From elsewhere;
Eastern Air Lines L1049G
One afternoon, my father, an Eastern pilot left me in hanger, while he went up to operations. I was in the custody of the guard. While I was looking over one of the planes in the hanger an old man in a grey 3 piece suit came in and yelled at me. He took over to the guard and wanted to know why I was there. After the guard explained the situation the old man told the guard that if my dad returned before we came back to tell him that I was with him. We went outside and there was a magnificent Super G Constellation being worked on. He then asked me if I knew what plane it was. I said yes, it is a Connie. The old man then gave me a lecture that the plane was a Constellation, not a Connie. I never, to this day made that mistake again . He then proceeded to give me a guided tour of the Constellation from tail to cockpit.
As we were coming down from the plane he noticed a mechanic working on the number 2 engine. He handed me his hat and climbed up the scaffolding to the where the mechanic was. They said a few words and the old man provided two extra hands to help the mechanic. When finished, he wiped his hands off on the mechanics apron and came back to me. We went back inside the hanger where my dad was waiting. My dad and the old man talked for a while and then the old man rubbed his big hand through my hair and said he hoped to see me again soon.
As my dad and I walked back to our car, an old 1954 Rambler we called Rosie, because of its color, my dad looked down at me and said, "So you and Captain Rickenbacker are best friends now."
The Constellation has a special place in my heart.
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The M-I complex is more about cash cow fancy projects than winning the next war.
