by Jeff Egerton
“Thanks, Billy Sue, I’ll remember that.”
Rosemary adjusted well to the life in New Mexico. She spent the first month buying furniture and redecorating the apartment. Although Catwalk still flew a lot, when he was home, he enjoyed the happiest times of his life. He and Rosemary went walking in the park, to ball games, the zoo, or picnicking in the mountains. The activities didn’t matter as much as the fact that they were together. One day while they were enjoying a rosy New Mexico sunset, Rosemary said, “I want to go back to work until we have kids.”
“O.K. How many children are we going to have?”
“How many do you want?”
“Two is a good round number.”
She giggled and said, “So is six.”
“It might be difficult to find someone who’ll hire a black woman. I’ll find you something at the airline.”
“I’ve got secretarial training, can I be your secretary?”
“We’d never get any work done, because I’d be chasing you around the office all the time. Besides, I’m rarely in the office. I should be able to find you something in Billy Sue’s office.”
“You’re not going to fire anyone to create my job, are you?”
“Oh, no. You’ll only get the job when there’s a legitimate opening that you’re qualified for. We don’t run our business like the Davis’ run theirs.”
Two weeks later, Rosemary started working in the Operations Department. She loved learning her new job and enjoyed the excitement the airline business, but wished that Catwalk wasn’t gone so much. She told herself this was the price that had to be paid for his success. She hoped once they got the passenger airline established he’d be home more.
On September 7, 1946, Catwalk and Curly sat in the cockpit of a DC-4, going through the pre take-off checklist prior to Aztec Airline’s first passenger flight.
From the left seat, Catwalk said, “Battery cart?”
“On.”
“Seat belt, no smoking?”
“On.”
“Cowl flaps?”
“Open.”
“Mixtures?”
“Idle cut off.”
“Gear handle down and flaps up?”
“Check.”
“Trim tabs set? Parking brakes on? Hydraulic pressure?”
“One thousand pounds.”
“Props high RPM? And cross feed valves off?”
“Check.”
“Carburetor heat?”
“Cold.”
“Main tanks on? I checked the fuel quantity, two thousand gallons. Air speed static selectors saftied?”
“Check.”
“Pitot heaters? Anti-icer fluid?”
“Thirty five gallons.”
“Generators?”
“Off.”
“Fire warning…test.” Catwalk pressed a button. An alarm bell clanged behind his head and four red lights glowed in the instrument panel.
“Check list complete.”
Curly looked outside and saw the mechanic with a fire bottle, holding up three fingers. He shouted, “Clear on number three.”
Catwalk closed the master magneto switch while Curly energized the starter and primed number three engine. He waited twenty seconds then pushed the switch. Catwalk advanced the number three throttle slightly and watched the fuel pressure gauges.
“Switch and boost.” The number three engine backfired once and roared to life. The other three engines started equally well and all four settled into an even rumble as the stewardess stuck her head in the door, and said, “Pins aboard and twenty four passengers, Captain.”
“Thanks, Jonesy.”
Curly checked the free movement of the flaps and the fuel cross feed system as they taxied to the end of the runway. They checked the magnetos and prop feathering mechanisms on all four engines. Next they set gyros and altimeters and uncaged the artificial horizon.
Catwalk turned onto the runway and advanced the throttles. At ninety miles an hour a slight back pressure on the yoke lifted the nose off. At one hundred and twenty, Aztec flight One-Hundred became airborne.
Catwalk lifted his palm and commanded, “Gear up.”
As soon as they heard the knocking of the gear locking up, and saw three green lights, Curly said, “We’re back in the airline business, Cat.” At five hundred feet, he called back to the cabin and said, “We’re turning off the lights, Jonesy. You can pour the complimentary champagne.”
After Aztec flight One hundred landed in Denver, the crew handed out mementos and thanked the passengers for flying with them on their inaugural flight. Once their duties were completed, Catwalk and Curly took a cab to the hotel where they celebrated over drinks.
Cat confessed, “I’ve got to tell you, Curly, I’ve been holding my breath since we applied for this route. I was sure someone was going to find a reason to stop us from starting our passenger service.”
“Partner, sometimes I think you worry too much,”
Catwalk laughed and said, “Working with you someone has to do the worrying. You have to remember, I’ve been in this business before and had it all taken away from me.”
Curly put an arm around Catwalk’s shoulders. “Old buddy, you don’t have to worry anymore. We’re back in the airline business and nobody can take this away from us.”
Catwalk smiled at his friend’s confidence. He called Rosemary to tell her he’d be home first thing in the morning, then he and Curly celebrated late into the night.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Prior to their inaugural flight, Catwalk had covertly approached several Rocky Mountain employees. He offered them a fifteen percent pay raise, double time for overtime, and stock options. Within a month ten former Rocky Mountain employees reported for work.
Catwalk and Curly hired and nurtured a dedicated work force, just as Barney had taught them when he’d first founded Rocky Mountain. Once the word about the working conditions at Aztec got out, employees from other airlines were applying for employment. The formula worked as well now as it did then, but their growth wasn’t without problems, such as the night Catwalk found Curly and a stewardess in a compromising situation.
They’d been late flying back from Denver due to weather. Curly said he’d check on the clean-up crew, while Catwalk went inside to do the paperwork. An hour later Catwalk saw the lights were still on in the plane. He worried that a crewman had left them on. When he entered the plane, however, he discovered Curly and a stewardess on the floor of the plane, in various stages of undress.
“Excuse me,” he shouted.
They both looked at him, surprised and embarrassed. The stewardess grabbed her blouse and covered up. Curly said, “Aw shit, Cat.”
Catwalk said, “Marilyn, I’ll talk to you later. Curly, put your pants on and meet me inside.”
Marilyn asked sheepishly, “Am I fired?”
“No. I don’t think it was your fault.”
Curly walked into their office and lit a cigarette. Catwalk didn’t wait for his excuses. “There are several reasons why you shouldn’t have done that.”
Curly became defensive. “What makes you think it was my fault?”
“Because I know you, and I know how you act around women.”
“It’s not like she’s married or anything. We’re both single, so what’s the problem?”
“For starters, she’s an employee, and we’re supposed to be a company that treats its employees with respect. Did you ever stop to think of what Billy Sue will say if she finds out?”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“I should, but I won’t. Not unless she asks me about it. I won’t lie for you, not to her.”
Catwalk didn’t have to lie. Billy Sue found out about Curly’s indiscretion through the grapevine. The next time she saw Curly, her voice was filled with venom when she said, “You can still visit your son, but our wedding date has just been pushed back—to the year 2000!”
Catwalk and Curly never mentioned the episode again, but Catwalk was tr
oubled by Curly’s lapse of judgment. He went back to his apartment, put on a Duke Ellington record and laid down on the sofa. When Rosemary came home they talked at length about the incident. Rosemary said, “I agree that Curly showed bad judgment, but I think you might be overreacting to something that was really human nature.”
Catwalk wrapped his arms around here. “You think so, hunh?”
“Yep. I also think you might be trying to make your airline too perfect. It’s made up of people who are not perfect.”
“How on earth did you get so smart?”
“Well-l-l.” Catwalk then showed her how pleased he was to have someone with whom he could talk about things like this.
A week later he stopped by her office and said, “I’m going home to get a few hours sleep. Curly and I are flying to Salt Lake tonight. We’re returning tomorrow on fifty-two.”
“Have a good flight and call me tonight.”
The flight to Salt Lake was routine and uneventful. The next morning, however, on the flight back they’d just crossed the four corners area when the navigator said, “Engine number four is running hot. It’s been above normal for twenty minutes now, but in the past few seconds, it spiked.”
Catwalk looked up from the log book and said, “I’ll bet it’s that crack in the exhaust stack. It’s going to be repaired after this flight.”
Curly looked out at the far engine. “Let’s shut it down before it gets to red line.”
“Good idea.” Catwalk pulled back the throttle and adjusted the propeller to zero pitch.
Curly looked at the controls, then back at the engine and said, “Fucking thing didn’t feather, Cat. It’s wind-milling.”
Catwalk had just recycled the controls, when Curly shouted, “It’s on fire! Pull the bottle!”
Catwalk punched the red knob that actuated the fire extinguishing system. He then looked out the window, but saw very little telltale white smoke from the foam.
Curly said, “God damn it! It didn’t work. Try it again.”
Catwalk punched the knob again. Same results.
Watching the engine burn unabated, Curly said, “There’s going to be some mechanics fired when we get back.”
A stewardess came through the door and said, “The passengers are about to panic. How bad is it?”
Catwalk said, “We’re trying to put it out. We might have to set down at an alternate.”
After she left, the navigator said, “The only alternate airport that can handle our weight is Gallup, but they don’t have much emergency equipment.”
“I’m heading to Albuquerque. Call the tower.”
While Curly called the tower, Catwalk craned his neck to see the engine. The fire, as he’d feared, was spreading to the wing. Once it got to the wing, it would spread to the number three engine, which they’d lose. Then, running on two engines, they might have trouble maintaining their altitude, which they needed because they were over mountainous terrain until they passed Cabezon Peak. Also, while trying to hold their altitude, they stood a good chance of overheating engines one and two.
Curly read his mind and said, “There ain’t even a God damn road we can land on.”
The stewardess appeared again and said, “The passengers are very worried. Tell me you can put that fire out.”
Catwalk said, “The internal extinguishing system didn’t work. Prepare the passengers for an emergency landing.”
The fire continued to burn, but didn’t spread as much as they thought it would. On three engines, they were able to hold their altitude and Catwalk thought their chances were good for making it to the airport.
Thirty miles from the airport, however, Curly said, “It’s on the wing, burning toward number three. Damn it, we only need eight more minutes.”
Catwalk started a gradual descent, wary of giving away their precious altitude that kept them above the unforgiving mountain peaks.
Curly shouted, “Number three’s on fire! Feather that son of a bitch.”
Catwalk shut down number three and increased power on one and two. Now he was very concerned because two engines burning on one side could collapse the wing. If that happened, they’d tumble into the mountains with no chance of surviving. He turned to the navigator, “Gary, pass our fuel load and passenger count to the tower and keep them advised of our position and altitude.”
Curly said, “The extinguisher worked, but it ain’t enough. The wing is burning bad. How far out are we?”
The navigator yelled, “Eighteen miles.”
Catwalk saw the airport and said, “We’ll use Runway Nine so I don’t have to turn into the dead engines.”
Curly called the tower while he watched for any change in the fire. “Albuquerque Tower, this is Aztec Fifty-Two, on an eighteen mile dogleg base for Runway Nine. We’re declaring emergency with fires in engines three and four. Say the wind.”
“Aztec Fifty-Two, Albuquerque Tower, cleared to land Runway Nine. Wind Zero-Four-Zero at one-two. The emergency equipment is standing by.”
Rosemary heard about the emergency shortly after Curly’s first call to the tower. She and Billy Sue ran outside where they could see the runways. She had seen other aircraft land with minor emergencies, but this was the first time she’d heard of an aircraft on fire. Wracked with fear, she wondered, with all the pilots flying for Aztec, why did this have to happen to Catwalk?
She saw the speck that was the plane and the smoke it was trailing. From her vantage point it looked like the whole plane was on fire. She wondered if the fire had spread to engulf the entire plane. Tears streamed down her face as she hugged Billy Sue.
Catwalk started a gentle turn to the final approach and saw the emergency vehicles with their lights flashing standing by at mid field. He was glad to see them, but if the wing collapsed before they made the airport, the fire trucks would just be picking up the pieces. He again looked past Curly to see the extent of the fire.
“I think we got it made, Cat.”
“That’s what we thought at Kodiak too.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, there ain’t any logs on this runway.”
Catwalk didn’t answer. He was on a half mile final approach. Engines one and two were hot from picking up the load from the bad engines, but the descent had helped cool them. The controls felt good, but he didn’t know if he had brakes and he’d be landing faster than normal. He’d have to ground loop if necessary, to get the passengers off as quickly as possible.
The wheels passed over the runway threshold and Catwalk slammed the plane onto the runway in a bone jarring landing. He and Curly stood on the brakes. The left brake grabbed slightly and the mammoth plane went into a slow left turn, careening off the runway into the dirt.
Catwalk had just shut off the fuel selectors when the right wing bent and dug into the ground. This straightened the plane, but it was headed for the emergency trucks. As the trucks scattered all three crewmen unbuckled. There was nothing more they could do.
Rosemary watched in horror as the burning plane landed and swerved off the runway. Heavy smoke rose off the right side of the aircraft and when the wing broke, the ruptured fuel tanks spewed high-octane aviation fuel onto the airport. The fuel ignited and it looked like the entire plane blew up. Desperately hugging Billy Sue, she buried her face in her jacket so she wouldn’t see the conflagration.
Catwalk sent Curly and the navigator out the navigation dome in the ceiling of the cockpit. While they were crawling out, he opened the door to the cabin and saw the last of the passengers deplaning. He followed the last stewardess down the slide. On the ground he landed in heavy smoke, then ran to the nearest fire truck where a fireman gave him oxygen.
He watched them extinguish the fire, which had already done major damage to the aircraft. He began replaying events to see if anything could have been done better. Curly interrupted his thoughts. “I’m going down to the maintenance hangar. Someone’s ass is going to fry for this.”
As he turned to leave, Billy Sue gave him
a hug and kissed him on the cheek. She said, “Are you O.K., Curly?”
Curly said, “I’m fine.” He kissed her on the cheek, and then left for the hangar.
Rosemary ran to him and threw her arms around Catwalk. “Oh God, you’re O.K. I saw the burning plane and knew I was going to lose you.”
Catwalk hugged her and said, “Honey, it’ll take more than a little fire for you to lose me.”
On the walk to the truck, she asked, “Be honest now. How often does this sort of thing happen?”
“Sweetheart, I’ve got fifteen thousand hours of flying time, in all types of aircraft and this is the first time I’ve ever had an engine fire.”
“I wouldn’t mind if it was the last one.”
“Honey, most of the time flying is boring. Something like this happens very rarely.”
“O.K. How about no more fires for another fifteen thousand hours?”
“You’ve got a deal.”
Alton Jones had been debating whether go with the three other inmates who were escaping. Over the years, Jones had heard several escape plans, but had ignored them as flights of fancy, destined to be failures. This plan, however, was well enough though out to pique his interest. He absorbed the entire scheme while looking for possible weak spots that might threaten their success. His time had been extended twice for inciting fights with other inmates, so he was still looking at ten years in the pen. He finally decided this was his best chance to gain back the freedom he’d lost so long ago.
Bobby Keenland talked in a whisper as he explained the final plan, “In a few weeks they’re starting construction at the south entrance of the janitorial building. They’ll have to ship some of the dirty laundry to a facility in town. With the construction, they’ve got to bring all the carts of dirty stuff out the east door. There’s only two other doors to pass through and you’re out of the building. During meal times, there’s only one guard and he weighs the carts going out, but the guy that runs the scale is working with us. If you hide in one of the carts, you’re out of here in five minutes.”