I am beyond honored to get better acquainted with the men and women who made my Dad’s 1945 airline “happen” by meeting their family members. Come meet these very special people in a photo review of my second 2017 trip visiting Veterans Air Express families. This extraordinary RV trek took 37 days and 4,874 miles to VA, MD, PA and NJ.
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Thomas Cowart, our Veterans Air DC-4 Flight Engineer, died on December 20, 2016. He crewed during the 1946 United Nations post-war relief flights to Prague, Warsaw and Athens. Thomas and I shared many hours, many stories and much laughter in person and over the phone. Today I share the immediacy of my emotions at his passing.
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It is with profound sadness that I write of the passing of Jack Stettner. This man of adventure helped my Dad found the airline in 1945….as co-founder, investor, pilot, and ops-manager And 70 years later welcomed me with open arms into his home. So did his wonderful family. It was my deep honor to know him. God speed, Jack.
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Veterans Air Express. Proper procedures, safety emphasis and insistence on professionalism. That’s an insight reinforced by DC-3 training ops documents. I know because DC-3 Chief Pilot Robert Chambers kept them and his son Bruce gave them to me!
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A new treasure…a photo of Robert C. Chambers standing with our first DC-3 in 1945 while she still looked like the government surplus Army C-47 she had been. And breaking news…Chambers was the DC-3 Chief Pilot with Veterans! Bet you didn’t know that! I didn’t before today. Come see.
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(POST UPDATE 9/19/2016: Constantine J. Keloss (Kaless) just identified in 1946 Veterans Air photo.) On 10 November 2015, I launched my second-ever “road trip” to meet crew members. The result? Face-to-face meetings and first-hand details from 1946 Veterans Air Express crew: flight engineer Thomas Cowart and navigator Ed Martz. Plus I received grand old photos taken by VAE pilot Richard Broughton. Come see.
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Look who I found!! Two sons, Craig & Robert, of 1945 1st Officer Richard Broughton. And two original crew members, Edward Martz, navigator, living in NJ and Thomas Cowart, flight engineer, living in SC. They ALL flew multiple trips for the Veterans Air Express United Nations war relief contract to Prague, Warsaw and Athens. It’s intriguing! And I am psyched!
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An “experimental” DC-4. A high-energy group of hardworking ex-servicemen. A Veterans Air Express UNRRA contract for cargo flights behind the iron curtain. And Newark/Miami winter passenger flights. By mid-1946, the all-veterans organization was becoming recognized and starting to thrive.
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My research project into Veterans Air Express 1945 history gets huge boost. My face-to-face meeting with 92-year old Jack Stettner, founding member & pilot, reveals great stories. And his Logbook contains my “missing” DC-3.
Read more →Veterans Air Express Reunion gave new meaning to “together again.” This first-ever gathering felt like old home week with Jack Stettner and his family in Florida recently. Come share our new photos & some 70-yr old history.
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