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To Fly Again…

09 Oct

Denied to me now, I’m afraid;  Judge Gold caused me to lose my Piper Cherokee 6.

However, that didn’t stop me from encouraging my son Ben to learn to fly it, and later – to keep him out of trouble and stop being a waiter – to consider a career in aviation.  That he did, became an instructor, married one of his students, and now flies international for Delta.  We don’t connect any more, but I hope he’s minding his Ps and Qs.

Went to the Huntington Library the other day with my first son Jonathan, and noticed the upcoming exhibit featuring the development of  U.S. Aviation, from its beginnings to the present.  What a glorious story that is!

Indeed, I whiled away the last ten dead years doodling for Wikipedia, and researched and wrote the story of the now defunct  and forgotten Glendale Airport, which was once the gateway to the West Coast. Frequented by the likes of Howard Hughes, Amelia Earhart, and the black Tuskegee Airmen, it later served as the training ground and repair station for thousands of WWII airmen and their fighting machines. The surviving classically designed control tower, surrounded by humdrum factories and warehouses, was acquired by the Walt Disney company, with headquarters nearby.  There many a movie was shot, and its current lack of maintenance and continued state of disrepair is quite shocking.  Shame on you, Walt Disney!  May one wish that the company and Glendale city provide funds and jobs to restore it?

Here, read this, it has such stories to tell.  Grand Central Airport, Glendale

At these times of hardship, us oldsters like to harken back to not so very long ago, to the years when America was industrious in manufacturing, and provided jobs for all.  When we were the New World, a shining light of hope for the less advantaged.

Perhaps our memories will help motivate and energize today’s youngsters to recapture the pride we’ve lost.  Pondering our history, at least they’ll get some perspective.

 

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