When war-trained Willis Heath Proctor started flying the mail for Colonial Western Airways 23 years ago, a pilot was still a glamorous daredevil who put his faith in good luck and seat-of-the-pants intuition. There were no radio ranges, no airways weather reports, none but the most rudimentary of cockpit instruments. Clambering into the open cockpit of an old Pitcairn biplane, Pilot Proctor, swathed to the eyes in fleece-lined flying gear, used to start his run at Buffalo, lug his mail to Cleveland, navigating by landmarks and cruising at 80 m.p.h.
Last week, a greying, balding veteran of 19,000 hours and...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
