I hope you all have enjoyed this Christmas day. In the middle of all the eating and gift exchanges, I sure hope you remember what the celebration is really all about. I always think about all the pilots, ground staff, and others that miss being with their families on the holiday to make it possible for the rest of us to be with our families. We sure don't want to forget all those those that don't get to be with their loved ones because they are serving their country to keep it free for the rest of us.
When I started hanging out at the airport and got myself hired as a line boy; I always volunteered to work on Christmas day. Most of the other employees had kids and such and there was no good reason for them to be at the airport. The owner didn't mind this arrangement and I could always call someone in if I needed any help. It was always a slow day anyway. The big air taxi rush was a few days before and a few days after Christmas day. Corporate flying was at a complete standstill and there just wasn't any transient traffic. The scheduled airlines had their own ground service facilities. Several Christmas days I was on the clock all day and never sold a gallon of avgas or saw another human being, except when Dad would bring me a bushel basket full of leftovers from granny's big family dinner.
The Christmas Day of this this story was probably 1961 or 1962 but I can't remember for sure which. I know it was before JFK was assassinated and after he was inaugurated. It was a normal Christmas Day and the airport was dead except for the few scheduled airline takeoffs and landings. About mid morning, I was surprised to hear the sound of a large aircraft approaching our hanger ramp. Before I could even get to the window to look out, the phone rang. It was the the control tower telling me that a Navy R5D was coming my way and wanted fuel service. This was most unusual for several reasons. We had very few military customers because we were only 30 air miles from a very large air force base and the military liked to use their own facilities. But ooccasionally we would have a ANG or MAC aircraft for some unknown reason.
Usually we would use two line men to service a large aircraft. One would work the wing and the other would work the ground. This was long before single point fueling and the gas hose had to be dragged across the wing to each fuel tank - very similar to putting gas in your car. The ground guy would make sure everything was properly grounded to avoid sparks, drain the various sumps to check for fuel contamination and watch the meter on the pump to make sure the correct number of gallons was pumped in. I didn't bother calling in a second man because the military crew chief on board would always take care of the ground duties. On some occasions they would do the whole fueling operation and I would just watch and take care of the payment paperwork. That was always more complicated than fueling the aircraft.
I pushed the portable steps up to the aircraft boarding door when all 4 propellers had stopped. When I opened the door, I was a bit surprised to be met by a high ranking Navy officer in full dress uniform. I stepped aside to allow him to descend the steps. I waited at the top of the steps for a long time and no one else came out out of the airplane. Finally the Admiral hollered at me from the ramp. "Can I get some fuel here?" I quickly regained my composure and replied. "Sure thing, I was just waiting for your crew chief." I was amazed when he told me he was the only person on the aircraft.
Now it is physically possible for a single pilot to operate a large 4 engine aircraft such as a R5D (Navy designation for Air Force C-54). In fact, drug runners love this aircraft to import cocaine from Columbia because one good pilot can fly it and it holds a lot of cargo. The unusual thing was a military operation without a full crew including copilot, navigator, radio operator and crew chief. I guess an admiral can do pretty much what he wants.
I told him I would have to call for some help. He seemed to be in a big hurry and said he would help me. We had some coveralls in the office to protect his uniform and he certainly knew exactly what he was doing. We finished the fueling in about a half hour and I was dreading the endless forms we would have to fill out. I almost passed out when he pulled a wad of one hundred dollar bills out of his flight bag and paid cash - including a generous tip. Soon he was on his way. He was already cranking up the third engine while I was still rolling the steps away from the airplane.
We couldn't listen in the UHF frequencies the military uses. I called the control tower on the land line and asked what destination he had filed for. It was none of my business; I was just being nosy. I got another big shock when the tower told me he wasn't on a flight plan. The weather was suitable for VFR flight but the military is always files an IFR flight plan.
So what did I witness? An eccentric admiral going home to visit his family for Christmas? Some top secret spy mission? A digruntled admiral defecting to the Russians? I paid attention to the news for several days but never got a clue about what this strange Christmas day flight was all about.
And that's the truth!
Bowinkle T. Propwash
No comments:
Post a Comment