Came a phone call in the night, “LDUB, I need a stevedore who can fly a Twin-otter for seven weeks off the north coast of Greenland”. Pay is $2,700 per month plus room and board. It was Pat Walters, my room mate in Viet Nam. I told him to send me a ticket and he did.
I left Dallas in typical golf attire, headed North to Barrow, AK. arriving in late afternoon that day. When I stepped out onto the stairs, it was -30 degrees with 30 mph wind. I was sure I would freeze to death before I could get inside. Pat was at the bottom of the stair with a shit-eating grin on his face and an arctic parka in his hand.
Next morining at seven, I preflighted the Single Otter and was strapped in for my check out. Pat got into the right seat with three bananas in his hand. We completed the checklist for start, taxied to the runway, did the pre takeoff check, and put the pedal to the metal. I made three not so bad takeoffs and landings. Pat said I’ve seen enough, park it. When I asked about the bananas, he said “I think, given enough bananas, I can teach a monkey to fly this thing”.
Good way to start the day.
More later.
Larry

Next morning at seven, I pre-flighted the Single Otter

Thank you for visiting my blogsite. I willl make every effort to entertain or educate you with articles related to the wonderful world of aviation. If, as I have always believed, being a pilot is more a disease than a profession, then I am no doubt terminal. I truly believe that my creator sent me here to be a pilot. If not the best, then the best that I could be.
My name is Larry Walls, I am 71, medically retired, happily married to my wife, Sherry. Our combined families consist of: 7 sons, 2 daughters (all grown and married), 26 grandchildren, & 7 great-grandchildren. The Lord has truly blessed us with His gifts. It gets a little busy and noisy at family gatherings but we simply adore each and every one of them. The triplets born March 31st in Boise, ID to #3
son, were early and remained hospitalized for 4 months. We have not seen them yet, but at last report they were doing well and growing. God willing, we will go out as soon as we possibly can to see them.
My passions in life are: 1. My Lord
2. My wife
3. My family
4. Flying
I quit school after the 10th grade (don’t you just love how smart kids can be at 16?) and joined the Air Force with every intent of going to flight school. They made a jet engine mechanic out of me instead. I took my discharge after four years of no flight schooling. I worked as a mechanic and drove truck for a time.
In 1964, I joined the Army and eventually gained acceptance into the Warrant Officer Aviation Program. In a later message I will share with you how I was able to switch from rotary wing to fixed wing programs.
Eventually, I was selected to attend the OV-1 Mohawk school, which is exactly where I wanted to be. I had been a Mohawk crew chief in Germany, and fell in love with the airplane at that time. When we graduated, all my classmates went directly to Viet Nam. For whatever reason, I had no orders. I was assigned temporary duty as an instructor at the school.
When my orders finally came, I was assigned as a maintenance officer in an O-1 bird dog unit at Pledieu, South Viet Nam. It took me about 6 weeks of frustration to get it all straightened out and be reassigned to the 225th SAC, Phantomhawks at Phu Hiep.
It took me one flight each to advance through: area orientation, visual photo, SLAR, and finally, Infrared. We were the elite seven of 40 pilots in the unit. We normally had two launch times per day, about 9 P.M. and the “dawn patrol” at about 2 A.M. Most often, we had 4 missions on each launch.
It was an all night, all weather, single pilot and TO, low-level effort that was not suited for the faint of heart. We relied on a Doppler system for navigation and it often proved to be imprecise. At times, a good old fashioned gut feeling was the best we could hope for. It was always comforting to know that God was on your side.
Stay tuned for more.

Larry