settle lower, the thought came to me that maybe I forgot to lower the landing gear. When it did touch down it felt like my butt was sliding on the grass. Two days later we flew to Seattle and a few days after that we left for Fairbanks.
Shortly after arriving in Fairbanks with my dad and the new Cessna 170, I returned to my usual summer job at Wien. My mother, brother, and sister drove a new Ford back up the highway as our family returned to Fairbanks to live.
My father, Noel Wien, created history in 1925 by making the first flight north of the Arctic Circle anywhere in the world. He is seen here hand cranking the Standard J-1 at Wiseman, Alaska, for the return trip to Fairbanks.
Famous early Alaska pilot Joe Crosson looking at me in the sled when I was a baby.
This was taken in 1927 in Nome, Alaska, when my dad started Wien Alaska Airways. Note the spare prop tied to the side of the fuselage.
Here I am getting some pretend flying time in the Bull Pup.
In 1938, Howard Hughes stops in Fairbanks flying a Lockheed Model 14 on a record-breaking around the world flight of just under four days. P341-Cann-7, Alaska State Library, Photographers in Alaska Photo Collection.
Photo of the Japanese Mitsubishi G3M visit to Fairbanks in 1937, supposedly on a goodwill tour of Alaska.
Wiley Post lands in Fairbanks in 1933 on his around-the-world record flight of just under eight days.
This is the Avro Avian airplane that ended up in our backyard for us kids to play in, and eventually demolish. It originally belonged to Robert Crawford, composer of the Army Air Corp song who also grew up in Alaska.
Hap Arnold arrived in Alaska with ten Martin B-10s in 1934 to prove the capabilities of the Army Air Service. Arnold later became commanding general of the US Army Air Forces during World War II.
When I was five years old, in 1935, we greeted Wiley Post and Will Rogers arriving on the Chena River near Fairbanks. They were on their way to Point Barrow and points west. They were killed near Point Barrow a few days later. Wiley is getting out of the cockpit and Will Rogers is standing on the right wing. Joe Crosson, famous Alaska aviator, and mechanic, Warren Tillman, are on the dock.
Solo day, April 4, 1946, Boeing Field, with my instructor, Sherry Phelps.
My dad, Noel Wien, and Bob Sholton, 1949, Fairbanks, by the tail of the Wien Fairchild Pilgrim. Bob took me with him on several mail runs in the Stinson AT-19.
One of my first bush flights in the spring of 1950 at the village of Beaver on the Yukon River ice.
The crew I first flew with most frequently the summer of 1950. I’m on the left with Captain Fred Goodwin standing between Wien Airlines’ first stewardesses, Betty Windler and Patsy Hornbeck.
I was hired by Pan American in the summer of 1951, and this photo was taken at Juneau, Alaska.
3
Paid to Fly
On June 1, 1950, I was back at my summer job, working on the hangar floor at Wien when our chief pilot, Dick King, said to me, “Do you want to fly the DC-3?” I was flabbergasted. Dick gave me a few landings and signed me off as a qualified DC-3 co-pilot. The biggest airplane that I had flown up to that time was the Stinson AT-19 but the DC-3 felt good to me. The biggest problem I had was getting used to the World War II–technology brakes. I was now a full-fledged airline pilot on the seniority list of Wien Alaska Airlines.
The first captain I flew with was Fred Goodwin. I have been so fortunate to be able to fly with captains who made the effort to share their knowledge and experience. So many early captains in the industry told their co-pilot to just sit there and not to touch anything. Cockpit resource management (CRM) was not yet in vogue. But Fred was different. He gave me responsibility and didn’t over-instruct, letting me figure things out on my own as much as possible.
Fred kept me in the left seat most of the time but he did not make it easy for me. The first thing he did was to tell me I had to get a crew cut. Then he said that whenever I saw him patting his shirt pocket, I was to whip out the cigarettes that I was carrying for him and light one with the lighter that I also was required to carry. It was a small price to pay for such a great education. When I screwed up he made sure that I did not forget it. He was very accomplished in the scolding area but that resulted in cementing his teachings in my mind. He also had some fun with me. When Fred made a less than stellar landing, he would put his captain hat on me and say, “Go greet the passengers as they get off the airplane.” I flew with other captains that first summer but there is no doubt that of all of them, Fred taught me the most.
When I became a captain I always tried to be the same kind of captain that Fred was for me. I made a big effort to pass on my knowledge if a newer pilot showed the eagerness to learn and, like Fred, I let them fly most of the time. I made comments and subtle suggestions and when I noticed improvements, I complimented them. This seemed to stimulate more eagerness to learn and I loved seeing the results. From Fred’s example, I learned that the really good instructors know when to talk and when to let the students learn by making mistakes. If an instructor is talking all the time, it becomes a distraction and the student is not able to concentrate on flying. I also felt, as did Fred, that if a student made a serious mistake, it should be emphasized in no uncertain terms.
In the early days, the captain was the captain and there was no question about who was in command because he carried the final responsibility for the safety of the aircraft. In the summer of 1950 the airline decided to hire for the first time two trained flight attendants (we called them stewardesses back then) from a training academy in the states. They were well trained but one of them could get a little testy. During one flight with mostly tourists onboard, she decided that she did not want to go any higher because her tourists could not see the wildlife. She came to the cockpit and rolled the trim tab forward. I thought, Oh dear, she knows not what she has done. Fred Goodwin is the captain and he is not going to be willing to give up command of the ship. Fred jumped out of his seat and threw her out of the cockpit, locking the cockpit door behind her. She hollered and banged on the locked door in front of all the passengers.
I think that was her first awareness of how the chain of command worked. Apparently the training school did not cover that subject.
I like to think back to how things were when I first started flying. You did