(4:25 min.) (01 of 28) 1. Early years -- Grandfather's influence. Grandfather was involved with early aviation and meteorology. Grandfather flew in a balloon from St. Louis to New York in 1908. They almost landed on Long Island. ...
(4:39 min.) (02 of 28) 2. Early years -- parental influences Father flew in World War I [WWI] and after war, he bought Navy surplus flying boat and flew on the weekends. His mother also got interested in aviation and they flew weekend tours...
(3:32 min.) (03 of 28) 3. Mid-air fire On a shake-down flight over Manhattan, the engine caught fire. George's father turned the controls over to his mother and climbed out of the plane. He sprayed the flames with a fire extinguisher. ...
(4:57 min.) (05 of 28) 5. Parents flying His father got out of the weekend flying business and flying for the Naval Reserve. He died in a flight during the 1930's. His mother could fly but wasn't licensed. George took awhile to get back...
(4:15 min.) (06 of 28) 6. WWII Some of his friends went to Canada to fly with the Royal Air Force [RAF]; many of them did not come home. George went to Africa to build runways and supply aircraft. He was with Pan Am/World Airways (Pan Am...
(5:25 min.) (07 of 28) 7. Across the Atlantic Georgetown, French Guyana was the next stop, not Africa. The ship was zigzagging; the Captain and First Mate would open orders each day and set a new course. On board was a Pan Am navigator;...
(4:41 min.) (08 of 28) 8. Getting to Africa The ship shuddered, then listed and water came in the portholes. They had run into a submarine [u-boat]tender. The Santa Paula was eventually sunk by submarines.
(3:36 min.) (09 of 28) 9. WWII in North Africa
George worked his way across North Africa. He describes air raids in Cairo, how Rommel was pushed back, how war was declared while he was on the ship to Africa. Bombers ferried across the...
(3:09 min.) (10 of 28) 10. Fighter planes
About 50 P-40's (fighters) were shuttled across by the aircraft carrier "Ranger". These planes were destined to replace the worn planes in China. One plane landed hard and lost a landing gear.
(4:46 min.) (11 of 28) 11. Back to the U.S.
Military wanted them to stay and offered George a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. He wanted to get back home for at least a visit, so he flew back with a cargo of latex rubber. Engine problems...
(5:30 min.) (12 of 28) 12. Next assignment
George drove to Seattle in a car he'd built. In Colorado, the engine caught fire. He made temporary repairs. He had to follow trucks that cut through the snow before him. A woman ran him off the...
(3:28 min.) (13 of 28) 13. Whitehorse and Fairbanks
George stayed awhile in Seattle and saw Boeing in full wartime production. Eighteen to twenty B-17's a day were produced. He went to Whitehorse, YT. Bill Lavery was a pilot for Morrison...
(4:18 min.) (14 of 28) 14. Pacific Alaska Airways
Joe Barrows set up this airline; he wanted Pan Am to take it over for him. He wanted to fly clipper flying boats. His wife stayed in Alaska and was the first woman (Mary Barrows) to get...
(3:43 min.) (15 of 28) 15. Getting air time
George and a man named Grant Ruth trained as flight mechanics. George did some flying of the DC3's. He wanted to fly other aircraft but there were few civilian planes available for sale or...
(6:58 min.) (16 of 28) 16. Virginia speaks about flight instruction
Virginia's first solo flight was on December 7, 1941, but since all flights were canceled that day she had to solo again a week later. Flights were cancelled because of...
(4:08 min.) (17 of 28) 17. Virginia comes to Alaska
Virginia was given the chance to come to Alaska as a flight instructor; if she didn't like it she was told she could fly home for free. She only instructed for one summer. She came up,...
(5:36 min.) (18 of 28) 18. Virginia's students
Virginia's students were varied -- a man who became a jet pilot, a prostitute, and a construction worker named Bullwinkle. She discusses some of her flights to Manly and other interior...
(4:26 min.) (19 of 28) 19. Women pilots Virginia wanted corrections made on a display at the airport, adding mention of early women pilots in Alaska. Virginia speaks of things absent in her life and how becoming a Jehovah's Witness helped.