CAP'N BILLY'S BIO

 

I was born in the small South Carolina town of Johnston, and I could not have imagined a less likely scenario for my life than to become an Airline Captain. I was a somewhat (below) average student in high school. Unlike most people who grow up to be pilots, I never showed the slightest interest in football, basketball, or any other of the usual spectator sports, and that trait has continued to this day.


By the time I had reached the ripe old age of seventeen, I decided that I had become far too sophisticated for that town, and began applying pressure to my parents to sign for me to join the Navy, since I had heard that was a good way to "see the world." They resisted for some time, but finally relented, and soon I was off on a four or five day train ride to San Diego for boot camp. After a few days of that, I had begun to seriously question the wisdom of my decision, but I completed the training without serious difficulty.


My three-and-a-half years in the Navy consisted of assignment to flight crew duties as an Aviation Ordnanceman in VP-23, an anti-submarine patrol bomber squadron based in Brunswick, Maine. For a site with information about that squadron click VP-23. For a comprehensive site about Navy Patrol Squadrons click VPNavy.

Shown here are U. S. Navy photos of the two aircraft in which I served as crewmember, flanking a photo of myself taken during that period (yes, I really was once that young!). On the left is a PB4Y-2 "Privateer," a patrol bomber derived from the famed WWII B-24 "Liberator," while the right picture shows a Lockheed P2V “Neptune,” with which it was replaced shortly after I arrived in the squadron.  Both these aircraft, of course, have long since been taken out of service.  For more information about these and other historical Navy aircraft, click here.

After leaving the Navy I matriculated in the University of South Carolina with plans to become a doctor, lawyer or captain of industry. However several other activities got in the way of my studies, most of which are not worth mentioning here, and I found myself in dire straits academically as well as financially.


Then one day I was walking down the street and was confronted by a sign in an Air Force recruiting office, which depicted a Pilot with his jet fighter, and the caption said something like, "I earned $6,000 a year two years after graduating from the USAF Aviation Cadet Program!" I remembered watching the pilots in the Navy fly the planes, and wondered if it were possible for me to qualify, so I popped in to investigate. After about three years during which time I served as an enlisted man in the Air Force, I was finally accepted into the program. As luck would have it, my class was the next-to-last Cadet class to begin training before the program was terminated. It lasted fifteen months, and it was by far the most difficult and intense training program I ever endured. If he hadn't have been long dead, I could have sworn the Marquis de Sade had a hand in devising it. I still have dreams (nightmares) about it. However, I somehow managed to successfully complete the program, one of only about 25% of the original enrollees to do so. 


After graduation I was hoping for a fighter assignment, having trained in Lockheed T-33's (for pictures of and information about our training aircraft, click here), the trainer version of the first U. S. jet fighter, the F-80, but alas it was not to be. I was assigned to the Strategic Air Command flying Boeing KC-97's ( one of which is shown below on the right refueling a B-47), large, bulky Air Refueling Tankers with four huge reciprocating (propeller) engines, which were used to refuel bombers. Although it wasn't my first choice, I was reasonably content, and settled down for an Air Force career.


Pilot Training Graduation Photo

 

However, a pilot shortage developed in the airline industry after a few years, and a lot of my friends left the military and took jobs with various

airlines, reporting back to me various details about pay, working conditions, etc. By the time I completed my obligated service I had decided to do the same and was soon employed by TWA (for a look at the aircraft I flew during my airline career click here). I progressed normally through the next twenty years, attaining the rank of Captain, and looked forward to remaining with the firm until my mandatory retirement age of sixty. Unfortunately, after deregulation many airlines, including my employer, were in disarray, so I reluctantly took an early retirement option believing that my company was close to bankruptcy. My timing was a bit off, as the airline continued on for some years before finally being acquired by American Airlines. Afterwards I moved aboard my sailboat in Southern California and began making plans to sail around the world, but three years passed without the trip materializing so I decided to sell the boat and move back to the small South Carolina town where I began.

I lived happily there for about seven years until I met a wonderful lady, married her, and moved to Columbia, SC with my Lovely and Vivacious Bride. Of all the adventures that I've described, this one is by far the best and most significant one of my life, and I'm eagerly anticipating many more years of happiness with this fine lady.