PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE1985 CONVENTION NEWSTHE DAY BEFORE - NEUMAN RAMSEYTARPA TALESTHE GRAPEVINE"DUTCH" HOLLOWAY REMINISCES

Editor: A. J. (Al) Clay, Jr. December 1984 Grapevine Editor: O. R. (OLE) OlsonOfficers and Directors of the Association

D. W. Richwine, Vice President, EastW. S. Cooper, Vice President, CentralW. H. Johnson, Vice President, WestJohn D'Albora, DirectorR. S. Hamilton, Director

R. G. Derickson, PresidentC. Ritchie Beighlie, First Vice PresidentA. T. Humbles, SecretaryDean L. Phillips, Treasurer

Larry Decelles, DirectorK. L. Palmer, DirectorWayne L. Haggard, DirectorPhil S. Hollar, Director

ABOUT THE COVER

Captain H. H. (Dutch) Holloway

The article in this issue by Captain Holloway was dictated to his niece, LuellaA. Seibel. She sent it to Howard Hall, who forwarded it to TARPA TOPICS.

In her cover letter to Captain Hall, she says: "He failed to include his stint inEthiopia around 1947, at which time he helped to establish and becameGeneral Manager of the Ethiopian Airline". We're sure his experiences therewould make interesting reading.The cover picture was taken in 1935 at Grand Central Terminal. Nope, the.prop's not bent!

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Early in June, 1984, we were advised by the United States PostalService that our application to mail at a special Third Classrate had been denied. We planned to appeal this decision, how-ever, we were advised by Mark Segal, our Resident Agent in LasVegas, that a social club is an organization type that is consid-ered to be ineligible for a special mailing permit. As TARPAhas qualified for Federal tax exempt status as a "Social Club"that bars us from eligibility for bulk rate mailing permit status.Hopefully we can find another avenue to ease up on our mailingcosts.

The 1985 convention will be June 4, 5 and 6 in Las Vegas. LyleBobzin has done an outstanding job is setting up our hotel, theDesert Inn, and sports activity schedules. Lou Cook and SamLuckey investigated St. Louis, which was approved by the Boardof Directors as the convention site for 1986. Sam Luckey isthe 1986 Convention Chairman and has made arrangements at theAdam's Mark for May 27-30, 1986. Phil Hollar is the 1987 Con-vention Chairman and has already begun the footwork. Phil willcome to the 1985 convention with a 1987 convention package forBoard action, at which time the Board will select the site anddate for 1987.

At the invitation of A. W. Wollenberg, President of TWA SeniorsClub, I attended their Board meeting on September 26, 1984 in St.Louis. The purpose of Wolly's invitation was to establish acloser liaison between TARPA and the Seniors. At this meetinga resolution was passed that the President of TARPA or his rep-resentative be invited to attend TWA Seniors Board meetings inthe interest of promoting cooperation between the two groups.I believe this is a good resolution, that it will establishthe liaison and cooperation we need and that this procedurewill serve the best interest of both groups. I have invitedLum Edwards, the Seniors First Vice President, to attend TARPA'sBoard of Directors meeting on June 3, 1985.

Dave Richwine asked to be replaced as RAPA liaison, but agreedto continue to serve as the TARPA insurance representative. Inaccordance with TARPA By-Laws and policies, Ed Hall was ap-pointed the TARPA representative to RAPA, to fill Dave's vacancy.Accordingly, Ed will be TARPA's representative at the RAPA con-vention in Miami, November 28-30, 1984. Al Clay and I alsoplan to attend the RAPA convention.

Rich Flournoy is the Chairman of the 1985 Nominating Committee .

President's message Page 1

Working with Rich will be Sam Gracy, Don Hartman, Lloyd Hubbardand Bill Merrigan.

Lloyd Hubbard is Chairman of TARPA's Award of Merit program.The deadline date for such nominations can be no later than 90days prior to the convention, That would be March 4, 1985.

Tom Kosta, Chairman of the TWA MEC Professional StandardsCommittee, sends some disturbing news about misuse of the Class7R pass, and he enclosed one report which bears out his observa-tion that there have been abuses. The failure of retired passriders to list the R, or, as has happened, when the R is speci-fied by the lister, and is somehow deleted or ignored, it leadsto hard feelings between retirees and those still working, andat times, causes confusion. The company advises that instruct-ions will be forthcoming that all Form 810's must be machineimprinted with the retiree's term pass. It is our responsi-bility to follow the rules when listing ourselves for a flightby telephone and with the proper follow-up at the airport whetherthe 810 is handwritten or by machine imprint. Any violationsof the proper procedures can hurt us all. We know there areother carriers (both major airlines and feeders) who have adifferent concept for retiree passes. It is our hope that TWAwill establish pass privileges for all retired TWA employees�that are fair, equitable, and commensurate with industry practices.

As many of you are probably aware, a Captain Dennis Maloneyrecently circulated a petition among TWA's active pilots advo-cating a settlement option which would provide a lump sumdistribution of the Company's contributions to our Pilot'sB Plan trust annuity, which are presently available only asmonthly annuity payments after retirement. The latest informa-tion we have indicates that said petition had approximately1500 signatures. On October 22nd, 1984, Roy Van Etten, DaveRichwine, and I met with Mr. Joe Koch in New York. Mr. Kochwas our B-Plan actuary for many years prior to his retirement.The purpose of this meeting was to gather as much informationand background on our B Plan as possible in order to assist usin protecting our interests if it becomes necessary to do so.

I think that the above meeting with the actuary was quitesuccessful and we will continue to research the facts andmonitor the situation closely. We intend to be in a positionto take whatever action may become necessary and open to usto protect our retired members if their interests should appearto be in jeopardy.

GOOD NEWS FROM ROY VAN ETTEN. Roy advises us that the resultsof the third quarter are now in and the index of change is .98565and, when the 3% adjustment is made, we will have a unit valueof $29.79?, which means that on January 1, 1985, you will receivea pay increase of 4.962%. Roy joins us all in wishing you avery Merry Christmas!

Russ Derickson

President's message Page 1-a

From the beginning of the Constellation's development in 1938 through the cannibali-zation of the derelict aircraft in 1968, the story of TWA's premier skyliner will bepresented in this photo album of the times.

"Fly the Finest" ... will present photographs rarely seen before. It will be hard-bound and on quality paper. The book will attempt to do justice to the beauty of theConstellation and the spirit of TWA.

"Fly the Finest"... is in its early stages of composition. Anyone interested in obtain-ing a copy of the book or anyone with anecdotes or photographs that should beincluded in the work should contact:

George Gayuski, 221 Eureka Street, San Francisco 94114 (415) 861-6160- 2 -

CONVENTION NEWS FROM CHAIRMAN LYLE BOBZIN

It is with great enthusiasm that I can assure the 1985 TARPAconvention will be held at the DESERT INN HOTEL, COUNTRY CLUBand SPA. This is the premier location in Las Vegas, and I'mhappy for the TARPA members that they will be hosted here.The Desert Inn can meet all of our needs right on the facility,a short walk from the lobby. The new spa and jogging trackare the finest in Las Vegas. The golf and tennis club, closeto the hotel, offers a fine restaurant and pro shop at the en-trance to the golf course and tennis club, all a short walk fromthe lobby. The Desert Inn is centrally located on the strip withthe Fashion Show Shopping Mall across the street, and an easywalk for all shopping. There are a number of restaurants in thearea, all good, many with very attractive prices. The hotel ispriced at $45.00 double or single, the golf at $19.00 all inclusive.Subject to adjustment for the current labor negotiations, it iscapped at a maximum of $22.00. The tennis, bridge, style show areall gratis, as they were in '83. These rooms are normally pricedat $105.00; the other options much higher.

The dates are set for the week of June 3rd. The rooms are avail-able before and after the convention dates, June 4th, 5th and6th. The Board will meet Monday, June 3rd. More news to come.

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AVIATION MEDICAL BULLETIN SUBSCRIPTIONS

Harvey Watt has for many years provided retirees with freeAviation Medical Bulletins. Now with the increase in the costof providing the service, it is understandable that he can nolonger provide the free bulletins. He is offering them to us atcost and sends this information about subscribing.

"If a member would like to subscribe, he may write to us atBox 20787, Atlanta, Georgia, 30320, and give us his name andaddress. If he prefers, he may call us on our WATS line and giveus the same information. (1-800-241-6103). The cost is $3.50per year".

Thanks, Harvey, for all the free copies over the years.

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A REMINDER FROM MEMBER ED HALL

For those who may not be aware of it, retirees or their spouses

under age 65 and covered by the TWA Connecticut General groupmedical policy are eligible for reimbursement of 80% of theirprescription drug costs.

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TERM LIFE INSURANCE FOR RAPA MEMBERS

Beltran/Alexander and Alexander has a new term life insuranceprogram for RAPA members and their spouses, the details ofwhich were covered in the January, 1984 issue of TARPA TOPICS.(If you are a member of TARPA, you are automatically a memberof RAPA). Most of us have what we think is the right amount ofinsurance, which is the amount we selected when we retired.However, time brings change and its possible that insuranceneeds have changed for some of us.

The program is a direct billing plan and is for four year terms.

For further information, contact Beltran/Alexander and Alexander,P. O. Box 558196, Miami, Florida 33255-9990.

NOTE: A reminder that TARPA does not endorse any insurance planor plans. We only provide information.

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"Please see me at once" memos from the chief pilot are distri-buted only on Friday after office hours.

Len Morgan (VECTORS COLUMN)

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MURRAY'S RULE OF FOOTBALL: The wrong quarterback is the onethat's in there.

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SPENCER'S LAWS OF ACCOUNTANCY:1. Trial balances don't.2. Working capital doesn't.3. Liquidity tends to run out.4. Return on investments won't.

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PENSION PLAN STATUS REPORT

The following information was taken from the carriers' annual reports. This reportis intended to show only the actuarial present value of accumulated plan benefits.For more complete information, each carrier's plan must be carefully analyzed.

This data was compiled and supplied by Captain Oscar W. Cleal (REP-retired), Direc-tor-Retirement Trusts, Kidder, Peabody Co., Inc. Our sincere appreciation is ex-tended to Oscar for his untiring and continuing work on behalf of RAPA and its mem-ber organizations.

Company contributions to retirement plans can be greatly reduced by changes in theactuarial assumption of interest and return on investments, payroll reductions,furloughing and/or reduction of personnel, early retirements, terminations, andcessation of estimating future pay raises. Also several carriers (Eastern, Pan Am,and Republic) have deferred millions of dollars under IRS waiver provisions.

RAPA CONVENTION

The Annual RAPA Board of Directors Convention will be held on November 28, 28, &30, 1984 at the new Hilton Resort Hotel in Miami, Florida. Have you made your res-ervation for this outstanding event? See the RAPA August Bulletin for reservationforms for both the convention and the post convention cruise to the Caribbean.Also, all your members are cordially invited to attend the convention as well asthe Caribbean cruise.

Remember, your annual meeting is a good place to develope agenda items for thisyear's convention. Get these items in to the Secretary, Hal Hastings, ASAP.

Also this year's convention will elect new officers for 1985 and 1986. Searchyour membership for persons and/or ideas for this up-coming election. RAPA is anorganization for the benefit of all retired airline pilots.

IT'S YOUR ORGANIZATION GET INVOLVED SEE YOU IN MIAMI

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BULLETIN JULY 1984

CAN THIS HAPPEN TO YOU ?

In the past, we have encountered problems brought about by the underfunding of ourpension plans. Perhaps, some of these problems may still be with us.

Today, we are faced with a whole new set of problems brought about by the overfund-ing of our pension plans. This overfunding and balances far exceeding their obliga-tions are due largely to the 1982 and 1983 bull market in equities.

A 1982 survey by the consulting firm of Johnson & Higgins shows 368 large corpora-tions overfunded by $38.8 billion. It is estimated that this overfundedness hadgrown to more than $55 billion by the end of 1983. In 1982, 14 pension plans ofour member organizations were funded from 100 to 156A.

Many corporate managements are panting with hot breath to get at these surplusbalances in our pension plans. One of our member organizations has already hadits pension plan terminated. This resulted in an overnight increase in thecom-pany's assets of $35 million.

In the past five years, 172 large firms have terminated their pension plans to re-coup a total of $1.5 billion. Another 90 companies have applied for termination oftheir plans that are expected to yield more than $1.1 billion in recaptured assets.

Now, along comes the Administration with proposed regulations to make it stilleasier for companies to terminate their pension plans to get at their surplus bal-ances. These new rules would also include so called spinoffs. A company will ter-minate its pension plan, pay its retirees a lump sum settlement or buy an annuityfrom an insurance company. See previous RAPA Bulletins for comments on annuities.

The RETIRED employee's lump sum payout can become a disaster, in some cases. Forexample, companies could use actuarial formulas that assume unrealistic returnsfrom investments, etc. in computing lump sum payouts. He would also lose futurecost of living increases and would expect to get smaller returns on investmentsdue to less funds available for investment purposes.

The ACTIVE employee vested in the new plan would be less likely to see his bene-fits grow as rapidly as in the old plan due to the lack of large cash surplusesfor investment purposes.

The ACTIVE employees, not the retirees, have the clout to stop this atrocious rapeof our pension plans. As retirees, we have little or no voice in what happens toour pension and retirement benefits. Our strength can only come from the unity ofall our retired employee organizations.

The active employee unions and organizations have the negotiating capabilities toamend our pension plans to prevent management from raiding funds that belong toboth the pensioner and the participant. RAPA urges all active and retired employ-ees to contact their unions and organizations and ask for their help. Remember,the active employee of today will be the retired employees o f tomorrow.

FRINGE BENEFIT TAX

As you know, we have sponsored and supported legislation that would lay to restthe taxing of fringe benefits. Finally, the House has passed a Bill which perma-nently bans the taxing of fringe benefits. However, the Senate passed a Bill thatwould only extend the present moratorium of not taxing fringe benefits. It is ob-vious that the Senate wants to keep open these options for additional revenues.These Bills are presently in a joint conference committee.

We urge your members to make their views known in letters to their Representativeand two Senators. Your pass and reduced rate transportation privileges and anycompany paid insurance benefits will certainly come under the gun. All retireesand current employees should write letters, make calls, and where possible makepersonal visits to their elected representatives in Washington. Let them knowthat you will support those who support you,

SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

The rampaging increases in health-care costs are an issue that appears "too hot tohandle" to most of our political leaders in an election year. With the upcomingpresidential election there will be little or no action until after November 6th.However, you should watch for a flurry of legislation before the end of thissession of Congress.

Social Security and Medicare spending amounts to $261 billion of the total of $400funding for the entire entitlement programs. Both of these programs have undergonesurgery in previous sessions of congress that have left the beneficiaries carryingmore than their share of cost cutting. Both Social Security and Medicare will beup for another "cost containment reform". See previous RAPA Bulletins for more de-tailed information on this subject.

Now is the time to write those letters to your congressmen, before the damage isdone. Tell them that you are tired of paying for the cost overruns-and the obesebudgets of the bureaucracies. Presently, the Administration is looking at a $6billion reduction in social security benefits. This is a drop in the bucket com-pared to some of the obnoxious and outrageous spending programs.

Make your views known, if you fail in this effort you can be sure of losing someof your earned benefits. YOU earned these so-called entitlement benefits!

FALLTRANS CANAL CRUISE

The Travel Company (Sunnyvale, CA) and Holland America-Westours had agreed tofurnish us 50 cabins for this cruise. I was informed on July 2nd that these cabinswere not available to us. The Travel Company blames Westours and Westours blamesthe Travel Company for the SNAFU.

After a week of intensive investigating and negotiations we still do not have thecabins for our cruise. It is apparent that both of these companies "screwed up".There is a clear breach of contractual obligations. However, it is my consideredjudgment that the best recourse is to cancel this cruise.

We are now in an excellent position to negotiate an attractive deal for a SpringTrans Canal cruise. We start negotiations next week.

WHAT CAN WE SAY? WE ARE SORRY TO DISAPPOINT ALL OF YOU! SEE YOU NEXT SPRING!

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THE DAY BEFORE

By Neuman E. Ramsey

Most of you have seen the TV production, THE DAY AFTER. In someinstances, a scaled down model of this is what confronts theAdministrator of a family estate. My efforts will have only onepurpose - to make the tax man scream "Where's the beef?" We areadvised by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to take advantageof all that the law gives us, just as the IRS people are advisedto take advantage of all that the law gives them.

The two worst enemies of the estate administrator are:

1. "My estate is not big enough to be concerned".

2. "I have a will leaving everything to my wife".

In a great many instances, neither of these is true: Your house,your farm, or any other assets you have, may have been purchasedmany years ago. Have you looked at the inflation of the last 30,20, or even 10 years ago? The fact that you paid X dollars forthese will remain your basis as long as you own them, but thenext time they change ownership, heirs or otherwise, their valuewill be their value on that day. And as far as a will is con-cerned, you should ask yourself some important questions: Whendid you make your last will? Was it in the state in which younow reside? A will in any state is valid as far as the U.S. gov-ernment is concerned, but don't overlook the fact that states maydiffer on their tax rates and requirements. The state can tiethis up just as surely as the IRS.

Perhaps this is a good time to discuss recent events. Not sincethe beginning of income, inheritance, and estate taxes has therebeen any law as significant as E.R.T.A., (The Economic RecoveryTax Act of September 11, 1981). For brevity, I shall comparesome features as a: old law and b: new law.

Marital Deductions

Old law: Marital deduction was limited to one half the estate or$250,000, whichever was greater. To anyone other than a spouse,it was limited to $60,000.

New law: Unlimited marital deduction.

It sounds like a simple "I have a will leaving everything to mywife" covers everything! But let's take a closer look.

Inheritance taxes, after deductions, begin at 30% and go up bybrackets to 70%. So, in many instances, this may be an injusticeto the heirs because of the "bracket creep". When the surviving

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spouse dies, this time without a marital deduction, the taxes onthe gross estate, now of both spouses, may be greater than thetaxes if each of them had paid on their half in the order of theirdemise, but it is not necessary to do either;

The Unified Credit

In all but very small estates, this provision of the new law(Effective January 1, 1982) is of greater importance than eventhe marital deduction. Whereas deductions are applied to thegross estate and then the taxes are computed, under this provi-sion the taxes are computed and then the credit is applied.

Here is the table:

YEAR OF DEATH UNIFIED CREDITSIZE OF ESTATE EXEMPTFROM FEDERAL TAX

1981 or before 0 $175,6251982 $ 62,800 225,0001983 79,300 275,0001984 96,300 325,0001985 121,800 400,0001986 155,800 500,0001987 and thereafter 192,800 600,000

Please note that a wise use of both the marital deduction plusthe unified credit results in making an estate entirely free ofall federal taxes up to twice the amounts in the table above.Before leaving the subject of wills and the urgency of updatingthem, both as to time and place, I have one more thought. Ipredict that a recent Supreme Court decision is going to "casta long shadow". This was the State of California vs. the SummaCorporation on the estate of Howard Hughes. There are threeconcerns: :

1. The date of the will (or in the absence of one, thedate of death) applies the tax rates to the laws inforce at that time, regardless of subsequent changesin the law.

2 Why was California the plaintiff? At the time of Mr.Hughes death, the inheritance tax in California wasa flat 24%, and between his demise and the settle-ment, this tax was eliminated as part of the taxrevolt known as Proposition 13. The result was thatCalifornia received $119,000,000, but after Proposi-tion 13, they would have received nothing.

3. The State of Texas received $50,000,000 because Mr.Hughes registered to vote in Texas in 1924 and never

superseded it anywhere. So, in changing states, thereare many "gray areas" that can bite you. Here are someexamples: Filing for Homestead exemption for yourresidence, voter registration, where your will was

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last made, even the address from which you filedyour income tax return. Can you imagine the IRS,all 50 states or any court not leaning on thisdecision without fear of contradiction?

Trusts

A common misconception is "I have lost all control of these assets"This used to be fairly accurate, but under the "new law" it isn'teven close. Hence the "Living Trust". They come in all sizesand colors. You are in the "left seat" during your lifetime,then your wife is there during her lifetime. So, always name analternate trustee in your will, trusts, or any other arrangement.The statistics show that very few couples both die at the sametime. The odds are much greater on the surviving spouse dyingwithout any subsequent action. Now nobody is in charge until thecourt says so. While the residue of your estate may go where youintended, it may be after a lot of people have picked your bones.

Within the family of trusts, my favorite is the "Qualified Ter-minal Interest Property", affectionately known as the "Q-TipTrust". This is how it works. In both your will and your wife's,you split your assets in half. Each names the other as the trusteeof these two trusts. Each names the one or more heirs to inherittheir half, and the heirs actually own it when that spouse dies.As long as the first one lives, they each have sole custody oftheir trusts. They may change, revoke, or modify. When the firstdies, the other receives all income, (and as necessary or desired,portions of the principal) from the others' trust. Thus, neitherhas taken anything from the other, except one: You have deter-mined the ultimate destination of these assets. The survivingspouse gets the income but cannot modify or terminate theseprovisions. Under the "old law" the only way to totally escapetaxability was that it then became the sole property of the sur-vivor, to do anything they wished. Once, in a speech, I proposedthis trust method, and one man, presumably a bachelor, said itsounded to him like I was trying to interfere with the standardof living of my wife's next husband. A very good observation!But my answer to that was: "Not so. I'm just making sure hegets his, one month at a time, just like I did."

Another useful tool is the "Clifford Trust". Essentially it isthe direct opposite of the above. In this one, the ownershipremains with the donor and the total income goes to a designatedrecipient for a specified number of years, then the principalreverts to the owner. But it has a "kicker". It must be ineffect for ten or more years, otherwise the taxes on all theincome in the accumulated years, with interest and penalties,may be collected from the original owner. I think this is use-ful only to younger people than we.

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Under the "old law", any changes in your will, trusts, ownership,etc., within three years of death, was regarded as a "deathwish",so all taxability reverted to the status as of three years before.Under the "new law", changes can be made all the way through yourlast day, if you know when that's going to be.

Gifts

Under the "old law", each spouse could give $3,000 to any numberof recipients each year, but under the "new law", the tax freelimits are now $10,000 per spouse per year and can be given toanybody: children, grandchildren or somebody you just met in thebar! I think the best uncontested tax shelter is the UniformGifts to Minors. Let's say you have a son to whom you would liketo make a capital contribution, as distinguished from Christmasor birthday. Not to be chauvinistic, let's say the son has ayoung daughter. To pass this amount to your son may be an injust-ice to him since he may be in a higher tax bracket than you. Butyou can give this asset to your granddaughter, with your son as"Custodian under the Uniform Gifts to Minors".

Now you have effectively accomplished many things. You have giventhis to your son when his budget is strained to its greatest limits:when daughter goes to college. You have assured some, most, or allof a college education. This depends on how big or how long theplan is in effect. You may actually have nothing invested in thiswhen you consider the taxes you or your son would have paid incomparison to hers.

Example: None up to $1,000 on earnings$121 on $3,400$244 on $4,400, etc.

These are the pluses for the first and second generation, andGrandpa got the satisfaction of a job well done. That's whatestate planning is all about. There are also some fringe benefitsin this method. Note that you have effectively carried a lifeinsurance policy equal to the gross amount, without anybody payingthe premiums. It was also achieved without anybody doing anythingdrastic, like dying! Of course, the granddaughter may elect towalk down the aisle in a veil instead of a cap and gown. What adowry !

Not everyone would choose to turn over a large sum to an 18 or 22year old, with no restrictions. An alternative is the "CliffordTrust", already discussed. Set it up in your son's name, with hisdaughter receiving the income with little or no taxes. This alsohas maximum security. During the ten years (and one day, to beexact), neither can touch the principal. At this time the prin-cipal reverts to your son.

Should you elect to use this method, in what soil should youplant the seeds? A good measurement is the old accountant'sstandby, the "Rule of 72". Simply divide 72 by the annual rate of

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return on anything and you know how long it will take to double.It's the mathematical result of "letting it ride". Example:

12% into 72 equals 6 years10% into 72 equals 7.2 years8% into 72 equals 9 years, etc.

Actually, you can do better, since this formula is based on annualcompounding. You can get daily compounding in money market funds,quarterly on dividends, and semi-annual on most bonds. Perhapsthe best feature is that it has no minimum deposit, and anyonecan add to it as funds become available.

You may almost ignore your retirement funds, both A and B. Theysuffer from a terminal illness - they die when you do. But theillness is not hereditary!

There is one item that is an estate matter. Many of us have aresidual "paid-up" life insurance policy, but it was paid for byTWA and is fully taxable. You may also have the optional insur-ance available at group rates, for which you paid the premiums.This goes directly to the beneficiary and is tax free. (Refer toyour Equitable statement).

Many of us have flown the snows in favor of the sun belt. Since1978, a once-in-a-lifetime profit on the sale of your principleresidence tax free up to $125,000. It must have been yourresidence for three of the last five years, and the owner mustbe over 55 (or one spouse must be over 55, if jointly owned).Here are two opposing examples:

1. You have a house for which you paid $50,000many years ago. You sell it for $175,000. Theprofit is tax free if you take the exemption.

2. You sell the same house for $60,000. You mayelect to pay the maximum of $2,000 in taxes.

In both these examples, you have used up your exemption if you'veused any part of it. Do you want the $2,000 now, or do you wantto keep the exemption in the kitty for future use?

All of the above is a glance at the "big canvas". Now, let usconsider some of the little items. These items may have littleor no economic impact, but they can drive the administrator ofyour estate "up the wall". These may include:

1. Checking, savings, or money market funds2. Safety deposit boxes3. Titles to automobiles4. Club memberships, etc.

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Due to the advantage of the original states that had communityproperty laws, "joint ownership" was a favored method. Withthe expanded marital deduction already discussed, this now hasfew advantages and may actually be a detriment. Many of us own twoor more cars. Are they titled individually or jointly? I'msure you're aware of some of the astronomical awards the courtshave been handing down in injury cases, (the happy hunting groundof some lawyers whose fees are based on a percentage). Thesolution is to title one car to each. In the event of an awardin excess of your insurance coverage, only the individual'sassets are at risk. In joint ownership, total assets of bothyou and your spouse are vulnerable, not to mention the estatesettlement. I was involved in an estate here in Florida whereboth cars were titled, registered, and insured in the husband'sname. When he died, both cars became the property of the estate.In Florida, all auto licenses expire on the owner's birthday, whichoccurred shortly after the owner's demise. The widow was advisedto rent a car rather than drive an un-owned , unlicensed, and un-insured car. She did this for two months, and this one item tookmore time and expense than those of far greater substance. Ionce told a client to go the one car, one spouse route and hesaid, "I'm not going to do that - she could sell her car!" Howfar you may choose to pursue any of these thoughts should dependentirely upon the relationship you enjoy with your "sweet patootie"or the "old battle ax", or whatever term of endearment you use.

Always keep all your important papers in one place, usually asafe deposit box to which both spouses have access. Some don'tdo this and papers turn up everywhere - and some never do. Therewas an estate I thought had been concluded in 1982. In July, Ireceived a letter from a friend of the deceased, enclosing aclipping from the local newspaper, advertising the deceased'sfarm for local auction for delinquent taxes. There was not, noris there now any evidence in the deceased's records to show thisownership.

In this area, there is no such thing as a final check list, sohere are some concluding thoughts:

1. Review your affairs with competent counsel.

2. Do this in your own town.

3. Do it NOW.

4. Review these things every few years or sooner,if there are substantial changes in the law.Think of it as the "ounce of prevention".

This dissertation is not meant to advise you on legal matters,but simply to alert you to the necessity of checking with those

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who are qualified. Remember, there is no "one size fits all".The great philosopher, Yogi Berra, said it best. Being comparedto some famous batter of a bygone day, he said, "Our similaritiesare different".

You can't take it with you, but you can put a forwarding nameand address on the package, whatever its size.

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SIXTH ANNUAL TARPA CONVENTIONMAY 8-10 1984

PENSION PLAN REPORT

FOLLOWING YEARS OF FRUSTRATION OUR EFFORTS TO RESTRUCTURE THEASSETS OF THE "B" PLAN HAVE FINALLY BORNE FRUIT. THE PILOTMEMBERS OF OUR INVESTMENT COMMITTEE, AL MUNDO AND CHARLIEWILDER, ALONG WITH JIM CARMACK, OUR INVESTMENT CONSULTANT, WILLDISCUSS THESE CHANGES AT THE BUSINESS MEETING ON MAY 9th. YOURAWARENESS OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN SHOULD ENHANCE ANDEXPEDITE THAT DISCUSSION.

In the first half of 1983 we made lots of money. In the secondhalf of 1983 we gave a good portion of it back. Your paycheckshave reflected these swings. For the year as a whole the fundgained 12.9%. The performance of the individual money managersis as follows:

MORGAN 21.6% STATE STREET 11.4% PUTNAM 7.1%

We opened 1984 with a unit value of $30.908 and, so far, ourinvestment experience in 1984 has been a continuation of thelosses suffered in the last half of 1983. The value of the unitat the end of March was $29.452 which means that your July checkwill be 4.712% less than you are presently receiving and 11.881%less than the fall of 1983. The good news is that all that badnews in the face of a booming economy demonstrated conclusivelythe need to restructure our "B" plan investments. The companyand pilot members of the investment committee have agreed on theactions needed and implementation is underway.

Our present managers Morgan, State Street, and Putnam will nowbecome 100% equity managers and their fixed income assets willbe used to employ three new firms namely: Meidinger AssetPlanning Services, Inc., Mellon Capital Management Corporation,and Leland O'Brien Rubinstein Associates, Inc. (which we willhenceforth refer to as LOR). Meidinger will be our fixed incomemanager and will manage a GIC (Guaranteed Insurance Contract)Portfolio. Mellon will manage an S&P 500 Index Portfolio. LORwill manage a hedging operation which will place a predeterminedfloor under our equity assets. The LOR system will be tested onthe S&P Index fund and on one half of the remaining equityassets. As soon as we see positive results it will be extendedto all equity investments. The fund will be apportioned in thefollowing percentages:

State Street 27.72%Putnam 22.20%Morgan 21.42%Meidinger 20.00%Mellon 6.20%LOR 2.46%

You now have the broad picture in front of you. The meeting on

May 9th should fill in the gaps and answer your specificquestions. I feel confident that we are headed in the rightdirection and that these changes, over a period of time, willgreatly enhance the performance of the "B" plan.

TWENTY NINTH ACTUARIAL VALUATION

The Annual Actuarial Valuation meeting of the Trust Annuity Plantook place on April 18th. The following numbers are as of12/31/83.

Active Members 3326Retired Members 992*Total Units Outstanding 2,253,361.616Total Accrued Assets $671,503,176.29Unit of Interest Value $30.908

*Includes 26 Joint Annuitants.

For the past six years we have used the UP-1984 Mortality Tableand our actual mortality experience has been about 72% of thatexpected - but, before you pat yourself on the back, ourexperience for the past two years has been 101% of thatexpected. Actual experience over the next several years shouldindicate whether an adjustment is necessary. There were nochanges recommended at this time.

" A " PLAN

So much for the "B" plan. The "A" plan has received muchattention of late and I can think of no better way to dispel themisconceptions that have existed than to refer you to theexcellent article* authored by Don Ulrich of the TWA MEC R&ICommittee. It appears in the March issue of the LANCET. Iwould advise each of you to secure a copy of that article andfile it away for future reference. Whenever things look gloomy,get it out and read it again. Those of you who attended lastyears convention should remember that Don attended on behalf ofthe R&I Committee. He has been invited to return for this yearsgathering.

***

Enough of the serious business. It's time for golf and all theother social challenges that the convention has to offer. I amlooking forward to seeing all of you once again.

* A copy of the articleby Don Ulrich followsRoy Van Etten's report.

Respectfully submitted ,

TWA Retired Pilots Committee

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The following article was copied from the March 1984 issueof the TWA Lancet the Flight Forum of the TWA MEC. TARPAgratefully acknowledges the source.

The TWA Pilot "A" Plan Guaranteeby Don Ulrich, TWA MEC R&I Comm.

With the number of bankruptcies and pension terminations thathave occurred during the past year or so, many members of thePilot "A" Retirement Plan - active and retired alike - haveexpressed their concern about the security of their retire-ment income once they have retired, should the Plansubsequently terminate. Because of these concerns, theRetirement Board, including company members, recently metwith The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the UnitedStates to examine the nature and security of retirementincome paid to retirees that is based on the existing CroupAnnuity Contract between TWA and Equitable.

The result of those discussions, as well as the language ofthe Contract, confirms the understanding of the RetirementBoard that an effective guarantee exists from Equitablealthough the Retirement Plan itself may be terminated.Without equivocation, Equitable said that it is at risk andis obliged to pay the monthly benefit under the terms of theGroup Annuity Contract, irrespective of any attempt by thePension Benefit Guarantee Corp. to reallocate the underlyingassets of those annuities for which notice has been given.

How this guarantee works may be better understood by describingsome aspects of the funding process. Each year TWA mustcontribute a certain sum of money, the amount determined byan actuary by some method he finds appropriate to theobjectives of the Retirement Plan, which will provide, overtime, the necessary monthly income for a member upon retire-ment. This money is placed in a variety of Trust Accountsfor the exclusive benefit of employees. Several of theseaccounts are maintained by Equitable. Furthermore, thesefunds are Plan Assets and can only be used according to theterms of the Retirement Plan or, where applicable, theGroup Annuity Contract.

One of the accounts at Equitable is of particular interest.It is their general asset account known as Pension Account "A".Pension Account "A" is a pooled account, a name used to describea very large fund comprised of assets from many pension plans.The assets attributed to the Pilot "A" Plan that reside with-in Equitable's Pension Account "A" are either committed oruncommitted funds. Only committed funds are used to provideretirement benefits for which a notice is given under theAnnuity Contract.

When a member actually retires - normal, early, disability,or deferred - TWA reports to Equitable that this person indeedis retiring and will have an annuity commence on that date.The Equitable, upon receiving this report, transfers to thecommitted portion of Pension Account "A" uncommitted assetssufficient to provide a lifetime benefit to that individualdetermined by the Plan and form of annuity the retiree haschosen. As evidence to the retiree that these events havetaken place, Equitable sends a notice to him promising topay the income stated in the notice. When there areinsufficient uncommitted assets in Pension Account "A" toprovide this benefit, Equitable will obtain the requiredfunds from the other Trust Accounts including the SeparateAccounts it manages.

If the Retirement Plan should terminate, the RetirementBoard believes and Equitable insists, the committed assetsin Pension Account "A" are not "Plan Assets" as defined byapplicable regulations pertaining to plan terminations. Anirrevocable commitment of funds has been made to pay retire-ment benefits to named participants according to the GroupAnnuity Contract between TWA and Equitable. Because thiscommitment is irrevocable, these assets are no longer "PlanAssets" subject to reallocation or benefit recalculation.Simply, Equitable owns the assets and Equitable assumes theobligation. The other assets in the various Trust Accounts,including Equitable's Separate Accounts, and the uncommittedassets in Pension Account "A", are "Plan Assets" withrespect to the rules on plan terminations. They are, there-fore, subject to the allocation and distribution prioritiesof ERISA.

Although the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. may yet challengethe assertion that an irrevocable commitment has been madeunder the terms of the Group Annuity Contract, proposedregulations concerning irrevocable commitments of assets ininsurance contracts are pending and should not adverselyaffect its status. There is no history that the PBGC hastaken any action in cases where similar insurance contractsexisted. Nevertheless, each retiree who has received anotice from Equitable that he is entitled to a certainretirement benefit described in that notice may enforce itagainst Equitable. That benefit should continue regardlessof what happens to the Retirement Plan or, for that matterTWA. This is the guarantee that Equitable acknowledges.

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

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The Active Retired Pilots Association of TWA

November 1, 1984

1985 DUES NOTICE

TARPA dues for 1985 are $20.00 and are due and payableJanuary 1, 1985. If you have a foreign mail address, add$10.00 for the extra mailing charges.

Make your check payable to TARPA. A dues payment envelopeaddressed to the Treasurer is included for your convenience.Your 1985 membership card is in the envelope. Please fillin your name and the date you paid your 1985 dues. Retainfor your records.

Dues are not required of Regular Members who are 75 yearsof age or older before January 1st. Please let us knowwhen you become 75 so our records will be up-to-date.

There are no dues for HONORARY MEMBERS.

To our Subscribers: Subscriber fees are $10.00 per calendaryear. Add an extra $10.00 if you have a foreign mail address.

If you have already paid for 1965 or do not owe dues, pleasedisregard this notice.

As of November 1, 1984, the following members have alreadypaid 1985 dues:

Bob Adickes Charles Lawson Herbert TraylorNorman Anderson A. B. Lewelling John TriceJack Baker Don McKenzie Claude WeaverJames Cochran Albert Mitchell Gene WeibelJerry Crockett Jim Morgan Jim WheelerSam Dietrich Russell Myers Elwood WittleJ. R. Eads Paul Olson Bill WintersteenBill Elsner Ralph Pusey Dub YoungbloodLarry Fauci J. J. QuinnDick Forristall John Richey Subscriber:R. W. Goldthrope John Stapler Ronald RublerRobert Hayes Ed StroscheinBill Higgins Al ThoralsenBob Kadoch Chuck TiseoBob Kieper George Toop

Thanks for your help and cooperation by paying your duesearly. In case the return envelope is misplaced or lost,the Treasurer's name and address is listed below.

Dean L. Phillips, TARPA Treasurer7218 Onda CircleTucson, AZ 85715

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In Memoriam

CAPTAIN GLENN E. BRAS died September 19 inKansas City. He was a pilot for TWA from1940 until his retirement in 1969. He wasborn in Okemah, Oklahoma, and had continuedranching interest in Oklahoma until recently.Glenn was 75 years old. He is survived byhis wife, Mary, and two daughters, Janeand Susan.

* * * * * * * * * *

Retired CAPTAIN FRANK L. DUBBS died on Sept-ember 29th after a lengthy losing battle withemphysema at the age of 66. Frank started out

with TWA as a passenger agent at STL in January of 1941. During thewar years he served as a Marine pilot, and in July of 1943 he andHeloise were married while he was based inFlorida. Frank rejoined TWA on December 6,1945 as a co-pilot and checked out to captainin 1953 while based at MKC. The family movedto LAX in 1959 where Frank flew as Captain onthe Connies and jets, including the L1011,until he took early retirement in November of1977.

Frank is survived by his wife, Heloise, theirchildren Susan Ludlow, Frank Dubbs III andJoanne Clark plus three grandchildren.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Glenn E. Bras

Frank L. Dubbs

Retired FLIGHT ENGINEER ALBIN A. BRODECKY passed away on September30th after a sudden onset of cancer, which lasted but two weeks.

Al was born in Howells, Nebraska, on May 14,1919. He and Doris were married in June of 1940and moved to California in January, 1941. Duringthe war years, he was a Douglas Service Representa-tive for Marine aircraft, based at El Toro. From1945 to 1949 he worked on the Hughes flying boatand on December 19, 1949 joined TWA as a flightengineer. He was based in NYC and SFO for a while,but did most of his flying out of LAX until hetook early retirement in March, 1978. Al's in-terests were with antique farm equipment. He issurvived by Doris and their daughter Judy, andone grandson.

Albin A. Brodecky * * * * * * * * * *- 23 -

In Memoriam

Ted Weaver

CAPTAIN GOODWIN T. "TED" WEAVER diedJuly 30, 1984. Ed Betts has writtena tribute to Ted, which is in TARPATALES, this issue, beginning onPage 9.

* * * * * * * * * *

George S. Felt

Retired CAPTAIN GEORGES. FELT died on July 7,1984. He was 73.

* * * * * * * * * *

CAPTAIN JAMES D. (DEAN) OFFICER, 73,passed away August 9 at St. Luke'shospital in Kansas City. He was born inBlythedale, Missouri, and had lived inKansas City before moving to Paola, Kansas,in 1968. Dean retired from TWA in 1970.He leaves his wife, Iola Rose, and threedaughters, Judy, Caroline and Bridget.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dean Officer

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In Memoriam

George L. Whiting

Retired FLIGHT ENGINEER GEORGE L. WHITINGdied in August, 1984. He was 61 years old.

George was a former superintendent ofF/E's and was NY-INTL Flight Engineer ofthe year in 1972.

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

FRANK B. McGREGOR passed away on August 23rdat the age of 63. Frank started out with TWAin May of 1941 as an apprentice mechanicand during the company's ICD operation wasa mechanic and inspector. He became a FlightEngineer on May 30. 1946, the same month thathe and Lynne were married. They had threedaughters, twins Peggy and Patty, and Nancy.Frank's interests were tinkering in thegarage and one of his pet projects, whichtook two years, was building a replica of a1920 Mercedes from a kit. In 1966 he was thedomicile flight engineer of the year for SFOwith a tribute to his ability to pass hisbrand of professionalism and excellentknowledge to new flight engineers. Frankspent most of his flying career based at SFOalthough from 1980 until he had a triple by-pass operation inMarch of 1983, he was flying the 747 polar out of LAX. Hesuffered stomach complications and retired in May of 1984, andthree months later passed away due to liver failure. He issurvived by Lynne and their three daughters.

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

Frank B. McGregor

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In Memoriam

Paul J. Jones

PAUL J. JONES, 65 years old, died

September 11 at the Bethany Medical

Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

Paul was a TWA Flight Engineer for

37 years before he retired in 1979.

He was born in Argyle, Missouri, and

is survived by his wife, Patience,

and two daughters, Donna and Kay.

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

There is a destiny that makes us brothers;

None goes his way alone.

All that we give to the life of others

Comes back into our own.

- Author Unknown

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

LETTERS TO THE SECRETARY

From DICK FORRISTALL: "It will be one year ago on September 1that I flew my last trip with TWA. It was my last trip butI didn't know it at the time. I woke up next morning with aneye infection that grounded me for the next month.

"Some of the best years were those spent as GMF at Kennedy.They were rewarding in that I got to know so many of our pilotson an intimate basis. They are a dedicated group and TWA canbe proud of them."

Dick adds that he'll try to make the TARPA Convention next year.

* * * * * * * * * * *

From Ray Terry, Box 144, Ossipee, NH 03864: RAY TERRY writesthat he and his wife, Julie, are operating the Acorn Lodge inOssipee, New Hampshire. This is in beautiful country in theWhite Mountains.

* * * * * * * * * * *

From WERNER ROMANELLO: Longtime Rome Dispatcher Werner Roman-ello is a new subscriber to TARPA TOPICS and I know that manyof our members are glad to have a report on him.

"As a very dedicated Flight Operations man, I feel honoredand happy to still be in contact with the TWA pilots!" Werneradds that he elected to take early retirement when Rome Dis-patch was shut down, and that he is now active in a spareparts business associated with general aviation.

* * * * * * * * * * *

From LYLE BOBZIN (and what TARPA is all about): Nick Nicholscalled me, said he'd heard Dutch Holloway was in a hospital inVentura, California, but didn't know the hospital. I calledFrank Busch, explained the situation, and Frank said he wouldtake care of it. Frank called all the hospitals, located Dutchin the Californian, Ventura Convalescent Hospital, 4020 LomaVista, Ventura, California 93003. Frank Busch has now gone tosee Dutch at least every other day. After I called Al Lusk,Al and his wife have visited Dutch often. Frank reports Dutchis getting along well, unfortunately has lost the use of oneleg, which is hoped to be a temporary ailment. The importantpoint here is, this was all done in a matter of a few hours,from rumor to reality. Dutch was and is lonesome; now FrankBusch, the Lusks, and others are helping to remedy that situation.

*

�

* * * * * *.* * * *

- 27 -

FROM CLEO MATTKE , 13147 PaintBrush Drive, Sun City West ,,Arizona 85375: "Enclosed findpicture of me and one of myhobbies. I play in a polkaband and Sun City Concert Band.Had not played for forty years,but do enjoy it very much. Twopractices a week and variousengagements throughout theyear. All are charity and nocheck rides.

Retirement is great! Glad Ihad so many years to practiceit. (Retirement, not the horn.)"

* * * * * * * * * *

FROM JOE PETERSON: "I recentlyran across a poem written by myGrandmother about 1945 and dis-covered in 1984 among her papers.The poem was intended for me,and is shared with you and ourfriends for its inspiration."

To one who flies above the clouds

High in the distant blue

The Christmas Star must gleam more bright

Than other starlings do.

As it once stood above for Him

Who died for me and you,

Then let it be your pilot

Your life to guide more true.

Mary Kelly Damron - circa 1945

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

Jim Brogdon says he is approaching Medicare age at the speedof sound and says he has enjoyed Dave Richwine's articles onsupplemental insurance, and has eagerly sought information onthe subject. He says others might be interested in more infor-mation on Medigap insurance and says Senior World publishes a

- 28 -

supplemental insurance comparison guide which costs $2.00 andcan be ordered from:

Senior World ReprintP. O. Box 1565El Cajon, California 92022

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

WHERE TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT RAPA MEDIGAP INSURANCE

TARPA TOPICS gets an occasional inquiry about RAPA SupplementalMedical coverage and A. T. says he gets quite a few, so here'sthe address:

Mr. Howard WinceleBeltran/Alexander and AlexanderP. O. Box 558196Miami, Florida 33255-9990(305) 279-7870

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

DEHAY'S AXIOM:

Simple jobs always get put off because there will betime to do them later.

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

MILES' LAW:

Where you stand depends on where you sit.

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

CORNUELLE'S LAW:

Authority tends to assign jobs to those least able todo them.

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

- 29 -

FORMER TARPA PRESIDENT HONORED

A. T. Humbles received a note from his friend Charles Hutchesonof the FAA saying that an intersection in the DCA area hadbeen named for John Ferguson, former President of TARPA. TheUSA TODAY building is a high rise building on the west bank ofthe Potomac. Because of many complaints about planes flyingclose to the building, John Ferguson drew up an approachprocedure to solve the problem. The FAA approved and publishedthe approach and named the outer fix FERGI for John.

* * * * * * *

A special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to CAPTAIN LEW GOSS, who will be 90on December 26, 1984!

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

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"DUTCH" HOLLOWAY REMINISCES

I learned to fly at Chateauroux, France. It was a French school.The instructor knew no English, and I could speak no French. Hemanaged to get along by slamming the stick from one side to theother. You could almost say I was batted into flying. Theplanes we flew at Chateauroux were the Caugron. They were avery primitive design, having been designed in 1911. They usedwarped wings for lateral control instead of ailerons. I soloedin four hours and twenty minutes, then went to the Caugron withHone Rotary engines, which were lighter and much easier to handle.Had to spend about 25 hours to get my Brevet, which is a Frenchword for license. You had to pass certain tests and then wewere licensed as Military Aviators.

From Chateauroux I went to the American Advanced School atIssoudon. There we were flying Nieuports. We started out on the21 meter, and went to 19 and finally to 15 meter. The meter hadto do with the square meters wing surface. The 15 meter wereused for combat in the early stages of the war. At Issoudon, Iwas classified as a Pursuit Pilot. Pursuit was what they calledFighter Squadrons in those days. I was assigned to the 141stSquadron. Spad was a French fighter and very strong. It couldnot maneuver very well, but it stayed together. We were stationedat an airport just outside of Toul, France. We patrolled theMoselle sector of the front. Due to the long training period,I did not get out until the last few days of the war. As aresult, I only had forty hours of offensive patrol before thewas was over.

After the war, we were sent to replace the 94th in Koblenz,Germany, in the army of occupation. We stayed at Koblenz forabout six months and then came back to the United States. Koblenzis a very fortified German city.

After returning to the United States, I was discharged at thePresidio in San Francisco, where I had enlisted. I wanted tobuy a plane of my own. Earl P. Cooper, the old race driver,had bought a number of Standards. The Standard was a much betterplane than the Jenny. They used a Hall-Scott engine that per-sistently caught on fire, so they side-tracked the Standards andconcentrated on the Jennys, which used their own OX-5 engine.Cooper revised the Standards by revising the engine bed and puttingthe OX-5's in them. The plane I bought cost a little over threethousand dollars. I flew it to my home town of Bakersfield, Cal-ifornia, where I had arranged for a flying field. I workedBakersfield for a longtime, as business was very good. Paidfor the plane in about six weeks. I went to Bakersfield inMarch of 1920 and stayed there until late June, when I flew backto Oakland, where I decided to put a different engine in my

TARPA TALES PAGE 1

Standard. The engine was a Navy version of the OX-5. It hada half inch larger bore and two magnetos instead of one on theold OX-5, and put out 100 horsepower instead of 90. It made amuch better plane. When the weather cooled off I started backdown the valley, beginning at Lodi, and stopped at county fairsand other places. When I got back to Bakersfield I decided togo to Santa Barbara for the winter and used a small field theyhad at Santa Barbara. Business was very good. I had occasionto meet the Loughead brothers, Malcolm and Allan They were finepeople. Malcolm had just invented the four wheel hydraulic brake.He had a stripped down car to demonstrate it. They also developedthe molded wood fuselage that they used on all the planes untilthey started making all metal. The fuselage was used on severalplanes. The Loughead boys were very industrious people. Theyhad built a two engine plane that they used for passenger carry-ing in front of the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara. AllanLoughead later on became a good friend. At that time John North-rop, who later on became a designer and builder, was working forthem as a draftsman.

I stayed in Santa Barbara the winter of 1920 and part of 1921,then I sold my Standard and bought a flying boat. There was alarge fresh water pond just south of Santa Barbara. I intendedto carry passengers, but the pond was fresh water and the planehad considerable more draft than it would have in sea water, sothe pond was not large enough. After I assembled the flyingboat, I flew it to Catalina Island in April of 1921. Three mencame down to meet me. I asked them who I might see about gettingthe flying concession there. They smiled and said they did notthink I would need to look further. One was William Wrigley,who owned the island. The other was Patrick, who was the presi-dent of the Santa Catalina Island Company and D. M. Renton, whowas manager of the island. I got the flying privilege at Cata-lina in 1921. It was a grand place. I had more fun and mademore money than any time of my life. I got "Saturday rich"and thought I was in love and sold out which was a big mistake.After I left Catalina, I flew at various places like Balboa andSanta Cruz, but no place could compare to the pleasant surround-ings at Avalon. I continued to work at various places until Iwent to work for Western Air Express in the summer of 1928.

I was flying Fokker Tri-Motors between Los Angeles and San Fran-cisco. Later the route was extended to Albuquerque, New Mexico,and for a long time I flew the Tri-Motor between Los Angelesand Albuquerque. TWA, TAT and a small eastern outfit calledPittsburgh Air Navigation joined to make a company called Trans-continental and Western Air. We continued to fly to Albuquerqueand later on we extended the route to Kansas City, using theTri-Motor. TAT was using tri-motor Fords - all metal. Theywere a much better airplane, although slightly slower than theFokker. We changed over to the tri-motor Fords. At that timethe outfit was called Transcontinental and Western Air, which

TARPA TALES PAGE 2

had very little meaning outside of the United States. Whenthey became more extended they changed their name to TWA, andcontinued to fly to Kansas City and later on extended the flightto New York. I flew for TWA for 26 years until I reached theage of 60, which was mandatory retirement.

During World War II a part of TWA joined the Air Transport Com-mand. I flew about 70 ocean crossings while in that service.We would usually go from New York to Gander, Newfoundland, andthen to Meeks Field, Iceland, and then on to Prestwick, Scotland.At first we did not fly westbound to cross the North Atlantic, sowe continued our flight on to Marrakech, French Morocco; fromthere we went to Dakar, on the western bulge of Africa. Fromthere we flew across the south Atlantic to the bulge on Brazil,which was Natal, or Fort Aliza. From there we went to Belemwhich is on the equator and right on the Amazon River. FromBelem we flew to Georgetown, then on to Puerto Rico, on to Miamiand back to Washington where I was stationed. Howard Hall, whowas also a captain with TWA, originated the idea of pressurepattern flying, and we used that to fly westbound to cross thenorth Atlantic. Pressure pattern flying was made possibleby the radio altimeter, which told the true altitude over theocean. This, compared to the barometric altimeter, told us ifwe were flying into a high or low pressure area, each with theirindividual circulation pattern. We kept our position known bythe newly invented Loran. Later on, when the traffic increasedwe had to stay on a given route which made pressure patternflying a thing of the past. During WW II we made many trips.As the war went along in Europe we flew to Bermuda, then on to theeasternmost island of the Azores, then on to Casablanca. Fromthere we went to Tripoli and on to Cairo, which was usually ourdestination. On a few occasions we went as far east as India.

When the war in Europe was over we changed our route to fly onto Paris, Rome and Athens. From there we went south to Cairo.When the Air Transport Command was finished, I went back todomestic domicile and flew the four engine Lockheed CONSTELLATIONfrom San Francisco to Chicago non-stop. I did that the lastfive years I was with the company until I retired. This made39 years of active flying before I retired.

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

DC-3 ON INTERNATIONAL?

WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MYSTERY?

SKYLINER Associate Editor Anne Sanders sent Ed Betts an article(origin not stated) by Robert J. Saunders. Mr. Saunders is re-tired after a career with the RAF and various civilian operators.

The article says that on Saturday morning, January 10, 1948,

TARPA TALES PAGE 3

Mr. Saunders was co-pilot on an RAF Dakota (DC-3) which tookoff from RAF Station Fayid bound for El Adam on the Libyanborder.

Engine failure resulted in the right engine separating from thewing, and causing a forced landing in the desert. The four mancrew survived.

They were chagrined when an airplane passing in the distancefailed to see a flare which they fired. They were well awarethat some crews downed in the desert were visited by thievesand murderers.

They were pleasantly surprised when a plane suddenly swoopedover the crash site. It was a DC-3 with TWA painted on the tail.The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Martin, recognized it as belongingto an American company "based at Cairo West", he said. Aftercircling the crash site, the TWA DC-3 flew away and later thesite was circled by the RAF.

The crew was rescued about dark by a squad of Egyptian soldierswho thought from the report they got from the TWA DC-3 that thecrew was American.

Mr. Saunders continues: "That night on the roof of our hotelin the heart of Cairo, we toasted our friends in TWA who foundus and were thoughtful enough to go back and drop supplies incase we were still there. We returned to the Canal Zone thenext day and shortly arrived in England.

"Over the years I've spoken to many TWA crew members, askingthe name of that pilot. When I finally did learn his name, ona TWA flight from New York to Las Vegas in 1972, I was also toldthat he had died. I never had a chance to thank him - and nowI find that I have forgotten his name."

Assuming that Mr. Saunders is correct in believing that it wasa TWA DC-3 that aided his rescue (and he ought to know), thestory begs some answers. Do you know anything about a TWA DC-3operation in Cairo in 1948? Could it have been a contractoperation providing services for an oil company or otherEgyptian based company? Finally, who were the pilot and co-pilotof the TWA DC-3?

If you can add anything to this interesting story, please writeyour Editor.

TARPA TALES PAGE 4

50 YEARSAGOLINE SQUALLS

PioneeringThe new Northrop Gamma, full stream-

lined and fastHad finished a test hop; completed at

last.The first load of mail would be hers that

dayOver the transcontinental route of TWA.The weather was stormy throughout the

courseBut the mail would go through: a mat-

ter of course.The motor was warmed and the pilot

climbed inA race against time determined to win.The prop bit deep as he gave it the gunAnd it leaped from the ground with a

charging run.Then clearing the mountains and head-

ing eastThe ship leveled off and the speed in-

creased;The god of wind saw this challenging

steed;

And unloosed his wrath to stop suchspeed ;

But regardless of effort combined withmight,

The plane continued its unerring flight.Six hours and a half of this terrific strainFound still as relentless, both pilot and

plane.Then shortage of gas forced them to

yieldAnd replenish the tanks at the KC field.Six minutes were lost as shown by the

log,And they were off again in a heavy fog.Fighting for hours with an iron willThe ship controlled by a master's skill;No sight of land to check the courseFighting the storm with terrific force.The mail was carried for hours "blind,"Still forging ahead; no thoughts behind.Then into the mountains; "hell's

stretch" was gone,

The pride of the mail lines thundered on.Then Newark ahead, the race was wonAs the pilot eased down and closed the

gun.Then landing smoothly; no bumps or

shocksThey taxied up to the waiting blocks.The mail was unloaded with the greatest

speedTo satisfy a growing public need.The pilot waited while the speed was

checkedSmiling when told the records he'd

wrecked.To him goes no glory no crowds acclaimA service to man full worthy of fame.But again when that cry for more speed

' holds sway,The cry will be answered by TWA.

C. C. ChamblinMaintenance Dept.

TARPA TALES

The Airplane's Giftto Humanity

Thirty years from now—what avista of thought opens before us.Idealism reborn — the God-givengifts of our great inventive mindsspread for the benefit of all human-ity. The airplane—television—newdiscoveries in science—these are theheritage of the children of the earth.

The youth of tomorrow will get hiseconomics and his geography fromthe cabin of an airplane flying tenthousand feet above the earth's sur-face and cruising at a speed of fivehundred miles an hour. From thisbroad vantage point, you can notfail to be impressed by the unlimitednatural wealth, unrolling beneathyour eyes, in all its tremendous sig-nificance, in all its capacity to makea great nation self-sustaining. Thisis the gift of the airplane to human-ity and the enlargement of man'ssympathies, the greatening of hiscapacity to see big things in the big.

The grandeur of our country cannever be adequately sensed till onegets, not a bird's-eye view, but, anintelligent, awakened human-flightview of its superb extent, its un-paralleled possibilities.

Excerpt from Bank of America'sRadio Program April 17. 1934"Leaders of Tomorrow"

We thank G. R. "Parky"Parkinson for contri-buting this materialand the "Last Saluteto the Ford" fromLINE SQUALLS of fiftyyears ago.

PAGE 5

LINE SQUALLSG. E. EVERETT, Editor

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc.Vol. 2 SEPTEMBER, 1934 No. 9

Last Salute to the Ford —Like faithful old fire horses, unshod

and retired to a life of ease amid greenpastures, a fleet of veteran tri-motoredairplanes this month is facing retire-ment after almost a decade of activeservice on the mid-transcontinental air-way between New York and Los An-geles.

The airplanes are the all-metal Fordswith which Transcontinental & WesternAir, The Lindbergh Line, inauguratedthe first coast to coast passenger servicein 1929. Some of the veteran planessaw active service before that date onMaddux Air Lines between Los Angelesand San Francisco. Their retirement hasbeen foreshadowed for a year or more bythe appearance along the airways ofthe TWA Douglas Airliner, the latestcreation in the world of aeronautics.

Thousands of travelers made theirfirst flights in the sturdy old Fords;thousands of air line mechanics have areal, almost personal affection for the'tin Geese as they have been called.Sturdy, dependable and with thousandsof miles of flying still remaining inthem, they have never, of themselves,caused a serious accident or a fatality.Like so many man-made machines theyhave merely served their time andcan no longer compete in matters ofspeed, comfort, passenger and cargo ca-pacity and general all-round perfor-mance, with the younger, but alreadyseverely-tested Douglas Airliner withwhich TWA is now operating its coastto coast service.

The retired airplanes can look backupon a career of service not surpassedby any other vehicle of modern trans-portation. Although there were onlyabout two hundred Ford tri-motor planesmanufactured, their total flying mileagereaches into the millions: the totalnumber of passengers they have carriedmust be close to the million mark. Theysaw service on every major airway inthe United States and in many foreigncountr ies. The hum of their three radialmotors was familiar to city and ruraldweller throughout the world.

The Fords were, at times, adventur-ers as well as prosaic carriers of pas-sengers, mail and express over the reg-ularly established airways. They haveexplored the Polar regions and theyhave pioneered the aerial routes alongthe Equator and across the lofty Andes.Some, among them, have military re-cords.

They were fast flying machines inthe early days of commercial aviationin the United States. Today, their cruis-ing speed of 120 miles an hour has been

(Cotinued on p 2)

(Contributed by G. R. 'Parky ' Parkinson)

TARPA TALES PAGE 6

2 ■ TWA

exceeded by about 60 per cent by thelarger, more comfortable Douglas. Inits best days the Ford made the trans-continental crossing in slightly morethan 24 hours; the Douglas today makesthe same flight in less than 16 hours.

Their capacity of twelve passengerswas considered ample in 1929, and thenoise of their three engines made con-versation in the cabins difficult, almosti mpossible. Today, the Douglas Airlinerscarry fourteen passengers at almost 200miles an hour and the two powerfulmotors of the Douglas make so littlenoise conversation is carried on in anordinary tone of voice.

Even on the earth, man and beastrecognize the difference between Fordand Douglas. The Fords frequentlyfrightened livestock and chickens withthe roar of their motors while the Doug-las with its "geared" propellers andsound-deadened motors passes overheadwithout notice.

There was a total of 1275 horsepoweravailable in the three engines on theFord—powerful pieces of aeronauticmachinery in those days. Today theDouglas has only' two motors but thetotal horsepower is 1420. The Douglascan fly, fully loaded on only one of itsmotors; the Ford could fly on two ofits motors. Under favorable conditionsthe Ford could climb to an altitude ofabout 16,000 feet; the Douglas, withitssupercharged engines and itscontrol-lable pitch propellers, cruises normallyat about 14,000 feet.

In the Ford, the pilot had a few me-chanical and navigating instruments toinform him of the plane's performance;his throttles were the only means hehad of varying his cruising speed. Inthe Douglas the pilot has a vast array ,of perfected instruments, each of whichtell a specific story. He regulates hisspeed by several methods—increasingor decreasing his altitude, changing his

propellers from low to high "gear"(pitch) and increasing or decreasingthe pressure under which the air passesthrough the carburetor.

The Fords landed at one predeter-mined speed; the Douglas pilot, bymeans of the "air brakes" (sometimescalled flaps), controls the landing speedwithin specific limits and needs muchless area to make his landing. The Fordhad a cruising range of about 500 milesat the outside; the Douglas can fly 1300miles without refueling—a range suf-ficient to fly around any storm area.

Although comfortable, according tothe aeronautic standards of 1929, theFord cabins were a bit cramped, partic-ularly for tall passengers. The Douglaswas designed for the comfort of the six-footer who can stand erect with his haton and not touch the ceiling. Passengerchairs in the Fords were adjustable tothree positions; Douglas chairs are ad-justable to any comfortable position andare reversible. The Douglas cabin is, inthe truest sense, air conditioned.

Today, along the TWA airway, theFords sit shorn of their motors lookingforlorn and forgotten outside the hang-ars from which they have been removedto make room for the more modernDouglas. Many a mechanic has beenseen to slap a rugged Ford fuselage asif in farewell. Some have eulogized theold veteran in poetry.

Enthusiastically received by passen-gers and air line personnel alike, theDouglas is prepared to carry on wherethe Ford left off, the lessons learnedfrom millions of miles of flying beingbuilt into the able successor of the TinGoose.

The driveway in front of the KansasCity Base is completed, marking theend of the mud and dust through whichvisitors had to drive or walk.

TARPA TALES PAGE 7

TED WEAVERTARPA TALES PAGE 8

GOODWIN T. "TED" WEAVER

By Ed Betts

TWAers were saddened by the death of retired Captain Goodwin T.Weaver on July 30th this year. "Ted", as he was known to allof us, literally spent his entire adult life, a span of sixtyfour years, flying airplanes that varied from the surplus trainersof WW I to TWA's most modern Constellation. He was truly apioneer in civil aviation, and a very important part of TWA'sroots.

Ted was born on February 17, 1899, in Indianapolis and attendedthe various school systems there, including one year of college.His best grades were in math and the sciences, and he was anadept craftsman with woodworking and repairing engines. Ted'sfirst interest in aviation was using his talents to design andbuild model planes which, according to Ted, were good flyingmachines. He was all signed up and prepared for military dutyin November of 1918, but the armistice was declared on the sameday that he was to report, so he returned to a job in an engin-eering office.

One Sunday in the summer of 1919 Ted rode his motorcycle to thelocal airfield to watch the airplanes perform that were ownedby the Indianapolis Aerial Association. Their fleet consistedof two planes: a three place Avro with a 110 HP Le Rhone engineand a JN4C (Curtiss Canuck) with an OX-5 engine. At that timethey were giving rides that would bring in as much as $15 for aten minute hop. On one approach the Avro made a poor landingthat tore off the tail skid and smashed a number of pieces inthe wooden structure. Since it was a Sunday and no shop wasopen for repairs, the plane was lost for the day as well as itspotential revenue.... except that Ted came to the rescue and of-fered to take the broken pieces home to his shop for immediaterepairs. Ted soon had the plane in flyable shape and the com-pany's president was so impressed that he offered him a job asmechanic with the same salary as his engineering job ($35.00 aweek) plus flying lessons. Ted accepted. He soloed that summerand had the JN4C turned over to him as "his ship".

Ted described his early barnstorming days as pretty rough, butit was fun flying and good experience, especially picking yourown cow pastures or other suitable fields to land, as there werefew airports. Disaster overtook the financially strapped companyin the fall of 1921 when another pilot cracked up the JN4C, andon the same night, the hangar burned to the ground destroyingthe Avro. Ted purchased the wrecked plane for $300 and spentthe rest of that winter rebuilding it. The following spring Tedwas in business for himself with plane #1. Business was goodand for the following four years the Weaver Air Service continued

TARPA TALES PAGE 9

to grow to a total of five planes in the fleet. The flyingconsisted of anything that would make a buck: stunts, wingwalking, plane changing, car to plane changing along with pass-enger carrying, instruction and aerial photography.

In 1924 Ted had plans of building his own plane that would bemore adaptable for the work that they were doing, such as a splitaxle ship that could land and take off in deep weeds or grasssafely. It was one of the first planes in the country that wasbuilt with steel tubing in the fuselage. Ted had it flying thefollowing year, it was a success and he immediately made plansto go into production. He had lined up the needed financialbacking and was near to setting up a plant when a series of fatalcrashes that involved some of his pilot friends made it look toodiscouraging and maybe aviation wasn't that safe an occupation.Ted decided to quit the business and head for California.

Ted's next career was with Standard Oil of California as a sur-veyor and draftsman, working in the rugged hills and terrain nearTaft, California. It didn't take Ted long to visualize how mucheasier the survey work would be if they could coordinate withaerial maps. The company's Board of Directors was interested,but felt that aviation was too risky an adventure for them to beinvolved with, preferring to contract for such services. Thecompany's chief-geologist, Walter English, was also interestedand agreed to supply the financial backing if Ted would do thework. They formed the Continental Air mapping Company in 1927,which consisted of two war surplus DeHaviland DH-4's purchasedfrom the U. S. Air Mail Service, leased hangar space at RogersAirport on Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles (where the MayCompany store is located today) and an office for developingtheir film work, etc. The DH-4 was powered by a 400 HP Libertymotor which made it ideal for the mapping operation as it couldclimb to 18,000' in thirty minutes and have enough fuel forcruising for five hours, with a camera man plus his equipmentthat weighed 175 pounds.

English quit his job at Standard to work full time with the map-ping company, and by early 1928 Ted decided to split up and wentto work for another aviation oriented company also based atRogers Airport. In later years two other future TWA pilots alsoworked for the mapping company, "Hob" Hoblit and Eugene Gerow.Ted's new flying job was once again passenger hops, charters,instruction and movie work. He was among the small airforce ofpilots hired for the filming of Howard Hughes' epic "Hell'sAngels", flying a German Fokker D7.

It was during this period that he met Atha (Dot) Corbell andthey were married on July 16, 1928. In later years they hadtwo daughters, Barbara and Pat, and in the next generation thereare five grandsons. With the responsibilities of family life,Ted looked for a steady job in the flying business.

TARPA TALES PAGE 10

Maddux Airlines had been flying out of the same Rogers Airportand on January 1st, 1929, had embarked on a huge expansion pro-ram with a fleet of modern Fords as well as moving to the GlendaleAirport. D. W. "Tommy" Tomlinson had been hired as the VicePresident of Operations and was looking for experienced pilots.Ted's checking out on the tri-motor giant consisted of two takeoffsand landings with Tommy and he was all set to go to work, whichofficially was the date of his first trip on the line on April25, 1929. At that time Ted was the 17th pilot on their senioritylist. Ted's original pilot license was #6591 and signed by OrvilleWright, his transport license was #2734. Maddux was, at the time,flying to San Diego and Caliente, Mexico as well as to the northto San Francisco.

In late 1929 Maddux merged with the new TAT system (48 hourscoast-to-coast, with night travel by train) and Ted was trans -

ferred to STL to fly the route west to Waynoka, Oklahoma via MKCand ICT. The next merger, between TAT-Maddux and Western AirExpress to form T&WA, found Ted and Dot moving again, this timeto Newark. None of the airlines had flown east of Columbus, somuch work had to be done before operations began, including thesurvey work by Charles Lindbergh, John Collings, Bob Leroy andTed. It was during this period that a close and lasting friend-ship was established between "Slim" Lindbergh and Ted Weaver.

Ted flew the inaugural T&WA eastbound flight from Columbus toNewark; among the passengers was Amelia Earhardt. Anotherfrequent traveler by air was Will Rogers, a very congenialpassenger to have aboard and one of aviation's greatest boosters.

It had been a practice started with Maddux by Tomlinson to haveexperienced pilots alternate one day in the office, acting asdispatchers to keep the pilots advised of weather forecasts andconditions, a day or two of flying the line and then a day off.T&WA also adopted this procedure and Ted was the first assignedto EWR, working in the operations office and flying the company'sfleet of Fords and single-engine mail planes.

Some of the stories of Ted's ingenuity are legends among thepilots of that era, such as how T&WA often had planes landing atEWR when ceilings were reported that forced all of the otherairlines to divert to alternates. The Weaver's home just hap-pened to be located directly under the northeast leg of the NewBrunswick radio range that served the area, but was not locatedat the airport and was useless so far as an instrument approachbecause the pilot had no positive way of identifying his exactposition (such as a fan marker, etc). Ted would be in the officetalking to the pilot on the radio...Dot was outside of theirhouse with the telephone and acted as the marker; the pilotwould fly out the range leg until over the house and Dot wouldrelay the information to the pilot via Ted. A procedure turnwould be made and, when once again established over the Weaverhouse, the pilot would take up a pre-determined heading towards

TARPA TALES PAGE 11

the airport and make a letdown. It worked, and on one occasiontwo Alpha pilots were low on fuel and considering bailing outwhen Ted talked both of them into trying the approach.

When Major A. D. Smith left EWR to assume the head of the Mount-ain Division, in 1932, Ted assumed his former duties as head ofthe Eastern Region Division. This lasted until the infamous airmail cancellation in early 1934. This was the period when TWAmade aviation history, first with the introduction of the proto-type DC-1 and then with the production model DC-2.

Jack Frye and company, including Eddie Rickenbacker, had madethe headlines with a record-breaking flight across the countrywith the DC-1 on the eve of the mail cancellation. Jack Fryemade even better time when the mail was resumed using the sleekNorthrop "Gamma" Weaver was on duty for both flights withweather advisories, etc. When the DC-1 arrived in EWR, Tedhad the pleasure of checking himself out in the new plane, andflew it westbound to Columbus on the return trip to MKC.

Among Ted's hobbies in those years was photography and some ofhis color movies are one of a kind classics, such as Lindberghpiloting the DC-1 while Jack Frye is pumping the hydraulichandle to raise or lower the landing gear.

1934 saw the Weavers moving to MKC, with Ted a supervisor pilotflying the DC-2's west to ABQ, and a year later it was anothermove back to Burbank. This, however, didn't last long as Ted'sexpertise as a dispatcher was urgently needed to set up a newsystem of dispatching and flight planning (then called CentralControl) at the company's MKC home office. T&WA had lost aDC-2, with Senator Bronson Cutting among the passengers, andpreliminary investigation by the authorities had been criticalof past dispatching procedures. T&WA adopted the new procedures,as outlined by Ted, long before they became mandatory by theCAA in 1938. These included signed releases where minimum fuels,alternates, etc., were agreed to between the pilot and the dis-patcher. Ted was also among the first to receive a license fordispatching when this became a requirement in 1938.

In 1944, after nearly fifteen years of management positions anda lot of "desk flying", Ted bid back to Burbank to fly the line,DC-3 flights to ABQ. For the next fifteen years it was funflying for Ted, especially when the sleek new Constellations wereintroduced in the post war years. He was #3 on the pilot senior-ity list, behind "Mo" Bowen and John Collings, when he retiredin March of 1959...one month beyond age 60, as it wasn't an FAArequirement at the time, just by ALPA contract.

Ted retired from TWA, but not from flying as he soon bought atwo place Cessna 140 that kept him busy with his flying forpleasure as well as keeping the plane airworthy. At one timewhen the plane needed a major overhaul, he dismantled the wings

TARPA TALES PAGE 12

and towed it to his backyard where he practically rebuilt theplane from scratch. Even after Ted could no longer pass aflight physical, in 1983, he still continued to fly his planeas long as there was a qualified pilot on board. His totalflying time was near 30,000 hours.

As an instructor, Ted was among the best whether working witha new student in the air for the first time, or a seasonedairline pilot. He had a quiet, but authoritative manner thatput the student or pilot being given a check at ease, and getthe job done. He was also the influence that made a numberof men take up flying as a career, such as a young Ed Flynn,who was a neighbor of Ted in 1937 in Kansas City, took upflying with the CPT and joined TWA in 1942. Ted's favoritestudent was his grandson, Ted Weaver Lacomette, who practic-ally grew up in the Cessna 140, and by the time he was 17years old was a licensed pilot, and a commercial pilot at agetwenty two. At the time of this writing young Ted is on fur-lough from Flying Tigers, but flying as a DC-8 captain forEvergreen International.

Ted is survived by his wife, Dot, their two daughters, fivegrandsons, three great-grandsons and three great-granddaughters.

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

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

From Bob Montgomery: My first trip on the line was from MKCto ABQ on 8/8/44. I flew with Captain Clarence E. Kulp, basedKC west. Clarence had a green co-pilot and a brand new hostess.When we got off the airplane in ABQ, she went one way and Iwent another. Clarence borrowed a bicycle to round us up.

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

From Bob Gwin: Talking about first flights: I was with CaptainFred Richardson, September 23, 1942, Stratoliner 307 #19905,Washington-Montreal--Goose Bay, 7:45. Charley Knobler was check-ing me.

October 15th, 1942, with Captain Hal Blackburn, Don Brown, BrucePettigrew, Frank Parent, Ck. F/E, Plane #4 Stratoliner, Washington,W.P.B., Trinidad, Belem and Natal. This was a crew going toNatal to make many shuttles over the South Atlantic, and thenreturn to home base in Washington, D. C.. We had the captains,navigators, radio operators and F/E's. My actual first flightalone was with Captain Wassenburg, October 21, 1942. We tookoff and later on, lost an engine, The plane was flown veryslowly in those days, I think 144 LRCruise and high speed was154. Anyhow, the German submarines would surface and shootdown Navy PBY's, and I thought they would be able to get us,as we were on three engines returning to Natal, total time 3:00.

TARPA TALES PAGE 13

The engine was changed, and the next day we had a test hop of:30 and the following day we went to Ascension Island and Accra,17:15.

I believe the longest time I ever spent in a Stratoliner was14:10 with Larry Trimble, searching for one of our C-87's thatwent down near Ascension Island, December 10, 1942.

Later I'll tell you about that story of Clif Dombroski, JoeGrant, etc., returning the B-24-D to Turkey, December 22, 1942.

TWA'S SEAPLANE OPERATION OF 1935

If this were a "guess what?" type article or feature, mostreaders could easily identify the aircraft in the accompanyingphoto as a Ford tri-motor transport, the venerable "Tin Goose"mounted on two giant pontoons and painted with TWA's logo ofthe early thirties. The experts could add that it is a Wasp-powered Model AT-C, similar to those produced in 1929 for twoof the company's predecessor airlines, Maddux and TAT. Oldrecords are incomplete, but only three Fords were known tohave been built or modified to the seaplane version that offic-ially was designated the Model AT-CS.

Seaplanes for airline service were nothing new to a number ofTWA pilots: Art Burns inaugurated service for the Chaplin Air-lines in 1929 with a Curtiss flying boat operating from the Los

TARPA TALES PAGE 14

Angeles Harbor area to Catalina Island. Pacific Marine tookover Chaplin and pilots such as Franklin Young and "Dutch"Holloway flew the same route with Curtiss HS-2L flying boats.Western Air Express took over Pacific Marine in 1928 and useda variety of amphibian planes including the Loening "Air Yacht",Sikorsky S-38A, Boeing 204 and a Fokker F-11A. Neither theplanes nor the route were included in the TWA merger agreement.

The prototype seagoing Ford was first test flown by pilot LeroyManning in September of 1929, using a wide area in the DetroitRiver for his landing field. The following February the Depart-ment of Commerce issued a separate type certificate for theseaplane and the Ford Company looked for customers. The planecarried a price tag of $68,000 (compared to $55,000 for theland version), but due to the great depression that was justgetting started, was reduced to $64,000. Ford had hoped tosell the Navy a version that could be used as a torpedo bomber,but they weren't interested.

The pontoons were of a special design, engineered and built bythe Edo Aircraft corporation, located on Long Island . The allmetal pontoons were 14'9" in length, and each weighed 600 poundsand could support a four ton load. This added about 1,200 poundsto the plane's empty weight, which created a performance penaltyof either a lesser payload capability or shorter range. Boththe sea and the land versions had a maximum gross weight fortakeoff of 13,500 pounds, but factory tests showed that the pon-toons slowed the cruise speed down from the normal 122 mph to104 mph. The pilot could maneuver the plane on the water bythe use of the outboard engines, as well as a small rudder thatwas mounted on each pontoon. The rudders were hinged so thatthey could be retracted when the plane was on dry land.

The Edo Corporation was noted for designing aircraft hulls orflotation gear and among their customers were Lindbergh's Lock-heed "Sirius" used on his flight to the Orient, a Curtiss "Condor"used by one of the Byrd polar expeditions and the Lockheed "Orion"used by Wiley Post on his ill-fated flight with Will Rogers. Edowas also the leader in designing seaplane facilities, anchorages,etc., along the northeast Atlantic Coast. Their own facility,located at the factory site at College Point (LI), was consideredone of the most modern in the world.

Seaplanes, especially amphibians, are very versatile and canoperate wherever there is ample water space that isn't too roughand is clear of obstructions. They were, at that time, extremelypopular with sportsmen for getting to remote areas for hunting orfishing. There was some commercial operation for charter andsightseeing, but the growth of marine air traffic in and aboutlarge cities had been long retarded due to the problem of handlingpassengers from the large seaplanes; it was, at times, risky,cumbersome and a wet experience. Seaplane anchorages that had a

TARPA TALES PAGE 15

ramp where the plane could be towed or taxied ashore were givena Class 1 rating by the Department of Commerce. There were aboutseven Class 1 facilities located between NYC and Boston in theearly thirties, including Floyd Bennett Field and the North BeachAirport (LGA today).

In 1934 the city of New York, led by Mayor LaGuardia, embarkedon an ambitious program that would practically give door to doorshuttle or commuter service when contracts were made with Edoto construct two "Skyports" along the East River, one at thefoot of Wall Street and the other at the end of Thirty FirstStreet. Included was an ingenious ramp that operated on a motor-driven turntable and was able to accommodate the largest aircraftand bring them ashore in less than thirty seconds.

A large float was connected to the pier by hinged gangways toeliminate the tide element. The outer end of the float was inthe form of a wooden ramp with a steep incline ratio of one tonine. The sloping portion was the turntable, built in flush withthe surface ramp and so located that the water line passed throughits center, with the lower portion under water and the upper parton dry land. The turntables were 85 feet long, with a 45 footradius. When a seaplane arrived for docking and its keel wasfirmly established, all the operator had to do was press a switchand the plane was moved to land for the passengers to deplane,the plane to be serviced, passengers boarded, etc.

This was the year that TWA had taken delivery of its first twentyDC-2's and by late August the fleet of Fords were retired frompassenger service. Two were kept for a trial with an all-freightoperation in 1936, and plane number NC410H (Fleet #620) was soonto be modified for TWA's experiment with the seaplane shuttleservice.

Early Department of Commerce records are vague or incomplete,but do show that NC410H was first flown in September of 1929 andwas used for a while by the Ford Company for tests with pontoons,skis and wheels. It flew for a short time for the New Englandand Western Transportation Company of Massachusetts, and thenwas sold to Eastern Air Transport. TWA records show that it waspurchased from Eastern on May 2, 1933...and it must have been a"pile of corrugated junk", as it cost $8,325.24 to rework andbring to company standards. It was placed in service on June15th and, at that time, its probable life expectancy (deprecia-tion to zero book value) was given as one year. At the time itwas converted by Edo to the seaplane configuration, at a costof $12,177 (including conversion from twelve to fourteen pas-sengers), it had accumulated a grand total of 4960:33 flying hours.

TARPA TALES PAGE 16

The same records show that an additional 45:41 hours were loggedon Ship #620 as a seaplane before it was sold on February 10, 1936,to Inter-American Aero Travel for $17,500.00. The story of thosefew flying hours can best be told by retired Captain Bill Piper,who saw it all first hand.

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

THE STORY OF OLD #620......NC 410H

By Captain Bill Piper (Retired 1970)

The year was 1935. I was fresh out of the Navy with severalhundred flying hours in seaplanes as well as an A&E mechanic'license when I went to work for TWA in February as a mechanic'shelper at the Newark hangar.

In mid-June I was invited by Charlie Cain, the station manager,along with crew foreman Joe Seliger to a conference with theEastern Region Superintendent, Captain Pat Gallup. As confer-ences go, it was short and to the point. Pat informed me thatTWA had a Ford tri-motor seaplane parked at 31st Street and theEast River. Mr. Cain handed me a set of keys and told me toget my tool box and take over the ship the following morning.I must admit that I was almost in shock, especially since itmeant a raise in pay from $70 to $90 a month. My good friend,Joe Seliger, gave me a thorough briefing on the Ford's Wasp en-gines that lasted all of thirty minutes, patted me on the backand wished me luck.

For the next two weeks I was all alone with "Old 620" and heroperating manuals. With no one to bother me I was able to crawlall over her, and give the engines a daily warm up . The EdoFloat Company did a fine job of making her seaworthy and prepar-ing her for salt water duty.

Mayor LaGuardia of NYC and his staff visited me one day andspent over two hours asking questions and making observationsof the plane and the facilities. When they left, the mayortold me that if there was anything at all that I needed thatI should give him or his office a call and he would see thatI got it. The mayor lived up to his word, as I requested andreceived special hoses, ladders to any part of the wings andengines, a special refueling setup and a special engineer tobe on duty at all times to operate the turntable.

It was about mid-July when Harlan Hull, the system Chief Pilot,(and a former Marine pilot) came out to see me and asked if theship was ready to fly. My answer was a quick "Let's give it atry!" The next morning we were airborne for one of the mostthrilling flights ever... underneath the 59th Street and George

TARPA TALES PAGE 17

Washington bridges, and a tour of the New York skyline, theStatue of Liberty, Long Beach and Eastern Long Island....allfrom an altitude of 50 feet. We landed near Port Washington ,and after a brief bit of pilot talk, we switched seats. Afterabout an hour of air work, which included several takeoffsand landings, we returned to the 31st Street ramp. I believethat this was my introduction to co-pilot training the follow-ing spring.

A few days later Captain Gallup and Jack Zimmerman, the chiefpilot of the Eastern Region, advised me that they were comingover to do some test work and that I would accompany them.This turned out to be several one and two hour flights duringthe next couple of weeks which included speed tests and trialruns along the shores of eastern Long Island, and severalflights on a proposed operation between the 31st Street landingand Floyd Bennett Field. They determined that there was not toomuch of a speed difference between the land and sea versions ofthe Ford, maybe two knots.

Harold Moon was assigned to fly the plane on a regular basis,which was a morning schedule from 31st Street to Floyd Bennettwith mail and passengers, connecting with a DC-2 flight to thewest coast. I was to be his co-pilot, steward, mechanic andwhat-have-you. We also operated a number of goodwill flightsfor the mayor and TWA Board of Directors around the city andLong Island way.

After a few weeks things quieted down and operations slowedto a standstill. Then we heard the reason. A statement hadbeen made from Mayor LaGuardia's office that the eastern ter-minal for air mail would be NYC. With the help of PresidentRoosevelt and Postmaster Jim Farley, they thought that theyhad this sewed up: that New York would have the designatedairport to handle airmail for the area. However, across theriver, Mayor Ellenstine of Newark thought otherwise. Alongwith the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad plus many friendsin Congress, he fought the proposed move from every angle andmanaged to keep EWR as the designated airmail field until 1939,when the North Beach airport (LGA today) was opened.

With no future any longer for old #620 with TWA, the companyordered the plane ferried to the Port Washington hangar andput up for sale. I was ordered back to maintenance at EWR,awaiting my orders to co-pilot school the following May. Tomy knowledge, I am the only survivor of the aforementionedpilots who took part in the short career of "Old 620".

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

TARPA TALES PAGE 18

THE TARPAGRAPEVINE

DECEMBER 1984

Here in Kansas it's a clear, crisp and beautiful dayin late October, the kind that is best suited toplaying hooky and a round of golf. But that'sreally only a pleasant daydream and doesn't help toget the job done. The election is still to come andthe future "1984" of George Orwell's 1951 book isabout to become the past. Except for years of regu-lation deregulation and now, possibly, re-regulation(and other signs that "Big Brother" really is out ofcontrol), most of Orwell's ominous predictions arestill smoldering away in his fantasy barnyard. Bythe time you read this, elections will be decided.Let's hope the right man will be in charge for thenext four years.

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

Anyway, settle back and we'll summarize the summer'saccumulation. First, however, we'd like to mentionour Kansas weather, realizing that things have beenbad in many places: making comparisons of our miser-able days with some of yours might make you feelbetter. January and February were fairly normal,with cold days and warm days, some snow and someblowing . In March, we had a limb-cracking, line-snapping ice storm with a 6-inch topping of heavywet snow, mangling the trees and bringing down powerlines, with exploding transformers making the cityappear to be under siege after dark. The aftermathwas a week without electricity for about 165,000people in the city and a clean-up bill of about 25million dollars. In May, a 24-hour downpour of7 to 9 inches caused flooding up to four feet in

hundreds of homes and businesses whichbordered on normally placid creeks. Fortwo months after July 4, we had no measurableprecipitation, only normal heat and humidity.In September, in one eight-hour period, summerdeparted and fall arrived! We switched fromair conditioning in the afternoon to the fur-nace in the evening! But now comes Octoberand all is forgiven! Best time of the year.

* * * * * * * * * *

Page 1

Left to right: Vern Laursen, Floyd Hall, HaroldNeumann and Walter Gunn

FLOYD HALL, TARPA's 1984 AWARD OF MERIT recipient, came intotown August 1 to participate in a brief ceremony at the JackFrye Training Center, where VERN LAURSEN, Vice President ofTWA Training, accepted and unveiled the master award plaque,which now hangs proudly on the first-floor lobby wall. About25 local TARPA members and other TWA'ers were present to wit-ness the event.

WALT GUNN, original Chairman of the Awards Committee in 1980and 1981, was master of ceremonies, standing in for LLOYDHUBBARD, our present committee chairman, who was unable toattend. As part of the program, HAROLD NEUMANN, one of thethree 1982 winners of the same award, made the presentationof a personalized, engraved plaque reproduction to Mr. Hall.

The event was reported in the business news of the KANSASCITY TIMES of August 2, 1984.

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

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 2

JACK FRYE PLAQUE

TWA Training Center,

Jack Frye Building

Kansas City, Missouri

TARPA AWARD OF MERIT PLAQUE

The plaque now hangs on the

east wall of the entry hall

and lobby of the Jack Frye

Training Center Building in

Kansas City

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 3

In the "30 YEARS AGO" column of the Kansas City TIMES recently,we saw this bit of aviation history: "BILL JUDD, who fliescommercial transport planes across the Atlantic for TWA, ison a 'postman's holiday', flying the Atlantic in a single-engine Cessna plane".

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

SAM DIETRICH has sent us a clipping of an advertisement fromthe TULSA WORLD, headlined "Vote for ARLIE J. NIXON, Democratfor Congress, Second District"! Arlie's printed pitch says"he is a 70-year-old citizen, but was forced to retire (fromflying) at age 60 because OUR Federal government believes that'60-year-olds are too old to function".

The ad continues: "What does Arlie believe? Arlie believesit is MANDATORY to balance the budget! How? Make cuts every-where....even in defense and foreign aid. Do away with wasteand cheating...THEY ARE EVERYWHERE AND OF ASTRONOMICAL PROPOR-TIONS. Arlie would start this saving by giving back half ofhis congressman's salary. You clearly have a choice on Tues-day, August 28 . "

We are sorry to report that Arlie didn't make it. Which some-how reminds us of that conscience-pricking line, "All that isnecessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing".Arlie is a good man who tried. Well, he's only 70.

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

JACK BURNHAM and RITA are settled now in their new home inFountain Hills, Arizona. Rita suffered a stroke last yearand has only partial use of limbs on her left side. Her speechis not affected. Jack says he is about to "solo" Rita in thecar and she does walk for therapy. Jack himself is stillcoping with emphysema. We visited with them and daughterMelissa at the Camelback in September. Their sense of humoris in excellent health and they still wear the same mischievoussmiles.

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

Several of our energetic TARPA members are busy this year inthe TWA SENIORS organization. At the annual general meetingof more than 600 members at the Airport Hilton in Kansas City,in June, WOLLY WOLLENBERG was elected President of the nationalorganization for the next year. E. C. (LUM) EDWARDS is a FirstVice President and also continues very active in arranging andconducting Seniors tours. Other TARPANS who are Seniors Chap-ter Presidents are: ED BETTS, Southern California: REGGIEPLUMRIDGE, Silver State (Nevada); ED HALL, Southeast (Florida);

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 4

JOE BROWN, Lake of the Ozarks (Missouri); Other familiarnames among Seniors Presidents are Tom Poole, Arizona; MelOstenberg, Kansas City Heart of America; Tom Sawyer, K. C .(I.A.M.); Pat Lynds-Harris, Pacific Northwest; Opal Thomas,St. Louis; and Nick Zoumboulakis, Greece.

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

FRANK GLAZIER passes along the information that "Jacky", thefaithful friend of almost everyone who ever spent an eveningat the Celtic in Paris, was about to retire from bartending.Frank had spoken to Jacky (Jacques?) earlier this summer.He says that Jacky would like very much to hear from any ofhis former "regulars" from TWA. His address: Jacky Maretheu,Chantome, Par. Eguzon, Indre 36 16.544746-51

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

JACK KOBYLACK, in a note to A. T., says, "I have sold myplace in Connecticut and moved down here to Palm Coast, Florida.I am enjoying retirement. Have a boat and camper and am backon the golf course. I also am helping to get a local flyingclub started. I would like to get in touch with some otherTWA retirees in this area. My phone number is 904-437-2689".

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

Our information is brief, but we have been informed that L. J .SMITH's wife, Dauretta, passed away recently at the home inWaleka, Florida. She had been ill for several. years.

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 5

GEORGE DUVALL has favored us with a letter and brought us up-to-date on his whereabouts. He writes, "We were sorry to haveto miss the convention this spring but had other plans whichwe could not change. I enjoy reading the TOPICS as I cankeep in touch with many other former employees. I see whereBill Ambrose recently joined; he was a neighbor of PeeweeHorstman and myself when we lived in East Orange, N. J.

"I reached the EAGLE age this year and was interested to seethat there are over 40 of us now.

"We just returned from a trip to the Maritime Provinces withVirginia and Bob Springer in their Airstream RV. What a lux-urious way to travel. Saw the area where we have flown overmany times and especially enjoyed Prince Edward Island.

"Ran into Ed Sullivan this summer and we are planning to attenda meeting of the Northern California chapter of the TWA Seniorsin Napa early in October, just before we return to Arizona forthe winter. We all appreciate the work you fellows are doingto keep the old gang together. Keep up the good work".

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

HARRY CLARK gave him the idea, he says, so WERNER ROMANELLO,retired former Manager of Area Flight Dispatch in Rome, isnow a TARPA TOPICS subscriber and keeps track of Internationalfriends through his copy of the TARPA directory. Werner alsowrote to congratulate RUSS DERICKSON on his recent election asPresident of TARPA. He goes on to say this: "As a very dedi-cated Flight Operations man, who has shared so many years withcockpit crew members, I feel honored and happy to still be incontact with TWA pilots! Needless to say that my heart stillremains with TWA Flight Operations. I miss it so much. Iretain good contacts with the TWA world and occasionally dotalk with Claude Girard on the phone."

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

PAUL MCNEW knows many ways to be active in retirement. Fromhis home in Mesa, Arizona, he tells us how it's done: "Threeof us, Ed Elder, Allen Benjamin and myself, have started aPhoenix Chapter of the American Medical Support Flight Teamhere in Scottsdale. This organization has headquarters inLas Vegas. We started in February, donating time and airplanefor Arizona Blood Services, which supplies 51 hospitals inArizona and Eastern California. From any community in thisarea having a blood drive, we make noon and evening pick-ups(Blythe to El Centro to Page). We have the blood back to thelab in under six hours, so it can be processed for plateletsand cryoprecipitate. Over six hours old it can be used onlyas plasma.

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 6

PAUL MCNEW on the golf course at the 1984TARPA Convention

"We also fly out-of-town emergencies, saving people expensivecharter trips. We intend eventually to tie in with the eyebank and the organ donor system. We have 24 pilots and inJuly flew 36 trips. There are now about 25 chapters in theUnited States and we would like to expand to all states andabout 50 or 60 chapters. Anyone who would like to start achapter can contact me and I will help in getting it started.The cost is only $35.00 per member and I have necessary formsand the contacts in Las Vegas.

"I would encourage all members to attend the various pilotmeetings. You will enjoy them more than you think. I hada really pleasant afternoon in Oshkosh visiting with JIMMCARTHUR and GORDON DURLIN.

"Thanks to all you fellows who keep TARPA TOPICS coming; Ialways read it through two or three times." Paul also saidthat the Apache Wells (AZ) golf course, with a rating of 66.5,allows him a handicap of 6. As in all his interests andendeavors, Paul plays the game of golf seriously. And justto be sure no time is wasted, Paul retails honey bee pollenfor your health - and also the best oil and gas additives foryour vehicles! You can write to him at 2505 Barber Drive,Mesa, Arizona 85205. Or see the directory. (Thanks, Paul.)

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

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 7

The following new members have recently been welcomed intoTARPA:

Jack L. BakerLouis BillmanWilliam G. CarrJames L. CochranJerry CrockettVernon J. DavisOmer W. ElsnerLarry J. FauciJames A. FrierR. W. GoldthorpeWilliam H. Greer, Jr.William C. Hasler

William C. HigginsRobert H. KieperTom KroschelDonald E. LansingGeorge ManleyKen W. MielkeRoylee MillerWilton B. MillerJohn T. MorriseyRussell Myers, Jr.Paul C. OlsonMark A. Outhwaite

Edward J. StroscheinRay TerryJohn A. TriceElwood I. Wittle

HONORARY MEMBERS

Lucille AdamsLouise Smith (Don)Mary Lou LansdellThelma Lou Young

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

TEX MANNING says he returned to New Mexico from Orlando andspent 15 days in the hospital with pneumonia. He's recoveringbut slowly. Could it be that although the Florida weather wasgreat, the cold and dry air-conditioning was hard to control?

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

JOE TUNDER says "Sorry to have missed the convention. Ourhome was sold and had to find a new one." The Tunders are nowin Sun Lakes, Arizona.

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

Fifty-year mugs were awarded several TWA old-timers at theannual general meeting of the TWA Seniors in Kansas City in Junethis year. Among them were EDWARD Z. (EDDIE) BOQUA, RICHARD A.(DICK) HEIDEMAN and LLOYD W. (OLE) OLSON. None of the threeappeared personally, but each name as it was called got a goodhand from the crowd.

* * * * * * * * * * *

For widows or widowers having problems with adjustment to theloss of a mate, we have an address to write to which will bringinformation and a free booklet from the Widowed Persons Service,under the auspices of the American Association of Retired Per-sons (AARP). The services of this group are available in 150communities around the United States, and there is no charge.It offers emotional support and a listening ear, as well asreferrals to appropriate community resources. Write to WPS-AARP,1909 K. Street N. W., Washington, D. C. 20049. (Ann Landerssaid it. Thanks, Ann!)

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

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 8

HAPPY FACES.......

AND HARD WORKERS AT THE 1984 TARPA CONVENTION AT ORLANDO

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 9

report on his weight-lifting efforts. O. B. Was the only con-testant competing in his age-and-weight bracket, at the 1984National Masters Meet. He already holds all the records inhis bracket, but says he didn't break any of them. He concedesthat the trophy was "a gift". He did, however, win the 65-69/220 pound class in the 1983 Worlds Masters Postal Championship.Eleven countries took part. Instead of face-to-face competition,the results are gathered from each country and tabulated atColumbia, Missouri, to determine the winners. Congratulations,O. B.! We know now that there is at least one among us who isstaying in shape - and keeping his weight UP at the same time!

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

BOB KIEPER, a recent new member of TARPA, writes that he hassettled in DeLand, Florida, and is teaching at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, abouttwenty miles from DeLand. Bob came up with a medical problemin 1979, had some routine surgery and was unsuccessful in hisrequest for recertification. He retired July 1 this year.

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

The new Heart of America Seniors chapter here in Kansas Cityis off to a flying first year start. Each event so far has drawnabout 250 enthusiastic retirees with strong social instincts. Atwo-bus trip to Omaha and the races at AK-SAR-BEN on August 15drew 96 fearless hunch-players. Other activities have includeda dinner theatre luncheon to see "My Fair Lady", a golf tourna-ment and cooperation with the Kansas City I.A.M. Seniors chapterin the I.A.M.'s hosting of this year's Seniors convention.

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

CLEO MATTKE tells us that he has moved into a new home in SunCity, Arizona, and can watch the 11th fairway of the golfcourse from tee to green (150 yards). "Though I don't golf",he says, "as I watch, I am sure I could do it better. Lookslike an easy game to me. I am still active in church and com-munity. It doesn't seem that anyone should need a seminarfor a retirement program". (Please DO play that golf course,Cleo: with a positive attitude you could be shooting under120 in no time.)

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

WALT GUNN, another indefatigable retiree for whom 60 was just anew beginning, is currently working on a "Fear of Flying" programfor the University of Kansas Medical Center. Walt is on thestaff at the hospital as a research and practicing psychologist.The white-knuckle course will involve two or three discussionsessions, a practice period in the TWA 767 hostess cabin trainerat the Jack Frye Center and a short "graduation trip" aloft inan Air Midwest aircraft. Classes will be restricted to about18 fearful flyers, most of whom, according to Walt, are middle-

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 10

aged women who would like to be able to travel withtheir husbands. With his usual aplomb and unfailing verbal capacity,Walt has appeared on several local radio and TV programs recently.The project is popular and snow-balling.

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

If he'll pardon us for saying so, one of TARPA's unsung buthard-working beavers is Editor AL CLAY, in Largo, Florida. Hedoes some writing and gathers, separates, evaluates, eliminates,incorporates, and finally puts together all the pieces and pic-tures of each quarterly edition. VI RICHWINE, also in Largo,does all the final typing and A. T. HUMBLES has the book printedway up in North Carolina and mails it out. But Al Clay, asEditor, is the one who makes the hard decisions and acceptsthe final responsibility for what goes into TARPA TOPICS.

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

We feel quite sure, also, that we share the opinion of many ofyou when we assure PAUL McCARTY of our gratitude for his goodwork as Editor of the TARPA Directory. The June, 1984, copyrepresents a lot of work and a professional job of organizingalmost endless details in names, addresses, telephone numbersand miscellaneous information. It takes patience, and Pauldonates not only hours and days of his time but also the servicesof his personal computer. To the best of our knowledge, henever sends a bill for costs. TARPA does pay for the finalprinting, of course. On its own merit, the directory is worththe full twenty dollars we pay in annual dues.

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

PARKY has sent us from his "archives" an October 1942, list ofnames of prospective members for the "TWA Ten Year Club" thenbeing organized by C. E. McCollum, who was TWA's Central TrafficManager. Some familiar TARPANS are listed, all still goingstrong: TOMMY TOMLINSON, LEW GOSS, FRED RICHARDSON, JOE BARTLES,HOWARD HALL, OTIS BRYAN, TED HEREFORD, ANDY BEATON and DUTCHHOLLOWAY. Also listed were PAUL HUSAK, JOHHNY GUY and JOHNCLEMSON. And, of course, PARKY!

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

LYLE BOBZIN is already putting in a lot of time on preparationsfor the 1985 TARPA convention to be held at the DESERT INN, inLas Vegas next June. Lyle says the Desert Inn is rated as theBEST of all Las Vegas hotels and casinos. Put June 4, 5, and6th, 1985, on your new TWA calendar as "TARPA DAYS". Lyle isworking for you.

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

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 11

BILL FLANAGAN writes to A. T. as follows: "I still claim thechampionship in procrastination!! This letter should have beenwritten years ago and I'm just getting around to it now. Iread TARPA TOPICS from cover to cover and that's where I findout about you fellows and your wives expending so much timeand effort on behalf of the rest of us.

"Since retirement I have done absolutely no piloting and verylittle riding as a passenger. I've done a lot of golfing, verylittle fishing, and have taken lessons in oil painting. For awhile I was quite active in civic affairs, but then decided toreally retire.

"Be assured that the efforts of you fellows and your wives aregreatly appreciated by me and many others who have not said soin so many words. Please relay my sentiments to as many of theothers as you can". (Thanks, Bill, consider it done!)

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

According to our newspaper, the ADICKES AVTEK 400 made its firsttest flight in September. The next phase will be certificationtests, which Bob predicts will take a year or more.

In the August issue of INC. ("The magazine for growing com-panies") Curtis Hartman describes the entire AVTEK projectfrom its inception. Bob is termed "the driving force in AvtekCorp.. the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and chief investor".JOHN CARROLL is Director of International Operations. Othersinvolved in the aircraft's development and building are con-sultants Leo Windecker, Niels Andersen and Al Mooney. BillTaylor, 70, is mentioned as first choice for test pilot. Doro-thy Sholer is money manager.

The K. C . TIMES says that after certification, the productionline might eventually be brought to Kansas City "if the cityis willing to come up with some 'incentive'". Richards-Gebaurin Grandview is mentioned as a possible factory site. Untilnow, all work on the prototype has been done at the Camarillo,California, Industrial Park, about one mile from the Camarilloairport. Good luck to good friends, Bob and John! And, wehope we'll see you in K. C.!

* * * * * * * * * * *

In a note to Al Clay, "BIG JOHN" MONTGOMERY tells us that hehad surgery for removal of his gall bladder last May, and isgetting along very well. He added that two shots of CanadianClub a day or two after the operation helped to "get thingsstarted again". John is now living in Prescott. We'll expectto see you in Las Vegas, John, if you can make it across thePainted Desert without being ambushed.

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THE GRAPEVINE

��������

PAGE 12

LARRY GIRARD takes a picture of the tennis competitors at eachTARPA convention, and here we have the 1984 group picture takenat Orlando.

Top row, left to right: Lee Butler, Jeanne Wisenhut, Tom Ander-son, Ginny Converse, Dave Richwine, Vi Richwine, Larry Girard,Phyllis Girard, Reg Plumridge, Ruth Plumridge, Iris Flournoy,Rich Flournoy, Elmo Jones.

Bottom row, left to right: June McFarland, Betti Wind, MickeyWind, Bob Stuffings, Leo McFarland, Dean Phillips.

Iris Flournoy was the winner among the ladies, with JuneMcFarland as runner up.

For the men, Mickey Wind was the big winner, with Larry Girardas a very close runner-up.

Good fun and good fellowship was enjoyed by all.

* * * * * * * * * * *

We saw JOE IMESON at a recent dinner meeting of the Heart ofAmerica Seniors at Richards-Gebaur. Although he has been backon chemotherapy for ailments that began about three years ago,he says he is doing all right.

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

R. W. (GOLDY) GOLDTHORPE, after joining TARPA recently, haswritten a very nice letter to A. T. Humbles. Goldy has beenone of the many good-natured veterans of JFK's Hangar 12 FlightOperations office many years, a second career after startingas a TWA International radio officer during WW II.

Goldy says, in part, "Thank you very much for your friendlyletter, the TARPA membership card, the TARPA directory, anda most interesting and informative copy of TARPA TOPICS. Leaf-ing through the membership directory, which contains a wealthof information, brought back many memories. It is very wellorganized and contains just about every kind of informationabout TWA cockpit crew retirees that one would desire.

"So thanks again, A. T. and Russ. The immediate action on thepart of both of you was terrific. The more I read about TARPAthe more impressed I am with this well organized, professionaland meaningful organization, and I am especially proud andhappy to have been invited to join". (Thanks, Goldy! Yourkind letter is gratifying to all concerned.)

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

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 1 4

The BOB (BEAR) BECK annual "Half-Open" golf tournament at LakeQuivera came off in its perennial fine fellowship fashion onOctober 12. About twenty three-man teams played a Texas Scramble.The winning trio, at 7-under, was HOWARD (MO) HANSEN, JOHN KEIL,and GLEN BUCHANAN. All prize money, a total of $500.00, wasdonated this year to the ALS fund for JAMES T. (PETE) OLIVER,a Kansas City pilot who contracted the disease about five yearsago. (ALS, the acronym for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, isthe Lou Gehrig affliction). We don't have other winners ofprizes, nor a complete list, but retirees who participated werethe following: HAROLD AIKEN, GEORGE BORGMIER, WARREN CANTRELL,BERT COOPER, BILL COOPER, EARL LINDSLEY, JIM PAXTON and VIC WOLF.

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

Late bulletin: ARLIE NIXON is hospitalized for an appendectomy.The report included the information that he had experiencedsome post-surgery complication, but it was not considered serious.Up and at 'em, Arlie!

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

The 1984 TWA Flight Operations Retirement Party at the CamelbackInn, Scottsdale, Arizona, on September 15, drew a record crowdof more than 600 to honor 122 recently-retired Operations people,including 93 cockpit crew members.

Speaker at the Saturday evening banquet was RICHARD (DICK)PEARSON, newly elevated Executive Vice President and Chief Oper-ating Officer of the airline. The entire speech was printed inthe September 24 SKYLINER. We were impressed with his statementthat he "hopes to rekindle in our airline the sense that we con-stitute a FAMILY, as well as a company". He may be just theman who can do it, too!

About sixty golfers turned out at the Padre course on Saturday.Prizes among the men were won by BOB ALTEMUS, GARY BOLLES, DUBYOUNGBLOOD, GENE MCCLURE and PAUL WHITFORD. Women's divisionwinners were MARGUERITE SIMONS, AUDREY PELLETIER, MILLIE WITTLE,and DONNA EVANS. Longest drive was by KEN SWEET. Nearest-the-pin was HERB BOLLES. We enjoyed our day on the golf course inthe easy company of BOB HORTON, JOHN LATTIMORE And BILL GREER.(Oblivious to the many errant examples of his partners, "Sport"shot an 81. But he gets a lot of practice on a tough course,the Riviera in Los Angeles).

This was our seventh or eighth retirement party trip and, asalways, it was a great week-end. The Operations retirementaffair provides a rare opportunity to see some former crewcompanions that we haven't visited with for as long as ten orfifteen years. This year we wouldn't like to have missed seeing

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such well-remembered friends as JOHN HAPPY, DANNY GEHLERT,GEORGE RYAN, CLARE HAMMITT, LEO DEASON, JACK FRIER, BART HEWITT,JACK PASSARELL, JOHN JURGENSEN, MERT NASON and, of course, BILLGREER and SPORT HORTON. And RUSS DERICKSON!

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

Having experienced recently the regret and the guilt which comesfrom not having properly "kept in touch" with old and close andvalued friends of many years, some of whom suffered poor healthand are now finally gone, we thought of this poem, read for thefirst time about forty years ago, the words of which now returnto taunt us.

AROUND THE CORNER

By Charles Hanson Towne

Around the corner I have a friendIn this great city that has no end;Yet days go by, and weeks rush on,And before I know it a year is gone,And I never see my old friend's face,For Life is a swift and terrible race.He knows I like him just as wellAs in the days when I rang his bellAnd he rang mine; we were younger then,And now we are busy, tired men;Tired with playing a foolish game,Tired with trying to make a name."Tomorrow," I say, "I will call on Jim,Just to show that I'm thinking of him".But tomorrow comes - and tomorrow goes,And the distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner! - yet miles away .."Here's a telegram, sir..... "

"JIM DIED TODAY"

And that's what we get, and deserve in the end:Around the corner, a vanished friend.

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

Let's all send at least a card to that old friend at Christmas!Here's wishing you all a Healthy and Happy 1985!

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

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 1 6

RETIREES ATTENDING 1984 RETIREMENT PARTY

DEPARTMENT OF FLYING - LAX DEPARTMENT OF FLYING - JFK

DEPARTMENT OF FLYING - MCI

Bob AltemusLouis BarrAllen BastCliff BjorkStan BruceCy CacaceBill CarrDick DavisWalt DavisLeo DeasonJohn EmmertonDick FauldsHugh FrancisJohn GehlertEv GreenStew GreeneClare HammittJim HankinsFrank HeilsenJohn HendricksonBill HigginsBryce HuntHank KirstFrank KuleszDon LansingDave LehrerDon LundbergCorky MyersScott NorrisAdolf PassarellHal PeckJim RapattoniDick TrischlerPaul Whitford

Norm DufresneJohn LakinJim LoosenTom MitchellStan ScrogginsLloyd Smith

THE GRAPEVINE

Bart AndereggBob BalserBob BillianLew BlissDon CalkinsBob CampbellBruce CarrTom CarrollGeorge ClementsClaude CoakleyBill CordellDick CruickshankRusty DavisKeith EvansBill FabreDick ForristallJack FrierJim FroelichJim HackettJohn HappyDon HartmanBart HewittBob HortonBill HovelandJim JewettBob KaneDwight KernsBob KieperEd KimballJohn LattimoreLes LaurinChuck LebrechtArt LeonardEarl LimaJack MageeWally MazerHenry MichaelsJack MossPaul OlsonMike PotterSteve PyleEd RomanGeorge RyanRay SchriberDon StuhmerAl ThoralsenElwood ThorntonJim TiveyStan ValacerJoe VenutiJim WhitcombElwood WittleJim Young

PAGE 17

RETIREES ATTENDING 1984 RETIREMENT PARTY

IN-FLIGHT SERVICES - JFK

Lois BroughLorna CraigDwight DedmonBoyd FitzgeraldJohn JurgensenTom RyanAl SederisGuenter Zoeller

LAX

Marge AndersonHerb BollesIrene DeSanctisLavonne HampsonIva KaminskiGerry KlahnNick PeragineLeon Walling

ORD

Fred PereiraAnnie SchmittJack Taylor

MCI

Jan Fulton

FLIGHT DISPATCH

Guy GettysDon GodfreyGerry LewmanBob Wheeler

METEOROLOGY

Dave BataPhillip Kerr

TRAINING

Orville LevengoodGary McConnellRichard NielsonWayne Severson

CENTRAL CREW SCHEDULING

Frank CondrerasBob ElsenbroekGoldie Golden

FLIGHT OPS ADMINISTRATION

Joe CasielloJohn Huegel

OPERATIONAL PLANNING

Dan Myers

THE GRAPEVINE PAGE 18

RE: TWA RETIRED PILOTS FOUNDATION, INC.

In 1981 Dave Richwine, then President of TARPA, commissioned Harry Mokler toserve as liaison from TARPA to the TWA ALPA MEC to secure their backing in thesetting up of this foundation. The purpose of this foundation is to collectfunds and disburse them to all present and future retired cockpit crew memberswho meet the criteria which is income clearly inadequate to maintain a reason-able standard of living.

The Foundation is active in assisting those less fortunate people in need offinancial help. They are appreciative of the fine support those of us havegiven who are in a better financial situation. Active pilots can contributeby payroll deduction but retirees need to send their contributions to theSecretary Treasurer of the Foundation. There is no paid help so unlike theusual charities that a large per centage goes to the fund raisers your moneyentirely goes to the work of the Foundation. So we ask that you be as generousas you can in supporting this most worthy cause. Contributions may be sent to

Capt. William Polk, Sec./Treas.TWA Pilots Retirement Foundation9800 S. Longwood DriveChicago, IL 60643

Make your check payable to The TWA Pilots Retirement Foundation,,

Further back in this book is an application for assistance which may be filledout by those seeking help. If you know someone who needs help you can pass iton to them.

SECRETARY'S CORNER

Quite often people call me for addresses. I note that Al Clay has already inthis issue provided you with the address for the RAPA Medi-Gap insurance.

For information on the Denticare that Chick Dyer's son, Glenn, works for it isdenticare, 2182 Dupont Drive, Suite 2, Irvine, CA 92715. Phone 714 752 1757.

For the Price insuance info it is Price Financial Services, 10401 Holmes,Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64131. Phone 816 941 9070.

We have 1190 members now! 692 Regular, 385 Associate, 48 Eagles and 66 Honorary.There are 11 friends who are subscribers. There are still a lot out there eli-gible so sign them up.

The December issue of Private Pilot has a picture of Bob Adickes' airplaneon the front cover and an interesting article inside. I'm sure we all wishhim luck. I was flying a night DC-3 flight once with Bob and he walked backthrough the passenger cabin in uniform, naturally, but with a monster maskon. Later he went back without the mask and a passenger stopped him to askwho the hell the ugly fellow was and Bob told him the co-pilot was ratherhomely.

Visited with Charlie Watkins and his wife, Chris, recently when they stoppedover at the Belhaven Marina. Charlie retired this past October.

May I take this opportunity to wish all of yawl a happy holiday season.

Your secretary.

A. T. Humbles

T his Canadian thinks it is time to speak up forthe Americans as the most generous and

possibly the least appreciated people on all theearth... .

Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britainand Italy were lifted out of the debris of war bythe Americans who poured in billions of dollarsand forgave other billions in debts. None ofthese countries is today paying even the interest

on its remaining debts to die United States.When the franc was in danger of collapsing

in 1956, it was the Americans who propped itup, and their reward was to be insulted andswindled on the streets of Paris.

I was there. I saw it.When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is

the United States that hurries in to help. . . . Thisspring, 59 American communities [were] flat-tened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.

The Marshall Plan and the Truman policypumped billions upon billions of dollars intodiscouraged countries. Now, newspapers inthose countries are writing about the decadent,

warmongering Americans. I'd like to see justone of those countries that is gloating over theerosion of the United States dollar build itsown airplanes.

Come on, let's hear it!Does any other country in the world have a

plane to equal the Boeing jumbo jet, the Lock-heed tristar or the Douglas 10? If so, whydon't they fly them? Why do all the interna-tional lines except Russia fly American planes?

Why does no other land on earth even con-sider putting a man or woman on the moon?

You talk about Japanese technocracy, andyou get radios. You talk about German tech-nocracy, and you get automobiles.

You talk about American technocracy, andyou find men on the moon—not once but sev-eral times—and safely home again.

You talk about scandals, and the Americansput theirs right in the store window for every-body to look at. Even their draft dodgers are notpursued and hounded. They are here on ourstreets, and most of them—unless they are break-ing Canadian laws—are getting American dol-lars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here... .

When the railways of France, Germany andIndia were breaking down through age, it wasthe Americans who rebuilt them. When thePennsylvania Railroad and the New York Cen-tral went broke, nobody loaned them an oldcaboose....

I can name you 5,000 times when the Ameri-cans raced to the help of other people in

trouble. Can you name me even one time whensomeone else raced to the Americans in trouble?

I don't think there was outside help evenduring the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'mone Canadian who is damned tired of hearingthem kicked around.

They will come out of this thing with theirflag high. And when they do, they are entitledto thumb their nose at the lands that are gloat-ing over their present troubles.

By Gordon Sinclair

William Polk, Sec/Treas.

TWA Pilots Retirement Foundation9800 S. Longwood Drive

Chicago, Ill 60643

APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE

TO: TWA PILOTS RETIREMENT FOUNDATION, INC.

(Not an affiliate of Trans World Airlines, Inc.)