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VOL. VI, NO. 5
APACE WITH THE PACEMAKER
MAY, 1963
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F-27 problems and their solutions were ironed out during panel discussions at the ATA meeting. Participat
ing in the session shown above were (left to right) R. S. Macklin, Technical Advisor to Director of Mainten
ance and Engineering; Howard Cartwright, Director of Maintenance and Engineering; T. J. Cartwright, Senior
Service Engineer, Dowty-Rotol; V. N. Thacker, President, Dowty-Rotol, U.S.A.; and A. Garrod, Service Engi
neer, Dowty-Rotol. (Dowty-Rotol is a manufacturer of F-27 propellers and landing gear.)
U. s. Airlines Safer Than Ever,
Says Recent Industry Report
The U. S. scheduled airlines
flew 6.2 billion revenue ton miles
in 1962, an increase of 15.6 per
cent over 1961, the Air Trans
port Association has reported.
According to the ATA’s an
nual publication, “Facts and Fig
ures About Air Transportation,”
the airlines also flew more than
62,000,000 passengers a total of
43.8 billion revenue passenger
miles.
The safety record continued
to improve. The fatality rate per
100 million revenue passenger
miles was only 0.27, compared
with 0.30 for 1961 and 0.76 for
1960.
“In their drive to improve the
present high level of safety, the
airlines explored and imple-
m e n t e d new techniques and
equipment which assure that
their fleet of modern aircraft
are soundly maintained and op
erated under the most progres
sive methods and by highly
skilled ground and air crews,”
Stuart G. Tipton, president of
the Air Transport Association,
said in the report.
“Always alert to new advan
ces which enhance safety, the
carriers continued their aggres
sive evaluation programs. Their
intensive interest also continued
to spur activity in other indus
tries and in government labs.
When advanced equipment and
techniques reach an operational
stage, they are brought into the
airline system. The major, vol
untary program to equip airline
fleets with a new navigational
aid — Distance Measuring Equip
ment — is a good example,” he
said.
An Airline Means Many Things
- In times of great joy or sorrow
there are thoughts which human
beings often wish to share with
each other. Such thoughts are con
tained in the following letter re
ceived at the home office a few
weeks ago from Miss Lillian Hoff
man of Raleigh, North Carolina.
THE PIEDMONITOR has been
given permission to print her letter.
Its publication is dedicated to Miss
Hoffman, her late Uncle Charles,
and the crews who man Flight 624-
Dear Flight 624:
I have been informed that it
is Flight 624 that flies over
Raleigh, North Carolina, almost
every evening about 10:45—lead-
Deepest sympathy is ex
tended to the family and
friends of Joseph E. "Shorty"
Roy, 42, who died April 24
in INT Baptist Hospital after
an illness of three months.
A native of New Bedford,
Mass., he was employed by
Piedmont in 1952, and was a
Junior Mechanic at the time
of his death. He is survived
by two daughters, aged 12
and 15, his parents, and five
sisters. His wife, the former
Betty Lou Tedder, died in
1959.
ing in a southeasterly course.
We have never met but please
let me tell you about someone.
Charles J. Gray, one of the
finest men the good Lord ever
made, lived in Raleigh. He was
the most wonderful
person, filled with
■strength of charac
ter, gentleness, wis- J|t ^
d o m, compassion, '4k
humor, and pa-
t i e n c e. He never,
displayed the slight
est impatience or
temper.
He helped mold hundreds of
characters to a finer way of life
and I know he made a better
woman of me.
His ideals of God and Life
were of the finest. He was my
Uncle and I loved him devotedly.
Every night, generally resting
on his bed — when he wasn’t
feeling well — he waited for you
and your flight.
He would wait until you came
into view through his window
and watched until you disap
peared into the night; always
wondering who comprised the
crew and where you were head
ing.
I’d promised many times to
try to find out but never got
around to actually doing so.
He entered Rex Hospital here
in Raleigh on Friday, March 15,
1963, with pneumonia and com-
Indusfry Leaders
Speak To Editors
On Air Progress
Publications Editor Cleta Cov-
i n g t o n represented Piedmont
Airlines May 13-15 when some
25 editors of airline employee
publications met in Washington,
D. C., to attend the Eighth An
nual Airline Editors Conference.
The Conference, sponsored by
the Air Transport Association, is
composed of heads of employee
publications from scheduled air
lines in the United States and
Canada.
During the meeting the edi
tors met with leaders in govern
ment and industry who are con
cerned with the development
and progress of air transporta
tion. They also discussed the
technical make-up of their pub
lications with specialists in typo
graphy and photography.
Speakers at the Conference in
cluded: Stuart G. Tipton, Presi
dent, ATA; Leo Seybold, Vice
President, Federal Affairs, ATA;
John S. Woodbridge, Comptrol
ler, Pan American World Air
ways; Irving Roth, Director,
Bureau of Economic Regulation,
Civil Aeronautics Board; Glen
Bayless, News Editor, Washing
ton Bureau, McGraw-Hill Pub
lications; Albert Ramsay, Presi
dent, Western Graphic Arts;
Thomas R. Smith, Assistant Il
lustrations Editor, National Geo
graphic Magazine.
Joseph Burke, Director of Pub
lic Affairs, Miami Base, Eastern
Air Lines; Richard G. Dinning,
Vice President, Flight and Op
erations Manager, Allegheny
Airlines; the Hon. William L.
Springer, House of Representa
tives; Albert F. Grisard, Wash
ington Counsel, Lake Central
Airlines; Sam I. Aldock, Vice
President, Systems and Analysis
Research, and Jack M. Slichter,
Vice President—Traffic, ATA.
The meeting also included a
special tour of the National Air
Museum of the Smithsonian In
stitute, conducted by its director.
Dr. Philip S. Hopkins.
plications. Charley passed away
three days later, Monday, March
18, 1963, at three in the morning.
The last week at home, he was
very ill but he’d always manage
to be looking out the window at
10:45 so that he’d see you fellows.
Anyway, as I said before, he
entered the hospital on March
15 and was put under an oxy-
(Continued on Page Four)
Piedmont Hosts
F-27 Operators
From All Points
Representatives from seven
airlines, 18 corporations, and 23
manufacturers of F-27 compon
ents were present in Winston-
Salem May 7-9 as Piedmont
hosted the annual Air Transport
Association F-27 Maintenance
Meeting.
All corporations and airlines
which utilize the F-27 were in
vited to take part in the con
ference.
Besides Piedmont, local service
airlines represented were Aloha,
Bonanza, Ozark, Northern Con
solidated, West Coast, and Aer-
lingus from Ireland.
Corporations
Corporation F-27 owners send
ing representatives included
Champion Spark Plug, Columbia-
Geneva Division of U. S. Steel,
Continental Can Company, Kim
berly-Clark Corporation, Koppers
Company, Inc., Noland Company,
Norfolk and Western Railway,
Olin Mathieson Company, R. J.
Reynolds Tobacco Company,
Reynolds Metals, and Union Car
bide.
R. S. Macklin, Technical Ad
visor to the Director of Main
tenance and Engineering, was
Chairman of this year’s meeting.
Howard Cartwright, Director of
Maintenance and Engineering,
presided.
Welcome
President T. H. Davis wel
comed the group at the start of
the conference, commenting that
the Fairchild F-27 will be “in
the aviation picture for a long
time to come.”
“No other turbine-powered air
plane is any better than the F-27
for short-haul operation at rea
sonable costs,” he said. “Lower
seat-mile costs and a lower
break-even load factor are pos
sible with the F-27 than can be
attained by any other aircraft
of its type.’
CLT Air Express Week Is Big Success
T’Vi1 rrVif TI70o rtn Qiv ov- rlvinff in Charlotte without a
The spotlight was on air ex
press in Charlotte recently, as
Piedmont and the other airlines
serving the city took part in a
contest to see which airline
could get a package from the
furthest point in the fastest
time.
It was all part of the city’s
Air Express Week, and accord
ing to the Airlines Progress
Committee it turned out to be a
great success.
Among the gifts sent from va
rious parts of the world were a
figurine of a chariot rider and
horses from Cairo, a pineapple
from Honolulu, and a mechani
cal monkey from Las Vegas.
Northwest Orient shipped a 20-
inch carved figure from Taipei,
and worth noting is the fact that
no wrapping, packaging, or pro
tection of any kind was used. A
label was just tied around the
figure’s neck and off it went, ar
riving in Charlotte without a
scratch.
“Gifts were received from all
over the world,” reports CLT
Station Manager Johnnie Newell.
“We had full participation by
Piedmont and all other carriers
out of this station. I believe
Sales Representative Bill No
land’s gift from Wilmington was
the most novel. On the outside
it said, ‘Fresh ocean breezes
from Wilmington, N. C.,’ and
that’s all that was in the box.
The whole week was climaxed
by a steak dinner given the local
station managers by REA Ex
press.”
Besides Piedmont, airlines in
the contest included United,
Northwest Orient, Eastern,
TWA, Japan, Alitalia, SAS,
Southern, and Delta.
At last report REA Express
planned to donate many of the
gifts received to local orphan
ages and hospitals.
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Captain Brown and his attractive wife, Louise, visited with Vice President
H. K. Saunders during a visit to INT to say goodbye to a number of
their friends there.
Brown's Off To Hunt
by Cleta Covington
On May 2 as Washington, D. C.
passengers boarded Flight 17,
few of them knew what the trip
meant to their captain. For him,
it started a day that was a little
sad, definitely sentimental.
Captain Harold R. Brown, a
Piedmont pilot for the last 15
years, was 60 years old May 3,
and according to government
(Continued on Page Two)