Pretty amazing. 2nd generation of what I call the Veterans Air Express family…meeting for the first time in a Dallas suburb as part of my cross-country RV trek for face-to-face visits. Follow my adventure…
When a Reading Air Show announcer asked for a “volunteer” C-47 pilot to help crew a fly-by, of course, Veterans Air DC-3 pilot John Schaus didn’t hesitate! Don’t miss the punch line of his story!
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!
I crashed a VFW meeting yesterday! Hey, where better to seek my Veterans Air vets, right? It’s a fun story. Come read it.
His Dad helped my Dad found Veterans Air Express in 1945. And across those 70 years, Charles Eason, Sr. & Saunie Gravely “introduced” their son & daughter in 2015, over Margaritas at sunset in Santa Fe to compare notes on their non-sked cargo & passenger airline. Come meet Paul Eason & his son Evan.
Veterans Air Express prepared a Civil Aeronautics Board route application – for authority to engage in permanent, scheduled service, worldwide. The document & accompanying, impressive route map, were saved by John Greenleaf, Sr., a founding member of the 1945 company. He kept a copy among his papers. It’s a revelation of the hopes & intentions of these Vets & their investors.
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.
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.
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.
Update: WWII photos added to story of Robert Gries. Read about Bob as told to me by his wife, Marilyn. About his WWII 392nd Bomb Group. About his Navigator & business management role at Veterans Air Express.
