CONVENTION REMINDERRAPA NEWSTARPA TALES FEATURINGFLOYD HALL ON INDUSTRY JET TRANSITIONA. T. HUMBLES REMINISCESTHE GRAPEVINE

Editor: A. J. (Al) Clay, Jr. APRIL 1984 Grapevine Editor: O. R. (OLE)Olson

Officers and Directors of the Association

Lyle Spencer, President Sam Gracy, Vice Pres. East Larry Decelles. DirectorR. G. Derickson. First Vice Pres. W. F. Merrigan. Vice Pres. Central Lloyd H. Smith, DirectorA. T. Humbles. Secretary Lou Cook, Vice Pres. West Phil S. Holler, DirectorDean Phillips, Treasurer John D'Albora, Director

A. J. McCarthy, DirectorR. P. Long, Director

"Welcome to Orlando"

CONVENTION 1984MAY 8, 9, 10

THE ACTIVE RETIRED PILOTS ASSOCIATION OF TWA

CONVENTION CO-CHAIRMEN BILL TOWNSEND AND DAVERICHWINE HAVE THINGS WELL IN HAND FOR THESIXTHANNUAL TARPA CONVENTION.

THE NAMES ON THIS PAGE ARE OF SOME OF YOURFRIENDS WHO ATTENDED LAST YEAR'S CONVENTION.COME TO ORLANDO AND ENJOY VISITING WITH OLDAND NEW FRIENDS.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

At last we have received tax exempt status from the IRS.The complete text of this ruling is printed elsewhere inthis issue. If the Postal Service will recognize our newstatus it will decrease our postage costs considerablyfor mailing to the membership of TARPA TOPICS and theDirectory. Please note the last two sentences (underlined)on the first page of the IRS ruling.

The Convention is coming up soon. Article VIII, Sec. 1.of the By-Laws provide that any REGULAR or ASSOCIATE memberin good standing may propose amendments to the By-Laws, inwriting, to the Executive Board prior to the Convention.There is already one proposed change to Article VI, Sec.2. The proposal is to add a sentence between the p resentfirst and second sentences which shall read: "In the eventthere is more than one candidate for any Officer or Directorvacancy, election to fill that vacancy shall be by secretballot." Naturally any proposed changes, in writing, toTARPA Policies will also be accepted by the Executive Board.

Elsewhere in this issue should be a slate of candidatesfor the various Officers and Directors as proposed by theNominating Committee.* Note that Article VI, Sec. 1. ofthe By-Laws provide that further nominations may be made atthe Convention. However, no nominations can be acceptedwithout the consent of the nominee.

There are still quite a few of you that have not paid their1984 dues ($20.00). How about coughing it up if you aredelinquent?

See you in Orlando in May.

Sincerely yours,

Lyle A. Spencer

*As this is being typed, the Nominating Slate has not beenreceived, - 1 -

The last issue of TARPA TOPICS and the recent specialConvention mailing contained all of the details of our forth-coming convention. For those of you who may have missed it,or who have just failed to register, the following reminderis offered.

WHAT: Sixth Annual TARPA Convention

WHEN: May 8, 9 and 10 (But come early and stay over)

WHERE: Sheraton Twin Towers Hotel, Orlando, Florida

TRANSPORTATION: TWA direct from STL and JFK plus 18other airlines. Also, a big discount on BUDGET carrental in Orlando.

ACTIVITIES: Golf, tennis, bridge, skeet, shopping

ATTRACTIONS: Disney World, Epcot Center, Kennedy SpaceCenter, Sea World, Circus World, Cypress Gardens, etc.

REGISTRATION: Blocked rooms are only guaranteed to April 8th,but will be on space available basis after that. We areworking on a "take or place" arrangement in case the hotelis booked heavily after the 8th.

If you have not already registered, please do it as promptlyas possible. Send one night's hotel payment plus tax ($58.85) and$5.00 per person registration fee to SHERATON TWIN TOWERS, 5780Major Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32805. Telephone 305-351-1000.If you are not staying at the TWIN TOWERS, please let us knowwhere you will be and send your $5.00 per person registrationfee directly to one of your co-chairmen. If you need help orinformation, please call:

Bill Townsend Dave Richwine813-397-1035 813-595-8945

January 10, 1983

Lyle A. SpencerPresident, TARPA5886 El Parque Ave.Las Vegas, Nevada 89102

Dear Mr. Spencer:

Special Health Services at TWA is essentially an identification/assessment/referral program. It deals with special problems such as: alcohol/drugs,psychological, financial, sexual , emotional, and family. Special Health Serviceshas a wealth of resources for all of the above mentioned problems, and candirect our people down the right road for solutions to those problems.

The program for retirees is informational and of course, insurance coverage isthe responsibility of the retired person. On many occasions, retirees havecalled this office concerning themselves, their children, or their spouses.We are able to refer them to professionals in the community to help solve oneof the above mentioned problems.

Special Health Services is dedicated to the well-being of all people relatedto TWA. We are a source of help to those in need. The program is totallyconfidential, and all referrals (resources; medical, psychological, financial)are thoroughly checked out for competency, cost avoidance, and quality of care.

Captain Bob Garrett and I have worked together for a long period of time, andhe knows that my only goal is to make sure our people are well. Though the servicefor the retired persons is strictly informational, retired people feel comfortableknowing that they can call this office for at least the start of a solution totheir problem.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me either bymail or phone.

Sincerely,

Ralph BarsiManager, Special Health Services

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MORE ABOUT PENSIONS

By Al Clay

In the last issue of TARPA TOPICS we presented what we thoughtwas the best available information on pensions. It seemedtimely because at the RAPA convention in December, there wasmore discussion about pensions than any other matter. Therewas no intention of alarming anyone; however, it must be notedthat those at the RAPA convention reporting trouble or possibledifficulties with their pensions were all people who had, at onetime, felt that they were in as good shape with respect to theirpensions as we in TWA have.

Because TARPA membership covers a group with more than thirtyyears age differential, members have different areas of interestand concern.

We have been informed that since our last issue was published, ameeting was held between ALPA and Equitable and that some of thethings that had been mentioned by TARPA TOPICS as areas of con-cern had been clarified and understandings reached which willpresumably be put into written form.

In this (we hope) final report on pensions, we are printing RoyVan Etten's pension report to the TWA MEC and a letter whichBarney Rawlings wrote to Russ Derickson after reading the Decem-ber report to the TWA MEC R&I Committee made by Alexander andAlexander.

In a reassuring conversation that I had with Mr. Arthur Millerof the ALPA home office, he said that TWA no longer uses a threeyear payout for allocating funds to Equitable for the purposeof guaranteeing income to pilots for life.

Mr. Miller also told me that the reason that there was such apension problem on Braniff was that Braniff had twice used IRSwaivers, available under the law, to suspend payments into theplan, but that nothing resembling this had occurred on TWA.

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AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION9841 AIRPORT BOULEVARD, SUITE 1400 ❑ LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90045

LOS ANGELES FIELD OFFICE 213-649-1600 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION 213-645-4055

TWA MEC MEETINGFebruary 19th - 22nd 1984

A MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL REPORT

Submitted By

The Chairman of The Retired Pilots Committee

Gentlemen:

Please accept my apologies for not having this report in yourhands prior to the MEC Meeting. Some of the informationcontained herein was not available in time to meet the normaldeadline.

The following quote is from an article that I wrote for theOctober 1982 issue of TARPA TOPICS: "You have probably all readabout Braniff's pension problems since the demise of theairline. The articles prompted me to contact Equitable todetermine how safe are our "A" plan payments in the event of asimilar financial disaster on TWA. You will be pleased to knowthat once you receive your annuity certificate from Equitablethe amount of payment stated thereon is guaranteed by Equitablefor the remainder of your life."

To further clarify the issue I wish to quote TWA on this samesubject: "The Group Annuity Contract between Equitable and TWAis an Immediate Participation Guarantee contract which currentlyaccommodates funding in Equitable's General Asset Account andcertain Separate Accounts. As TWA Reports a retirement toEquitable, a portion of the General Account assets are'committed' to guarantee the benefit and Equitable provides theretiree with a Group Pension Notice backing up this guarantee.In the event of a plan termination of any kind, the benefitsthat are guaranteed by the Equitable under the contract willremain in force as provided by law."

There you have it straight from the horses mouths. I feel quitecomfortable that it would take a ruling by the United StatesSupreme Court to restructure the benefits that have beenguaranteed by the Equitable. Our retirees should be advisedthat their time would be better spent worrying about their golfgame than their "A" Plan benefit check.

- 5 -SCHEDULE WITH SAFETY AFFILIATED WITH AFL-CIO

I bring this to your attention because of articles that appearedin the latest issue of TARPA TOPICS. With all due respect toDave Richwine, Russ Derickson, Barney Rawlings, Oscar Cleal, andthe ALPA Home Office you cannot compare apples to oranges. Iprefer to accept the analysis of the parties who contracted toprovide our "A" Plan benefits. You, as MEC Members, willundoubtedly be questioned on this subject.

Now for the "B" Plan. We have continued to lose ground on ourinvestments ever since June 30, 1983. We closed out the yearwith an index of change of 1.12921 which, if all our assumptionswere perfect, would equate to a unit value of $31.042. Theactual unit value, after its actuarial massaging, was $30.908.Come April 1st this will mean a 3.2% reduction in benefits forour retirees. In my opinion the 13.4 cent difference betweenthe mathematical value and the actuarial value is excessive andwe should consider revising our mortality table as of January1985.

Jim Carmack will go over with you the recommendations he hasmade to the Investment Committee. The concept is sound and our"B" fund would be worth many million dollars more today if thisconcept had been in operation last year. Maybe in the nearfuture we will be able to get off this yo yo that we have beencontinually riding.

W. Van Etten, ChairmanTWA Retired Pilots Co Committee

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The following is a copy of a letter from Barney Rawlings toRuss Derickson.

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January 10, 1984

Dear Russ;

As you know, the A-Plan actuary completed the annual report andsent it to TWA in early December. We received copies from PatMurphey (Bill's son, now chairman of the TWA-MEC Retirement Com-mittee) a couple of days after the January issue of TARPA TOPICSwent off to the printers.

You have asked me to comment on the A-Plan report, particularlyfrom the viewpoint of TWA's possible bankruptcy. I resignedfrom the TWA-MEC Retirement Committee in late 1979 and am notcurrent on retirement matters, but in light of the concern ofsome TARPA members I will comment as best I can. Probably wecould all use a little recurrent training on how the A-Plan works,so I'll cover that ground and be as brief as possible.

For many years our A-Plan actuary has been Sy Rubinstein, F.S.A.,of Alexander and Alexander. In all my dealings with him I haveconsidered him very competent and reliable. The data for annualreports is as of May 31 of each year. The actuary does a lotof computer-assisted number-crunching and delivers the report toTWA before the year-end so that TWA's next year cost can be known.

Estimated cost to TWA depends to great extent on next-year payrolland may not be accurate. Since the last annual A-Plan reportTWA paid $29,558,282 into the pilot-engineer A-Plan and the esti-mate for 1984 is $25,765,924.

As of last May there were 1,058 retired pilots and engineers (ortheir surviving joint-annuitants) who were paid $18,877,639 inthe twelve month period, an average annual benefit of $17,843.00.Ten years ago we had 183 retirees at an annual average of $6,212.

Our A-Plan is part of the all-TWA A-Plan for purposes of money-management, but separate by accounting procedures. Each of TWA'sA-Plans has different benefit structures and funding. The pilot-engineer A-Plan is about 43% of the total. Our A-Plan structureis maintained by the TWA-ALPA Working Agreement and a contractbetween TWA and Equitable Life Assurance Society. A-fund assetsare invested in equities (such as common stocks), fixed incomeinstruments and some real estate accounts. Recently 33.5% ofthe A-fund is in equities. The funds are held by several banksin addition to Equitable.

(continued)

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When a pilot or engineer retires his benefits are funded inEquitable's Pension Account "A", a fixed-income account. Thereis no provision for purchase of individual annuities and afterretirement Equitable guarantees the benefit and is paid a premiumfrom the Fund for doing so. Under the Pension Reform Act (ERISA)people retired less than three years may be subject to a reductionin benefits if the plan is terminated with insufficient assets.I am told the premium paid to Equitable is now spread over thethree year period that a recent retiree must spend in a sort ofpotential-penalty-box before the Equitable guarantee can legallybe effective.

A-Plan benefits are funded using the entry-age normal actuarialcost method. Money paid into the Plan by TWA is invested andcertain actuarial assumptions are made; most significant are theassumptions that the Fund will earn 8.5% a year compounded throughinvestment and that the pay of unretired people will increase by7.5% per year compounded. The assumptions are rarely accurateby hindsight, and have been revised upward from time to time.

During the ten year period ending last May TWA cockpit pay wentup, on average, by 8.7% per year compounded. For the twelve monthperiod ending last May, the 2,843 then-unretired TWA pilots andengineers averaged $79,500, up 9.6% over the previous year. Theaverage age of the 2,843 unretired was 48.36 with an average 21.02years of service. Among the unretired were 125 engineers past 60.

Recently TWA pilots and engineers have taken a pay cut, and allold-airline people are invited to dance the Deregulation Dipwhile the band plays Lorenzo's Lullaby. In time future A-Planreports will reflect what appears to be a prolonged downwardpressure on pay. Cost to TWA and A-Plan liabilities for futurecockpit service will go down. In time the actuarial assumptionswill again be changed.

As of last May the actuary reported our A-Fund to have a totalmarket value of $430,562,157 which is about 81.5% of the "currentvalue of vested liabilities". This is a good gauge of progressin funding if watched year-by-year, but is not really a test ofsolvency in a bankruptcy situation. Vested liabilities are thetotal earned benefits of all Plan members for service completedup to the date of the report. The "current value" is correct ifthe fund will earn 8.5% a year. If TWA and the actuary were lessconservative and were using an assumption of 9.5% a year we wouldhave a report showing assets and "current value" of vested futureliabilities about the same. We might be tempted to view thePlan as in better shape but, in truth, the assets and the eventualsums to be paid out of the Plan for benefits vested as of lastMay would be the same.

In an ongoing A-Plan we are comforted to see a conservative lowassumption of future Plan investment earnings, because a lower

(Continued)8

assumption requires TWA to put more new money in the Fund eachyear. But if TWA were to go bankrupt next Tuesday that concernis gone. Some time after TWA's crack-up a vast gaggle of peoplewith differing views and motivation would sit down together andtry to agree on the disposition of TWA's A-Plans. Among thosepresent would be people from PBGC (under ERISA, the Pension Bene-fit Guarantee Corporation), highly motivated to not spend anyPBGC funds on TWA people.

From this unhappy procedure there would probably emerge our A-Plan as a continuing but closed-ended Plan under trusteeship forthe purpose of managing our Fund and paying out benefits. SuchPlan would not necessarily assume 8.5% future investment return.If a somewhat higher return is assumed, and if our A-Plan emergesfrom PBGC's ministrations otherwise unscathed, little or no cutin normal vested benefits would need to be imposed.

Having our A-Plan go through a bankruptcy process would probablybe agonizing. The powers and procedures of the PBGC are largelyuntested as yet. We could get badly mauled in the process, orhave it all dragged through the courts so long that we lose evenif we win. But I believe our A-Plan is healthier than perceivedto be.

Russ, I know you just asked a simple question, "What time is it?",and I have to say I think it depends upon who winds the clockand how tightly it gets wound. I wish I could supply the exactanswers many TARPA members want. I don't think any exact answerscan be supplied by TWA, ALPA, the Equitable, or PBGC.

It remains my opinion that TWA will suffer and change and survive.Our mechanics and flight attendants are still too shy to get outthere and dance the Deregulation Dip, but maybe if Ed Meyer andthe band play a different tune they'll start dancing. Maybesomething like the Pucker-up Polka.

You are, of course, welcome to use this letter in any way usefulto TARPA.

cc: Lyle SpencerRoy Van EttenPat Murphey

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BULLETIN JANUARY 1984

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN

The new session of congress will convene this month. Many issues will be debatedas new laws are hammered out of committees. One of these issues will affect allairline personnel and their families, including retirees.

The moratorium prohibiting taxation of employee fringe benefits expired on Decem-ber 31, 1983. The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service want to includeyour pass privileges in your taxable income. You have heard this song before!

We believe that it is time stop putting a bandaid over this cancerous problem. Itcan be laid to rest permanently with proper legislation. Why not this year?

Senate Bill S.1817 will establish guidelines governing the taxation of employeefringe benefits. This bill exempts all travel privileges for airline personneland their families from taxable income. Write a letter to both your Senators askingthem to support and actively work for the passage of S.1817. Also write to theChairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Honorable Robert Dole, asking him to actquickly and favorably on S.1817.

House of Representatives Bill H.R.3525 exempts only the travel privileges on theemployees' own airline, no off-line. Also, it does not exempt travel privilegesfor parents. However, the sponsors of H.R.3525 have indicated that their bill canbe amended during the legislative process. H.R.3525 has now been included in an-other bill H.R.4170. Write your Representative asking him to support both theseBills with the proper amendment exempting all travel privileges from taxableincome , also Honorable Daniel Rostenkowski, Chairman, House Ways & Means Committee.

Points to make: 1) Airlines do not give employee travel privileges in lieu ofcompensation; 2) Courts and the IRS have upheld the position of the airlines andrecognized travel privileges to be gifts, not compensation; 3) These travel privi-leges can only be used when there are empty seats on a flight; 4) Taxing of yourtravel privileges would be a hardship; etc.. etc. etc. Address letters to:

The Honorable - - - - - - - - The Honorable - - - - - U. S. Senate U.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20515

How did you fare in congress last year? Consider this: 1) Six months of yoursocial security pay increase was taken away; 2) Medicare Part A deductions wereincreased by 17%; 3) Medicare Part B premiums were increased by 20%; and 4) onehalf of your social security benefits will become taxable income.

Now, they propose to increase the cost of Medicare Part A by some 107% and Part Bby 140%. There are many more ideas floating around Washington on how to raise theindividual's taxes.

NOW IS THE TIME HELP YOURSELF DO IT TODAY

Retired Airline Pilots Association6600 S.W. 126th STREET • MIAMI, FLORIDA 33156 • (305) 665-4919

A NEW MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM IS NOW AVAILABLE

TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

Dear Colleague:

The 1981 RAPA Board of Directors Convention charged the Insurance Committeewith the task of finding a fitting life insurance program. After almost twoyears of research and careful evaluation we are pleased to announce thisimportant new membership benefit --- a benefit which can better your person-al welfare --- TERM LIFE INSURANCE.

Members of the Retired Airline Pilots Association can now apply for lifeinsurance in amounts of $25,000, $50,000, $100,000, or $200,000 dependingon your age. This insurance will be issued through age 70, and is renew-able to age 75. The premium remains the same for the first four years, andincreases every four years to correspond with your new age. The death ben-efit is level and does not reduce as you get older.

The premium is very competitive and includes a special additional dis-count for non-smokers.

Should you have need for additional life insurance, we encourage you totake advantage of this new benefit being offered to our membership. Takea few minutes out of your busy schedule and complete the simple applica-tion. Select the amount of life insurance that you want and whether youwish to pay monthly or quarterly. Return the completed application in theenvelope provided.

Have a happy, healthy, and successful retirement.

Sincerely

P.S. When you return the new R.A.P.A. Life insurance application do notsend any money, you will be billed later. Payment to Alexander &Alexander is only needed with your application for R.A.P.A medicalinsurance.

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ALCOHOLISM: A SOCIAL DISEASE

By Phil S. Hollar

Medical science has classified alcoholism as a disease - theonly one in the history of man to be so classified as such byunanimous vote of the American Medical Association. All othershave had this distinction by common agreement and acceptance.

This definition can be easily misinterpreted to mean that alco-holism is a disease of the body only and that its first manifest-ation is cirrhosis of the liver. This common misconception isrefuted by the cold hard fact that only approximately 11% ofall alcoholics ever get cirrhosis of the liver. The other 89%have perfectly normal, beautiful livers. The truth is that bythe time one has cirrhosis of the liver, the disease is terminal.

Long before liver damage occurs, the effects of excessive drink-ing become evident by its effect on the mind, personality andquality of life of the affected party. This results in earlydamage to the drinkers family, his friends and his job. Heavyor excessive drinking affects one's judgement, behavior, perfor-mance and his health. Notice the progression, and particularlythe fact that health is listed last. Health is the last to goand is positive manifestation that the disease is terminal unlessarrested.

The early effects of alcoholism are easily recognizable whenthe person gets drunk more and more often and makes an ass ofhimself, causing embarrassment, pain, or injury to others. That'swhen friends and relatives make remarks like: "Boy, John wascertainly in the bag last night." "Whew! John certainly tiedone on, didn't he?"

The cumulative effects of alcohol on one's personality and moodmanifest themselves somewhere between five and fifteen years ofheavy drinking, resulting in social and legal problems for hisfamily, friends and associates. In the final stages it willdirectly impair his job performance and if allowed to progress,result in termination. Both job and him.

Most doctors ignore the clinical indicators at their disposalfor diagnosing alcoholism because they have been taught to focuson organ damage. The result is that our guinea pig, John, islulled into a false sense of security, encouraged tacitly tocontinue his alcohol intake because "didn't the doc give me aclean bill of health?"

In summation, it might be better to call alcoholism a psycho-social disease with terminal physical consequences. This wouldallow earlier diagnosis by using information furnished by family,friends and employer who are directly involved and see the erod-ing effects of alcohol on the individual that affect his judgement,behavior and performance.

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Without this information at his disposal, it is almost impos-sible for a doctor to diagnose alcoholism. This failure isusually fatal.

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INSURANCE CORRECTION

In the last issue of TARPA TOPICS it was stated that the RAPAMedicare supplement policy paid $350 against hospital costsencountered outside of the United States. This is in error.

If you are hospitalized outside of the United States, you wouldpay the first $356., and the RAPA policy would pay everythingelse for the first 60 days. It would also pay for the first20 days of post hospital skilled nursing care outside of theUnited States. and all but $44.40 per day for the next 80 days.Additionally this policy now pays for 80% of immunizationcharges authorized by Medicare for travel overseas. (see page19-A). The RAPA policy does not pay for any Doctor's feesoutside of the country.

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Lou Cook says he stayed in touch with Jacky Maretheu, the for-mer-bartender at the Hotel Celtic. He says Jack would like tobe remembered to his friends and would like to hear from them.His address is.

Jacky Maretheu23 Rue Saint HilareColombes 92, France

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WHY PRINT IT ALL?

We know that you are probably not interested in all the detailsof the IRS approval of tax exempt status for us. However, theIRS wanted TARPA to be sure to make known to its membershipcertain provisions of the approval. Rather than excerpt itemsand possibly missing some point, it was decided to print thefull letter of approval, which you will find on Page 20.

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INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Date: FEB 08 1984 EIN: 95-3465061Internal Revenue CodeSection 501(c)(7)Accounting Period Ending:

December 31The Active Retired Pilots Form 990 Required: YesAssociation of TWA Person to contact:5886 El Parque Avenue Desk OfficerLas Vegas, NV 89102 Contact Telephone Number:

(415) 556-5353

Dear Applicant:

Based on information supplied, and assuming your operations willbe as stated in your application for recognition of exemption, we havedetermined you are exempt from Federal income tax under the provisionsof the Internal Revenue Code section indicated above.

Unless specifically excepted, you are liable for taxes under theFederal Insurance Contributions Act (social security taxes) for eachemployee to whom you pay $100 or more during a calendar year. And,unless excepted, you are also liable for tax under Federal UnemploymentTax Act for each employee to whom you pay $50 or more during a calendarquarter if, during the current or preceding calendar year, you had oneor more employees at any time in each of 20 calendar weeks or you paidwages of $1,500 or more in any calendar quarter. If you have anyquestions about excise, employment or other Federal taxes, pleaseaddress them to this office.

If your purposes, character, or method of operation change, pleaselet us know so we can consider the effect of the change on your exemptstatus. Also, you should inform us of all changes in your name oraddress.

The block checked at the top of this letter shows whether you mustfile Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. If theYes box is checked, you are only required to file Form 990 if your grossreceipts each year are normally more than $10,000. If a return isrequired, it must be filed by the 15th day of the fifth month after theend of your annual accounting period. The law provides for a penalty of$10 a day, up to a maximum of $5,000, when a return is filed late,unless there is reasonable cause for the delay. This penalty may alsobe charged if a return is not complete. So, please make sure yourreturn is complete before you file it.

You are not required to file Federal income tax returns unless youare subject to the tax on unrelated business income under section 511 ofthe Internal Revenue Code. If you are subject to this tax, you must filean income tax return on Form 990-T. In this letter we are not determin-ing whether any of your present proposed activities are unrelated tradeor business as defined in Code section 513.

As a social club contributions to you are not deductible by donors. Youshould advise your contributors to that effect,

Box 36001, San Francisco, CA. 94102 Letter 948(DO)(3-79)- 20 -

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

It should be noted that a section 501(c)(7) organization is permitted toreceive up to 35 percent of its gross receipts, including investmentincome, from sources outside its membership without losing its tax-exempt status. Of the 35 percent, not more than 15 percent of the grossreceipts may be derived from the use of the club's facilities orservices by the general public. Furthermore, such receipts constituteincome from an unrelated trade or business as defined in section 513 ofthe Code, and the filing of Form 990-T would be required if such grossreceipts exceed $1,000.00.

*For tax years ending on and after December 31, 1982, organizationswhose gross receipts are not normally more than $25,000. are excusedfrom filing Form 990. For guidance in determining if your grossreceipts are "normally" not more than the $25,000 limit, see theinstructions for the Form 990.

You need an employer identification number even if you have noemployees. If an employer identification number was not entered on yourapplication, a number will be assigned to you and you will be advised ofit. Please use that number on all returns you file and in all correspon-dence with the Internal Revenue Service.

Because this letter could help resolve any questions about yourexempt status and foundation status, you should keep it in yourpermanent records.

If you have any questions, please contact the person whose name andtelephone number are shown in the heading of this letter.

Sincerely yours,

District Director

Box 36001, San Francisco, CA. 94102 -21- Letter 948(DO)(3-79)

EDITORS NOTES

1984 is the fiftieth anniversary of the Air Mail contractcancellations, an event that completely changed the airlineindustry. This was a time when there was a lot of interest inaviation and airlines. We think Ed Betts has really done afine job in his article in TARPA TALES. Ed's work is alwaysinteresting, but this time he had done extra well in presentingthe way it was. I think his treatment of the Army pilots whowere called upon to take over the job is the most enlighteningand fair piece I have seen on this subject.

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In the back of this issue is a new form that you can use toreport on your recent activities. Have you built a boat, seensome unusual sights on a trip? Started a new career? Let'sstay in touch; take a minute to make out the form and send itto TARPA TOPICS. Of course, if you want to send more materialthan you could get on a form, please do so.

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Finally, please make your plans for the Sixth Annual Conventionof TARPA in Orlando, May 8, 9, and 10.

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A SMILE costs nothing, but gives much. It enriches those whogive it. It takes but a moment, but the memory of itsometimes lasts forever.

None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, andnone is so poor but that he cannot be made richer by it.

A SMILE creates happiness in the home, promotes good will inbusiness and is the cornerstone of friendship.

It can perk up the weary, bring cheer to the discouraged, sun-shine to the sad, and is nature's best antidote for trouble.

Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it issomething that is of no value to anyone until it is givenaway.

When people are too tired to give you a smile, give them one ofyours. No one needs a smile so much as he who has none togive.

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In Memoriam

EVAN L. LEWIS

Retired Captain Evan L. Lewis passedaway on November 13th. He retired in1964 and was age 79 at the time of hislosing battle against cancer. All TWAerswho knew Evan will recall his vibrantpersonality, wide smile, dedication tothe company and his reputation as agentleman.

Evan's aviation career reads like TWA'sroots, from the open cockpit days tothe Fokkers and Fords, the DC-2 and DC-3,Boeing Stratoliner, Constellations andinto the jet age with the Boeing 707.He literally "flew them all", as wellas the many domestic and internationalroutes at that time. As a native ofPasadena, which is in the immediatearea where TWA's predecessor airlinesbegan, he took part in it all.

At nearby Griffith Park, Major Corliss Moseley (one of Western AirExpress founders and Vice President of operations) commanded a NationalGuard Squadron. All four of Western's original pilots were selectedfrom this squadron when they first started flying the mail to Salt LakeCity in 1926. Evan was a member of the squadron, learning to be a mech-anic and finally some flying lessons. On May 18, 1929 he too joinedWestern as a mechanic. Soon he was dividing his time between working inthe shop and working as "mate" aboard the tri-motor Fokkers. "Mates",as they were termed, worked from the copilot's seat to assist the pilotand also attend the cabin and occasionally serve meals. Although the"mate" might be given some flying time by the pilot, even a takeoffand landing, it did not count towards certified logged pilot hours. Inorder to gain further experience towards being qualified as copilot,Evan bought his own Travelair biplane.

By the time of the merger of Western and TAT in 1930, Evan was qualifiedas copilot and one of the original employees with the new company, T&WA.Two years later he met a passenger aboard a flight to SFO. They werelater married and flew in the Travelair to ABC) for the wedding and honey-moan. Evan adopted her two sons, and in later years Edmund Lewis wasto have a lasting (1945 to 1970) career with TWA as a senior meteorol-ogist, ,

(Continued)

- 2 3 -

Evan checked out as first pilot in 1936 and for a number ofyears was a pilot supervisor or check pilot . Many of his studentsor those checking out to captain look back to a flight with Evanas always a pleasant experience. In 1950, while based at LAX,he was the local council chairman for ALPA.

In the early days of commercial aviation and radios, it was arequirement that the pilot giving a radio broadcast, such as aposition report to the company, end the transmission by givinghis initials. It made it official and part of the record keptby the ground operator on the teletype, etc. Long after thisprocedure was no longer a requirement, Evan continued to end histransmissions with "EL". It became a tradition. With the post-war Connies and the Hughes Terrain Warning system aboard, Evanfurthered this tradition by putting the microphone next to, andpressing the test switch, for the indicator which would giveout a harmonious "ding dong" in the cockpit and on the air. Itbecame automatic: the ground radio operator would hear the "dingdong" and come right back with "go ahead EL"...everybody knew itwas Evan who was ready for a report and after he was finishedthe air would be full of other flight crews saying a friendly"hi, Evan".

On Thanksgiving day of 1948, Evan was the captain of Flight 211that suffered some gear damage after landing at LAX in fog condi-tions. A fire erupted that required an emergency evacuationfrom the rear main door of the Connie, but the cabin attendantscould not secure the ladder to the aircraft for the passengersto climb down. Evan held the ladder while all passengers andcrew made their evacuation and there were no injuries before theplane was destroyed by the fire. As a result of this accident,inflatable chutes became mandatory.

In his retirement years Evan continued to live in a home atopthe Santa Monica mountains with an airman's view of the LosAngeles area and the jets flying in and out of the airport.Among his many activities, he took up painting and art. Evan'smany friends will miss him as well as the traditional sign off,"EL". He is survived by his wife of the past twenty two years,Bette, and Edmund and family.

By Ed Betts* * * * * * * * * * *

There is a destiny that makes us brothers

None goes his way alone

All that we send into the lives of others

Comes back into our own.

* * * * * * * * * * *

- 24 -

Transition to Jets

If you happened to be in New York in June of 1956, and if youhappened to be a potential buyer of jet airplanes, you could go to awarehouse on West 26th street and see a spectacular display of what thepassenger cabin of the new jet transports would be like. U.S. commercialjets had reached the marketing stage and Boeing had spent a half milliondollars to build a mock-up for its customers to see. While it already hadsome orders on its books, it needed more before it would be ready to "cuttin", because it would take close to a billion dollars in development andtooling costs to build the first commercial jet airliner. You didn't needa degree from the Harvard B School to know these airplanes were going tobe very expensive.

The old warehouse had been cleaned up and part of it curtainedoff with blue draperies. A life-sized cabin, designed by the Walter DarwinTeague organization, with all the systems and passenger amenities, all thecolorful decor, the big, comfortable seats, and the spacious interior hadbeen carefully built to make the model airplane attractive. Boeing hadgambled at lot on it and it was a success. It gave you the feeling that theold piston airplanes were already obsolete.

The windows were back lighted to simulate outside sunlight.They were relatively small, but were made to seem bigger than they act-ually were by the way the wall panels were shaped around them. Thepanels were made from pre-formed, fire-proof, fibre-glass decorated withthe colors of the rainbow. Here and there a brightly colored balloonseemed to float among the rainbows.

Overhead were the passenger service units containing air ducts,reading lights, emergency oxygen equipment, and speakers that producedtruly high fidelity music to soothe the passengers before take-off, andthrough which the pilots and hostesses could make announcements so clearthat the passengers could actually understand what was said. The over-head racks had been designed so that they could take carry-on articles ofconsiderable weight, which had been forbidden on earlier airplanes.

For the most part, the display was devoted to the looks of thecabin and the possibilities for excellent passenger service. But if youhappened to be a flying-type visitor, Boeing had thoughtfully providedone of their best test-pilot salesmen who could tell you in exciting detailjust how it would be to fly these new airplanes. Most pilots who saw themock-up came away excited.

But the middle 50's was not the best of times to consider puttinga new airplane of such radical design and performance into service.Neither the airways nor the airports were ready for them. The airwayslacked adequate navigation devices and control procedures to assure re-liable control of air traffic, and most airports had runways that were notlong enough or strong enough to handle jet airplanes. Kansas City wassometimes marginal for Connies, and a circling approach seemed out of thequestion. You'd really have to shoe-horn a jet into Midway and getting outagain was just as bad. O'Hare was sitting unused because there was noaccess highway to it. Idlewild could be used, but it would be some timebefore TWA's terminal building would be completed. Only one runway hadILS.

Most approach procedures were developed for slower, moremaneuverable airplanes in much fewer numbers. But traffic volume hadvastly increased after World War II. Not even the most advanced plannershad expected the amount of traffic that the airways and approach facilitiesmust handle.TARPA TALES Page 1

When World War II ended, the CAA was part of the Departmentof Commerce. The Administrator of the CAA reported to the AssistantSecretary of Commerce for Aviation, and the Assistant Secretary reportedto the Secretary of Commerce who, as a Cabinet member, had access to thePresident. Everyone in government expected a major growth in flyingfollowing the war, but most expected it to be in small, personal airplanes,which would be purchased and flown by thousands of ex-military throttle-jocks when they were released from the Services. The navigation facilities,and the minds of many planners, were still focusing on DC-3's and DC-4's.With some up-dating of navigation facilities and expansion of air controlcenters, the traffic control system would be adequate for DC-6's andConnie's, too. But instead of private flyers filling the air in their smallairplanes, excess military transport airplanes were dumped on the marketat bargain-basement prices, and charter, cargo and new regional carriersbegan to petition the CAB for the right to operate. The CAB found it inpossible to deny the men, who had only recently put their lives on theline, the right to build themselves an airline, if they wanted to.

Some plans had been made to use the newly developed VORsystem to replace the old four-course low frequency ranges and a few VORstations were actually put in service. but there was no real national planto create a system that would handle large quantities of commercial traffic.When the CAA tried to improve the VOR's by adding DME, it met withalmost immediate objection from the Air Force, which wanted TACAN asaprimary navigation device. To complicate matters, many other departmentsand agencies of government wanted their piece of the sky, too.

Stan Seltzer, the ATA's specialist on air traffic control, re-marked that a great deal of the useable airspace was simply vanishing, asfar as commercial aviation was concerned.

"It is staggering," he said, "to ennumerate all those who seek'pieces of the sky' to satisfy their requirements. The Army requiresairspace in which to conduct artillery firing. An ordinance plant requiresairspace in which to test munitions products. The television industrydesires to erect taller and taller towers for transmitting their programsover greater areas and into more homes.... The Atomic Energy Commissionarid other developing agencies must have their share of the airspace forvital experimental test purposes."

Warnings of inadequate traffic control were everywhere. ALPAwarned that a tragedy was in the making, and ATA's Stuart Tipton,agreeing with ALPA on at least one matter, urged Congress to addressitself to an airway improvement bill before, not after, the tragedy oc-curred.

The Government's main coordinating mechanisms for post-Waraviation problems, were the Air Navigation Development Board and the AirCoordinating Committee. The two often found themselves deadlocked by thediffering interests of their civilian and military representatives. GeneralElwood "Pete" Quesada, who played a major role in developing a compre-hensive national air policy and was to become the first Administrator of theFAA, called the Air Coordinating Committee the.... "most unsuccessful,abortive conglomerate of conflicting interests you could possiblyimagine...."

Tragically, it would take a staggering blow to get the wheels inmotion, and such a catastrophe did occur at just the time the new jetmock-up was on display in New York.

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On Saturday, June 30, 1956, a TWA Constellation and a UnitedAirlines DC-7 collided over the Grand Canyon. One hundred and twenty-eight people lost their lives. The two airplanes were off airways andtherefore technically outside air traffic control. No one claimed that theCAA was responsible, although the CAA, if requested, would give trafficadvisory service to off-airways airplanes.... if controller time was avail-able. Most of us had flown the route dozens of times and never thought itdangerous. On the off-airways, direct route to Chicago, you seldom sawanother airplane. Not many pilots realized it, but the head-on closure rateof even piston airplanes was so fast that pilots could not physically takeadequate evasive action to avoid each other, if they were first sighted amile or less away. No one knows if the two airplanes had seen oneanother, but it probably would have made no difference if they had.

The jets would multiply the exposure to mid-air collision imm-ensely, if positive air traffic control were not provided. Pilots knew it,and airline management knew it. But because of political maneuvering andconfusion within Commerce, no one could get a handle on the answer.

Ironically, on the day of the Grand Canyon accident , PresidentEisenhower left Walter heed hospital for a rest at his Gettysburg farm,following major surgery. But before he left, he signed into law a billauthorizing the expenditure of $33.5 million to begin a highway programacross the United States that would eventually develop into the InterstateHighway system, the largest public works endeavor iii the history of theworld. It would cost billions of dollars, before it was completed.

Obviously, commercial air transportation, and the CAA, needed aa strong leader in government to propose and place into law a strongdomestic air policy. In the mid-50's such a leader had not yet emerged.There had been several competent CAA Administrators, but they changedfrequently, and the politics of the Department of Commerce effectivelyblocked a national aviation development program.

The largest aviation appropriation following the War was the Fed-eral Airport Act of 1946. Anticipating the big rush of private flying,Congress appropriated $520 million, most of which was allocated to theairports recommended by Congressmen to please their constituents. By1956, all but about $20 million had been spent on terminal buildings andhangars for private flying that never developed. One unused terminalbuilding was used to store hay. By 1955, only $5 million was available fordomestic airway use.

Little or no attention was given to runway approach lights,threshold lights, the "black hole", or center-line guidance lights. Some ofthe larger airports had surveillance radar, but it lacked the precision toguide aircraft to a landing, and although it displayed a blip for airplanesin the vicinity, it provided no information as to altitude and could notfurnish positive identification.

By 1956, a few ILS systems were deployed at major airports, (thebudget had been increased to $18 million) but usually they were alignedonly one way on the most active runway. Logan Airport at Boston was theonly airport in the United States, at the time, that had a runway longenough and strong enough for jet operations. It had a localizer bothdirections, but the glide slope was provided for an approach from only onedirection.

Undeterred by these deficiencies, the jets were coming, eventhough not everyone was pleased about their imminent arrival. In 1953,

TARPA TALES Page 3

carriers and urged production of medium-range turbo-props like the Lock-heed Electra. Eddie Rickenbacker agreed with him. Pat Patterson of Unitedsaid buying jets was like skating on the thin ice separating technical ad-vancement from bankruptcy.

U.S. international carriers, including TWA, were becomingincreasingly concerned because the British had been hard at work on acommercial jet transport for several years.

As early as 1932, Sir Frank Whittle, a young Flying Officer ofthe RAF, began studies that would lead to the first axial-flow turbineengine. By the end of the War, Britain had one or two squadrons of jetfighters, although they saw little combat duty.

When the War ended, the British found themselves at a competi-tive disadvantage because the Americans had virtually all of the long rangetransport airplanes, and were anxious to start world-wide commercialservice. To overcome their lack of adequate piston airplanes, and becausethe United States seemed to have little interest in a turbine-poweredairplane, they began at once to build the Comet I. They were years aheadof the U.S.

Comet I made made its initial flight on July 27 , 1949. On May 2,1952, it went into scheduled service for BOAC and was an instant success.

In 1950, after the U.S. carriers had pointed with alarm to thesuccess of the Cornet, Congress appropriated $12.5 million for researchthat would lead to a U.S. jet transport. The fund was to be administeredby the CAA through the Prototype Advisory Committee, but the greatestcontribution the Prototype Committee made was to warn that the Britishwere several years ahead of the U.S., and if steps were riot taken soon,the gap might be irreversible.

In October, 1952, Pan Am announced that it was ordering threeComets for delivery in 1956. To the credit of American manufacturers,they quickly abandoned the Committee table for their drawing boards.Boeing took the lead, designing a commercial jet based on their experiencewith B-47's and development studies for a flying tanker, the KC-135.Douglas, prodded by Boeings lead in what was perceived to be a major andimportant world-wide market, announced that it, too, would have a proto-type ready to fly in 1954.

In late 1953 and early 1954, the Comet was involved in a seriesof tragic crashes. On two occasions, take-off accidents led the engineersto suspect that over-rotation might be a serious problem. On May 2, 1953,just minutes after taking off from Calcutta, a Comet encountered heavyturbulence and crashed. The investigation indicated structural failure,possibly caused by heavy turbulence. Just short of a year later, aCometcrashed into the Mediterranean near Naples. It was the fifth accident andthis time, investigation confirmed structural failure and the airplaneswere grounded.De Haviland's unfortunate troubles gave the U.S. some breathingroom and the American manufacturers took advantage of it. Boeing's proto-type, the Dash-80 was ready to fly by early 1954. Douglas would fly itsprototype DC-8 a year later.

De Havilland assured its potential customers that it had corr-ected the structural problem and would soon have an advanced design, theComet IV, ready to fly. By early October 1958, the new Comet went intoservice across the north Atlantic, followed three weeks later by Pan Am's

TARPA TALES Page 4

Boeing jet. Pan Am quickly gained the lead in passenger preference andthe Comet was not far behind. TWA's Connies were a poor third.

Meanwhile back at the Oval Office, President Eisenhower wasshowing his famous impatience and peppery temper about the lack ofprogress in the CAA toward a long range plan to provide a safe, ade-quate, route system for civil aviation in the United States. In 1954, hehad appointed William Barclay Harding to survey the tangled situation overcontrol of the nation's airways. Harding was a Wall Street investmentbanker, a pilot, and a former Air Force Officer. He enlisted a Professor ofTransportation from Harvard, a highly respected scientist from MIT andJerome Lederer, head of the Flight Safety Foundation, and formed theCommittee on Transport Policy and Organization. The Harding Committee,after several months study, recommended that the CAA be established asan independent agency out-side the Department of Commerce, but it lackedspecific recommendations for the steps that must be taken. There wasstrong hope that the Harding Committee would shake the White House,shaking it away from its preoccupation with the highway plans. There islittle doubt that the commercial air transport industry in this countrystood at the cross-roads of it's future. Traffic on the airways was heavierthan anyone had expected, resulting in numerous, exasperating trafficdelays, and three mid-air collisions.

In 1956 Eisenhower enlisted another expert, Edward P. Curtis, aVice President of the Eastman Kodak Company and a former General of theAir Force during WW II, to expedite definitive proposals leading to legis-lation that would be a giant step toward adequate airway navigation andtraffic control.

When Curtis completed his assignment, he recommended fourteensteps, all of which required legislation. The President approved the re-port, sent it to Congress and turned to another Air Force Officer, Lieut-enant General E. R. Quesada. He made Quesada his Administrative Assis-tant, with the specific assignment of implementing the Curtis report.

One of the recommendations of the Curtis report, probably themost important, was to re-write the Civil Aeronautics Act to remove theCAA from the CAB and the Department of Commerce. Quesada teamed upwith Senator Mike Monroney to draft the new laws and guide themthrough Congress with as little delay as possible. The result was theestablishment of the FAA with the Administrator reporting directly to thePresident. That important position went to Pete Quesada and with the helpof Mike Monroney, commercial air transportation received a big boost. Hadthe airway navigation and control systems not been over-hauled, it isunlikely that the jet age, which was almost upon the airlines, would havebeen successful, and flight safety might have deteriorated even further.

TWA had many problems in the mid to late '50's. There werefrequent changes in Presidents and the major stockholder made it clear, asfar back as 1947, that he would select and buy all new airplanes for hisairline. he had chosen and bought the Connies, and was now negotiatingfor several types and models of jets.

Mr. Hughes and Convair had studied a very early jet that wouldbe specially designed for TWA overseas routes, but apparently it neverwent further than the discussion stage. The Convair 880's were on and offand the number of airplanes varied almost weekly. Sometimes, there wereindications the deal would never come about at all.

TARPA TALES Page 5

Until Charles Thomas became President, there was little stabilityin management and the lower ranking Officers had no choice but to planfor jets, based on what information was available. Bob Rummel, Vice-President of Staff Engineering, was the one man in the Company who hadregular contact with Mr. Hughes, and he supplied what he could get.

Boeing jets seemed certain, although the number and modelchanged from time to time. It seemed apparent that the first airplane TWAcould possibly receive was the Boeing 707-131 and preparations began fortraining and operations. A multitude of problems immediately came to thesurface.

The jets would operate at a very high altitude, maybe 40,000 ftand even higher. No one knew what might happen to an airplane if itencountered turbulence at that altitude. The military told some frighteningtales about B-47s at a point, called the "Coffin Corner", where they couldnot speed up because of high-speed buffet and they couldn't slow down,for if they did, they would stall out. Boeing, of course, denied it. The707, they said, was an altogether different design. Still, new rumors (thefavorite pastime of pilots) made the rounds almost every week.

It was known, however, that light rays "scatter" at high alti-tudes so that the see and be seen rule would no longer apply. That raisedthe question as to whether some sort of special external lighting would benecessary; and whether special cockpit designs were required to improvevisibility. Obviously, positive control of jet traffic would be required. Nodecision had been made as to the amount of airway separation that wouldbe required and because of the rate of fuel consumption at lower altitudes,all holding stacks would be limited to 21,000 ft. and above.

No one knew what prolonged operation at high altitude might doto the crew. High speeds were suspected of producing something called"high-speed stress." Would flight crews need more rest periods? Especiallyon International? What would altitude and high speeds do to hostesses?Would they require special scheduling? Jet-lag hadn't been discoveredyet.

The biggest question mark was explosive decompression at highaltitudes. Various studies were made and motion pictures taken of theresults. Some showed the insides of the cabin, including passengers, beingblown out of a hole that had been ripped open in the side of the airplaneto simulate an explosion. Even if only rapid (almost instantaneous) loss ofpressure occurred, the cockpit would fill with condensed moisture so crewmembers would have to grope their way around in a fog to handle emer-gency procedures. It was thought that immediate emergency descent wasmandatory, and for that reason, at least one of the pilots should wear hisoxygen mask at all times.

Because of short runways, would a drag-chute be required onlanding? And would it be necessary to shut down the engines and tow theairplane to the terminal? Jet noise was so severe spectators might sufferpermanent ear damage if the airplanes taxied to the terminal. There wasconcern about the taxi-ways and ramps, for it was feared that the veryheavy jets would break the concrete, or become mired down in the softasphalt that was commonly used at the time. Rocks, nuts and bolts andother debris must be cleaned from the ramps and runways for the greatsuction of the engine would pull trash right into the engines. Prototypemagnetic "brooms" were designed to sweep the ramp of metal. And someprotection must be provided for ramp service men working around the

TAR PA TALES Page 6

airplane while an engine was running. It was believed that the engineswould suck a man right into the engine.

Airport fire-fighting equipment must be designed toaccommodateto the size of the airplanes and the number of passengers that might beinvolved in accidents. Different fire-suppressant chemicals would also berequired because of the nature of jet fuels.

Some feared that the jet blasts of an airplane moving away fromthe terminal might break windows and blow loose ramp equipment into otherairplanes. How far apart must jets be parked to provide minimum risk fromjet blast? This led to a debate as to whether jets should be towed to theterminal, and on departure be towed to the end of the runway. Could atowing machine then remain with the airplane while it awaited its turn fortake-off? Experience later showed that the wait could sometimes be very,very long.

How should terminals be designed? No one had ever attempted tohandle such large numbers of passengers, either loading or unloading.Passengers normally checked in during the last half hour before departureand if three or four airplanes were departing, the traffic jam and thecrowd could tie up the terminal until nothing could move.

And the baggage! Baggage handling was already difficult withthe Connies and jets would compound the problem. Would mechanizedbaggage handling systems be required to load baggage into special con-tainers, which in turn would be loaded into the airplanes? Some peoplescoffed at the idea of containerized baggage; said they would only make itpossible to lose bags by the dozens, instead of just one at a time. Still,some airlines, American for example, were already designing containers andthe systems to load them.

Even with containers, it would be very difficult to unload allthe baggage from such huge airplanes quick enough to keep the pass-engers happy - or reasonably so. Some thought a high speed moving beltwould have to be provided directly from the airplane to the baggage claimarea.

Flying operations would be radically changed, too. But at first,no one knew exactly what to expect. As a matter of fact, very few men,other than the military and the airframe Company test pilots knew muchabout jets at all. Especially commercial transport jets.

Would jets have to be pre-cleared for an approach and landing attheir destination before they were allowed to take off? Some thought thatdeparting airplanes would have to fly through a series of low-level "de-parture tunnels" until they were outside the zone where other jets wouldbe holding at higher altitudes.

The problems of noise from departing and arriving jets overhousing areas was sure to bring trouble. The town of Cedarhurst hadalready taken officials to court over the noise of low approaching pistonairplanes at Idlewild, and jets would increase the noise tremendously. JohnWiley, Director of Aviation for The New York Port Authority said, "The jethas got to adjust to civilized community life. It can't come in raw andscreaming. It's got to be housebroken first." General Nathan Twining,Chief of Staff of the Air Force, said that "noise is something we are goingto have to live with."

Either way, the airlines were in the middle.Facing this vast mountain of problems, some just rumors, some

factual, planning for jets did begin two full years before the first

TARPA TALES Page 7

airplanes arrived. Don Crowley was the head of the ground school. He andWarren Berg set out for Boeing to gather all that was then known. CaptainRay Rowe would be in charge of all flight training, and was responsible tosee that TWA had the best flight training possible. Gordon Granger wasappointed to the position of Flight Research and Development, for want ofa better name, to follow the development of the airplane and learn all hecould learn from the Boeing test pilots. It was his job to see to it thatTWA's flight crews had the best instrumentation available and that theflight procedures were both safe and practical, under actual operatingconditions. As it turned out, TWA had little choice of the procedures to befollowed.

Part One of the Operating Manual supplied by the airplane manu-facturer was approved in every detail by the FAA : every procedure,every paragraph, and every page of it was mandatory. The airlines mustsee to it that their personnel followed the approved procedures to the tothe letter. Not even the most experienced pilot would be allowed to fly theairplane "his way". This didn't sit very well with some pilots.

The manuals and texts of ground school were also carefullyscrutinized and when they were approved by the IAA , the inspector'sinitials were placed on every page of the Training Program, and theapproved texts were carefully maintained by Don Crowley's office.

As book-knowledge was gathered together, "paper" flights wereoperated coast to coast. A make-believe flight was scheduled and a loadassigned to it. Its route of flight, altitude, fuel load, alternates andall of the other details were applied to it and the flight dispatched, dayafter day. The purpose of the exercise was to confirm daily dispatch par-ameters, such as fuel load, adequacy of alternates, under actual conditionsof weather and holding times to see if TWA's own operations procedureswere adequate. Gordon Parkinson rode herd on the phantom phlytes.

Frank Busch, V. P . Operations, established a Jet PlanningCommittee to tie all of the pieces together, and the Committee reported tohim weekly. Representatives of every department within TWA met regularlyand began to organize the problems that must be solved before operationscould begin. Each of the members of the jet Planning Committee developedlists of equipment for use in his department. Decisions to order must bemade well before delivery dates because of the lead-time required to designand manufacturer some of the specialized equipment. For the most part,Maintenance and Engineering needed the most complex and expensivemachinery to handle Line Maintenance at the stations, and the tools andjigs and engine test cells to perform overhaul and maintenance on theairplanes and the engines themselves. Flight Operations put in for somevery expensive simulators, for it was obvious that the Company could notafford to hold an airplane out of service for periodic flight checks.Complex computer-controlled simulators cost more than a DC-3, and event-ually more than a Connie.

For several months, the Planning Committee functioned under thedirection of the Operations Department, but as the introductory date ofthe new airplanes drew closer, Bob Rummel became its Chairman. When itcame time to sign contracts and commit money, Rummel was the principlecontact to the source of funds. Each department had prepared its ownbudgets to be ready to start service, and after the budgets were thor-oughly massaged by the Finance Department and approved by the Pres-ident, if there was one, Rummel tried to get approval. Sometimes, approval

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TAPP

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TWA FLIGHT TRAINING CENTER

INSTRUCTORS MEETING

JACK FRYE BUILDING, MARCH 1958

Ray Rowe, Director of Flight Training, at podium

Row 1 - Jack Frier, Warren Berg, D. H. Smith, Don Crowley

Row 2 - Max Parkison, Dean Officer, Ray Hanson, Lloyd Smith,Chet Edwards, Jim Mueller

Row 3 - Bronson White, Orville Olson, Melvin Williams,Paul Jones, Clem Wittman

Row 4 - John Maris, Hillary McClimans , Andy Beaton, BenBoyd, Bill Bushey

Row 5 - Bob Norris, Chris Clark, Howard Hansen

Row 6 - John Kieffer, Art Prestia, Joe Leonardo, Chris Carper

Row 7 - Joe Crede, John Robertson

Photo loaned by Captain Lloyd Smith

FLOYD HALL in a recentpicture which accompaniedhis article on "Transitionto Jets"

TARPA TALES Page 8-B

was a long time coming. All of us, especially Carter Burgess (to whom thefirst cut at the budget was presented) and Charles Thomas, who camelater, were astounded at the amount of money required. As it turned out,so was the principle stockholder, for the banks and insurance companies,from whom he hoped to borrow the money, balked at committing the fundsuntil they were assured that TWA would have stable management.

Many months would elapse before TWA's financial and legalstruggle would end, and Mr. Hughes engaged in some fancy foot-work tokeep the deliveries scheduled for 1959. He traded some delivery positionson 331's to Pan Am to obtain better delivery of Pratt-Whitney engines,which Juan Trippe had thoughtfully tied up for his own airplanes.ln late November of 1958, TWA received its first 707-131. It hadcome off the production line unfinished and sent to Kansas City fortraining. My office was on the second floor, on the northwest corner ofthe old TWA hangar, looking out over the airport. For more than an hourbefore the ETA, almost no work was done, since everyone was watchingfor the new jet. When it finally arrived, it landed to the south, rolled tothe end of the runway, and came to a stop. After pausing for a fewminutes, it turned off the runway and parked in front of the hangar. Allpart of a previously prepared plan.

While the airplane was in flight, it was property of the HughesTool Company. But when it completed its landing roll, TWA's lease becameeffective and insurance and care of the airplane was solely the res-ponsibility of TWA.

Next to my office, was a conference room that had once beenJack Frye's office. Lawyers and other officials of Hughes Tool and TWAcould also look out on the airport and watch the airplane complete its role.They had gathered around the table to officially sign the necessarydocuments, placing the lease in effect and transferring the airplane toTWA. Lights and movie cameras were placed around the room so that thesigning process could be recorded and confirmed by motion pictures. Theairplane remained at M KC overnight and then was flown to MCI andtraining began. In spite of all the previous study and the training rec-eived at Boeing, the 707 still had some tricks up its sleeve.

When the Dash 80 first became available for potential purchasersto fly, Paul Frederickson and some of his staff went to Boeing for ademonstration flight. To better evaluate the airplane's performance, Paulasked that the airplane be loaded to max gross weight for take off. Heoccupied the left seat, Tex Johnson the right seat and Gail Storck was onthe jump seat. According to Storck, the roll down the runway seemednormal but after rotation it was quite apparent the airplane was not ac-celerating. At the last minute, Tex took over the controls, slammed thenose wheel down on the runway, then lifted the airplane off, just in timeto clear the fence and a grocery warehouse about a half mile from the endof the runway.

The problems of the Comet immediately came to mind and shockwaves went from the flight line to engineering, and all the way to the topmanagement of Boeing. In theory, the 707 wing design was such that over-rotation was impossible. Still, it happened. There was considerable studyof the load distribution, and for a while, Boeing thought the airplane hadbeen excessively tail heavy. There was also some question as to whetherthe nose was raised too high. But in either case, the fact remained that

TARPA TALES Page 9

the 707 could be placed iii an attitude producing the same problem sufferedby the Comet.

Demonstration flights were suspended while the problem wasstudied. The results of the investigation were never made public, butshortly thereafter, the Dash 80 was equipped with new, split flaps on thetrailing edge of the wing and slats were added to the leading edge. Theproblem was cured. To prove it, Quantas, the Australian airline, askedfor and got a tail dragging demonstration and the airplane performed well.

Over-rotation was not, however, the last of the 707's tricks.To obtain his rating, each pilot was required to demonstrate his ability tocircle and land with two engines out on one side. The controls in the earlyairplanes were not hydraulically actuated and, as most of you know, thestrain on both arms and legs was intense. On the down-wind leg, still ontwo engines, the airplane suddenly flipped its tail, like a flying whale.Two ground school instructors, standing in the rear of the airplane, werethrown to the top of the cabin with enough force to leave their head-printin the ceiling fabric. They were taken to a hospital, although their in-juries proved to be not serious.

Boeing's explanation was a phenomenon called "elevator hook".When the elevators were at maximum displacement, the forces graduallybuilt up until the surface stalled and for a quick second were ineffective.If the forces were plotted on a graph, the force line gradually curvedupward until the elevator's stalled. The curve then plotted out abutton-hook shape at the end of the curve. Hence the name, "elevatorhook".

Flight Operations immediately asked for hydraulic boost of thetail surfaces, but it was too late. Such a change would stop the productionline at Boeing for months and other airlines refused to join TWA. In time,elevator hook was determined to be within the pilot's control, but all latermodel airplanes were provided with hydraulically actuated controls.

On January 29, 1959, TWA received its first airplane for sched-uled service. Initially, it was added to the flight training program, butlater used to demonstrate TWA's ability to handle the airplane on theground at the stations where service was first scheduled to begin. TheFAA was as strict on its requirements for ground handling as it was onflight training, and the line demonstrations took several weeks.

On March 20, 1959, The first flight was scheduled to begin, anon-stop from San Francisco to New York. TWA had only the one airplane,and Granger, Rowe and Frier were the only pilots qualified to fly it inscheduled operations. American Airlines, which was already operating jetsin regular service, had a flight scheduled for departure at the same time.

The "Tie-Line" had been taken over by Frank Busch and keptopen for a minute to minute description of the preparations for departure.The airplane was full, as it would be for several months following the firstflight, but all pre-flight preparations went smoothly. Ray Dunn had placeda specially trained crew at both San Francisco and New York to make surethe airplane was kept in top mechanical condition. Gordon Granger, RayRowe and Jack Frier flew as Captains, with a qualifying Captain acting asFirst Officer.

American was the first to leave the blocks and it appeared thatTWA would have to settle for second place for its first departure. ButAmerican had mechanical troubles, and returned to the gate, and TWA wasoff the ground, right on schedule. TWA kept the flight operating for

TARPA TALES Page 10

thirty-three days, without a single delayed departure, with only oneairplane.

It would be difficult to know how many people all across thesystem were on the "Tie-Line", but excitement ran high. Above all thenoise Busch could be heard saying that "TWA has entered the jet age!"with only the one airplane. As additional airplanes were delivered, sched-ules were expanded, but the accomplishment with only one airplane wasacknowledged in the industry as a significant achievement. Compared tothe 1049's and the DC-7's reliability at the time, it was nothing short ofmiraculous.

In June of of 1959, Vice-President Nixon made a trip to Moscow,using Air Force One. TWA was asked to furnish a 707 to fly the presscorps to cover his activities. TWA agreed and Charles Thomas went along.The flight had some exacting requirements, however. The Press wanted tocover Nixon's departure and also be on hand to greet him when he arrivedin Moscow. Not an easy task, with a 707-131 Water-Wagon.

Gordon Granger flew the flight and found that by refueling inKeflavik, Iceland, instead of some city in Europe, he could beat the Vice-President to Moscow. He did it, and TWA's new President was impressed.When Premier Krushchev, after the famous debate with Nixon in the Amer-ican kitchen exhibit in Moscow, asked to be shown TWA's 707, Thomasproudly escorted him. To add to the success of the trip, the Vice-President asked to ride in the TWA airplane, instead of Air Force One, onthe return trip from Warsaw to Keflavik. TWA's part in the famous trip toMoscow was performed without a hitch and when Mr. Thomas returned tothe United States he sent letters of congratulations to each of the crew.

"TWA," he said, "is a can-do airline!"Looking back, many of the problems were less awesome than they

had first appeared. Under Pete Quesada, a strong FAA developed and airtraffic came under positive, radar-monitored control. Tough and agg-ressive, Quesada did not always win the applause of all pilots...especiallythose near sixty or those of the AOPA. But a less dynamic and knowledge-able person could not have overcome the vested interests of politicallyoriented administrators.

Explosive decompression? There have been some, and they aredangerous. But so far they have been manageable. The wonders of com-puters have made passenger handling faster than any would haveimagined. But baggage...it would seem that baggage will always presentunpleasant problems, even though millions are spent trying to solve itsunique problems.

As this nostalgic, backward trip is written, the airline industryin the United States, once the finest, safest, most economical form oftransportation ever devised, is going through another traumatic transition.But one conclusion is sure: if you work for a "can-do airline", you'll be asurvivor!

Floyd Hall

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TARPA TALES Page 1 1

Dec. 3 , 1959

Charles Thomas was President of TWA

MEET YOUR CREW

Your crew on this Intercontinental Boeing 707 inaugural jet flight from New Yorkto Paris and Rome consists of the following ten men and women:

Captain-in-Command

Captain

Captain

Flight Engineer

Navigator

Purser

Purser

Purser

Hostess

Hostess

Charles M. Horstman

Roger H. Kruse

Lawrence O. Murchan

Robert H. Gwin

Avery Lenoir

Clayton E. McManaway

Frank F. Madonia

S. Thomas Mannino

Patricia Anne Seastrand

Anne Rose Reece

On the following pages we give you a brief introduction to our TWA crew members.

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TARPA TALES Page 1 2

FLYING WITH THE OLD TIMERS ON T & WA

By A. T. Humbles

I consider myself indeed fortunate to have flown with so manyof the old timers during my career with TWA. They were charact-ers, gentlemen, pioneers and fine pilots.

Soon after I came to Transcontinental and Western Air, I wasassigned to the Boeing Strato-Liner. This was because I hadflown the Boeing B-17 in the Air Force. Incidentally, whenthe U. S. Air Force modified the Strato-Liner prior to returnto TWA, it became almost an identical B-17 except for the bulbouspassenger cabin. The military must have used the old landinggear screws for we had had the same retraction and extensionproblems TWA experienced until we modified them.

Three of us flew out to Grandview airport south of Kansas Cityfor our three landings with Max Parkison. After our landings,Max said in that drawl of his, "You fellows could teach me howto fly this thing". Of course, it was back home for us.

Flying the line in the Strato-Liner was a real pleasure for itwas the deluxe coast to coast air service. We had the finestfood in flight then, although it was years later when TWA triedto advertise the "finest food in flight". We hauled a lot ofcelebrities. As far as I am concerned, the pilots in commandwere celebrities.

The tales they could and did tell were of great interest to me.I recall Jack Wade who, it was said, was a full blooded Indianwith a sixth grade education. He was a fine pilot and gentleman.

Jack told me he flew the first airmail out of Kansas City.There was a large crowd along with the high post office officials,TWA president and company officials and a band. Jack was dressedtypically in helmet, white scarf, goggles, leather jacket, jod-phurs and leather high top boots. An official handed him asack of mail in his open cockpit and he taxied out and roaredinto the air as the band played with all seventy horses ofpower straining away.

Jack told of flying until the ice accumulation was too muchand then he would land in some farmer's wheat field, find atree limb and beat the ice off the fabric surfaces and take offagain. They combatted carburetor ice by turning the ignitionoff and on to make it back fire and cough the ice out of thecarburetor throat.

Earl Fleet was another quiet, fine gentleman and good pilot.His tales were good. He collected dolls from all over theworld which, I understand, Clara still has. Earl told me hehad been in the U. S. Army Aviation Cadet training program in1926 with an old favorite Air Force commander of mine, ColonelPee Wee Wheeler.

(Continued)TARPA TALES Page 13

Although I was based in Kansas City, I flew once on the Strato-Liner with Howard "Sonny Boy" Hall to Burbank where he wasdomiciled. He flew from Kansas City to Albuquerque and put mein the left seat out of ABQ. He went back in the lounge duringclimb and didn't come up until I had put the gear down on finalinto Burbank. Made you feel good that they had some confidencein you back then. Or was fatigue overpowering?

Russ Dick seemed to take a liking to me and had schedule setme up with him for some months. Back then a co-pilot had nobidding rights, a half vote in ALPA and no voice.

Anyway, Russ taught me a lot about flying. That man could flybetter with the headset hung up than most with head sets overboth ears, frowning, screaming and so forth. He was calm andcompetent.

Thunder storm techniques I learned from Russ and others stoodme in good stead through the years. I recall one night betweenKansas City and Chicago, up that thunderstorm alley with stormsall over, Russ had to go back in the cabin so he turned it overto me. I asked him what heading to hold or what he was using.He told me to fly to the next light beacon, be sure it was theright code and then look for the next one and fly to it. Remem-ber the memory code for the beacons? "When under very hard routeknow direction by good method." W. U. V. H. R. K. D. B. G, M.

Another time with Russ, Don Terry was in a Strato-Liner a fewminutes ahead of us. While I was having no problems with radiocommunications, Captain Terry was screaming over the radio somuch he wasn't getting results. I asked Captain Dick if Icould help by relaying and he said no, that if I did, we wouldbe doing it all the way to New York. Besides, he said, Terrywas enjoying it. Many times that trip and later ones I wouldhear Terry whistling code. Towers were then on 278 KC's andone time, due to the skip effect, he was in contact with BananaRiver, Florida, wherever that is.

Mentioning Terry reminds me that once the TWA company paper,called the SKYLINER, in one issue had a reminder of how weshould dress and they said the approved uniform scarf colorwas gray and in the same issue they had a picture of Terrywith a huge white scarf.

Once with Russ Dick on a non stop between LaGuardia and KansasCity, I was flying the leg and about half way there Russ askedme if I wanted him to relieve me a while as we had no auto-pilot and I said no thanks. The flight engineer piped up andsaid, "Let him fly some, A. T., he will give it back to you".

(Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 14

Months later I was with Russ on a Constellation with Jack Frye,TWA president, on board, and we had to land at Fort Wayne becauseof weather in Chicago in the winter time. Russ had to go tothe other side of the field to use the phone, so he left me withthe airplane and passengers, and told me to run up the enginesevery thirty minutes as it was so cold. Jack Frye was in thecockpit a while visiting with us and he was in the left seatwhen it came time to run up the engines. As I read the checklist he was unable to find the parking brake, so I said, "Youmean you designed this airplane and can't find the parking brake?"To which he replied, "Hell, I didn't care where they put theparking brake." Friends have told me I will never win an awardfor tact. I wonder why?

Bob Wittke afforded me more entertainment than anyone. What anexcellent pilot and fine gentleman! He would be worth more mil-lions today had he pursued a career as a comedian. He nicknamed meSenator Claghorn which has stuck to this day with some friends.

We shared rooms back then on that six dollar per day expensemoney. At the Forest Hills Inn in Jackson Heights, New York,where we laid over, the shower was in a tub with separate faucetsfor tub and shower. I would be taking a shower and Bob wouldsneak in and turn on the hot water in the tub and pretty soonI'd be dancing in scalding water.

Once in the cockpit prior to take off at La Guardia, the hostesswas in the cockpit and Bob told her he just didn't get any sleepon layover and she asked why, to which he replied "that a northwind was blowing and the Senator wouldn't allow a window to beopened".

Another time, same place, I had my paper work in my lap gettingorganized prior to engine start and Captain Wittke in his mostauthoritative voice said, "I want you to put all that paper andpencil away and don't get it out until we are past Allentown".I asked why and his reply, "You'll be mapping out all thesebridges and stuff and sending it down to Jeff Davis".

The co-pilot's seat in the Strato-Liner didn't push back veryfar because of the flight engineer's seat, but the captain'sseat was on a long track that went all the way back for severalfeet, it seemed, in that big cockpit. I suppose the designersfigured the captain needed more sleeping room. Anyway, Bob rolledout onto the runway at Kansas City one morning, pushed the throttlesforward and, as his seat was not locked, the acceleration took himto the back of the cockpit entirely out of reach of the controls.He calmly yelled, "Grab her, Senator, grab her!" I continued thetake off while he observed from the rear.

On layover in New York once I was out and a WAC sergeant, whoused to work for me when I was in the Air Force, called and askedfor Captain Humbles, which was what she knew me as in the service.After that, if I went back to the passenger cabin, Bob would tellme to wear his jacket.

(Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 15

We were parking at La Guardia once and, evidently had somecelebrity on board as a camera crew was grinding away. Bobappeared to drop everything and put a finger in each corner ofhis mouth to make a wider smile and said to me, "Smile, we areon camera!"

Bob Overman, another fine gentleman, and I were laying over inGlendale. When we got to the airport at Burbank there was acaptain from another domicile working on our flight plan and hetold Bob he was flying back with him for qualification. Where-upon Captain Overman told him he could have been courteousenough to have called us at the hotel and asked if it was okayso I wouldn't have suited up and so now he had a co-pilot in theform of me. The other captain slammed the paper work down andstormed out. I told Bob I didn't really mind, so he relentedand I went and found this captain in the coffee shop so he gotto make the run anyway.

Back then I heard of the belly landing of a Boeing at Burbankby the legendary Dave Kuhn. Come to think of it, Dave was ayoung man then by our present norms, but he was still an oldtimer to young boys like me. As Dave circled the field theysaid he received advice and instructions from numerous knowledge-able personnel such as maintenance foremen, chief pilots, dis-patchers, etc.

Finally Dave said, "Well, if there is no one else with any help,I'll see if I can get this thing on the ground myself". Backin those days it was the procedure after parking for the captainto open the cockpit window and yell the time on to the agent.So Dave came sliding to a halt with the sparks flying, metalscreeching, fire trucks racing abreast. He opened the windowand yelled, "On at 45, or whatever it was". After readingBill Dixon's article on the 767 I wonder if the automators forthe world designed some way to take care of belly landings sothe company won't over pay?

Back then co-pilot check outs could be expedited when necessaryand I don't think safety was jeopardized.

I was off the Boeings and only a short time on the DC-3's whenthe phone rang one morning and the girl said Captain Meskerwanted to see me in his office right away. Trembling with ap-prehension, three of us stood before Captain Mesker. He said,"We need three volunteers for Connie co-pilot". We said wewould like to stay on the threes as Captain checkout might becoming up soon. He said, "Well, we have three volunteers inyou, so report back at one p.m. for ground school". At one p.m.a flight engineer took us into the hangar for a very acceleratedConnie ground school. Then we were told to report back at sixp.m. at Fairfax for our landings.

(Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 16

It was a hot August evening in Kansas City and Harry Campbell,our instructor, stripped down to nothing except his undershorts.We each had our hands on the controls while he made three bounceseach and that was it. The next day I went out as co-pilot withJim Walker. We were the Can Do airline back then. Too bad welet "Big Daddy" get so deep into our business.

Those were thrilling days back then before they finally groundedthose early Connies for the safety mods. Hardly a trip went bythat we didn't shut down an engine.

Early on I flew with Dean Officer, a truly fine gentleman andexcellent flier. That early morning on my first flight withDean between Kansas City and Midway I had a headache, took twoaspirins, and inadvertently, went to sleep. I woke up when heput the gear down on final at Chicago. He just laughed and said,"I hoped I could get on the ground without waking you".

Sleeping in flight was later to become a crime in the eyes ofthe FAA but it was unavoidable and necessary on some of the allnight, all stops, flights on the line.

I was with Captain Officer on a night take off out of the oldPittsburgh airport when number three engine caught fire. We litup all of that city like daylight. I was scared, but very calmlyDean said, "Tell the tower we are coming back in for a landingand to call out the fire trucks."

I flew with Roy Thrush on his first captain flight on the Connie.Some called him "Silent Thrush" as he wasn't overly talkative.A friend of mine had flown with Roy on a DC-3 from Kansas Cityto Albuquerque and back, and he swore the total conversation wason the way back taxiing out at Wichita on a beautiful moonlitnight and Roy said, "Nice night, ain't it?" And my friend said"Yep."

On that first flight we took off at night from Kansas City toChicago with a whole slew of thunderstorms ahead of us on theroute and off. Roy very methodically tied down the beam soonafter take off and before we entered the stuff. No radar onTWA back then. He then hung up his head set, held on to thatheading through all that horrendous stuff and took us straightas a die to Kirksville right on the airway. Roy was an excellentpilot, if not a conversationalist.

His landing at Chicago wasn't bad but a little bouncy. He letme fly to La Guardia and, as I had been flying the Connie a while,I made a smooth landing in New York. Roy flew the three legsback to K. C. Then it so happened I flew the next two trips withhim. Toward the end of the third trip we were walking out to theairplane in St. Louis and I thought I knew Roy well enough then,so I asked him why the ---- he never let me fly, to which he re-plied, "Hell, I let you fly that first trip and you flew so muchbetter than I did, I decided I would keep practicing until Ithought I could fly that good. Why don't you take her to KansasCity?" After that he split the legs with me and I enjoyed fly-ing with him. (Continued)TARPA TALES Page 17

I think Roy and I became good friends and some years later I hada night transition period with him on the Connie. After thesession the flight engineer instructor took me aside and said,"I have been flying with Roy two years and he talked more withyou tonight than he has talked all the past two years put together."

Reminds me of a boy down home who at age 21 had never spoken andhis folks had thought all those years he was deaf and mute. Hehad spoken a few words which amazed his folks and they said, "Wedidn't know you could talk; how come you haven't said anythingbefore?" His reply was, " I just didn't have anything to say".

I earlier mentioned celebrities. Once on a flight with SethStrachan out of La Guardia to Chicago to Kansas City we had BobHope, Vera Vague, Bob Montgomery and Jerry Colonna on board.Between Midway and Kansas City Captain Strachan went back intothe cabin. Shortly the hostess call light on my instrument panelcame on so, being a bashful single first officer, I picked upthe mike and said, "Go ahead, Honey". Instead Bob Hope was onand recognized my Southern drawl as he said, "How yawl doingup there?" Being so awe stricken at being on the intercom withMr. Hope, I was very business like and said, "Oh, the winds arereally strong on our nose and we are really going slow." Hisretort, "Well, let me know if the teeth of the wind get tobiting into you and if they do, I'll come up and put some Pepso-dent on them."

I'll wind this up by saying probably the finest exhibition offlying I ever rode through was with gum chewer, Bronson White.I think the Connie invented hydro-planing, as I hadn't heard ofit before. My first experience with it was a thriller.

It was with Bronson going into LaGuardia in heavy rain on waterslick runway four. He touched on as short as one could past thedike and applied the brakes. Pilots know the feeling in thecockpit as it leaned you forward in the seat on braking. Thenhydro-planing took over and it felt like we were accelerating.I was now pulled back against the back of my seat like my old98 Olds used to do. It looked a certainty we were going tobathe in Flushing Bay. As we approached Runway 13 in this appar-ently hopeless situation, Bronson poured the coal to Number 1and 2 engines and we slewed sideways, then, when we were in theintersection he shot the power to three and four and we went downthirteen. We must have turned that corner doing ninety miles perhour , but he was now in control and able to stop. The tower calmlycleared us to taxi to our gate.

I sure had taken a bite out of my seat. Bronson never chewedany faster on that gum that was always in his mouth. Had I beenin his place and had been able to pull off such a fantastic re-covery, I probably would have swallowed my chewing tobacco.

Because of the expense, I doubt the company would ever have putreversible props on the Constellations had not the ALPA MEC

( Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 18

taken a stand that the pilots would not land at LaGuardia, Indian-apolis or Midway when the runways were wet.

Another problem when we first got the Connies was that probablyhalf the fleet did not have steerable nose wheels. Can you imaginetrying to park using differential power and brakes for turning?Of course, back then the ramp agents, glass windows and baggagecarts seemed more tolerant of terrific blasts of power. I recallonce when a Connie was leaving the ramp at Chicago no amount ofpower or brakes would straighten the nose wheel so he could taxibecause the nose strut was fully extended and the nose wheel wascocked all the way to one side. Maintenance had to bring out atug and pull it straight. It was reported the Company was goingto remove the nose wheel steering from the ones that had it inorder to standardize the fleet, but were persuaded to go theother way and put steering on all the Connies.

Needless to say, I enjoyed my flying career.

* * * * * * * * * * *

HERSHISER'S FIRST RULE: Anything labeled "NEW" and/or

"IMPROVED" isn't.

* * * * * * * * * * *

HERSHISER'S SECOND RULE: The label "NEW" and/or "IMPROVED"

means the price went up.

* * * * * * * * * * *

HERSHISER'S THIRD RULE: The label "ALL NEW", "COMPLETELY

NEW" or "GREAT NEW" means the price went way up!

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TARPA TALES PAGE 19

THE 1934 AIR MAIL CONTRACTS CANCELLATION

By Ed Betts

Most of today's major domestic airlines trace their roots backto 1926, the year that they, or their predecessor companies,began carrying the mail. As a national industry, one of themost phenomenal periods of growth was from 1926 through 1932.The pounds of mail carried had jumped from 433,649 in 1926, to9,351,195 in 1932. Other figures were equally as impressive:express from 6,467 to 1,250,000 pounds, the number of passengersfrom a mere 5,782 to 504,575 and passenger miles from an esti-mated 1,250,000 to 143,169,682. All other parameters had showna similar increase, such as: the number of airlines, aircraft,personnel, etc. This growth had started during the boom timesof the "roaring twenties" and continued into the early yearsof the great depression. It happened to occur during the yearsof the Republican Administration headed by Presidents Coolidgeand Hoover, and Postmasters General New and Brown.

The Democrats were swept into office and took over in early 1933.The new administration was not happy with what they had inherited;the airlines were getting paid "exorbitant" rates for carryingthe mail, subsidies paid by the taxpayers! An even larger thornwas the questionable method that the former PMG, Walter FolgerBrown, had used in awarding the contracts as well as organiz-ing a number of the airlines (including TWA) involved and theroutes or terminals they served.

The seeds for a possible scandal had already been planted by acub reporter, Fulton Lewis, Jr., but his boss (William RandolphHearst) for some unknown reason had nixed the printing of theexpose'. A newly elected senator, Hugo Black, was made privyto Lewis's "evidence" that graft, collusion, favoritism and mis-use of public office had been used at the at the infamous "spoilsconferences" held in 1930. Soon a full scale investigation,headed by Black, was underway. All of the airline executivesand members of the Post Office Department who had taken partin the conferences were under subpoena.

Under subpoena were a number of men who helped to form T&WAincluding: Harris "Pop" Hanshue (former TWA president, at thetime president of Western), Richard Robbins (was originally fromPAIC, but at the time president of T&WA), George Hann, (presidentof PAIC) and Daniel Shaeffer (Penn RR, and chairman of the boardfor T&WA). Contrary to usual court proceedings, it was up tothem to prove their innocence. At one time during the hearings,the outspoken Hanshue was placed under arrest for contempt ofcourt. One of the damaging bits of "evidence" was that theformer presidents' son, Herbert Hoover, Jr., had been a WAE em-ployee - no mention was made that he was considered an expertin his field of aircraft communications.

(Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 2 0

The hearings stretched out for months. The press and radiokept the proceedings in the headlines. Nothing had been de'

-finitely proven of a criminal nature, it never was, but byearly 1934 Roosevelt and Farley had heard enough. Mjr. Gen.Benjamin Foulois, the Chief of the Army Air Corps, was askedif the army could, in an emergency, take over the carrying ofthe nation's airmail. At the time it involved (1933 statistics)nearly 3,000,000 pounds of mail a year over some 25,000 milesof Federal airways (and about 500 aircraft). Foulois hadmisgivings, but he had to say yes....how could our nation's airarm be expected to fight a war on short notice, and not be ableto perform a simple assignment such as flying the mail? Heasked for time, however, to properly train the flight and groundcrews and to prepare the aircraft. Much to Foulois surprise, onFebruary 9th, the president issued an executive order: all domes-tic airmail contracts would be cancelled on the 19th, and thearmy would take over the mail!

To generalize that the army was unprepared, would be an under-statement. Lack of past appropriations had reduced the numberof personnel, including reservists on active duty. Pilots hadbeen limited to a maximum of twenty hours flying a month, manyhad been getting the four hour minimum for flight pay. Whatequipment was available was either obsolete or inadequate. Fewairplanes were properly equipped with radios and instrumentsfor weather flying, and few pilots had more than four hours of"hood" time. Most aircraft had to be hastily modified. Bombracks and machine guns removed, and necessary instruments screwedto a rigid panel. Some were hard to see in the first place, butwith vibration were impossible. The compass on a P-12 was locatedin the upper wing, and had a habit of spinning or becoming unre-liable.

The operation was termed AACMO (American Air Corps Mail Operation),headed by Brig. General Oscar Westover. Three zones were estab-lished (east, central and west) with headquarters at NYC, CHIand SLC. (Lt. Col. Henry "Hap" Arnold was in charge at SLC).For the flight and ground crews it meant a full scale mobiliza-tion and transfer to various civilian airfields, far from theusual military bases and their homes. To make matters worse,there was no money in the military budget to pay the usual $5.00a day per diem (it was almost 40 days in being paid). It wasup to the men to make their own arrangements (and credit) forbillets in hotels and private homes. A pay freeze had been ineffect since mid-1933; a "second louie" made $187.50 (includingthe 50% flight pay) a month, a private $17.35.

The sudden cancellation could not have come at a worse time forthe nation's major airlines. There was the depression, and pas-senger loads had fallen, and most were already committed to hugeorders for modern equipment (TWA had twenty DC-2's on order).There was little chance for survival without the added mail pay.Many airlines issued immediate furlough notices to all employees.

TARPA TALES Page 21

TWA's was effective on February 28th, although this was changedand a skeleton force kept one transcontinental flight in opera-tion. TWA employees had offered to work, without pay, until thecompany recovered.

On the eve of TWA's last scheduled flight with the mail, JackFrye and Edward Rickenbacker (then Vice President for NorthAmerican Aviation, a TWA parent company) seized the opportunityto dramatize to the nation what the airlines would soon be capableof doing. A last minute equipment substitution was made, usingthe prototype DC-1. On the night of February 18, Frye, Ricken-backer and a team of TWA pilots left the Union Terminal atBurbank. The weather forecast fortheir scheduled arrival time atEWR was to be below limits. "Si"Morehouse and Paul Richter flewthe plane to ABQ, where HarlanHull with Richter took over toMKC. John Collings and LarryFritz flew the leg to CMH, where"Andy" Andrews and Fritz continued.CMH went below minimums shortlyafter they took off. The flightarrived at EWR over two hours aheadof schedule, a record 13 hours and4 minutes flying time for the trans-continental trip. Rickenbackerhanded over the last sacks of mailto the local postmaster and remain-ed about the airport for the nexttwo hours to observe the weather.As forecasted, EWR went below mini-mums.

JackFryeThe army was also getting its shareof the publicity, mostly unfavorableEven before the actual operationsbegan, there had been incidents and accidents while training orthe ferrying of aircraft. Roger Kruse was among the crew of aBellanca C-27A transport enroute from Nashville to their newbase at Chicago. Dusk overtook them, and since it was againstregulations to fly at night without emergency landing flares,they landed and spent the night at Terre Haute. Upon theirarrival the next morning, the Chicago papers already carriedsuch headlines as:: DARK TOO MUCH FOR ARMY PILOTS, followedby lengthy criticism of the army's inability to fly at night.

Ready, or not, the Army took over on the morning of the 19th.Out west Major Ira Eaker commanded a squadron of P-12's based

(Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 22

at March Field. For the AAMCO operation they would fly outof WAE's Alhambra Field, and fly the CAM#4 route from LAX toSLC. His entire squadron of eighteen planes could not accom-modate the extra load (1,400 lbs) of mail caused by souvenircollectors of "first flight covers". Eaker had to borrow aB-1 (open cockpit) bomber from Arnold`s group and fly the triphimself. This lasted for over a week until Eaker could getsome of his fighter pilots qualified. Among the pilots inEaker's outfit were Dan Medler and Roscoe Dunahoo.

Ray Noland was also based at March Field, but his CO (Arnold)refused his request to fly the mail. Ray was the supply officerfor the western division of the CCC program and couldn't be re-placed. His additional duties included that of Summary CourtOfficer...sorting out the belongings of the pilots who werelater killed, as well as meeting the parents of the deceasedwhen they came to claim what was left.

Bob Springer had his P-12 already warmed up and waiting at STLfor the inaugural flight east of MKC. The 39 pounds of mailwas transferred from the incoming plane and Bob's mechanicsstarted cranking the inertia starter...but when it was engaged,the motor sputtered...the left magneto was dead. The mail wastransferred to another P-12, but this time the pin broke onthe starter energizer shaft. A third plane was readied, anda successful start. It was 6:00 P.M. and dark, and the fore-cast east of IND was doubtful, when he finally took to theair...but not for long. Ten minutes later Bob had returned,the single bulb that lit up the instrument panel and chart hadburned out. With a new bulb, he made it as far as IND.

John George had been based at Barksdale flying A-12 attack planes,but for the AACMO was flying the route between Omaha and Cheyenne.They had radios, but nobody knew how to navigate by them, sotheir only use was for an occasional weather report. The mili-tary radios were not adaptable for commercial or airway broad-casts. John's first incident with ice came one day when hetried to circumnavigate some weather between North Platte andCheyenne. He couldn't get through, and turned around...but inthe meantime had picked up a load of ice that required fullpower to stay in the air and land.

Not so fortunate was Bill Sanders. Bill had been stationed atSelfridge, flying the P-12, but for the mail operation wasbased at DCA flying to CLE via PIT and Akron. On one flight,Bill was flying in snow conditions near Rockwood, Pa., withoutside (and inside) temperature of 38° below zero when suddenlythe engine quit...carburetor ice! He was about to bail out, buta break in the clouds showed what looked to be a clearing andhe decided to "ride her down". The landing was successful,but before he could get the plane stopped he plowed into a hugesnowbank and ripped off the landing gear. Bill and the mailwere intact, and with the aid of a local farmer and his ModelT, the mail was transferred to the nearest railroad for contin-uation. (Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 23

Bruce Pettigrew, also from Selfridge, was temporarily based on"stand by duty" at IND. His equipment was a Douglas BT-2A, atwo place biplane originally used for observation purposes,but converted to a basic trainer. Bruce's first, and only,trip was a night flight to CMH and PIT. While flying at 1,500'near Zanesville a snow squall line blocked his sight of thenext beacon ahead. He did a 180° back towards CMH, but fromwhat he could ascertain from the garbled radio reports, PITwas still CAVU. Another 180° turn and on to a landing at PIT.It was nearly zero zero with snow. For once, the local presshad a favorable report, although it also pointed out the needfor better alternate airports.

For the following three weeks, Bruce sat near the phone at alocal hotel...no calls, no pay and no per diem. His "hitch"was about up, so rather than volunteer for another year of duty,he requested a transfer back to Selfridge and an eventual dis-charge.

During a three day period, From February 21st to 23rd, thearmy pilots were involved in seven major crashes, two werewith fatalities. Even before any official military investiga-tion was completed, the press was printing their own version ofthe "probable cause". These included mechanical problems,weather and just plain lost. All flights were cancelled fromFebruary 26th to 28th due to severe weather. More bad publicityfor the army as the commercial airlines continued to operatetheir passenger schedules. On March 9th there were three fatalcrashes, which prompted the president to issue an order can-celling all AACMO flights pending further investigation.

From March 10th until the 19th, when the AACMO resumed, thenation was without any air mail service. TWA's express busi-ness picked up 120% however, as enterprising business houseswould ship their mail in bulk express packages for local dis-tribution.

During the period of shutdown the AACMO took advantage of thetime to modify its equipment and further train the pilots.The Link Trainer became a standard tool for teaching radioorientation. Delivery had been accelerated with the new MartinYB-10 bomber. It was capable (but a military secret) of carry-ing heavy payloads at near 200 mph speed, and had an enclosedcockpit. When operations were resumed, a number of routeswere dropped, leaving about 17,000 of the original 25,000 sched-uled miles per day. Among those dropped was the infamous "Hell'sStretch" or "Aviation's Graveyard" between Newark and Pittsburgh.Mail in and out of PIT was shunted by rail for connections atCleveland. For safety's sake, new enroute and terminal mini-mums of 3000' were established...but they proved to be unworkable,and on the 25th were lowered to 500' day and 1,000' night.

(Continued)

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Roosevelt's "Forgotten Man"—12of them—DEAD—the air mail pilots

POLITICAL CARTOON OF THE DAY

Published by Aero Digest

TAPPA TALES Page 25

Much of the adverse publicity and criticism had been directedtowards Roosevelt and Farley. Noted aviators, such as Lindbergh,had declaimed their action. Public opinion depicted them asthe "Lord High Executioners", and responsible for the deaths ofthe brave army pilots. On March 27th an executive decision wasmade to once again contract the carrying of mail to privatecarriers. Over fifty odd bills had been introduced in theCongress with this in mind; all had been rejected or tabled.There wasn't time for further attempts at legislation...theawarding of bids would be temporary, and to the lowest bidder.There was one stipulation, however, no airline that was a partyto the "spoils conference", guilty or not, was eligible to bid,nor was any airline that still retained any of the guilty indi-viduals or executives.

Postmaster General Farley.He cancelled the air mailcontracts

Postmaster General WalterFolger Brown. Dictator andbuilder of the airways system

For some airlines, such as United, that had not been at theconferences, this was no problem. For those that were involved,there was a simple loophole in the restriction...change thecorporate name. American Airways became American Air Lines,and C. R. Smith was elevated to the office of president.

General Motors, by way of their subsidiary General Aviation,still had control over three airlines. Ernest Breech was thepresident of GA. Western Air Express changed its name toGeneral Airlines, and ousted Hanshue. Eastern Airways becameEastern Air Lines. With Transcontinental and Western Air( TWA) it was a different story. A new company was formed, on

(Continued)

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THIS IS McCLELLAND BARCLAY'S INTERPRETATION OF THE FEELING

OF THE COUNTRY DURING THE UNFORTUNATE PERIOD. THIS PICTURE

WAS PUBLISHED IN THE AERO DIGEST.

paper, TWA, Inc., to bid on the proposed contract. Breechwas the acting president of the new company and Richard Robbinscontinued as president of the old TWA.

Breech was determined to get the mail contracts back to histhree airlines at any price; bid ridiculously low and possiblynegotiate later. TWA, Inc., bid the lowest, 24c a mile, andwas awarded the new CAM#2 central transcontinental route. Bycomparison with earlier contracts: WAE had bid $3.00 a milefor their original CAM#4. In 1929 the Post Office paid them$2,272,974 for flying 711,517 miles (757,684 pounds of mail).TWA for three fiscal years, 1931 through 1933, was paid undera different system but had averaged 56c a mile. 70c in 1932.The new CAM#2 did not include several former TWA routes suchas the spur via TUL and OKC, the extension from LAX to SFO,or the CMH to CHI via FTW. TWA, Inc.'s contract was noteffective until May 14th.

AACMO officially terminated at midnight May 7th. A few daysprior to the termination, Lt. Elwood "Pete" Quesada flew aMartin YB-10 from Oakland to Newark with a load of mail in13 hours, 43 minutes...39 minutes slower than the DC-1 record,but 123 miles further. His last leg, from CLE to EWR wasfour minutes faster than the best commercial record held byUnited with their new Boeing 247's. The last eastbound flightby the army was equally as impressive: six pilots using A-12attack planes and the YB-10 brought the mail from OAK to EWRin only 14 hours 8 minutes total elapsed time.

The closing down of AACMO was no easy task as some two hundredofficers, three hundred enlisted men, 122 aircraft, plus allof the spare parts, desks, typewriters, etc. had to be movedback to their original bases. The total cost for the 78 dayoperation by the army was later set at $3,767,355.22. Thisbroke down to an average $2.21 per mile, compared to the 54average that the Post Office paid the airlines in 1933. Notincluded, were the lives of eleven officers and one enlistedman killed during the operation, or the loss of sixty sixaircraft.

The record didn't look too good for the military so far as thestatistics compared to the commercial airlines. However, itis seldom mentioned, and credit given, for the fine job thatthe men did under the most adverse conditions. It happenedto be one of the worst winters on record. Most of the main-tenance had to be done without benefit of a hangar; the airlineshad been forbidden to lend any assistance. There were oftenmen hungry that were working sixteen hour days. As typical ofthe military, the more experienced pilots were "flying a desk",most of the pilots that "flew the line" were under trainedand low on experience. The equipment was inadequate for thejob assigned and, at times, unbearable. Bob Springer once

(Continued)

TARPA TALES Page 2 8

lost a glove and had to sit on his hand for the remainder ofthe flight to keep his hand from freezing. If given more time,it was generally conceded that the army would have made a suc-cess with AAMCO. Lt. Thomas (Tommy) Gaughen made a pressstatement that best sums it up: "I believe I can truthfullysay that the last month the army carried the mail it wentthrough smoother and faster than the commercial airlines evercarried it."

Also, it is seldom mentioned, but when the USA entered WWII,many of these same pilots from the AACMO were the first tore-enter the service and form the nucleous for the militarytransport commands.

* * * * * * * * * * *

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

From Flight Engineer W. H. Toms: °I flew with Captain F.Sigman, Check F/E W. Gareville from Washington, D. C., toPrestwick, Scotland, on June 20, 1945. First, I passed myinitial check ride, later was introduced to my first Europeanwarm beer. The bar in the boarding house was merely a closetshelf. Then had our meal of terrible mutton, boiled potatoesand potato salad. My , how the meals later changed.

"My most interesting flight was from Paris to Frankfurt andFrankfurt to Santa Maria."

"First civilian crew into Frankfurt, Germany. Special missionflight ordered by General Beetle Smith. Picked up twelveGerman scientists to be flown to Washington, D. C."

"Later learned one of them most likely Werner Von Braun. Cap-tain was Ken Hathaway. Also landed on wrong airport (whichwas merely a steel mat), took off and landed a few miles awayon the right location. ( No violation, like today)."

"Most unusual flight was a cargo flight. C-54, Washington toParis. The complete cargo consisted of five gallons of wholeblood packed in dry ice."

"Return trip was 42 pregnant WAC's and Red Cross nurses. August3, 1945. Captain was Archie Naletko."

* * * * * * * * * * *

From Russ North: "My first trip on the line was from Idlewildto Orly on 8/29/51. I flew with "Chick" Chakerian, captain, andBen Brown, relief pilot."

"Returned from Paris with Harry Gaines. Feathered #3 and returnedto Shannon. Flew 114:47 the next month for $290.00. I wasprobably overpaid."

TARPA TALES Page 29

From Ken Blaney:

"My first trip on the line was from Glendale to Agua Caliente,Mexico, on August 23, 1929. I flew with Maddux Captain MiloCampbell. Had just hired on among first Maddux licensed co-pilots (Transport and Mechanic's A&E ratings). Had no trainingabout what a copilot did. On take off in J5 Ford, Milo noticedmy hands on the wheel (following through); he slapped my handsoff but didn't see my feet on the rudder pedals. I learnedthat was not the way to be a copilot. When given the controlsfor the first time, had trouble keeping the wings level...nobi-plane wings in front of me on the horizon."

* * * * * * * * * * *

George Toop says he remembers two trips very well.

"My 'solo' trip after check-out to Captain....guess they didn'ttrust us in those days. (I'd like to know who the copilot was).He kept asking what we were doing. I said "Frankly, I don'tknow", but I was having a hell of a good time!

He also remembers a trip that terminated at an alternate. "Iremember sleeping two in a bed with Roscoe Donahue in Burling-ton, Iowa. He said 'I'll give you ten minutes to get to sleep'.He was a snorer.

"I remember I had to take final line check over because I wasten minutes short with Jim Eischeid. Best trip I make now isfrom New Jersey to Duck Key, Florida, which gets me away frommy tree farm.

"Annie, my copilot of 45 years, loves trips with Lum and Bettyand Jerry and Rita. See you all at the '84 convention inFlorida."

* * * * * * * * * * *

TARPA TALES Page 3 0

THE TARPAGRAPEVINE'

APRIL, 1984

Clear the decks! We've got a sackful this time.Letters and cards have been coming in from memberseverywhere to Humbles, Phillips and The Grapevine.Annual dues time seems to bring out many friendlymessages to our Treasurer and he has passed themalong. Stay with us to the happy end!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Did you notice the rare coincidence in the Januaryissue of TARPA TOPICS when mention was made in TheGrapevine that SILAS A. (SI) MOREHOUSE had recentlybecome a TARPA member? Just a few pages earlier thesame name, "S. A. Morehouse," appeared at the headof the list as No. 1 on the first official TWA CaptainSeniority List, August 1, 1935! That list, of course,was loaned to TARPA TOPICS by BUSCH VOIGTS, who showedup as No. 62 on the first official Copilot Senioritylist, also on August 1, 1935. Si's actualdate of hire

was in 1927, when he started with Western AirExpress, a TWA predecessor company, 57 years ago!

* * * * * * * * * * *

DICK HEMPEL, Emmett, Idaho, whose calling card picturesa 1907 White steam automobile and his identification as"The Steam Car Man", writes a two-page rebuttal to A. T .Humbles about the virtues of north Idaho weather, whichA. T. had dared to malign in an earlier note to Dick.(We are forwarding the letter to Editor Al Clay, whomay decide, of course, that it contains more about Idahoweather than anyone really cares to know). Anyway,Dick, please convey the warm greetings of former MKC

TARPANS to your lovely LYNDA. Those who knewher will not have forgotten the cute brunettewith the smile which lit up the old MKC trainingoffice at Goebel Hangar about 25 years ago. Youmake a great pair!

* * * * * * * * * * *

PAUL (DOC) DAUGHERTY, in the process of sendinghis dues at Christmas time, wished us all a"Happy and Merry Bah Humbug" holiday season. Healso mentioned having his phone number changed,sending a donation to the TWA Pilots RetirementFoundation, and ended with a "C U in Orlando".

* * * * * * * * * * *THE GRAPEVINE Page 1

JIM SCHMITT, that unique character who can do twelve jobs atthe same time, tells us he took early retirement last Augustand "can now PLAN to attend a New Year's party (even if hiswife frowns on all that kissing stuff); he can PLAN and KEEPappointments; and PLAN to give or take a series of lecturesevery Monday for a couple months". He says, too, "Retirementreally gives FREEDOM, as you folks already know. Even thoughit was the BEST job in the world, it still kept you from doinggreater things on rare occasions...like giving blood...didyou EVER when you were working?" One of his many activitiesis the Travel Agency business, which is thriving: "We soldover $2.5 million in '83 - our biggest year!" And this:"Two young fearful flyers got hold of me last spring and nowI do a one week seminar for 'chickens' about every two months.We call it FREEDOM TO FLY. I hope we may eventually take thecourses beyond Newark". If there were an annual trophy forenergy and enthusiasm, Jim Schmitt would be a perennial winner!

* * * * * * * * * *

HERB OTTEWILL says he has restored the old J3 "from stem tostern - VNE 122; VME 161 - down hill only

* * * * * * * * * * *

DWIGHT KERNS retired in November and says, "I have been sobusy that I think I should un-retire. I suppose things willslow down eventually."

* * * * * * * * * * *

EDWARD N. (ED) SIMMONS sends information on his 30-year studyof the Civil War and Confederate arms history. He spends histime, he says, writing ordnance history and lecturing at South-ern University. Among visitors to his Alabama home have beenold friends BILL (BUS ) SHOEMAKER, BURT McCONAGHY and JIM McCLURE .Look for him in Orlando.

* * * * * * * * * * *

RODE RODEBERG has moved to Arkansas, "We moved into our newhouse on Lake Brittany in Bella Vista", he says, "and LOO andI extend a welcome to all our TWA TARPA friends to stop by fora little golf, fishing or just loafing. We have many retiredTWAers here in the village and expect to form an active clubnext year.

* * * * * * * * * * *

THE GRAPEVINE

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ORVILLE B. (O. B.) SMITH is retired and back to his long-time hobby, weightlifting. As O. B. tells it: "The EasternMasters Open in May, 1980, was my first competition in morethan 25 years. I came home with a first place trophy and threenational records in Olympic lifting for men 60-64, in the heavyweight class." Since then, O. B. has entered several nationaland world championships in both Olympic and power lifting,breaking records and earning gold medals in all his categories.He is currently training for the 1984 Nationals to be held inApril. Other activities include church work as an Elder andChairman of the Administration Committee, a member of the Build-ing and Grounds Committee and manager of the church cemetery.And he and his wife, ELIZABETH, visit a nursing home every week.

* * * * * * * * * * *

LARRY HECKER writes that he and CLARE have returned to theEast and are "glad to be back home and near friends." They hadspent the previous two years in Dallas. Larry is active againwith an aviation training company, and says, "Almost all of thetraining we will do is computerized. It's hard to believe howfar aviation has come."

* * * * * * * * * * *

TOM CARROLL and BILL NEWMAN say they are planning to be inOrlando in May. That list is building up!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Genial GENE STRAW says, "We still own our home in Saratoga,California, but LUCILLE and I have a small ranch in Gridley,where we have planted kiwi fruit. Until it becomes fully pro-ductive, we will be in Gridley about 95% of the time."

* * * * * * * * * * *

A. T. and LARRY MURCHAN have learned recently that they wereboth in the 384th Bomb Group, 544th and 547th Squadrons of the41st Wing at Grafton Underwood in England during the grim"Summer of '44". A. T . would like to hear from anyone who wasthere during that period. The 384th still has reunions everytwo years. A. T. says the next one will be in San Antonio inAugust this year, and expects to see his old crew again. In

THE GRAPEVINE Page 3

1982, at the Dayton meeting, his co-pilot, Navigator, RadioOperator and Tail Gunner were all present.

* * * * * * * * * * *

WAYNE SEVERSON tells A. T. that he is enjoying retirement, butis in the apartment landlord business and "as every landlordknows, they keep you about as busy as you want to be". Amen.And Amen.

* * * * * * * * * * *

BOB FORREST writes from Satsuma, Florida, that he's changedaddresses again. "We are living on our boat while buildingthe house", he says. "This past summer we completed a 4800mile trip at eight miles per hour and really enjoyed everymile. We covered the route from Florida to the Hudson; theErie Canal; Lake Ontario; Trans Severn canal in Ontario; downthe St. Lawrence; Lake Champlain and back". That voyage willbe the envy of many of our other boaters, no doubt. Congratu-lations, Captain.

* * * * * * * * * * *

And speaking of voyages: PERRY SCHREFFLER, in July last year,accompanied by his wife, JOYCE, ferried a new Parten Aviafrom Naples through Marseilles, Prestwick, Reykjavik, Sondre-strom, Frobisher Bay and Bangor to Santa Paula, California,a trip of 8830 SM and flight time of 60 hours. Perry retiredfrom TWA in 1981 and has reverted to his permanent rank as aLt. Col. in the USAF.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Recent new members:

Ed Arbon Glen Hanson Matt MusickJoseph Bickett Frank Heileson William NewmanJames Carey Richard L. Hempel Wayne SeversonRichard E. Dick Virgil Hoffman Cecil SchildbergFloyd Edwards Urban J. Kampsen Charles Van WinkleClare Hammitt Lester Laurin ("Rip")Honorary: Lana Boxberger, Bette Joe Evans, Audrey Flanagin

* * * * * * * * * * *

THE GRAPEVINE Page 4

E. V. GREEN says, "Thanks to everyone for the TARPA publica-tions. It's a good way to keep up with all the 'graduates'from TWA".

* * * * * * * * * * *

OTTO KRUMBACH has sent us a copy of a publication called"Heritage Trails", which is described as a "journal of theEuropean-American Folk". Otto is one of the publication'sad hoc founders and a contributing Editor. An introductoryeditorial says this: "Growing interest in ancient folk prac-tices and ethnic origins has been manifest on the Americanscene...Heritage Trails will seek to meet the obvious need forimproved communications. It is hoped the effort will help toenrich the lives of interested people by providing stimulatingnew views of their unique cultural heritage". For a samplecopy, send $1.00 to Heritage Trails. P. O. Box 445, Ridgewood,N. J. 07451. A year's subscription (four issues) is $6.00.If you have European roots, this may interest you. Suitablematerial for publication is solicited.

* * * * * * * * * * *

A new HEART OF AMERICA chapter of the TWA Seniors Club hasbeen organized in Kansas City. More than 2000 TWA retireeslive in the five county area comprising metropolitan KansasCity. Approximately 500 have responded to the first mailingin January. Officers are Mel Ostenberg, BUD POWELL, EleanorTarson and Jane McCabe.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Among retirement organizations, the American Association ofRetired Persons (AARP), which claims 14 million members, isone that can be recommended. They publish an interesting maga-zine and periodic bulletins and have several other usefulservices, including insurance through the Prudential Companyfor persons 50 and over. AARP describes itself as "a non-profit, non-partisan, social welfare, philanthropic, educationaland scientific membership organization, dedicated to helpingall older men and women achieve independence, dignity and pur-pose". Membership is $5.00 per year; $12.50 for three years;or $35.00 for ten years. The bi-monthly "Modern Maturity" maga-zine, by itself, is worth the cost of the membership. WriteAARP, P. O. Box 2400, Long Beach, California 90801.

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The Allstate-Sears conglomerate is in the process of creatinganother, similar organization with benefits and services forthe elderly. It is called "Mature Outlook". This will involveinsurance (Allstate); real estate (Coldwell Banker); investment(Dean Witter); and the Sears Merchandise Group ("America's.largest retailer"). Applicants for membership must be 55 orover'. Annual dues will be $7.50, which includes the spouse.For information, write Allstate, , Northbrook, Illinois, or checkwith a local Allstate or Sears facility. Either one, or pos-sibly both, of these plans may provide benefits and serviceswhich you can use as you reach or approach retirement. At theleast, they may provide useful information.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The following paragraphs were excerpted from the notes andletters received with recent dues checks by DEAN PHILLIPS, ourhard-working TARPA Treasurer. We appreciate your comments andDean's condensing and sharing them with all of us. Over toyou, Dean!

* * * * * * * * * * *

JIM STANTON wrote: "Had a tragic loss of my ultralight planeand trailer. Arizona twister removed them from the airport andwiped them out. I am sad. Wife is happy".

* * * * * * * * * * *

From BOB SPRINGER: "The advantages and pleasures receivedthrough TARPA more than offset the cost of dues. I would sus-pect most members feel the same as I. Of course, this happensonly because of those who take their time to direct the affairsof this organization. To them, you, and the members, a pleasantand enjoyable 1984." Thank you, Bob!

* * ** * * * * * * *

SAM GRACY listened to Horace Greeley. Sam left New York andis now living in Santa Rosa, California.

* * * * * * * * * * *

THE 'GRAPEVINE Page 6

The BILL McMINNS are enjoying life in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.(At least they were until the last winter storm).

JACK LECLAIRE becomes an EAGLE this year and says he thinksTARPA is a great organization and he would hate to miss anymailings. He hopes no one will be dropped from membership fornon-payment of dues without checking the person's age. Restassured this will not be done, Jack. Only a few members havefailed to pay dues since TARPA was formed.

* * * * * * * * * * *

JOHN PEEK says he's not getting his TARPA mail. John's livingin West Germany. Hope the problem is resolved soon and theP.O. is not holding John's mail for the next flight of theHindenburg.

* * * * * * * * * * *

BART ANDEREGG, LOUIS BARR, DICK LOOMIS and PETE WEILAND allretired recently.

* * * * * * * * * * *

PAUL BRACKEN AND JOHN GRAHAM are recent additions to the ranksof TARPA EAGLES.

* * * * * * * * * * *

ELDRED OLSON had recent open heart surgery (October) and isrecovering quite well. He's ready to power that golf ballagain, but his Doctor says not yet.

* * * * * * * * * * *

GORDON JOHNSON says the golfing around Chicago is not toogood - "There's a foot of snow on the ground". (And here inArizona I was complaining because we had a little rain.)

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In accordance with TARPA policy, memorials are made in thename of deceased members by sending contributions ($25.00)to the TWA Pilots Retirement Foundation. During 1983, TARPAhonored the memory of DON AAGESEN, JOE DAEHLIN, JOHN GEORGE,STEVE HAWES, JACK KENNEDY, MAX PARKISON, HARRISON FINCH,LLOYD OVERMIER, JOHN WRIGHT, JAMES LINCOLN, EARL MCNAUGHTON,RUSS BLACK AND AL RAFFANIELLO.

* * * * * * * * * * *

LOUIE PROCTOR and JACK SCHNAUBELT will be 75 this year. Jacksaid he would like to see all the fellows again. Orlando inMay is the place and the opportunity.

* * * * * * * * * * *

EARL HEINRICH stayed on at his Illinois farm until December toget in some quail hunting. The wet spring and the hot summerwere hard on the quail population.

* * * * * * * * * * *

ROGER DON RAE wrote another interesting note. He had talkedwith HOWARD HALL and L. J . SMITH over Christmas. All are well,although L. J . Smith's wife is still bed-ridden. Roger sayswe who have our health should know how blessed we are.

* * * * * * * * * * *

LLOYD SMITH changed his status from Active to Retired on Dec-ember 1, 1983.

* * * * * * * * * * *

FRITZ JENKINS and REG PLUMRIDGE thought it was a good procedureto send out the membership cards and the return envelopes forthe dues payments. It would certainly be great to get all the1984 dues in early this year.

* * * * * * * * * * **

JACK EVANS wrote, "My wife's illness makes it difficult toattend meetings at this time, but I'll be there when I can".

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AL BRICK, MILES LEYPOLDT, BOB MUELLER, PHIL SMITH and MELRISTING all sent additional "TARPA, thank you" notes.

JIM McINTYRE was a panel member when the Society of Air SafetyInvestigators met in Washington, D. C., February 1. The themeof the seminar was "The Elements of Professionalism for Acci-dent Investagators".

* * * * * * * * * * *

PETE SIDWAY's note said "These are exciting times on TWA. Notelling where we will land!"

* * * * * * * * * * *

The TOMMY ANDERSONS have given up on New Jersey and have boughta home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Tommy is ready to give tennislessons to the Arizona Seniors.

* * * * * * * * * * *

SNORKY CLARK sent a note before leaving for Madrid on 904 Itreads, "Greetings to all and a 'thank you' to TARPA and itsofficers".

* * * * * * * * * * *

JIM NORM is enjoying retirement raising some breeding cattle,playing golf and doing a little traveling. Yes, Jim, this isthe desert. We didn't get washed away, but it's trying. Wehad rain on four out of the seven first days of 1984.

* * * * * * * * * * *

CLARE HAMMITT sent a check for 1984 dues and a note saying heretired December 1, 1983.

* * * * * * * * * * *

THE GRAPEVINE Page 9

CHRIS CARPER said you folks in the Kansas City area have hadyour share of severe winter weather. Hope it warms up soon.(It did, from 21 below in December to 70 in January!)

* * * * * * * * * * *

MEL FISHER is planning a busy spring. He had 9,350 Tokay grapeplants to put in. Mel says he hopes people keep drinking Calif-ornia wines! WALT MOREHEAD no doubt joins Mel in this wish.

* * * * * * * * * * *

JIM PENNY advised that WILLIAM A. (BILL) ASH passed away latelast year. Bill had been on medical retirement for some timeand flew out of San Francisco as a Flight Engineer.

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JOE HUNT of Palos Verdes, California, is reported seriouslyill with cancer. He is in a "hospice" establishment.

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Also received much appreciated notes and greetings from ALLUSK, TERRY RAGER, WALLY RUMPH, BUD POWELL, JACK CLARK, DONDORMAN, IVAN CHAPMAN, GORDON HARGIS, BUD CUSHING and JIM SCHMITT.

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Quite a few members have said "See you in Orlando". We'relooking forward to another great turn-out.

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That's the bottom of Dean's mailbag. If you see us buying hima Bloody Mary or a Harvey Wallbanger in Orlando, you'll knowwe're paying off. Come to think of it, better make that a cokeor coffee. In 40 years, we've never seen Dean in a dissipatingsituation. He is - and no doubt has - a very clean liver.

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THE GRAPEVINE Page 10

And that's about enough from us, too. We'll see many of-youin Orlando. If we were to make one suggestion, it would bethat you plan to come early and stay over a day or two. Floridais such a beautiful place to visit. You'll be sorry if youhurry through it.

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HAPPY EASTER!

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HADLEY'S FIRST LAW OF CLOTHING SHOPPING: If you like it, theydon't have it in your size.

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HADLEY'S SECOND LAW OF CLOTHING SHOPPING: If you like it andit's in your size, it doesn't fit any way.

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HADLEY'S THIRD LAW OF CLOTHING SHOPPING: If you like it andit fits, you can't afford it.

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HADLEY'S FOURTH LAW OF CLOTHING SHOPPING: If you like it, itfits, and you can afford it, it falls apart the first time youwash it.

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THE GRAPEVINE Page 1 1

SECRETARY'S CORNER

We are slowly gaining members. As of 7 March 84 we had 1128 members brokendown by region as follows;

Eastern Total 366 Regular 203 Associate 136 Eagle 11 Honorary 16Central " 246

"148 74 " 9

"15

Western " 516 303"

159 " 26 " 281128 654 369 46 59

We also have 4 subscribers. These are interested people who are not eligibleto join. They pay ten dollars per year. Eagle members are those over age 75who are not obliged to pay dues. Honorary members are widows of our deceasedmembers.

We exchange newsletters with the retired groups of other carriers. We sendcopies to the TWA ALPA MEC, RAPA people, TWA Seniors Club representatives,Mr. C. E . Meyers etc.

Again, there are a lot still out there eligible to join us that haven't. I'llbet most of you have friends who haven't joined that are just waiting for youto ask them. All they need to do is send me twenty dollars and I will handle.

Some copies of this are going to non-members. May we extend you a cordialinvitation to join us? All it takes is twenty dollars for 1984 dues sent to me.

If you still haven't remembered to pay your dues just send twenty dollars toCapt. Dean L. Phillips, Treasurer, 7218 Onda Circle, Tucson, AZ 85715.

Lately I have received several address corrections from the post office andnotice it looks like you are moving south. If these are just winter addressesand you will have two addresses let me know when you plan use of each one soI can address your mail accordingly.

Just noticed TWA has a pilot named Pilot based at ORD.

Re Thurston, et al law suit. Understand the appellant court let ALPA off thehook on paying damages. TWA appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and it hasagreed to hear it.

The last page of this issue concerns the TWA Pilots Yearbook in case some ofyou might not have received same. As you can see, several people includingthe TWA ALPA MEC put forth a valiant effort to pull this thing out of theashes and saved some of you a lot of money. I didn't order it originally butnow have.

Hope to see yawl at the convention in Orlando in May!

Your secretary,

Humbles

January 4, 1984

TO ALL TWA PILOTS

Gentlemen:

After three long years, several false starts and many discouraging words, theTWA Pilots ' History/Yearbook is being published.

The TWA MEC authorized the funding of one half of the cost of printing, andEd Frankum agreed to fund the other half. Both of those expenditures werebased on the proposition that 2500 books would be produced, 1500 for those whohave already paid and 1000 for additional sales. When the 1000 additionalbooks are sold, at the original price of $39.95, the TWA MEC and the Companywill realize a small profit.

Institutional Services, Inc., the original contractor, has long ago filed forbankruptcy protection and has no visible assets. However, prior to thataction, they had our book ready for publication.

InterCollegiate Press, of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, was chosen for the printingand they are well along in that process. We are now hoping to complete thisproject early in February. Thus, as we complete the production phase, we turnto the distribution phase.

The only logical way to distribute a book of this size and weight is by directmail. The printing company informs me that they can box and mail them for$2.60 each.

Since we have exhausted our resources in the production phase, it becomesnecessary to ask each of you who have paid in advance to send an additional$2.60. We know that this is aggravating, but we believe it is worth $2.60 torecover your $39.95 book.

Those who have not paid in advance may send $42.55 for the book and postage.

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We have personally reviewed the printers proofs of more than 300 pages outof 400. We have approved the cover mock-up and various other parts. We aremore enthused than ever about the quality of this product, and we believe ourbook will be a classic.

Enclosed you will find a return envelope and a card to facilitate shipment atthe earliest possible moment. Your understanding and cooperation is greatlyappreciated.

Sincerely,

TWA MEC Yearbook CommitteeJ. S. BurnsJ. P. DonlanJ. P. Gratz, Chairman