGUST 5,1914 - JANUARY 19, 2001

John was born on August 5, 1914 in Goree, Texas. Because of his interest in aviation, he went toBurbank California in 1939 to work for Lockheed. He worked on the P-38 line until 1942. WithWWII escalating, he was sent to Europe with Lockheed. John was first sent to Belfast Ireland,where he worked as an aircraft technician. His engineering was critical in a new design of thenose guns of the B-24s and B-17's.

In July of 1943, he met his soon to be bride, Peggy in England. By early October, they wereengaged and married on October 22, 1943. Then he went back to Belfast to continue his work.After D-day he returned to England with Air Transport Command.

After WWII John came back to Texas to gain his Aircraft and Powerplant license. In August1948 he was hired with Trans Continental and Western known today as Trans World Airline.

As a Flight Engineer, he started on the Boeing 307 in Chicago. Later being based in LAX flyingthe Lockheed Constellation series. After almost 10,000 hours of piston time, he moved to theBoeing 707 in SSFO. Flying TWA's MAC to Vietnam, and the 10 day "around the world" trips,John loved every minute.

He retired in July of 1974 after moving to Universal City, Texas (northeast of San Antonio).John was always busy adding on to the house or working on "a project". He loved working withhis hands and engineering a plan. In 1994 he and Peggy moved to Lewisville, Texas (north ofDFW) to be close to their son Scott (pilot for American Airlines) and his family.

Dad will be missed, but we will never forget his love and sense of humor. by Scott Therwhanger


HENRY ELBE GASTRICH

MARCH 22, 1924 - MAY 5, 2001

Hank passed away suddenly on May 5, 2001. He was born in St. Louis on March 22, 1924. Hewas a Naval Aviator during World War II and was a flight instructor during the Korean War.Hank joined TWA in 1953 as a First Officer and had a distinguished career and retired in 1974.Hank continued to fly after he retired from TWA and amassed more than 21,000 flight hours.

Hank was a gifted writer, he wrote training manuals for several models of commercial jets forflight schools and has had many articles published in journals and magazines. He was the Editorof the GRAPEVINE for more than five years. Hank worked tirelessly on this and loved providinga forum for all of us to stay in touch. He was still working on this issue when he died.

Hank's love of learning took him back to Cuyamaca College at the age of 72 where he mademany more friends. He was to receive his Degree of Associate of General Arts in English andHistory, Graduating a member of the Dean's List at Commencement Exercises May 31 st . Hankwas very proud of his accomplishment.

Hank's sister, his five children, Rex, Casey, Sue, Ross and Becky along with nine grandchildren

and one great-grandchild survive him. by Editor

IN MEMORY OF

RONALD C. RALSTON

JUNE 24, 1928 - SEPTEMBER 29, 2000

I am writing with the sad news that my father, Ronald C. Ralston, passed away on September 29th.He died peacefully at home, under Hospice care, and with Helen and me at his bedside.

My Dad put up a long fight against his lung cancer. He fought not only with all the tremendous tools


of modem science, but also with the incredible willpower that had allowed him to become who hewas to us all. He listened to and read everything he could about his disease, he made life-stylechanges, he tried acupuncture- and he lived with it for eight years, nearly twice as long as statisticswould have allowed.

He lived to see and enjoy my boys, Zachary (4) and Jacob (2), and Joel's son Joshua (2). The picturebelow shows him last Christmas with Jacob on the right and Joshua on the left. He appreciated everymoment with his grandchildren, and we are all happy to have the memory of him enjoying them.

My father was adamant about not wanting us to cry over him, not wanting there to be a permanent,mournful marker of his life with us. He asked to be cremated, and that his ashes be spread in thewaters of the Pacific and the Atlantic. We have respected his wishes with private ceremonies for ourimmediate family on both coasts.

CAPTAIN MEREDITH JACKSON MOFFETT

JUNE 18, 1925 -FEBRUARY 5, 2001

Meredith J. Moffett, "Moff to all who knew and loved him, died Monday, February 5, 2001 atthe University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. Moff was born on June18, 1925 in Washington, D.C. the son of the late Earl Stanley Moffett and the late Mary SinclairMoffett. He died as a result of a fall in his home in Warrenton, Virginia and is survived by hiswife Lee of 7174 Academy Road, Warrenton, a sister, and two nieces. Graveside services wereheld on February 8 at Marshall, Virginia cemetery

Moff, a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, joined the Army Air Corps as a pilot duringWorld War II, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain. He served as a pilot withTrans World Airlines, reporting for training in the November 2 class of 1953, until hisretirement in 1975.

Moff's hobbies included fishing (for many years from his own boat) and travel, especially travelto those strange or less visited tourist spots. The picture above was taken aboard ship, as Lee and


Meredith cruised around the African coast in January 2000.

For me, for many others, our relationship with Moff was more than the usual employee typerelation. Moff was a buddy in the deepest sense of the word, and in the many years I knew Moff,I am unable to recall a single time when he was ever in anything but the best humor and highspirit. His unique chuckle and smile never failed to lighten my heart, and with his passing, I canonly say, "I'll miss him! More today than yesterday ... still more tomorrow! by Hank Gastrich

IN MEMORY OF

CAPTAIN A.T. HUMBLES

SEPTEMBER 14, 1919 — MAY 6, 2001

Ed Betts

Along the way I've met a few, some chapswho filled the bill, A great rapport and com-radeship, the best I thought, until,

Upon the scene and all at once this persondid appear, Oh nice enough, not rude orgruff, his manner never drear.

As time went by, events took place, then allat once, surprise! His mild approach, with-drawn at times, was all an artful guise!

His wit and humor came to light and well, hewas the best. There wasn't any sober eventthat he couldn't turn to jest.

I could continue, fill the page, about this ex-traordinary man, But briefly now, the ode be-low, will help you understand.

Soaring now to heights unknown, our goodfriend' , Ed," let's not bemoan.

His presence there it seems must be, someenvy now, you see he's free.

*Tis true a void will be, oh yes, and noreplacement there, I guess.

But for awhile, not long enough, we had hishumor, manner bluff

Now memories will always be, So Ed bepleased that we loved thee.

Charlie "Black Dog" Davis


It Doesn't Get Better Than ThisBy

Jim Breslin

Before I write about our winter on the desert I would like to tell you about a place that I foundnot long ago on the Arkansas banks of the Mississippi River directly across from the city ofMemphis. Some people might call it a magical place where imagination replaces reality, but forme it was real all the same.

To get there you take I-40 westbound out of Memphis and cross over the bridge to the Arkansasside of the river. Once over the bridge you get off of I-40 at exit 278, make a cloverleaf turn backover the highway and head south on 7th Street through the town of West Memphis, to JacksonAvenue. There you turn left and go one block east over to 8th St. and there you turn right onceagain to continue on south. Continuing on, you go through a stone quarry and eventually past acement plant and by the time that the dust has settled from that you find yourself tumbled onto ameadow that's greener than any you've ever seen in your life.

That's where the campground's located, and where the sites are set back from the river by severalhundred feet, leaving room for the river to flex its' muscles every once in a while, as it does atcertain times of the year, yet leaving a vast open field of newly mowed grass between you andthe river's edge once the waters have receded again back to their banks on either side.

It was early May when we got there and the air was still clean and crisp from Winter, while thesun was preparing to usher in Summer, and the mix never felt more invigorating yet soothing aswell, as it sat on my shoulders.

There were benches evenly spaced down by the river's edge. That first morning I chose the oneI would sit on as I took time to inhale the blessings of an extraordinary day that was only justwaking up, where the newly mowed grass still wet with dew smelled sweet in my nostrils, andwhere the sound of the river was as crisp and as clean as a song being hammered out on axylophone, yet as softly melodious as the rhythms of a calypso drum as it babbled and splashedits' way over the rocks and stones at my feet.

As I sat there I pondered the citydirectly across the river from me,and it stood silent as it stared back.Still, I knew that the sounds of thecity were there the clatter of garbagecans being emptied into a refusetruck making its' rounds the urgentrush of emergency vehicles speedingto some tragic event the wail ofsirens guarding the law the shatter-ing glass of somebody's windowpane as some little boy or girl belts a


home run out of the playground and everyone runs for cover the annoying yelp of a dogharassing the postman the struggle of some lady giving birth while not far away the steady,monotone beep of life support pleading with someone to "hang in there" the abusive shoutingbetween a husband and wife through an open window while wedding bells chime from a steeplejust up the street and somewhere down in a basement apartment there's a young Benny Goodmanpracticing scales on a sadly out of tune clarinet. And so those muted sounds from the other sideof the river served to amplify the peace and serenity of the surroundings about me and made meconsciously aware of the special place I was in.

I noticed a bottle float by and my sense of romantic curiosity prodded me to speculate where its'journey might have begun. Was it at the headwaters of this mighty river in distant Minnesota? Orcould it have started its journey even farther away than that, where crisp mountain streams feedinto the mighty Missouri way up in northern Montana before it wends its' way to join up with theMississippi all the way down at St. Louis? And where would its journey finally end? Wouldsome boy or girl find it on a faraway shore, and would they open it up with a sense of impendingexcitement to see what's inside just as I would? Would it contain a mysterious note written incode? Or even better than that, might it contain a map of some pirate's buried treasure? I couldonly imagine that excitement on some young boy or girl's face as they uncorked that bottle, andI hoped for their sake it would be the pirate's treasure map hidden inside.

I had noticed a stone not far from my feet, flat and polished by time, and I tried to ignore it atfirst, but it kept beckoning me on until the urge was more than I could resist. It had been a longtime since I'd side armed a stone such as that out over the water to see how many skips I couldcoax out of it. Five or six used to be average for me and I rehearsed in my mind how it was doneafter so many years. When I thought I was ready, I checked sheepishly over both shoulders to besure I was still all alone before I got up to step to the mound. The windup seemed perfect to mebut alas the arm was no longer the same and all runners ended up safe. Three feeble hops wasthe best I could muster and the stone sank to the bottom before it even got to the catcher's mitt.It was time to accept that a Nolan Ryan I'm not. I took my cue like a man, and as gracefully as Icould, retired back to the bench. Thankfully though, my wounded pride didn't have to sitconspicuously alone on that bench for long.

There was a riverboat sweeping under the bridge to my left with its' cargoof four or rive barges lashed to its' bow one after the other and I watchedwith anticipation as the Captain maneuver-ed the bend in the river with thedexterity of a 707 making that last turn at the checkerboard before liningup with runway 13 at the end of a Cheung Chau approach to Kai-Takairport In far off Hong Kong.

As this enormous train of cargo sailed past me I could see the Captain clearly as he finessed thewheel on the bridge and just as I raised my arm to wave, and to salute my appreciation of hisskill at the wheel, he also reached for a cord just over his head and released two blasts from thefog horn into the morning stillness. They were loud but not harsh to the ear and blended in quiteharmoniously with the everyday sounds of the valley. His wife was on deck hanging up laundryto dry and she turned to wave her greeting to me as this floating island of cargo sailed past, andfor a fleeting instant in time we were close friends, and I was sorry we couldn't have had more


time together.I watched as they made the next bend in the river before disappearing downstream and I foundmyself being dragged along in their wake, leaping from one horizon's horizon to the next until Ifound myself in parts of the world that were shockingly sobering, where horror and brutality andslaughter and carnage and suffering are part of the everyday a la carte menu, and where the earlybird special hasn't changed over centuries where the hearts of men and women alike have beenshredded and torn until they can't stand the pain anymore, and where children are forced to takeup arms against one another without ever wondering why.

I stood fixed in silent reflection, trying to make sense of it all, asking myself what must we do tomake it all different, when I was brought back by the sound of a voice farther on down the river.It was the rich, resonant baritone voice of a black man laying his soulful lament on the river. Ilistened as his voice wafted upstream like a morning mist, telling the river of the troubles he'sseen, his body all covered in sweat and wracked with pain. But it seems that for as long as thatriver's been flowing, it has heard those words a thousand times over and didn't pause for even asecond to listen, but just kept a'rollin along.

I watched, as they put ashore not very much farther downstream,and then to my very great pleasure began walking towards me with their dog following not muchfarther behind. They both wore bib overalls with the pant legs rolled up just enough to stay dry,and a single strap slung over one shoulder is what kept their overalls up. And they each woreclean cotton shirts, bleached practically white by their numerous adventures at sea. And eachwore a straw hat that had been broken in over months, maybe years, and with no more binding'round the brim to keep the straw from unraveling.

They were each carrying a fishing pole over one shoulder and when they drew near they eachoffered a hand towards both of my dogs in a gesture of friendliness. "What are their names?" oneof them asked.

"Well the one that's licking your hand like it's candy, is Sweetie. And the black and white onethat's hiding behind me is Daisy. She's very timid. And what's your dog's name", I asked.

"Oh, his name is Shep, Sir." the other boy replied while the dog looked up at me wagging his

Still, the words were compelling, and that deep resonant voicewas spellbinding, growing louder and louder as it moved upstreamtowards me until it was thunderous in my ear and the earthtrembled beneath my feet and the sky opened wide and the hairson my arms fairly bristled. I might have dozed off for a second ortwo but I doubt it. In any case, I was aroused by the excitedlaughter of two boys and a dog on a raft drifting slowly on pastme. They waved as they went by and I felt a sense of kinship as Iwaved back, remembering when, and thus sharing in the jubilantexcitement of their adventure out there on the water.


"What have you got in the can?" I asked curiously, and before I could react, Iwas staring into an old rusty tobacco can full of fat juicy night crawlers.

"Worms Sir." the boy who was holding them said. "You can have them if you want."he offered. "We've got lots of them back on the raft." "Yes, we don't need them Sir.You can have them if you want them." the other boy generously offered again.

I was beginning to believe that I knew who these boys were but I needed a tad moreevidence to prove it to myself, and so I asked, "Where are you boys from?"

"From Hannibal, Sir." the one boy replied while the other exaggerated it further for clarity,"We're from Hannibal, Missouri, Sir."

Well I knew I was getting warm so I baited them both one more time. "I used to know a manfrom Hannibal." I said. "His name was Twain, Mark Twain. Do you know him?"

"Oh yes Sir." they both replied in unison. "We've known Mr. Twain all of our lives."

"Really", I mused to myself, "And what are your names?" I asked.

"I'm Tom." the one replied. "And I'm Huck." the other continued, both offering their hands in ahandshake.

Then Tom burst out in a mischievous giggle and said, "His real name is Huckleberry." and Icaught the tease in his voice, and the glare in Huck's eyes, and I knew that that was one tease thatTom wasn't going to get by with once they were back on the raft.

To break the standstill and to get on with our visit, I commented, "You boys are a long way fromhome, aren't you?" They looked at each other for the answer and in the end I had to admit thatthey hadn't said yes, but they hadn't said no.

"Do you come down this way very often?" I asked, and Tom's answer was just as evasive,"Sometimes . . . when there's somebody down here to visit with, such as yourself Sir." I let thatone slide by because I had so much I wanted to talk with these boys about. "Sit down." I invitedboth boys. "I feel like I've known you for a very long time, and I'd like to learn more about youif I can."

And so we talked about fishing, and about club houses where you needed to know the secretpassword to get in, and about kite flying, and about soapbox derbys, and about steel rim wheelsthat you push down the street with a paddle. I knew they'd know nothing about television, butradio perhaps.

"Oh, yes Sir, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, the Green Hornet and the Black Beauty that washidden away somewhere inside a secret garage and the Inner Sanctum with the squeaky door thatsounded so spooky and Fibber McGee and Molly and that's when Tom broke in to tell me that


he was collecting boxtops to send away with a dime to get a real Lone Ranger badge, while Huckoffered proudly, "I've already got mine."

And what about picture shows? Did they have a picture show house in Hannibal? "Yes Sir, andon a Saturday morning they let you in free if you bring along a can of peas for the poor people."

So what else did they do for excitement, I asked them. Well after school they had chores to do,they explained. "What kind of chores?" I asked.

"Oh, all kinds of chores Sir. There's always somethin' needs fixin' or paintin' it seems." Huckexplained to me. "We've always got lots to do Sir." Tom went on to assure me.

I would have liked to invite them for dinner, and so Iexcused myself while I went to check with Erika to besure that she had enough food in for the four of us beforeI invited them to stay. But when I got back they weregone. Only the can of worms they said I could have, wasleft on the bench. The raft was gone and neither they northeir dog were anywhere to be seen.

When I went back to the motorhome the disappointmentmust have been written all over my face because Erikaasked me, "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing." I answered her. "It's something I can'texplain. And besides, nobody would ever believe me if Icould."

It was still light after dinner that night and I invited Erikato go down to the river with me, still hoping to be able tointroduce her to my friends, but alas, they were gone.

That's when the songbirds began to gather in the trees as the sun made it known it was time tocome home for their evening chit chat with friends over the day's gossip before turning it In forthe night. There were hummingbirds gathering in their last drops of nectar from a flower gardennot far behind us, and wrens and larks and swallows and magpies and mockingbirds andcardinals and grosbeaks and finches all feeding their young, and the chatter was deafening untilthe maestro arrived. Then, tapping his baton on the podium, they all came to order and joinedtogether in song. And the music flowed through the valley like an afternoon symphony, whileout on the river the occasional "plop" of a fish falling back into the water after a futile lunge at adragonfly could be heard, contributing a minor distraction, but nothing that wasn't excusable.

And then as the sun settled slowly below the horizon the curtain was gradually lowered, and theconcert came to an end almost as abruptly as it had begun.


It was only a short intermission though before the crickets moved into the orchestra pit andbegan getting their string section back into tune for another evening's concert under the stars,while down by the river's edge the bullfrogs could be heard putting the percussion sectiontogether. And somewhere off in the woods, a whippoorwill was singing his heart out in search ofhis mate, while all through the amphitheater fireflies were busily ushering last minute crittersand varmints into their seats for the evening's performance about to begin.

Finally, when everything was set and everyone was comfortably seated, the fireflies took theirplace in the woods and the curtain was raised. The concert under the stars was set to begin justas scheduled, and the music was every bit as entertaining to my ears as the late afternoon'sperformance had been.

Oh, that was a day I'll never forget, and as I was getting ready for bed that night I thought quietlyto myself, "Thank you God for being so kind to me. I haven't taken the time until now to listenor to look at all of the gifts you've bestowed on me, and I am deeply sorry for that."

Photo Left to Right, Jim Breslin,Sam Rumford, Bill Dawkins, andRufus Mosley.


2001.07.TARPA_TOPICS

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