This book is ideal for aviation enthusiasts, filled with technical details of military aircraft maintenance, vivid descriptions of civil flight instruction, along with airline pilot training and operations from behind the flight deck door. It is also my very personal story of how I went from a teenager working in a furniture factory to the left seat of a Boeing airliner through a long and tumultuous journey.
Memoir of an Aviator – My journey from factory worker to airline Captain is also a love story of my relationship with flying. My story is in four segments that will appeal to readers with different interests. First is my experience as an Air Force mechanic for Strategic Air Command on Cold War-era KC-135s. Next, is a description of the remainder of my Air Force career as an inflight refueling operator (aka boom operator). I tell of my experiences on KC-135 and KC-10 tankers, and of the many trips and operations I have been a part of. Then my life takes a turn, and I trained as a commercial pilot, ending up flying at the world's largest airline after years of progression. After my flying days were over, I worked for a major US airplane manufacturer, developing training programs for civil and military pilots. I ended my career running a site for a world-class military flight simulation company.
My story is not all just good times and favorable experiences. There was romance, then heartbreak. There were triumphs, then tribulations. There was joy in reaching my lifetime goal and then sorrow after getting laid off. Sometimes I questioned the path I had chosen and through determination, stubbornness, and support from my spouse I made a career out of it. The people I describe along the way are sometimes humorous, at other times exasperating, but always interesting.
This book has something for everyone. Mechanics and airplane aficionados will enjoy the description of my crew chief days and work alongside me as I maintain a frontline war-fighting asset. Military aviation fans will like the description of my time as a boom operator as I haul cargo and refuel airplanes in midair around the world. Pilots and those interested in what goes on beyond the airliner flight deck door will have plenty to enjoy as they fly with me through airline training and flight operations. From flying dogs, furloughs, flight training, military life, and people learning to fly, this book has a lot to offer.