Peter said:
"Talking about flying in archaeological artifacts. Used to fly as a
passenger in a C54 from Oahu to Kauai back in the early '70s. Was poking
around in the airplane and found a plaque that the airplane had been used in
the Berlin airlift. Further investigation found that the airplane was built
before I was borne in '44. Assume that plane has long since gone to the
bone yard. That squadron also had a C-47 that I flew in once. Was afraid
to ask how old that one was."
OK, here's my only flying 'story'...many many years ago, in a past life
before reincarnation into the present one...sorry...I worked in Long
Beach...one of my accounts was the LA Cty Sherriff's Office on Catalina
Island...you remember the song..."26 miles across the sea"yadayada...so, OK,
when I had to visit to repair this or that machine, I would purchase a
ticket on the only commercial airline servicing the village of Avalon (the
only settlement on the island)which was called...damn, what was it
called....oh yeah....Catalina Airlines. Took off from Long Beach
Municipal...I thought the plane was old and it had those big skis on
them...what do you cal them Marin?...oh yeah...floats. Well the seats were
quaint, made of some natural material after all...rattan...some dried
weed?...all 6 or 8 of 'em...anyway, they were light in weight...the pilot
flung back the cloth curtain to the cockpit and asked if we were all
ready..."yup"...we taxi out and take off...then he reaches down beside his
seat and grabs what looked like a short LR handcrank...WTF???...he sticks it
into a hole in the floor and nonchalantly cranked up the landing
gear!!!...OK, so now I had to ask him..."What is this plane???"...I
shouted...he shouts back...
"1937 Grumman Seaplane...tough as nails," he says...
we fly awhile, he circles the island...makes his approach...hits the
water...which completly covers my window...I remember thinking..."This can't
be good..."...but we son bob to the surface, the pilot uses that crank again
to drop the wheels and he taxis up a concrete ramp next to a little
shack..."We're here, folks"...and that's my story...it was so cool...but the
coolest was when they had an 'emergency' call/repair...then they would send
the Sherriff's Bell Helo to pick me up...yeah that was the life!
JT/ric
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