A Blast From My Past

My pal Ron Turner sent me these photos.  They're snapshots that he's taken during his career and has generously allowed me to use here. Follow along as Ron journeys from Air New England to Piedmont Airlines and retires from USAirways as an A-330 captain. I love history... particularly if my path has crossed through it and I know the participants.

This black/white photo of Ron and Dick, was taken in Burlington, VT (BTV) on the airlines last day of operation by another good friend, Hook Hamersley. 

Ron was number 17 on our ANE seniority list, hired on 1 November 1970. Other than a few pilots brought on board to start the airline a month earlier, this was the company's first formal class with 13 participants.  All 13 were still here on 31 October 1981 when the airline shutdown after deregulation. That's how much fun it was to fly here. Ron started out in the Beech 99 and Twin Otter (DHC-6) but is seen here with Dick Bonnoyer in a Convair 580.  Both he and Dick, hired in May 1973, also flew the FH-227's that we acquired from Delta in 1975. Yes they were former "Yellowbirds," originally purchased new by Northeast Airlines in 1966 to replace their DC-3's.  They replaced our DC-3's at ANE too.  

Here's Ron at the foot of the airstair of one of our Convairs. I think that we only owned two, but leased several more each summer from Aspen Airways. There are two dimensions that catch my attention in this photo. The first is that propeller. Look at the width of those blades. The other is how skinny Ron is! I wish that we could get back to those days.

This is the most complete collection of metal Air New England badges that I've seen. From the top, our hat brass from 1975. We only had two sets of wings and the next three are our second edition, from 1975 when we became a certificated air carrier. They're a check airman's wings, captain wings and copilot wings. It's difficult to determine from this shot, but they're gold with red lettering. The next wing, made of German metal, (silver) is my favorite and were our original issue from 1970. Basically, they're a WWII Army Air Corps design with a different center section, that strongly resemble my NWA gold wings designed by founder Colonel Lewis Britten in 1929. There were no variants of this rare airline design, such as captain or copilot. The hat badge that accompanied this wing was cloth with intricate silver thread design. These wings and hat badges were neat, but we were happy to see the charcoal grey uniform with black stripes, give way to navy blue and gold. At the bottom are two ANE lapel pins. The pin to the left though, displays the number "five." This was a five year, employee commemoration pin, that would have been issued in November of 1975. Ron's is a fabulous collection and even more complete than my own. We only had 175 pilots, so there aren't a large number of these wings, particularly the first edition, on the market available to collectors.  And I don't suspect that many of us are willing to part with this early and exciting part of our history. 

These are Ron's USAir and USAirways wing and hat badge collection.  I have little familiarity with these, so maybe Ron will make a comment and let us know what years or era they represent.  Below them though are ALPA lapel pins.  You'll notice the number above the wing, as these represent how long the owner has been an ALPA member.  There are many variants to these as well.  A line pilot wears gold wings, but a pilot involved in ALPA business, such as an MEC member, wears silver. Another design has a star or stars above the wing to represent the number of strikes the wearer has endured. NWA pilots wear a pair with one star, but an NWA pilot who came over from Eastern Airlines would have two stars.  My first ALPA wing, issued in 1975, was a "half" wing to represent a probationary member. I've not seen these in years and suspect that they've been eliminated. Again, this is a very complete and beautifully displayed collection that I'm sure Ron will NEVER part with. But if you do.......

This is Ron's home office. The models and airplane pictures are replaceable and available on line to anyone with a credit card. But the wing displays and pictures of him in a cockpit are irreplaceable and have emotional and pride value beyond any dollar amount. I love the watercolor of his old leather flightbag, cap and sunglasses above his desk. Anyone I suppose could purchase or commission such a piece of work. But only Ron will look at it and see Convairs, Fairchilds and DC-3's on a busy, summer LaGuardia ramp during our youth. Sparkling clean, blue and white Piedmont 727's at Winston-Salem.  A cold winter sunrise at 30 West from an A-330, winging its way towards the UK. Or friends gathered around a table enjoying dinner during a Paris, Raleigh-Durham or Hyannis layover. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

OK, it's a bookshelf. 

But this single shelf represents another outstanding collection and a progression through an airline career. Ron would have been in his late twenties, based in Hyannis, when he acquired these first two manuals from ANE; the Twin Otter and Convair 580 manuals. Our world fell apart in late '81 with ANE's demise, but by 1982, in Winston-Salem, NC, Ron started acquiring the blue, red and orange manuals of Piedmont Airlines.  Things were looking up! Just a few years later, in 1986 if I remember correctly, he traded in the Piedmont manuals for the green, white and yellow manuals at USAir.  Which reminds me Ron, shouldn't you have turned those back in? Maybe you should send them to me, I'll contact Eddie and take care of this for you. Just kidding. As you know, I have a blue Piedmont 727 manual in my collection too!

I've received several emails asking, "who's Eddie?" Eddie is another ANE friend of ours who's now the Director of Flying for USAirways in LGA and BOS. I also wrote about him in my LaGuardia Tower story in the February 2008 issue of Airways Magazine.

Now this is rare! I think that Ron told me that he had this made. It's a mahogany, ANE FH-227 aircraft model. He also had an ANE Convair model made too. There aren't too many of these around.  His career spanned from 1970 to 2002 where he flew captain on the DHC-6, B-99, FH-227, CV-580, B-727, F-100, B-737 and finally retiring from the A-330. The happiest moment of his life... when his son, USMC Major Andrew Turner returned home from Iraq! 

I'm not sure where this was taken, but it's a rare shot of an Air New England Convair 580. I hope that you've enjoyed going through Ron's cardboard box of collectibles. But really, it's more than that isn't it? It represents a lifetime aloft, of outstanding service to his company, fellow crew members and passengers. I know that I'll embarrass him here, but Ron's an airline pilot. One of those like myself, who love the job, the airplanes that we've flown and those whom we've met along the way. Congratulations Ron, you've been a wonderful example as I've followed you down this very interesting and sometimes bumpy path.

Rand