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Wes, Thank you for the warm welcome. It is a joy to be associated with all of you on this forum.Bill, we are truly blessed to have you with us and hear your tales of a time we can only imagine. Again, welcome aboard, thank you for your service, and don't stop chasing those pretty girls!
Cheers,
Wes
Thank you for sharing the pictures. You can be proud of your father's service record.Bill, thank you for your Service. My father(pictured) was gunner on B-25s of the 76th Squadron of the 38th Bomb Group(Sun Setters) from September 1942 through the end of the war. I am told he also was on B-17s for a period. I did not have the honor of knowing him as I was adopted at birth but my newly discovered sisters have given me many photos, memoirs and the declassified daily mission reports from his Group through April 1944 while flying out of Horn Island and Port Moresby(he obtained them while teaching Gunnery at Lowry AFB after the war). I look forward to reading your posts and learning much from you. I salute you sir!View attachment 473189 .
May I ask what you vocation in aviation is?Mr. Runnels,
Thank you for your service. The airmen of the Second World War have been my heros. More than the debt to your hard work to secure victory, I owe you thanks, in large part, for my vocation in aviation.
Best Regards,
TimB
May I ask what you vocation in aviation is?
Good for you. I spent 32 years in commercial aviation marketing and sales.I'm an instructor pilot.
I worked for TWA, Braniff, North Central and Republic Airlines. Called on Travel Agents, Corporate Traffic Managers, Politicians, City Leaders etc. trying to persuade them to use the airline I represented.What did you sell? Who did you work for?
After a rocky start, the Electra turned out to be a great aircraft. Economic to operate and capable of using shorter runways due to it's power.Very fine. Aviation was very different then. People dressed up like it was the main event to travel by air. The opportunity to fly, like Lindbergh, was viewed differently. The air was newer and more special than the newest iPhone is today.
North Central is name you don't hear often.
I remember being a kid and plugging my ears as we watched Eastern Electras start up.
One of our squadron executive officers was an Eastern Airlines pilot. He attended meetings at various UK airports and I went along as his navigator. We had a standing $5.00 bet on his or mine estimated time of arrival. Had to watch him like a hawk as he would try to jockey the throttles to his advantage. On one trip he landed and hit the breaks stopping half way up the runway on a little noel not realizing it continued down the other side. He was a good pilot and I enjoyed our friendship.That makes sense. Eastern was known for frugality. Captain Eddie (Rickenbacker) wouldn't pay for the Autopilot. "That's what the pilots are for." I flew with an old Eastern pilot. He was good. I learned a lot from him.