My father was born and raised in Plainview. He was a born flyer, got his ticket at age 16, and owned a Waco.
During WWII, he was in the Army Air Corps. Somebody very clever came up with the idea, since steel was at such a premium due to the war effort, to make troop carrier gliders out of wood. The idea was that bombers could tow the wooden gliders to the appropriate location and then let them go to glide to the ground.
So, my father spent the war less than 60 miles from home crashing wooden planes without engines into the turf of English Field.
It is rumored that the wooden gliders were actually used in D-Day, but crashed, as usual, killing or injuring many of the pilots and troops.
If there is any way to post a photo, I would love to post a pic of my father, in the late ‘50’s or early ‘60’s standing beside his beloved Beechcraft Bonanza V35B at Tradewinds Airport in Amarillo.
I just discovered this site and I think it is so cool. I cannot wait to explore it further.
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