The Boxcar Blues

by Jeff Egerton

  Catwalk and Curly were alternating as ground crewmen; loading cargo, refueling, cleaning the plane and handling wheel chocks. Barney had wanted them to learn the business from the ground up, and although he hadn’t said anything, he wanted Catwalk to be visible around the aircraft. He hoped people would get used to seeing him and thereby accept him when he started flying.

  Passenger service was inaugurated on August 20. Most of the kinks of a new business had been worked out and in September Curly started flying as co-pilot. Passenger flying was in its infancy, so many people wouldn’t fly because they were concerned about aircraft safety and reliability. Still, there were enough adventurous souls that the loads were better than expected.

  Barney did everything possible to keep the passengers at ease, and one of Curly’s duties was to greet the passengers when they boarded and check up on them during the flight. A few people made comments such as, “You look awfully young to be flying this plane.”

  With a smile, Curly replied, “I’ve got over four hundred hours of flying time and hold a commercial pilot’s license. Also, there is a more experienced pilot who is the pilot in command of this flight.” In most cases this seemed to quiet their concerns.

  All things considered Curly loved his new job and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  On a cool Tuesday morning, Catwalk was scheduled to fly his first trip as co-pilot. Steel grey clouds hung over the Albuquerque airport, but the weather report for Denver was clear skies and good visibility. Barney elected to take off, hoping the weather would improve en route. In his preflight briefing, he told Catwalk they’d turn east, as soon as they cleared Sandia Peak, to avoid the mountains to the north. Then they’d fly east of Las Vegas and turn toward Raton. If the weather hadn’t cleared by the time they reached Raton, they’d return to Albuquerque, rather than chance the pass in bad weather.

  Finally, the time arrived to see how the passengers reacted to a black co-pilot. In an effort to prepare him in advance for possible adverse reactions from the passengers, Barney had talked this over with Catwalk. Ever since Barney had first mentioned the formation of the airline Catwalk had been preparing himself for this moment. He was excited, but he was also apprehensive about the cruel possibilities afforded by human nature.

  For his first trip Catwalk wore a new leather jacket, new chinos with a white shirt and polished boots. Nervous but smiling, he took his place at the foot of the boarding stairs. The first three passengers merely looked at him when they handed him their ticket. The fourth passenger asked, “Are you the co-pilot?”

  “Yes, sir, I am. My name is Catwalk Jackson and I hope you enjoy your flight today.”

  “I ain’t flying with no Negro pilot.”

  As hard as it was, Catwalk smiled and said, “You can get a ticket refund inside the terminal, sir.”

  The man returned a blank stare. Clearly he didn’t know what to do. Catwalk thought they guy probably needed to get to Denver, but his prejudices were preventing that. The passenger said, “You really know how to fly this airplane?”

  “Yes, sir, I do. I have almost four hundred hours flying time and I’ve logged thirty hours in this aircraft. There is a more experienced pilot who is in command of this flight.”

  The man climbed the stairs and Catwalk kept his smile in place for the remaining passengers. When he and Barney took their seats, Catwalk said, “Only one guy out of seven had a problem. Better than we expected.”

  “Maybe we’ll find some rough weather and we can bounce him around a bit.”

  Catwalk grinned and said, “Trouble is we’ll be bouncing the other passengers too.”

  The weather broke when they were thirty miles northeast of Las Vegas, and the rest of the trip was in clear skies. They arrived in Denver one minute behind schedule. Catwalk breathed a sigh of relief that his first trip as an airline pilot had gone better than expected. He loved flying the Boeing and if the passengers accepted him, he hoped he could continue flying airliners for the rest of his life.

  In Denver, however, the passengers for the trip back weren’t as agreeable to a black pilot. All but one refused to take the flight and Barney, true to his word, stuck by his co-pilot and advised them to take another airline.

  On the flight south, he told Catwalk, “The trouble is, there’s two other flights available from Denver and the passengers know it. This morning we were the only flight departing Albuquerque for Denver, so the people had no choice.”

  Catwalk said, “I’m just wondering if this is an unusual situation, or a precursor of things to come.”

  Barney’s answer was matter-of-fact, “Well, regardless of what it is, I still need a co-pilot when Curly is assigned ground duties.”

  That night he said little over dinner as he thought about people’s attitudes that threatened to shatter his dreams before they could become a reality. He remembered his Momma’s advice that she’d given to him when he left home. She’d told him that whenever possible to avoid white folk and stick with his own kind. For the first time in his life, he found himself questioning her guidance. He was trying to break into a white man’s profession, so avoidance of white folks was out of the question. He knew he was competent enough to fly airliners, but the passengers had to be convinced. Until they accepted him, he would have a harmful effect on Barney’s efforts to get the airline off the ground. After all that Barney had done for him, he felt terrible about being such a liability. He decided that his first priority would be to help Barney, even if it meant resigning from his dream job.

  The next day the passenger’s reactions to his presence was worse. There were only three paying passengers for the morning flight and two of those cancelled because they didn’t want to fly with a black pilot. On the return trip, out of eight passengers, six refunded their tickets and sought another airline.

  Once they were airborne, Barney said, “They’ll get over this, Cat. I think some people do it because they see someone else who refuses to fly. It’s a matter of acceptance, and that takes time. We have to be patient.”

  Catwalk pulled the throttles back to cruise power as they leveled off at six thousand feet, then stared out the window while he decided what he wanted to say. He then told Barney, “I know you’re going to stick by me and I appreciate your support. However, you’re trying to get an airline off the ground under the worst possible conditions; in the grip of the depression when many people can’t afford to fly, and of those that can afford it, many are apprehensive about flying. They don’t trust airplanes and are perfectly comfortable taking a train even though their trip takes twice as long. So, I made a decision last night. I’m going to fly a few more trips. If there are a significant number of passengers who refuse to fly on my flights, I’m handing you my resignation and I’ll do something else.”

  While Barney thought about this Cat reached for the prop controls and said, “Have you noticed the props are harder to synchronize on this plane, than on the other one?”

  “Yeah. I noticed that yesterday. They’re always just a touch out of sync. And I think the decision you made is nonsense.”

  Catwalk expected something like that so, he let the subject die a natural death and said, “What do you think causes the props to act like that?”

  “I don’t know. I’m going to have Julio check it out when we take it back to the barn.”

  That night over dinner Catwalk told Curly about the passenger’s reaction to a black pilot, and his thoughts about resigning.

  Curly’s reaction was more vociferous than Barney’s, “No, Cat! You can’t resign. This is the best chance you’ll ever get. If you give it up, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Those passengers will change their minds.”

  “That’s true, but Barney needs the business to get this airline off the ground.”

  Curly fired back, “You heard what he said that day back on the farm; he’s planning on operating at a loss for two years. He knew the loads wouldn’t be good at first.”


  Catwalk thought about this, but still came to the conclusion that he was a liability. He said, “I’m going to make a couple more flights. If the passengers still refuse to fly with me, I’ll do something else.”

  “Damn it. I hate to see you do that.” Curly knew Catwalk’s mind was made up. He looked at his friend with a devilish grin and said, “Maybe I’ll tell the passengers on my flights, if they don’t fly with you I’m going to knock their fucking blocks off.”

  “That would be good for business.”

  By the end of the week, the situation had deteriorated. Catwalk and Barney were walking through the terminal when they saw a sign that read, “Rocky Mountain Airways hires Negro pilots when there’s a million white men out of work.”

  Barney ripped the sign down, and told the ticket clerk to watch for anyone posting another sign, but the damage had been done. There were no passengers for the morning flight. Nothing was said about this until they were halfway to Denver. Then Catwalk said, “After the flight back, I’m resigning. I’ll go back to help Julio with the maintenance, or maybe take a Jenny out to do some barnstorming.”

  Barney turned in his seat to look at Catwalk. Due to their earlier discussion, he’d known this was coming and had thought about how to handle it, but it was still difficult. He said, “How about if I don’t accept your resignation?”

  Catwalk grinned and said, “How long can you afford to fly empty planes between Albuquerque and Denver?”

  “If you resign, every one of those ignorant bastards who refuse to fly with you, wins. They have proven their point and you have lost.”

  “Barney, I don’t see it as being about winning and losing. I know those people are wrong because I’m a good pilot, and their refusal to fly with me has nothing to do with my ability to fly the plane. But it’s not about being right or wrong either. This is about the attitudes that are affecting your efforts to start an airline. Here’s what I’d like to do. I’ll go back and help Julio for a month or two. Then, if he agrees, I’d like to rent one of the Jennys from you and go out on my own, to do some barnstorming. Maybe later on, if people’s attitudes change, I’ll come back to work for you.”

  Barney stared out the passenger window. He didn’t like giving in to the people’s prejudice, but he also didn’t like subjecting Catwalk to the constant, insulting attitudes. He said, “Your mind’s made up?”

  “It’s best for everyone. You’ll get your feet on the ground with better passenger loads, Curly will get more flight time, and I’ll either learn more about the maintenance end, or I’ll be flying every day while entertaining the crowds at county fairs and air shows.”

  “You know, barnstorming is a hard way to make a living. You have to travel to a different event every day and people might not pay to see you perform acrobatics.”

  “I’ve read up on it, and it’s not easy, but at least I’m not dodging the railroad bulls.”

  “O.K., I’ll accept your temporary resignation, but in six months, you’re coming back to work for Rocky Mountain.”

  “You’ve got a deal.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  When Catwalk arrived at the farm, Julio tried to console him, but it didn’t heal the wound that had been inflicted by human cruelty. He tried to keep his mind busy by helping Julio with maintenance on the other Boeing and routine work on the Jenny. Still, he didn’t feel like he was in the right place; he wanted to fly airliners.

  One morning he said to Julio, “There’s not enough work to keep two men busy. What would you think if I took one of the Jennys and hit the barnstorming circuit.”

  “I think it’s a good idea. You need to be flying somewhere. When will you leave?”

  “A few days. I’ve got some work to do to get the Jenny ready.”

  “OK. Let me know if I can help.”

  That afternoon Catwalk put the Jenny on jacks and greased the axle bearings. Next he beefed up the king posts and bottom skid in case he worked with a wing walker. Then he adjusted and tuned the rigging on the wings. When the rigging was tuned he installed an oil injector on the exhaust that would provide the smoke trail during his routine.

  After the aircraft was as fit as he could make it, Catwalk spent a couple days polishing his acrobatic routine. Over dinner, he asked Julio, “Are you sure there’s nothing around here I can help you with?”

  “Cat, all I’m doing now is grading the new parking area for the Boeing. When that’s done, I just have to wait for the other plane to come in. I think you should head on out and find yourself an air show. Show those people what a hell of a pilot you are.”

  The next morning Catwalk packed his bags and headed for an air show at El Paso. After refueling and paying his fifty cent entry fee, the event organizer told him, “You’re the second act to go off, after a flight of two de Havilland Moths. Good luck up there.”

  “Thanks.”

  Catwalk waited until the Moths landed and the pilot had a chance to pass the hat through the audience. This was the only method of the pilots getting paid, so he wouldn’t be waved off until the preceding act had time to work the crowd. When his time came, he took off and turned back over the crowd. His routine started with a slow roll that was followed by a loop. He then went into a split S that terminated in a high speed pass over the audience, which he followed with an immelman turn and another high speed low pass. A couple Cuban Eights and a hammer head stall rounded out his routine.

  After his routine, Catwalk parked in front of the audience to see if anyone wanted a ride for a quarter. He received a moderate applause and surprisingly, heard no racial slurs, but no one stepped up for a ride. When he passed the hat he collected only two dollars and twenty cents from the sparse crowd. As he walked back to the Jenny, he heard the air show organizer calling him, “Hey, fella’. You got a second?”

  He walked over and the guy said, “You ain’t got a bad routine, but if you really want to make the money you gotta get a stunt man or a wing walker. People have seen all the acrobatics, so it’s nothing new anymore. You gotta add someone to your act.”

  Catwalk thought the advice sounded good. To that end he asked, “Where do I find a wing walker?”

  “There’s a fair going on in Odessa. Ask over there because a stunt pilot was killed out there. He might have had someone working with him that’s looking for work.”

  Catwalk thanked him and took off. Halfway to Midland, the Jenny started overheating so he landed in a field and changed the radiator hose. By the time he filled the radiator from a nearby stream it was almost dark, so he ate two biscuits for dinner and spread his bedroll under the wing. Before falling asleep, he thought about Sam, wondering what she’d think about his decision to resign from Rocky Mountain and strike out on his own. He figured since she had been so supportive of most things he did, she would have had nothing but positive words for him. He said his prayers, then mumbled, “Thanks for your encouragement, Sam.” He slept well that night

  The next morning at Odessa he asked the fuel attendant, “I’m looking for a partner to work with me as a wing walker. Do you know of anyone that might be interested?”

  “Could be that Billy Sue Jenkins will work with you. She was flying with Dangerous Dan Farrell until he flew into a silo. Luckily, she wasn’t with him at the time, but he’s dead and she’s out of work. She ain’t here right now though. You can wait to see if she comes around later on.”

  “Thanks, I’ll wait.” Catwalk looked at the diner on the airport, and saw the familiar “Whites Only” sign. He asked the guy, “Is there anywhere I can get a cup of coffee?”

  “Well, that diner won’t serve you, but they’ll serve me. What do you like in it?”

  Catwalk handed him a nickel and said, “Just black coffee is fine. I appreciate it”

  Catwalk moved the Jenny away from the fuel barrels and drank his coffee in the shade of the wing. He had no idea what kind of a routine he could dream up with a partner, but if this woman had been flying with someone else, she must have her own rout
ine, so he’d just learn from her.

  He’d just finished his coffee when a 1927 Ford roadster roared into the auto parking lot and a girl with blonde curly hair jumped out and yelled, “Arnold, I need some gas on the cuff. I’m broke for a while.”

  The fuel attendant said, “So what the hell else is new.”

  “I’ll pay you Thursday. I’m going to start waiting tables at Millie’s.”

  While the attendant serviced the car, he talked to her and pointed toward the Jenny. The woman looked toward the plane, then walked across the parking lot. She looked over the aircraft and said, “This old bird’s in pretty good shape. Arnold said you’re looking for someone to fly stunts with you.”

  “I’m Catwalk Jackson and I’m looking for a partner. Are you interested.”

  The woman held out her hand and said, “Catwalk, I’m Billy Sue Jenkins. Does this have the hundred and fifty horse Hisso engine or the OX-5?”

  “It’s got Hisso power and it’s tuned like a brakeman’s watch. The engine has less than ten hours since the last overhaul.”

  She smiled, “You take care of your equipment; I like that. When do you want me to start?”

  Catwalk was feeling good about their first meeting, but realized that some of the people who worked air show circuits were considered to be flighty and irresponsible. He was going to reserve judgment until they’d worked together a while. “There’s a show here day after tomorrow. Can we work something up by then?”

  “Yeah, as long as the bottom skid and the king posts are sturdy, I can start walking tomorrow. What do you pay?”

  “We split the audience collection and the expenses, fifty-fifty. Do you have any problem working with a Negro pilot?”

  She shook her head. “Not in the least. Do you have a problem working with a woman?”