PAGE TWO
THE PIEDMONITOR
APRIL, 1965
nEPiEomonim
Piedmont Aviation, Inc.
SMITH REYNOLDS AIRPORT
WINSTON-SALEM, N. C.
m AS nANVMT AUOOAHON
Bonnie Hauch, Editor
CORRESPONDENTS THIS ISSUE
FRANK SLONE
RMT
ROBERT BEARD
.. FAY
LOUISE RAMSY
CLT
J. P. WHEELER
.. RDU
DON HOLLIDAY
ROA-F
JOHN MORRIS
.. BAL
BOB WYLIE
.... ORF
RAY NORRIS
... TRI
DEANNA MARTIN
. ROA-0
FRANK REYNOLDS .
.. LYH
RUTH SHUMATE
CRW
J. D. STORCH
.... INT
CARL SIMPSON TYS
VFR
with
Turby
Turby said it was IFR weather this month and he just
couldn’t malce it, so I’ll have to fly this one myself.
Speaking of flying, a local businessman, Nab Armfield, de
cided that it was high time for his almost-seven-year-old son and
a few of his friends to have a crack at the wild blue yonder. So
he chartered a Martin 404 and threw an airborne shindig for
Master Arthur’s birthday. The kids had a grand time flying around
the Winston-Salem area over Pilot Mountain and Tanglewood
Park while devouring their ice cream and cake. One of the mothers
aboard gasped when she realized that the party favors were those
crepe paper tubes that go “POP” when you pull the string. “Good
grief,” she exclaimed, “we’ve brought explosives up here.” All
went well, however, and it was a clear, sunshiny day for what
was for many of the youngsters a first flight. How did young
Arthur enjoy the party? Spent most of the time gathering up all
his presents. What else do you do on your seventh birthday?
Then, on the same flight, there was that moment of sheer
terror when I saw Jack Tadlock and Frank Nicholson up in the
cockpit. “Where, oh where, is a pilot?” I thought. Only slowly
came the realization that Capt. Tadlock and Capt. “Nick”, though
usually seen behind a desk, are among the best pilots in the
business.
April brought an introduction to Piedmont’s incentive dinners.
Believe me, Piedmontites certainly know how to enjoy themselves.
I’ve just had a grand time attending Baltimore’s and Charleston’s
parties. Learned some things too, about the hidden talents of our
people. For instance, Ronnie Abshire does a mean Frugue. Wow!
Everyone was glad to see Bob Hill up and around at the
Charleston party. He says he had a lot of visitors ^t the hospital,
but he’s not sure whether they came to see him or the attractive
nurses and receptionists. Bob wanted me to thank you all for
your cards and good wishes.
THE PIEDMONT POSTMAN
Dear Mr. Davis:
I had such fine service from
your Mr. J. L. Fields in Flor
ence, S. C., that I’d like to bring
him and the incident to your at
tention.
It began when I got off a
Piedmont flight in Florence
with a bag that was identical to
mine, but wasn’t the one I had
boarded with. I didn’t discover
the error until midnight. Then
I awakened Mr. Fields at his
home, thinking perhaps my bag
was still aboard the plane. I
got help — plus a friendly, in
terested attitude that discounted
completely the inconvenience of
being disturbed.
In the morning Mr. Fields
continued the search. We found
my bag was in the possession
of a fellow passenger who had
disembarked at Fayetteville, one
stop ahead of mine. His error
had created the problem. Mr.
Fields promptly arranged a
transfer of the bags and we had
a happy ending.
The point is, of course, that
I’m tremendously impressed
with Mr. Fields’ attitude and as
sistance in a situation that was
not of his nor Piedmont’s creat
ing. It speaks well for him and
his company. I hope you will
convey my thanks to him.
Cordially yours, A.A.S.
Dear Sir:
I want to commend to you
Miss Sandra Johnson who was
serving at the Piedmont opera
tion counter in Cincinnati, Ohio,
on January 10 from about four
o’clock ’til after 10:00 p.m. Due
to a weather overflight at the
Roanoke airport and conditions
at Charleston, West Va., it was
necessary for me to go into
Cincinnati along with several
others.
The care, skill, and sympa
thetic handling by Miss John
son of this disgruntled bunch of
passengers, including this col
lege professor and Presbyterian
elder, caught my attention in a
fashion that no person serving
the public has done in recent
years.
This experience could have
made me mad and unhappy
with Piedmont, but her skill and
courtesy (and help by making
possible a good dinner, a night’s
lodging, etc.) turned it into a
memory that should be repeated
at every operation counter.
Thank you for having this
kind of person serving the pub
lic. Cordially, I.B.S.
Tornado Makes Surprise Landing
by Jim Deans, EWN
When a disaster such as a tor
nado strikes, it takes mafiy in
dividual stories to make up the
whole. This is but one story of
many.
My wife Nancy, daughter Pam,
and I were visiting Hubert and
Virginia Waller in their trailer
near the New Bern airport. It
was March 17th, St. Patrick’s
Day. It was unusually warm and
soon it began to rain, so we de
cided it was time to end the
visit. Suddenly, the electric
power went out and the rain
became harder. Hubert lit a ker
osene lamp and we talked a
while longer.
When it started thundering
and lightning, the children, ex
cept Vivian, younger of the Wal
ler children, came into the liv
ing room where we were.
At about ten minutes past ten,
I heard a loud roar approaching
through the nearby woods and
imagined that it was very hard
rain or hail. It did, indeed, begin
to hail as if someone were throw
ing buckets of rocks on the trail
er. Suddenly, the approaching
noise became a roar unlike any
thing I have ever heard before.
The trailer began to rock and
shudder in the wind. That was
my first inkling that we were
in the midst of a tornado.
I jumped up and opened the
front door, still not sure just
what to do. The trailer moved
about three feet sideways. I de
cided that a trailer was no place
for us at that time. I ran to my
car parked just outside the trail
er and turned on the headlights.
Nancy and Virginia came out
with Pam and Hubert, Jr. and
everyone got into the car.
Meanwhile, Hubert had gone
to the bedroom for Vivian, and
when the trailer moved, he lay
down on the floor. Then he saw
the kerosene lamp sliding closer
to the edge of the table, so he
blew it out and joined us in the
car.
It was only a matter of min
utes before it was all over ex
cept for the rain. When we got
out of the car, we saw that the
trailer two doors down from Hu
bert’s had overturned and some
one was still inside. We went
over with flashlights and helped
a man get out of it.
Bill Downs, who lives just
down the road, soon came over
to get help for his neighbor who
was also trapped in an over
turned trailer. By the time we
arrived, however, she had gotten
out by herself and was in her
neighbor’s trailer.
Luckily, the electric power
had gone off prior to the storm.
There were power lines down
all over the place and in the
darkness. Bill had run directly
into one. A tree limb was im-
15 YEAR PIN
Thomas Edwin Robinson, Me
chanic, INT, March 1
Floyd Stickney, Captain, DCA,
March 1
Joe Gurganus, Military Rep.,
Camp Lejeune, March 13
Hop Hee Dunne, Link Instruc
tor, INT, March 20
William H. Finein, Captain,
DCA, March 23
10 YEAR PIN
Ray A. Norris, Agent, TR
Ronald C. Abshire, Agent, CRW,
March 2
Virgil Flinn, Agent, PKB,
March 7
Ezra Cooke, Chief Agent, INT-
SC, March 8
Gene Johnson, First Officer,
INT, March 9
Irene Marie Kiser, Agent, CRW,
March 10
Joanne Short, Agent, CMH,
March 18
Robert L. Almon, First Officer,
ILM, March 25
paled through Bill’s roof and a
window was broken, so we
moved some of his furniture
out of the way of the rain.
When we went back outside,
several of the neighbors were
milling about, and further down
the road we saw a trailer laying
half on the ground and half up
a pine tree. We quickly went
to it to see if any help was need
ed, but the occupant had already
escaped and was waiting for
someone to take her to the hos
pital.
Still further down the road,
we saw another trailer, or to be
more correct, we saw the wreck
age of what had once been a
trailer lying across the • road.
When we got there we discov
ered that someone was trapped
underneath the wreckage so we
began to attempt to remove him.
However, there were not enough
of us to lift the trailer chassis.
Apparently someone had called
for help because, in a moment,
volunteers from the township
fire department arrived and we
all put our backs to the task of
lifting the trailer enough to free
the trapped man. After examin
ing him briefly, it was decided
that we should not attempt to
move him because of possible
serious injuries, so we covered
him with blankets until the res
cue squad arrived and took him
to the hospital.
On looking back, all of this
seemed to have taken hours but
actually it had taken place in
just over thirty minutes.
When the chaos subsided
somewhat, Hubert and I went
to the airport to see if we were
needed, but even with the power
off, through and originating
passengers demanding departure
times, deplaning passengers
wondering what to do now, and
a general state of confusion
reigning, the boys on duty had
everything under control. Dave
Morrison, Larry Wall, Tom Fin
ney, I/acy Edwards, Ray Hill,
and Carl Costin did a bang-up
job considering the hardships
against which they were oper
ating.
Flight 67 was on the ground
waiting for the squall line to
pass when the twister hit. The
aircraft was empty of passen
gers and was chocked, but the
wind still managed to blow it
around on the ramp. The plane
was not damaged, though, and
the only damage to the terminal
building was a shattered door.
But there was a different sit
uation across the field. Of the
thirty light aircraft parked over
there, twenty-seven were either
destroyed or seriously damaged.
One was blown approximately
1000 feet from where it was tied
down. Another was missing and
later discovered in a swamp area
far from the airport.
The boys on duty at the F.A.A.
Flight Service Station recorded
only 95 mph winds, but this was
because they were forced to
abandon their stations to take
shelter in an inside room away
from the windows. Although 95
mph was the last reading they
took, we are certain the wind
was a good bit stronger than
that because the force was much
greater than that of the 105 mph
hurricane winds we have pre
viously experienced here.
New Bern will not soon forget
this St. Patrick’s Day. We have
recently read of people standing
by, ignoring others in need of
help, but this was not the case
here. No one in need of assist
ance needed even to ask for it—
it was there.
The day following the tornado,
we could get an idea of just what
had happened the night before.
What we had seen was only a
very small part of the destruc
tion wrought by the twister.
Trailers were smashed like
match boxes, buildings torn
down, roofs gone, and large trees
snapped in two as if by some
giant hand.
The day following the storm
was also a time for reflection.
After viewing the destruction,
one was moved to offer up
thanks that we and our families
escaped serious injury.
NEW EMPLOYEES
L. I. Van Loan—Agent-Opera-
tions ORF
R. G. Boggs—Jr. Radio Techni
cian INT
E. D. Schettler—Stewardess INT
L. F. Meredith—Stewardess
ORF
E. J. Duncan—Stewardess ROA
C. E. Shotsman—Stewardess
INT
L. W. Harmon—Ramp Agent
CLT
A. R. Lemesh—Jr. Communica-
tionist, DCA
J. M. Meadows—Agent-Reserva-
tions INT-SC
D. R. Moore—Agent-Operations
CRW
L. G. Sutphin—Agent-Operations
ROA
A. F. Carlton—Agent-Reserva-
tions ATL
T. B. Goble—Flight Instructor
ORF-FB
S. L, Perry—Agent-Operations
HSP
T. D. Roland—Ramp Agent CLT
R. A. Folk—First Officer Train
ee INT
H. W. Bradshaw—F/0 Trainee
INT
J. E. Brown—Cleaner ROA
J. G. Brockenbrough—F/0
Trainee INT
J. G. Campbell—F/O Trainee
INT
L. C. Howell—Cleaner ROA
D. F. Johnson—F/0 Trainee
INT
J. H. Jones—F/0 Trainee INT
R. L. Mason—F/0 Trainee INT
E. W. Parker—F/0 Trainee INT
G. G. Perry—F/0 Trainee INT
(Continued on Page Six)
WILL
MONEY
WELP?
by Freda Zappia
We don’t mean to hound you, but ... no bones about it . . .
we’ve got money to loan!
Planning a trip to Europe or the Far East? Or seeing the
good old U. S. A. first? If you haven’t saved enough to finance the
whole trip, ask your Credit Union. Perhaps we can help you with
the additional money you may need for your vacation. Your di
rectors have just increased new loan maximums with longer
terms.
BORROW MONEY WHERE YOU ARE THE BOSS.