Our Father's Generation. F. M. Worden

plane could do. He looked back at Aunt Helen, told her to hang on and put the plane thru a few paces. That man could fly the pants off a brass monkey. I loved every minute of it. Aunt Helen, before he was finished, looked a little pale and threw up all over the both of us, I think he overdid it a little.

      This new plane was a Stinson Reliant. The company had only been making this plane for one year, it could carry four passengers and the pilot, it will fly around one hundred and forty miles an hour. Also, it had a range of four hundred miles. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the whole operation Uncle Bob had planned.

      On the ground, we got Aunt Helen sitting in the car, She needed a drink of water. She really looked pale around the gills. I thought to myself, Uncle Bob was going to catch heck when she came around.

      I spent the rest of that afternoon cleaning the spit up out-a the plane. The smell was hard to get out, but I finally did with a lot of elbow grease, soap and water.

      The whole crew at the airport had to look the plane over. All the guys were impressed with her looks, it made me feel good to be a part of the operation.

      Before Uncle Bob left that day, he gave me some advice about flying in general. “Tommy boy,” he said, “Always keep her nose up on the horizon, watch the altimeter and pay attention to the fuel gauge. Never fly when you’re tired, it isn’t worth having an accident. Take some time to get rested.” Several times his advice saved my neck, he also told me to take a hop over to El Paso to get a little cross country experience. I had never been more than twenty or thirty miles from the airport.

      I got my brother Frank to go. We flew over the next Saturday and came home Sunday. I followed Highway US 80 all the way, I loved flying this airplane. I even let Frank take the controls a time or two, I thought he might have gotten hooked, he didn’t. He told me he preferred to stay on the ground.

      The next week I got my first charter. Doc Hanson, his wife and their two little girls booked to go to San Diego for a two week vacation. The Doc sat next to me, his wife and girls in the back. The plane handled alright, I just had a little trouble getting the feel of all the weight. It took a few hours and I set that bird down like it was a baby buggy at the airport in San Diego. The Doc’s wife had never flown before. When she got out, she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She told me, “Tommy, I’ll never be afraid to fly again. You are a great pilot.” She made me feel like I was somebody. The Doc told me to pick them up in two weeks.

      I asked a man standing on a stepladder working on a plane’s engine, near the hanger, “Can I tie down my plane for the night?”

      “Sure.” He showed me where. I finished tie-n down and returned to where the fellow was working on a plane. I started to ask him questions about the airport. He said he was an airplane mechanic and worked for the owner, a man called {Smiling Jack}.

      I was asking questions about the hangar buildings and some of the aircraft, when I saw this gorgeous female dressed in a white shirt, tan boot pants and brown riding boots come thru the big open door. This redheaded beauty stood looking our way. I asked the mechanic who she was. “She’s the boss’s daughter, Allie. You want-a meet her?” I didn’t know what to say. He did for me. He called, “Allie, this boy here wants ta meet ya.”

      Even at that distance, I could see she was smiling. As she strolled toward us, I could see this beauty was blue eyed with big dimples in her rosy red cheeks. She had wonderful full kissable lips, I fell head over heels in love with this walking goddess.

      As she approached us, she said in a musical voice, “I’m Allie.” She presented her right hand for me to shake.

      I took her hand in my right, pulled her close to me. With my left hand on her upper arm, I said, “Am I ever glad to meet you, you’re one good looking young lady.”

      I thought that mechanic was gonna fall off his ladder. We both heard him say softly, “This kid is smooth.” Then he said in a loud voice, “This boy is the charter pilot who just flew in, in the Red Stinson over there.” He was pointing at my plane.

      She looked at me and said with question in her musical voice, “You’re kind-a young to be a charter pilot.”

      I told her, “I been flying for two years and I’m good at it.” I never bragged before in my life, somehow I just had to impress this beautiful girl.

      She told me very curtly, “I’m a pilot, too, and I’ve been flying a couple of years.” She grabbed me by the arm and said, “Come on, I want you to meet my daddy.” I told her I was hungry and had to find a place to sleep. She pulled me right along and said, “I’ll see to your needs.” How lucky could a guy be to meet this girl?

      We entered the hangar and walked over to an office inside the building. There standing in the door way talking with a couple of men was a handsome man who looked to be forty years old. He had graying temples, reddish brown hair, a firm ruddy face and a big friendly smile. He stood six feet tall maybe two hundred pounds.

      Allie broke right into their conversation and said, “Daddy, I want you to meet….” She stopped and asked, “What did you say your name was?”

      “Tom.”

      “Daddy, I want you to meet Tom, he’s a charter pilot.”

      I put out my hand to him. He took it and said, “I’m Smiling Jack. How ya do-n?”

      I looked at him, then at Allie and said, “I’m do-n great.”

      He got my drift right away. He said, “Easy boy, this is one fine girl.”

      “Yes, sir. I can sure see that.”

      All this time, Allie was giving me a big beautiful smile. My heart was gone. She told her Daddy, “He’s hungry and needs a place to sleep tonight.”

      “Take him to the diner. It’s on me. He can have the cot in the office for tonight.”

      “Thank you, sir.”

      He said, “Call me Jack, Tom, everybody calls me Jack.”

      Allie grabbed me by the arm and said, “Come on, Tom, my cars outside.” She led me outside to a 1934 Ford Roadster; it was yellow with black fenders, what a beauty. She slipped into the driver’s seat. I ran around, opened the door and climbed in beside her. Off we went in a cloud of dust. How could I be so lucky to meet this beautiful girl? And a pilot, too!

      With the top down, the wind made her hair swirl around her face, reminding me of pictures of the females I had seen in history books of the Roman Empire. Her looks were outstanding. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, she is one beautiful woman.

      In about a mile, we turned into a diner’s parking lot. The diner was an old train car. Inside, everyone gave Allie a big hello. She must have known all the people who were eating there. She had all the men’s attention in that diner, I’ll tell ya. She told me that she, her daddy and all his work men ate here all the time.

      We sat at a two-place table by the front window. Facing this beauty, I was captured completely. I hung on her every word. She had the sexiest voice I had ever heard. I was gone, I had fall-n in love with this girl. In high school, I never had time for girls and really didn’t care for them at all. Most were a pain, if you get my drift.

      A shapely young blonde came to take our order. This girl had a big friendly smile and I could see she had an interest in me. How could I be so lucky? I could see Allie didn’t take kindly of this blonde’s attention. Allie told her to take our order, “Quit make-n eyes at my boyfriend.” That made my day. The little gal took our orders and took off in a huff, I watched her go and I was smiling at her as she went. She stopped and smiled back at me and I gave her a wave.

      Allie made a noise, cleared her throat and said, “I’m still here.”

      “Yes, you are,” I said.

      She put out both her hands to me across the table and I put mine in hers. She pulled me to her a little and said, “Tom, I hope you and I become an item around here.” Wow! She liked me. She told me as soon as she became a