EAA493 Mailing List: Beechcraft leads to wonderful meetup at KERV

[Joe Christian (k5hmd]

Forwarded with permission from the Beech list.  Ed is a retired newspaper man; it shows in his writing ability!

jc

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ed Livermore Jr <elivermorejr@xxxx>
Date: Mon, Aug 24, 2015 at 11:32 PM
Subject: B: Beechcraft leads to wonderful meetup at KERV
To: beech-owners [at] beechcraft.org


All,

          A few days ago, I was sitting in the lounge area of our local GA
terminal chatting with our airport manager when up taxied a beautiful Beech
(content) Travel Air. The pilot walked in, and I complimented him on his
great looking paint job and welcomed him to our airport (I'm on the airport
board). Turned out the plane was the grand champion antique at Oshkosh about
10 years ago. Wow! No wonder if looked so good. That plane was only the
first celebrity we were to meet that morning.

During the ensuing chat, the pilot mentioned he was in Kerrville to pick up
Dick Cole. "Dick Cole, Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot on the Tokyo raid?" I
asked. "One and the same," he said. Turns out he was flying Cole to Ft.
Worth to visit the Lockheed plant and the F-35. Cole is one of the last 3 of
the raiders still with us and lives just south of town. I had not met him,
so you can bet I stayed around. Dick Cole will turn 100 next month.

In a few minutes Cole and his daughter arrived. He's a wonderful gentleman,
spry and nicely conversational. I had to ask about the first thought through
his mind when he and the other men were told by Doolittle that their mission
was to launch B-25s from a Navy carrier in the north Pacific and bomb Tokyo.
"Well, I was dubious," he chuckled.

About that time a line guy came over to say "Gene Cernan is taxiing in."
Cernan is well known around Kerrville. He lives in Houston but spends most
weekends on his ranch near our town. I looked out and saw Gene's green and
white Cessna 421 arriving on the ramp. Gene always travels with his two
Labradors, and in a few minutes the threesome joined us.

"Man," I said to Bruce, "wouldn't it be great to get a photo of Dick Cole
with the last man to walk on the moon?" Well, that's exactly what happened.
See attached photo. It was quite a general aviation morning that day at
KERV. Turns out both men knew each other. Cernan laughed that "Dick always
wants to know about walking on the moon, and I want to know about what it
was like to be the first off the carrier's deck that morning."

You never know who might turn up at the airport. Fun morning.

Ed

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