by Jeff Egerton
“I don’t know what else we can do. I guess we have to let time heal the wounds.”
Curly drove the wheel onto the axle, then stopped to light a cigarette. “They’ll never heal completely. He’ll carry his grief for her to his grave.”
Proving that some people are just too ornery to die, Alton Jones survived his injuries. He was remanded to the Colfax County jail until he was healthy enough to stand trial. Barney knew the chances were good that Jones would get a light sentence, because the person he’d murdered was black. With this in mind, he made sure that the prosecuting attorney knew all of Jones’ crimes in the past. Barney also made it a point to attend the trial every day. Whether his efforts were the reason will never be known, but Jones was convicted of charges of first degree murder, two counts of auto theft and escaping from jail. He was sentenced to the Collinsville Federal Prison for twenty four years. He would be eligible for parole in eight years.
Catwalk found little consolation in the conviction and prison sentence. He was glad Jones was behind bars where he belonged, but no matter what happened, he just wanted Sam back. He had tried, several times, to tell himself that he had to quit thinking about her and go on with his life. Although they didn’t come right out and say it, he knew everyone around him felt the same way. He could see the looks in their faces that said, “When are you going to get over her and move on with your life.”
Unfortunately, everyone else didn’t know how much Sam had become a part of him. Still, he knew, somehow, he had to learn to live without her image haunting him every waking minute.
A month later, on a rainy January morning, Barney gathered everyone in the kitchen. He’d been gone for six days and the news he brought home with him shocked everyone. “Crops haven’t been selling well for several months now. I’m giving most of the produce and some meat to the soup kitchen in Vaughn. I’m going to keep the livestock for us to eat, but all we’ll be doing on the farm is tending to the livestock and growing our own produce. The rest of the land will lay fallow, except the field adjacent to the hangar barn. That field is going to be leveled and mowed so we can land larger planes out there. While I was gone, I bought two Boeing Model 80s, and I’m going to start flying an airmail route. Once it starts paying, I’ll start flying passengers.”
A stunned silence fell over the kitchen. Catwalk and Curly exchanged surprised glances. Julio, who’d known about Barney’s plans, just smiled. Barney said, “I’ve applied for a mail route between Albuquerque and Denver. I expect it to be approved within three months. We’ll start with one trip to Denver in the morning and a trip back to Albuquerque in the afternoon. Julio is going to run the maintenance end. You guys will start out doing maintenance and working at the airport to get a feel for the business. Eventually you’ll be flying on the line.”
Curly spoke first, “Do we have enough experience?”
Barney said, “Not yet, but by the time we’re ready to start operating, you will have.”
Catwalk said, “But Barney, we’re in the middle of a depression. People can hardly afford to eat, much less fly on airliners.”
“That’s the part that you’ve seen. I just spent the last few days talking to people in the airline business. Tom Braniff started with one Stinson Detroiter and a route between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Now he’s got routes to Chicago and Dallas. Walter Varney of Varney Speed Lines started with a route from Elko, Nevada to Pasco, Washington. He’s branched out all over the northwest. United Airlines has been flying passengers coast-to-coast since 1927 and last year their passenger revenue was almost four million dollars. This is still a time of haves and have-nots. The people that can afford it are flying and the airline business is going to grow. I can buy and refurbish airplanes cheap, so now is the time to get started. This way we’ll be established when the public starts flying again.”
Barney looked at Catwalk, “What do you think?”
“Does this mean that Curly and I are going to be airline pilots some day?”
“There’s a lot of work to be done, but in the end you should be airline pilots.”
Catwalk and Curly looked at each other with wide grins of disbelief. Barney pulled the cork on a bottle of rye whiskey and poured three fingers for everyone. He then raised his glass to Catwalk and said, “Congratulation, son. It isn’t every day that a black man from a sharecropper’s farm becomes an airline pilot.”
Curly echoed Barney’s words.
Catwalk said, “No, it sure isn’t. I’m looking forward to it.” He tipped up the glass of the rye and as it burned its way down his throat, he said softly, “I just wish Sam was here to share this momentous event with us.”
Two months later Barney and Julio went to Denver to take delivery of the first Boeing Model 80. While they were gone Catwalk and Curly worked dawn ‘til dark. They enlarged the hangar barn to make room for the Boeing, so maintenance could be performed out of the weather. They then installed the wiring for additional lights and electrical outlets. They partitioned off part of the building for a maintenance office, complete with built in desks and file drawers. They mowed, leveled and installed a wind sock on the landing field.
After dark Catwalk often listened to the radio. He’d always been impressed with Barney’s wealth of knowledge about the events taking place in the world and found his own interest in current events growing. And he looked forward to the different radio programs, such as Amos n’ Andy, The Lone Ranger and Fibber McGee and Molly. One evening, after listening to President Roosevelt’s fireside chat, he asked Curly, “What do you think is going to happen in this country?”
“I think the President has good plans for those programs that will put people back to work. I’m betting he gets the country out of this.”
Catwalk said, “I guess we have to believe in him. He’s the only one who can help us.”
Curly tipped up a bottle of beer, then asked, “Hey, Cat. Do you think airline pilots get to meet a lot of girls?”
“I don’t know. I guess if there were girls on your plane you could meet them. I thought you already had a girl down at the Bearcat.”
“Nah, she ain’t nothing serious. Just a handy piece of ass every now and then.”
“How many girlfriends do you want?”
“Hell, how do I know. I’d just like to meet some new girls for a change. You should get out and meet some too.”
Catwalk looked at his friend in disbelief and asked, “Where am I supposed to meet girls? I can’t go to any of the bars, there’s only a few black families around here and they don’t have any girls my age.”
After hearing that Curly silently cursed his stupidity for the comment. He hadn’t given any thought to Cat’s situation and his friend was right; there were no girls for him to meet and there were very few black people, period. Curly tried to imagine how he must feel. He said, “I’m sorry, Cat. I just don’t think of you as being any different than me. I realize what you’re up against with the race thing, plus you’ve got a real idiot for a friend.”
“Well, Curly, for once you’re right.” Then he smiled and play slapped the idiot.
Two days later Barney landed in the Model 80. When he first saw the plane, Catwalk couldn’t believe his eyes; it was monstrous. Like the Jenny, it had two wings, but it had three engines with one mounted on the nose and the other two mounted between the wings. The cabin was large enough to carry twelve passengers in seats with cushions, just like a Pullman car, and the cockpit was amazing. It had room for two pilots to sit side-by-side, six levers on a center console for the engine controls, plus a staggering number of switches, dials and gauges.
Upon seeing the cockpit, Curly muttered, “Cat, can we learn to fly this thing?”
“Yes, and I can’t wait.”
Barney heard his comment and said, “You’re going to have to wait a couple weeks, Cat. I’m taking it over to Albuquerque to be painted and have the interior replaced. The color scheme will be tan with orange and brown accents.
“O.K., while I’m go
ne you guys have a lot to do. Julio will be working with you to finish the hangar. We’ll use this field for a maintenance base until we can move onto the airport at Albuquerque. When we get the other plane, I’m putting one aircraft in service and keeping the other here in standby. When I get back, I’ll check you out in the airplane and then you’re going up to Denver to attend an instrument flying course that’s put on by United Airlines. I want you to study the aircraft operating manual and fly the Jenny for an hour or two every day. You’ve got to build your time, and when you get two hundred hours, you can test for your commercial license. Any questions?”
Catwalk and Curly looked at each other. Things were happening fast in their lives and the rapid advancement of their flying careers was too good to be true. They both shook their heads and Barney said, “By the way, the airline you’ll be flying for is Rocky Mountain Airways.”
Julio proved to be a relentless task master while Barney was gone. Every morning they spent time working on the hangar, installing equipment such as air compressors, welding tanks, engine diagnostic and maintenance equipment, instrument calibration gear and hydraulic jacks.
Amid their busy schedule, Catwalk and Curly also flew as often as they could. When they weren’t flying or working, they spent time reading the Commerce Department regulations for commercial pilots and studying up on instrument flying procedures.
Even though he was busier than he’d ever been in his life, Catwalk still found time to visit Sam’s grave and tell her how his life was improving. He often talked about how this was the job that would get him off the farm and give him a life beyond that of a laborer. Unfortunately, he realized that the life he’d often dreamed of, might also be a lonely life without her in it.
CHAPTER TWENTY
In the Albuquerque airport lounge, Barney was sipping coffee while talking to a pilot from Transcontinental and Western Air. Workmen had started painting the Model 80, but it wouldn’t be completed until the day after tomorrow. He was staying in town to talk to the airport manager about getting parking ramp space when his flights started. During their chat the other pilot told him about two pilots that had to be laid off. “They’re good pilots with over five hundred hours each, but they’re black men. We found out there’s a lot of passengers who don’t want to fly with colored pilots. Over in Tucson most of the passengers got off a Tri-Motor when they saw a black pilot. The chief pilot tried to stick up for the two guys, but we need to fill every seat we can, just to stay in business. He got orders from headquarters to lay them off last week.”
“That’s a shame that someone has to lose a job because of his color.”
“It is, but there wasn’t anything else we could do.”
“No, I guess not. I’d better go, good talking to you.” Barney paid for his coffee and left the café. On the way to the airport office he thought about the constant battles Catwalk had been fighting because of racial injustice and it rankled him that a person should be subjected to such treatment. He decided on the spot that no matter what happened, he wouldn’t lay off Catwalk. If the passengers didn’t want to fly with a black pilot, they could take another airline. He wasn’t going to be join the ranks of the ignorant just to make a couple bucks.
At the airport office he heard good news; the airport was trying to attract business, so his first two months of parking ramp fees would be waived. After that his spirits improved slightly, but the conversation with the other pilot lingered in the back of his mind.
Catwalk pulled the chain slowly until the Jenny’s engine rose out of the cowling. Once it was clear of the aircraft he pulled the plane out of the hangar. He then lowered the engine onto an engine dolly and bolted it down. He yelled to Julio, “It’s out, what are we going to do first.”
“Drain the oil and coolant, and pull the rocker arms. Then wheel it over to the bench so we can start a valve job. Where’s Curly?”
“I don’t know, he was here a minute ago.”
Julio slammed down a wrench. “I know where he is.”
He found Curly behind the barn, smoking a cigarette and sipping off a pint of whiskey. He yelled, “I didn’t tell you to take a break.”
Curly hollered back, “I finished straightening up the parts bin, just like you said, Julio.”
“There’s more work to do and I want you to do it with a clear head.”
“I ain’t drunk. I only had a few sips.”
“No, but it’s only eleven o’clock. You start drinking earlier every day.”
“God damn it, Julio. What do you want me to do?”
“Put the bottle away. We’re doing a valve job on the Jenny.”
Curly flipped his cigarette into the dirt and followed Julio. He’d been at the tavern until two o’clock last night, then started work at five this morning. On short sleep he found Julio’s regimen hard to take. If he wasn’t afraid of blowing his chance to be an airline pilot, he would have told the old Mexican to go to hell.
Barney returned to Vaughn two days later. The plane shined with its new paint job and the Rocky Mountain Airways logo on the tail. Barney told Cat, “I saw some of the pilots have taken to putting names on their planes. I took the liberty of painting a name on ours. I hope you don’t mind.”
Catwalk looked just in front of the cabin door and saw “Samantha Jean” painted in large orange script. He smiled and said, “Barney, I think that’s very appropriate. Thank you.”
Barney asked, “Are you ready to fly it?”
“Yes, sir.”
Barney took the right seat and Catwalk the left. Barney then started the engines. Catwalk couldn’t believe how quiet and calm it was in an enclosed cockpit, as compared to the Jenny’s open cockpit. With three propellers turning he felt a sensation of power, but the noise and prop wash weren’t there. He looked over the gauges and saw the familiar turn and bank indicator, fuel gauge, airspeed and altimeter, but the rest of the gauges mystified him.
He noticed when Barney taxied to the edge of the field, that the plane had a much softer ride and didn’t bounce around like the lighter Jenny. When Barney turned into the wind and applied power, he felt the thrust of the powerful engines pushing him back in the seat.
Once airborne Barney turned to the east and climbed to fifteen hundred feet. He leveled off and told Catwalk, “She’s heavier than the Jenny so the controls are more firm. Keep your power at twenty five inches of manifold pressure and your RPM about three thousand. Other than that, she flies just like the Jenny. She’s all yours.”
Catwalk took the controls and felt the heavier pressure from even the slightest movement. He banked into a turn and the big plane seemed to turn gracefully rather than the quick jerky turn of the Jenny. When he leveled off he looked at the airspeed indicator—he was doing a hundred and forty knots, but it seemed like they were hardly moving. He pushed the throttles forward to climb and felt the surge of power, as the three engines responded. The plane was at twenty five hundred feet in less than a minute.
He smiled at Barney, “She’s an amazing aircraft. Powerful, but graceful and easy to fly.”
“It won’t have nearly as much power with a cabin full of passengers, a full load of fuel and cargo. Head back to the field and we’ll do a couple touch and goes.”
When Catwalk lined up on the field, Barney said, “You don’t have to flare as much as with the Jenny. She’s faster so you can fly her right down to the deck. Also, a cross wind won’t throw you around as much so there’s less crab.”
Catwalk first landing was O.K., but he knew he’d have to get used to the increased landing speed and the feel of the heavier aircraft. When he pushed the throttles forward, again he was amazed at the power he commanded.
After their final landing, they were taxiing to the hangar when Barney asked him, “Have you noticed Curly drinking more lately?”
Catwalk immediately thought, if he answered yes, he might jeopardize Curly’s flying career. On the other hand, he had to be honest with Barney. “He goes out to that saloon almost every
night, because he’s seeing a girl out there. I don’t know how much he drinks there, but I’ve never seen him get stupid from liquor.”
“Julio said he’s found him drinking on the sly and this worries me. I can’t have a pilot working for me who hits the bottle too much. I’ll have to talk to him.”
Catwalk found Curly in the hangar putting a coat of wing dope on the Jenny. Curly asked him, “How’d ya’ like flying the Boeing?”
“It’s a dream. The controls are more firm than the Jenny, but she’s got a lot more power. It lands faster and you don’t have to flare it as much.”
“Did Barney tell you what all the gauges mean?”
“He did. They’re not hard to learn, but you have to learn to scan them.”
“I can’t wait until I can fly it.”
Catwalk hesitated a few seconds, but knowing he had to get this out in the open, he said, “Curly, Barney asked me about your drinking.”
Curly looked up with concern all over his face. “What did you tell him?”
“All I said was you’ve been going to that tavern every night because you got a girl there.”
“Aw shit! I ain’t been drinking that much.”
“Barney said he doesn’t want a pilot flying for him if he’s hitting the bottle.”
Curly walked away from the flammable wing dope and lit a cigarette. He felt like a drink right now. He said, “It’s that damn Julio. He told on me an’ got me in trouble with Barney.”
Catwalk had always kept his opinions to himself, but now trying to help his friend, he said, “You better quit drinking, if you want to fly.”
“Hell, Cat, sometimes I wonder if it’s all worth it.”
“You can always go back to riding in reefers and dodging the railroad bulls.”
Curly slowly nodded his head, then smiled and said, “I ain’t never going back to that life. I’ll try to take it easy on the booze. Thanks, Cat.”
Rocky Mountain Airways flew its first mail and cargo flight on April 15, 1934. For two months Barney flew two trips daily; one from Albuquerque to Denver in the morning, and back to Albuquerque in the afternoon. He planned to fly this schedule six days a week, but mechanical problems often reduced his schedule to three or four days a week.