In Humble Memory
of those who have:
 |
"Flown West"
|
|
Gen. James J. "Jimmy" Doolittle
(1896-1993)
Pilot, Leader of 'Doolittles
Raiders' Medal
of Honor, DFC.
Rank and organization: Brigadier General, U.S. Army. Air Corps.
Place and date: Over Japan.
Entered service at: Berkeley, Calif.
Birth: Alameda, CA - 14 December 1896
G.O. No.: 29, 9 June 1942.
Citation:
For conspicuous leadership
above the call of duty,
involving personal
valor and intrepidity
at an extreme hazard to life.
With the apparent certainty
of being forced to land
in enemy territory
or to perish at sea,
Gen. Doolittle personally led
a squadron of Army bombers,
manned by volunteer crews,
in a highly destructive raid
on the Japanese mainland.
Gen. Doolittle returned from China,
(CNAC DC-3, pilot: Moon Chin)
with 75 passengers on board!
(4 of them were found in the baggage compartment)
Members of the 10th Air force, (1943)
India Air Task Force, and China Air Task Force
In memory of those who lost their lives, flying the "Hump".
Members of the 438th, 316th, 62nd, 349th and 61st TCG
Captain Dick Ferry
Edward Miller Cracraft
April 12, 1920-June 27, 1996
He was born in Jackson, Mo., to Sherman Cooper and
Bernice (Miller) Cracraft. He was raised in Jackson.
He enlisted in U.S. Navy flight school, graduating in the top 10 percent of
his class -
an honor which allowed him to serve with the U.S. Marine Corps.
He was with the first squadron of DC-3's to fly directly to the Pacific war
theater.
He was a member of MAG 25,
He served two tours of duty,
earning
the Distinguished Flying Cross
and an Air Medal with two Gold Stars.
He was discharged in
1945 with the rank of Captain.
He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve at the rank of Major.
He married Catherine Fischer,
whom he had met while stationed in Corvallis, Oregon
at the Mayflower Chapel on June 7, 1945.
In memory of :
Hans Buining, Henk Heus,
Yvonne Keesman,
Mieke Schoenmakers, Herman Karstens and Gerard Huisman,
The
crew members, and the passengers
of PH-DDA,
who died in the crash of
September 1996.
As volunteers, their lives were dedicated to keeping the DC-3 in the sky.
submitted by: "Han de Roos" - han.de.roos@tip.nl
Squadron Leader J.T. 'Joe'
Haughton
12th April 1916 - 5th November 1996
My father had many thousand hours flying Dakotas in the RAF.
He joined the RAF in 1934 as an engineering apprentice
and became both a leading airframe and leading engine fitter.
In 1942 after a spell on Motor Torpedo Boats (which used aero engines)
he was accepted for flying training
and learned to fly in Medicine Hat, Canada.
He spent the first half of 1945 supply-dropping from bases in northern India
in
RAF Dakotas 945, 323, 587 and 787
and paratroop dropping from Dakota 895.
Late 1945 he spent mostly in Dakotas KK213, 417 and 509
flying between RAF Lyneham in England and Mauripur in India.
On 4 September 1946 my father was
appointed personal pilot to Lt/Gen Gairdner based at Bassingbourne (England)
and on 9 September flew Gen Gairdner and five British members of parliarment
(representitives to Gen MacArthur) to Tokyo in Dakota 230.
The trip took 63 hours over 8 days
routing Northolt, Istres, Luqua, Lydda, Bahrein, Mauripur,
Allahabad,Dumdum, Mingladon, Bangkok,Hong Kong, Shanghai, Iwakuni, Tokyo.
He spent until July 1947 flying Gen Gairdner throughout Japan,
the Far East and Australia in 230
(including log entries for Dec 1947 showing 'Gomen,Earthquake relief').
In July 1947 Flight Lieutenant Haughton
was appointed Training Officer 24 (VIP Flight) Squadron
and flew VIPs including:
Air Marshall Lord Tedder
and Air Cmdr Cochrane.
After a spell at RAF Halton F/L Haughton returned to 24 Squadron
and VIP flying in Dakotas in 1949
and was shortly after appointed
Field Marshall Montgomery's personal pilot.
This was mainly flying the
Dakota given to Monty by General Eisenhower
(Dakota KN 628, Douglas C47B-15-DK 43-48804).
When KN628 was retired because of
supposed main spar corrosion in Aug 1955
it was replaced by KN645 in which my father
(by then a Squadron Leader)
flew Montgomery until both retired in 1958 -
my father delayed his retirement so
the 'Old Man' would not have to
get used to a new pilot in his last year in the army.
KN628 flew 2447 hours with the RAF between 1945 and 1955
and under the captaincy of Sqdrn Ldr Haughton
flew 530 operational flights
with only one delay caused by mechanical fault
- a real tribute to the quality of the design
and those men and women who built Dakotas.
My father told me the strength and engineering of the Dakota
saved his life on more than one occasion.
As an aside my father was always convinced that the 'corrosion' in KN628
was political.
As an airframe fitter he checked the spars himself
and was sure that they were sound.
There may have been jealousy within the British services
that Monty had his 'own plane' and that removing the Dakota
(that was given to him personally)
could solve the 'problem'.
As it was 628 was bought by Derby Aviation in Jan 1956
and re-registered G-AOGZ and flew on with the old spars.
"A truely great aeroplane that my father loved dearly".
Memories
Brojak is going to drift away from the norm,
just for today.
memories of, over 50+ years ago,
Valentine Day, Feb. 14th, 1945.
(A, l - o - n - g, step back into time.)
The 318th Troop Carrier Squadron was stationed at "Honey"
Airstrip,
Lingayen Gulf, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
Quote from the Squadron History Book, published October, 1945.
============================
"Tragedy hit the Squadron February
14th.
First Lieutenant Thomas P. Sneckner,
the Pilot,
Flight Officer Jack H. Deacon, acting as Co-Pilot,
Staff Sergeant Freeman F. Stanton, Radio Operator,
Sergeant David B. Browne, Crew Chief,
plus two Glider Pilots,
Flight Officers Jack D. Yates, and
Flight Officer George C. Polovich.
These men took off on a Drop Mission at Antipolla.
It was a difficult drop ANYTIME, but a resupply mission was needed
to add power to guerrilla forces on Luzon. The plane did not return at
its scheduled time. No air to ground contact could be made. As dusk
settled over Honey Strip, it was definitely realized that an accident
had occurred.
Fighter planes were dispatched to search for the missing aircraft, but
weather had "socked in" over the Drop Zone, so that nothing could
be
seen. No news of any kind came out of those mountains.
The next day, one of our planes returned to the drop area and sighted
the missing plane - crashed into the side of a mountain. Word came
through from the guerrillas that no one had escaped, all burned beyond
recognition. Dog Tags and Identification Bracelets made up all that
was found.
We all felt the loss of these men. We know that they gave their lives
in an effort to perform a task dedicated to bringing the strife to a
quicker end. We were proud of their great effort, and their work,
to all of us, will be a guiding star by which we too can carry on doing
their part along with our own."
=====================
End of Quote.
Because today is the anniversary of the crash that took
the lives of our six comrades,
and the ONLY plane we lost on a combat mission,
is the reason for this message.
I am a Catholic and I normally set aside a week-end Mass in our Church,
closest to Valentine Day, in memory of our comrades who did not come back.
I do that, not only to remember them, but also in the hope that those who
did not live during those times, or did not serve in the Military would
realize that somebody, somewhere, paid a high price to give them the
Freedom they enjoy, do not appreciate, and probably did not Earn.
Many people, including the two most notable critics of the Freeedom
preserving efforts of the USA, in the past, - Jane Fonda, and Bill Clinton,
and a good part of Congress are enjoying the fruits of a Freedom paid
for by sacrifices made by our service men in WWI, WWII, Korea, and
especially, Vietman, where U.S. Servicemen suffered the greatest
RAPE in History.
Clinton and Fonda are probably still laughing about "Carnival Archie"
snow job they did on America. I don't want to get started on THAT.
One of the bright lights in Vietnam was the contribution of the
venerable C-47's "Spooky" and "Puff The Magic Dragon."
I get like this on Valentine Day, as I think:
"But for ther Grace of GOD?" The crew of "Army 452" was
on the same
kind of a mission as Sneckner and his crew that same day.
"Keep 'Em Flying" ===brojak===
In Memory of :
Ernest Kellogg Gann.
If ever there was lover of the DC-3 type equipment it was he.
Perhaps consideration could be given to making mention of him if for no other reason than pointing a new generation to his two autobiographical works in which the DC-3 and C-47 receive much ink.
Submitted by: John Nightingale - ve7aov@sprynet.com
In Memory of :
Warren Basler
Pilot, Company owner, Basler Turbo Conversions and Flight Service
(over 30,000 Hrs. flown )(over 10,000 Hrs. in DC-3)
RIP
Dave Schacherl
Materials Manager / Customer Service Rep. with Basler Turbo Conversions, Inc.
In one of our last contacts with Dave Schacherl he said;
" I have personaly spent a few hundred hours flying the DC-3 / C-47 and
I have loved every minute."
RIP -Bear
The two airplanes owned by Basler Turbo Conversions and Flight
Service
collided during a flight Saturday 13 March 1997 in eastern Wisconsin.
"Warren Basler and materials manager Dave Schacherl were killed, in this crash"
said company President Thomas Weigt.
The names of the two other Basler employees killed were
not released.
In Memory of:
the crew of Baron-52, EC-47Q (TN 43-048636)
Lost over Laos, 5 February 1973:
Capt. George K. Spitz,
Pilot
1st Lt. Robert E. Bernhardt,
Co-pilot
2nd Lt. Severo J. Primm
III, Co-pilot
Capt. Arthur R. Bollinger,
Navigator
SSgt. Todd M. Melton,
Voice Systems Operator
Sgt. Joseph A. Matejov,
Morse Systems Operator,
Airborne Mission Supervisor
Sgt. Peter R. Cressman,
Morse Systems Operator
Sgt. Dale Brandenburg,
Bravo Maintenance Technician
The officers were assigned to the 361st Tactical Electronics Warfare
Squadron (TEWS) while the enlisted men were part of Detachment 3, 6994th
Security Squadron, all stationed at Ubon, Thailand. They were on a
night-time mission to try and locate North Vietnamese tanks that were
moving through Laos into Cambodia. The aircraft was shot down while
flying over Xekong Province, 45 miles Southeast of Saravane, Laos.
Although the crew has been officially declared KIA, there is compelling
evidence that the four enlisted men were able to bail out before the
aircraft crashed and were taken prisoner.
They went alone and unarmed into the night.
Let us endeavor to preserve
their memory and never forget their sacrafice.
Dakota Memorial - Flight
Sergeant David Bell
In memory of my cousin, Flight Sergeant David
F.B. Bell of Salisbury,
Southern Rhodesia, (now Harare, Zimbabwe), who died when his
RAF Transport Squadron 31
Dakota went down while flying the "Hump" in 1944.
"Our family salutes David and all the
other brave young men like him who
gave their lives in order to ensure and preserve the freedom we all enjoy to-day."
submitted by: Robyn Dowsett - blackadder@lks.net
Ken Dowsett
RR#1 Corbyville
Ontario, Canada
K0K 1V0
kdowsett@lks.net
litant@massbar.org
(Bill Litant)
Several years ago, I attended the funeral of my Uncle.
Coming from the English branch of the family,
he had been an RAF radio operator/navigator instructor during WW2
and was loaned to the RCAF, spending most of the war in Canada.
When I was in high school he gave me his old uniform jacket which I wore for
years.
He spent many hours going over his old WW2 logbooks with me
and showing me old photos of his flying adventures.
He was always up for a chat about old planes.
The burial service was small - only about 12 people in attendance.
Following the service, I was walking through the cemetary to the car with my
wife,
my cousin and her husband, when I heard that big plane "Radial Engine"
roar.
Looking up, I was startled to see a B-25 flying overhead!
When I excitedly brought this amazing coincidence to the others' attention they
were
totally uninterested and continued with their conversation.
What a fitting final tribute to my uncle!
Too bad no one else appreciated it!
Nick Bountis
From: "Bountis-berthet, Jane (jebb)"
WWII Hump, Pacific & Commercial C-47/DC-3 pilots
My Dad,
Nick Bountis,
was a pilot who flew 166 missions
over the Hump in '43 & 44;
following that he was stationed in the Pacific for the duration of the war.
After the war he was Captain for
TransOcean, Lufthansa, and retired from World Airways.
In January '92 he passed away very suddenly.
My Dad was a very modest person
and never spoke much about his experiences during WWII.
I had always
told him I wanted to sit down with him and tape record his WWII stories.
We never had the opportunity to do this.
I would like to know if anyone reading your
site might have flown
with my Dad during or after the War?
Can you help?
Thank you very much-
Jane Bountis-Berthet and Linda Bountis
aberthet@sbcglobal.net and seekintegrity@comcast.net
...My thanks to Ken Dowsett
ironclad@rocketmail.com
for letting me know about this great site and
memorial for our brothers in flight..."Bear"
...the recovery of a DAK lost in "Burma" in 1945...
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/feature/burma/burmamain.htm
six airmen who were declared missing and presumed dead
after their
C-47 Dakota failed to return June 21, 1945,
from delivering supplies to the British 14th Army in northern Burma.
The pilot was Warrant Officer William Rogers
of Halifax
and the co-pilot was Pilot Officer William Kyle
of Perth, Ont.
The others were
Flight Sergeant Charles McLaren
of Campbellville, Ont.,
Flying Officer David Cameron of
Oshawa, Ont.,
Warrant Officer Stanley Cox of
Beresford, Man.,
and Leading Aircraftman Cornelius Kopp
of Duchess,Alta.
We now know the WWII airplane crashed in the thick rainforest,
probably because of severe monsoon weather.
...we add our tribute...
"Bear"
Welcome Home
Memories past dimmed by time
Jarred to life by successful search
Never forgotten we were just delayed
Time to return to those left behind
To close the doors of dread and doubt
Welcome home, Honored DAK warriors
We relieve you, your vigil of command
Your job did make a mighty difference
And you did for all, and we accept
We who survive thank you for your effort
Open the path of Honor, past respectful peers
Time now to rest, time now for Home
"Bear"1998
Leigh Coleman Hotujec - AKA - The Air America Brat - AirAmBrat@aol.com
In Memory of :
Captain
Benjamin F. Coleman
November 16,1928 - July 25,1972
I wanted to let you know that as the daughter of an aviation love
story
(DC-3 pilot + stewardess = me)
Dad always had a special place in his heart for the DC-3
and some of my favorite photos of him include his "special birds".
He was a Captain with United and Frontier in the 50's
before heading to Southeast Asia in 1962 to fly for CAT and Air America.
He was flying a Twin Otter when he
was killed in Laos,
26 years ago today
(7/25/72).
In Memorial
to:
Thomas Kepplenan
Joseph E. Wheeler
David Schwartz
Died in November,1943 in crash at
the Russell Islands.
Submitted by: Jerry Gordon gordo97@mindspring.com,
their roommate at New Caledonia,
and the Engineering Officer who was sent up to investigate the crash
In Memorial
To:
Spook Heard
He was a ground officer who had his orders to return to the States
but wanted to see the "Canal".
Spook was killed in a crash into a mountain
at Guadacanal.
Submitted by: Jerry Gordon gordo97@mindspring.com,
Roman J. Freise
My Uncle Roman J. Freise, Missouri,
was a flight mechanic on a cargo plane when his plane was shot down off Guadalcanal
(according to his official papers).
He was a member of Squadron 253 of the MAG 25.
His plane was downed on November 13, 1942.
I never had the opportunity to meet him and would love to know more about him.
Does anyone out there remember him?
Nancy Kossmann. kossd - kossd@mail.usmo.com
Memorial Tribute to a DC-3 pilot.
Maj. Victor Philip Fouche
died on 4th May 1999
From: fltopsjnb@Sunair.Co.Za
My Father was born on 9 May 1935, the son of a postman,
who decided that the skies above held promise of more excitement
and adventure than ever was to be found on the ground.
He started his Aviation career in the RAF,
flying in C-47's, Doves and Sunderlands
as a Wireless Operator / Radar Operator.
After joining the South African Air Force, he flew the beloved Dak
as well as T6 "Texans" as a Citizen Force member.
His career reached a peak when he
became Chief Pilot of Royal Swazi National Airways Corporation,
flying Fokker F-28 jets and Viscount turbo-props.
After returning to the SAAF during our bush-war, he saw action in the
operational area, once again with the Dak, and claimed the first kills in
the South African version of the "Dragon" which was a C-47 with a
20mm
cannon mounted in the door.
He founded the Dakota Association of South
Africa in 1983, and continued as it's Chairman, till the end.
He continued flying Dakotas until the day he died, at the age of 63, passing
his last ATP medical on the day of his unfortunate, and tragic death in a
car accident.
A lot of his friends said that he should have died in a Dak,
but that would have meant "bending" and aircraft that he loved,
and
I know that in over 30 years,
and 20,000 hours of flying,
he never so much as scraped
the paint on his beloved
"Gooney Bird".
Maj. Victor Philip Fouche died on 4th May 1999,
five days before his 64th birthday.
May he rest in peace,
and may this stand as a tribute,
both to him, and to the grand old lady of the skies,
the DC-3.
In memory of:
Jim Fleming
"Sorry to have to report that Jim Fleming
died in May 1999.
He flew the Ford Tri-Motors
for PAA and Cia Mexicana before the DC-2
and retied as a 707 Captain.
A wonderful, kind individual."
Bill
Submitted by: W.T. Larkins
SSGT Ralph J. Hils
: The 440th Troop Carrier Group.
Submitted by: Randy Hils - CPTHS70@aol.com
I would like to add the name of my father, SSGT Ralph J. Hils .
He flew with the 440th out of England and Europe during WWII.
Survived a lot didn't talk about it till near the end of his life,
" Radio operator and pilot, flew the Normandy Invasion missions,
Shot down over the English Channel survived
due to
" Fantastic glide characteristics of the C-47"
he loved the airplane.
and all members of the 440th,
Hoping I can find more information
on his wartime service and maybe someone who served with him.
Randy Hils
If we can all spare a few minutes in sympathy for the families
of the two C-47 TP crew
who died after their aircraft crashed at Wonderboom Airport, Pretoria, South
Africa
last Monday evening (25th August 1998).
The Turbine Dak, ZS-NKK, belonging to Speed Services,
crashed inside the airfield boundary on takeoff.
Preliminary reports,
suggest the aircraft became airborne with full nose-up trim still applied
and that both engines were producing power.
submitted by: John Miller - atokad@net.co.za
Harry Gann,
Aviation Historian,
Died October 30, 2000
International famed aviation Historian Harry S. Gann,
Director of Information for Douglas Aircraft
- later (in 1989) changed to company Historian.
Harry Gann was a quiet, private person who spent 38 years
with Douglas Aircraft Company,
El Segundo, CA., and retired in 1992 as the company historian.
He was a charter director of the American Aviation Historian Society
and a frequent contributor to the international aviation press.
Gann merged his fondness for aviation for almost four decades,
with his ability to be both a writer and photographer, .
Gann started his Douglas career as a mechanical designer,
after receiving his Mechanical Engineering degree at USC.
He served in the U. S. Army during World War II
under Gen. George Patton
and was wounded by a land mine at the Battle of the Bulge .
After retiring in 1992, Gann went on to establish the flight museum
at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro, CA.
Harry Gann was a contributor to the pages of the DC-3 Aviation Museum
and was a respected authority and member of the DC-3 NOTAP.
You Are greatly missed,
Harry S Gann
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 01:14:40 -0800
From: Robert Brougham
brougham@gte.net
To: bear@centercomp.com
Subject: Gene Guthrie
Petaluma, CA March 14, 2001
I regret to inform you that our good friend
Capt. Gene Guthrie
died last night as a result of a progressive malignant brain tumor.
Gene and I started our Naval Aviation Cadet training together
and we have kept in touch down through the years.
We both flew PBY Catalinas.
I really appreciate the testimony you display on the site
for Gene.
Gene was a wonderful man and my best lifetime friend.
He will be missed.
Join me in prayer that God will comfort
Gene's family during this time of mourning.
Sincerely,
Robert Brougham
"RIP WALKAHOOPIE"...Major Norris Bundy and Bear
Dennis Lee Eilers
Captain
4TH ACS
United States Air Force
06 December 1938 - 01 December 1977
Cedar Rapids, IA
Panel 04E Line 037
The 4th Air Commando Squadron was the first of three Air Force
squadrons which
flew transport aircraft (first C-47s, then C-130s and C-119s) equipped with
side-firing automatic weapons. The three squadrons were, in 1968, redesignated
as the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Special Operations Squadrons (SOS). While the 4th ACS
orinally was based at Tan Son Nhut AB, RVN, the SPOOKY and SCEPTRE
gunships, collectively known under the nickname "PUFF", operated from
a
number of airfields in South Vietnam and Thailand.
The 4th ACS began operations in South Vietnam on 15 December
1964 and
quickly became a major force. While extremely effective, the gunships -
particularly the AC-47s - were vulnerable to ground fire, especially the 37mm
and
57mm AAA found in Laos.
On 24 December 1965, a SPOOKY gunship piloted by COL Derrel
B. Jeffords and
CAPT Dennis L. Eilers, with crewmen MAJ Joseph Christiano, MSGT Larry C.
Thornton, TSGT W. Kevin Colwell, and SSGT Arden K. Hassenger, was tasked
with an armed reconnaissance mission over the "Ho Chi Minh Trail"
in eastern
Laos. SPOOKY 21 first was directed to a location approximately 32 miles
northeast of Saravane City, then diverted to a second location 18 miles
east-northeast of Saravane. Shortly before contact was lost with the gunship
at
1050 hours, one of the crew broadcast a "Mayday" message on UHF GUARD.
The
aircrews of two other aircraft operating in the area heard the gunship's final
radio transmission.
An extensive search and rescue (SAR) operation was initiated
at 1448. During the
entire search effort, SAR aircraft received intense enemy ground fire from the
jungle below. SAR operations terminated two days later with no trace of the
aircraft or crew found. The last known location of SPOOKY 21 was approximately
6 miles west-southwest of Ban Solou, 7 miles south of Un Tai, 18 miles
east-northeast of Saravane and 36 miles west of the Lao/South Vietnam border,
Saravane Province, Laos.
The six crewmen were placed in "Missing in Action"
status. Captain Eilers' status
was changed on 01 December 1977 to "Died while Missing". None of the
SPOOKY
21 crew has yet returned from their last mission.
Captain Charles Henry
"Charlie" Gray.
1917 to 1991
Chief pilot of Trans Australian Airlines.
Flew Gypsy Moths and Fox Moths with Guinea Airways in New Guinea pre
WW 2
then Lockheed 10, 12, 14 and DC3s with Guinea Airways till 1945.
He spent months at a time, each
year, on loan to the USA forces during the second world war,
where he flew courier runs from Australia to The Philippines via New Guinea,
armed with only a Colt 45 with instructions that the last bullet was for himself
as the civilian crew would be regarded by the Japanese as spies.
They liked clouds and were red hot instrument pilots.
Many TAA pilots who flew with Charlie have told me
that he was one of the best Instrument Flying pilots they flew with.
The US Government wanted to award medals to
these Aussie Pilots
but the Australian Government vetoed this.
He never spoke of this time to me (his son) as he felt he'd not "done his
bit".
I overheard war stories to his mates
over a beer as a small child
where the courier DC3s would look like a train engine
as numerous Yanks tagged along behind in a gaggle of aircraft
as they were so inexperienced and knew they'd get lost.
The courier pilots never let on how they could fly for hours
from Australia across hundreds of miles of Papuan swamp land
then New Guinea mountain spine and arrive unerringly at Hollandia.
The secret was an old New Guinea
trick
of recognising the landslides, grassfired areas
and mountain valleys then once over the range,
looking for the tallest cloud on the horizon
which was always over seven thousand foot Mt Olympus,
the only tall mountain near Hollandia.
The pilot was able to change heading only a few degrees
which was missed by the pilots following.
Some Yanks annoyed the Aussies
with their bragging about their stupendous experience.
Hundreds of hours in most cases
with eye widening boasts of their C.O's
up to one thousand hours.
The Aussies had at least three to five thousand at the time,
earned in underpowered rag aircraft
flying into impossible strips in the New Guinea gold fields.
Charlie crewed DC3s post war with Australian National Airways for a short time,
then TAA as well as all the other aircraft they operated except the F27 from
1946 till 1978.
He is fondly remembered by the locals for introducing the DC3
into the Channel Country (central Australia) services
replacing the cramped, slow Dragons and Drovers
while he was Senior Regional Captain
in the Northern region of Australia from 1949 to 1956.
He became Chief Pilot and later Flight Superintendent of TAA till
1963
when he returned to line flying checking and training due to health problems
earned by being overworked as the only Flight Superintendent.
He was replaced by two and not long after another two managers.
He loved the DC3
but had a strong love for the DC4 which he was flying
when he was sort by TAA to be their first DC4 flight captain .
His most dangerous flight in a DC3
was with his assistant Senior Regional Captain as second pilot
(they couldn't draft any line pilots to do the job)
They had to fly a couple of tons of urgently needed explosives detonators
from Brisbane to Lae in New Guinea during the wet season.
Plenty of turbulence could be expected
and there was no safe time to fly
as flying overland during the day and over the Coral Sea
at night were both prone to bad turbulence.
I often went with him on test flights as a child,
standing in the cockpit doorway (no one used jumpseats then)
and in my turn crewed DC3s for three thousand hours
in Papua New Guinea from 1969 to 1973.
My wife was a DC3 hostess with Ansett Airlines of New South Wales
in the mid 1960s but he missed out on seeing our daughter become a Flight Attendant
on 3s
with Shortstop in Melbourne last year,
so
we have four crew members
in three generations who crewed DC3s.
Charlie flew DC2, DC3, DC4, DC6b and DC9s
as well as a good number of De Havilland and Lockheed aircraft.
He was awarded
Master Air Pilot Certificate number 244
from
the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigator in 1958
and
elected an Associate of the Royal Aeronautical Society
of Great Britain in 1962.
Known as
"the Abominable No man"
while the boss.
I've only heard one negative comment about him and that came from a pilot he
sacked.
Every other pilot in TAA has only had positive or affectionate comments about
him...
a difficult act to follow.
Submitted by:"Dennis Gray" <dennisg@futureweb.com.au>
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