You guys have brought back many memories of this area. I used to prowl around there quite a bit in the late 60's and have shopped in Sutherland's many times. Fact is, the lumber and homosote used in my layout (see albums) came from there. I just really wish that I had been more into photography of everything. PS - That's Elmer "Bud" Mccary working on my layout in the album. I saw his name mentioned in one of the FMIG missals. The aerial view of the "bottoms" reminded me of the old Rudy Patrick approach to Runway ONE. During low visibility approach with a strong north wind we would stay pretty much over the MO and KAW rivers - keeping Rudy Patrick in sight at all times. If we lost sight of RP we had to abandon the approach. We were 150-200 feet AGL - about even with Quality Hill - when we crossed over RP on the final approach.
This is really a neat forum. Mark: Boy, I guess my memory is AMAZING! That map verifies the images I have stored in the ol' gray matter. Sirfoldalot: You used to fly in and out of the old KC Municipal Airport? Sometimes after church, dad and mom would buy some burgers to go, and we'd go up on the park on a hill on the north end of the West Bottoms. That gave us a good visual of the old airport. There we would eat our store-bought picnic and watch the airplanes come/go. I remember the cool old Connies being phased out in favor of the 707's. This is such a fun place to hang out! Andre "Coonskin" Ming
Andre - When I was first hired by TWA - I was on the "Connie". What a neat airplane; It was built like a tank. Since I worked (being junior) all weekends, holidays, anniversaries, and Christmas - I probably waved at you a few times.
Sherrel - My dad liked airplanes, so I do too. As a kid, we would often go up to Lambert St Louis Airport, and park in various locations, depending on the wind, to watch the planes land and take off. Without a doubt, my favorites as a kid were the TWA Constellations - Connies, Super Connies, and best of all, the Super G. Later on in life, as a Monsanto Senior Management type, I warmed quite a few seats on TWA out of STL. Back in the days when we had a decent air show here in StL as part of the July 4th event down on the Arch grounds, TWA would participate in the show. I remember them coming up the river with an Ozark DC-3, an Ozark/TWA MD80, and, God bless 'em, a TWA Super G Connie. The Connie was one of the best looking airplanes ever, though I must admit, I far preferred flying in TWA's 707, 727, 757, 767, 747 and MD80 types. I had several flights in the red "employee" MD80, plus a couple of flights in the St Louis Rams 727. We sure miss TWA. AA has done a big time rip on STL! Ken
Ken, You left out the best one - the 1649 Starstream Constellation. That was the final version with the 10,000 mile range and could outrun everything else in the air. Problem was - It just was too late in the twilight of the piston passenger plane. The 707 was already coming on the scene and pushing them to the side just as the Diesels pushed aside the big 4-8-4's of the Frisco. I wish that I could have met you while I was around the St Louis area. Our ages, interests, and backgrounds are not too far distant. I had the privilage of being in the "Group of the Chosen Few" who did the proving flights of the Twin Engine 767 on the North Atlantic. Now it's common place, but back then, it was a big deal being out there over water with only two engines. My favorite was the 707. It was a man's airplane - took a little muscle to fly it, and it sort of "glided" along the taxiways like riding on a cushion. I just liked the sound of the engines spinning up when the throttles were pushed forward for takeoff, and it could carry anything you could put in it. I flew all those on your list there except the 757; I had graduated to the 747 when those came on the property. I would not doubt that you were on one of my flights somewhere. I have MANY flights from STL under my belt. Back in 1981 I flew a 707 flight from LAX to PHL nine years before I met my present wife. My Sister in Law, now, was on that flight. She remembered my name - and if that is not enough - Her husband (who is from the Olathe area) I met in the Hotel lobby in Tel Avi a few years after that before I met my wife. Before I went to work for TWA, I was second pilot on several different planes for Murphy Oil Corp. Made lotta trips from southern Arkansas to STL. Some of those people might have been meeting with your people. It can be a small world.
This is a PS to previous post. Ken, Monsanto had a plant in El Dorado, Arkansas - maybe Magnolia too! Murphy Oil was headquartered in El Dorado. Were you ever there? I don't like seeing AA paint on TWA planes any more than I like seeing BN (green) or BNSF (pumpkin patch halloween) colors on Frisco Locos - and there is getting too many of them around here. Blasphemy!! LOL
I never made it to El Dorado, though several friends went through there in their careers. El Dorado was the Ag Division, I was in the Inorganic Division. My main plants were in Idaho (via SLC), LA, Detroit, Augusta Ga, New Jersey, Houston, Alabama, New Orleans, StL and East StL. We also spent a lot of time in NYC, Chicago, Cincinnati (P&G), and DC with customers and the feds. Still going to DC! Also had the pleasure of many trips to Brazil, Argentina and Mexico plus frequent trips to the UK, continental Europe, Morocco, Israel and in 1998, a month in China. I'd guess 60% of my flights were TWA, 20% Delta, 20% everybody else. I tried to concentrate on TW and DL. I warmed a lot of seats. Ken
