21 Years On The Erie Railroad

I'm going to leave Cleveland for awhile, and go back to my first weeks on the Erie, which would be the summer of 1944.

I had hired out as a baggage and freight handler on May 24, 1944 while still a sophomore in high school. Summer vacation came along; so did a few pay checks.

I had been, ever since I could remember what an airplane was, a nut about airplanes. In those days, there was a huge variety of private airplanes, such as Piper, Taylorcraft, Waco, Stinson, Aeronca, Laird, Travel Air, etc., along with the large commercial planes from Douglas and Boeing, not to mention a few of the old Ford "Tin Goose" tri-motors still flying.

There was a little air port located about 4 miles outside town. Every chance I could, I would beg, wheedle, bribe, or whatever, to get my father to take me out to the airport to watch the planes. This was probably in 1936 or so, and there was lots of activity at the little grass field.

At that time, you could almost count on there being an air show at the airport every summer. Also, a Ford tri-motor usually spent a week there, giving rides. In fact, my first airplane ride was a 20-minute one in a Ford, paid for by my grandfather, God bless him. I don't remember just how much the ride cost, but I imagine, for 1936, it
was expensive.

Back to my first summer on the railroad. After I had a few paychecks under my belt, I called an older friend, who had taken flying lessons, for advice. He put me on the trail of his instructor, who, after thinking about it a bit, said he would be glad to take me up and let me get the feel of handling a plane.

I remember hitch-hiking out to the field one fine summer afternoon. The pilot told me what was going to happen, and how much the first lesson would cost. We agreed to the terms. We took off, and after getting up so far, he told me what to do, and how to do it. I think the plane was a Piper J-3, but it could have been a Taylorcraft, since that was also a popular plane at the little airport.

We rode around for about 20 minutes, I guess. I was awkward, of course, but the pilot seemed to think I was doing all right for the first time. After landing, we talked about further lessons, and I decided to do it, since my pay seemed to be safe for at least the summer.

However, fate stepped in after I had something like 4 hours or so of instruction.

Back in those days, a carnival or a circus, or both, always paid a visit to our little town. The circus would stay just over-night, but the carnival would set up for usually a week. A carnival arrived about mid-Summer and set up. After the first night, the big talk around my circle of friends was that there was someone called a "geek" in the carnival, and that this person would bite off the head of a chicken, for a price. This was stunning news. I made up my mind that I would see it.

The fore-mentioned fate then stepped in. The next day I contacted a case of the German measles. I was advised that I should stay indoors out of the bright sun, and not to read. Of course, I knew better.

As a result, I missed out on seeing the geek. I also lost some of my eye-sight, because I did go outdoors in the bright sun, and did read the funnies.

Also, in those days, a person needed 20/20-vision in order to obtain a pilot's license. I had 20/20 when I started my lessons, but after the measles, I didn't.

So went my dream of flying.

About 20 years ago my wife and I went for a Sunday drive. Our route took us past the new local airport, with paved runways, lights, radio, etc. One of my friends had a 2-place Cessna, was just landing. He taxied up, spotted me, asked if I wanted to go up for awhile. He knew some of my history regarding planes. We took off, got about 150 feet up. He said "It's all yours," and handed it over to me. What a wonderful afternoon! We fooled around a bit, shot some landings, finally landed. I then realized just what I had missed by being a bit foolish.