Tonight's The Night! NWA History Centre on Public Television

Norm Midthun and Red Sutter being filmed for "Lost Twin Cities 4"

A reminder....

Lost Twin Cities 4 will premiere tonight, Wednesday, August 13th at 8:00 pm on tpt Channel 2. It will feature a segment about NWA in the 1950’s – the “luxurious” days of flying, 

and how it transitioned into the jet-age of the l960’s and early 1970’s.  It will be a pledge show—which means it is scheduled in a 2 hour block to accommodate pledges.

Telling the history of NWA and sharing their memories:

Jack El-Hai, Author:  “Non – Stop”  a Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines

Retired stewardesses:  Anne B. Kerr and Fay Kulenkamp 

Retired pilots:  Homer “Red” Sutter and Norm Midthun

The Northwest Airlines segment of Lost Twin Cities 4 was filmed, by Twin Cities Public Television, at the NWA History Centre.

Currently scheduled airdates:

tpt Channel 2:

   Wednesday, August 13th at 8:00 pm

   Saturday, August 16th at 7:00 pm

   Sunday, August 17th at 2:00 pm

tpt LIFE:

    Sunday, August 17th at 8:00 pm

For any additional airdates and times, please check your local listings.

As promised, here is video of Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Giant RC Model in Flight

You can still find a Northwest Airlines B-377 Stratocruiser in the most surprising places . . .

Lady Skywriter with NWA B-377 Stratocruiser   photo by John Billingsley

. . . I found this one yesterday on a farm near Owatonna, Minnesota!  Not only is it beautiful to the eye (that Northwest livery was the best!) but it also flew beautifully at the behest of its new owner, Jeff Quesenberry of Apple Valley, MN, who greased its landing to a huge round of applause.

All this took place yesterday at the 10th Anniversary gathering of SMMAC, Southern Minnesota Model Aircraft Club. There was every type and size of radio control aircraft on display and flying in demonstration flights. WW I and WW II dogfights, commercial airliners, military jets and the biggest R.C. model J-3 Cub I've ever seen.

There will be another huge regional show of Warbirds and Classics at Fond du Lac Wisconsin next weekend, August 15, 16 and 17.

This gorgeous giant scale NWA Boeing Stratocruiser with a wingspan of 15 ft. will be there, as will Carl Bachhuber, the talented man who designed and built her and dozens of his other "favorite airplanes." 

If you can't make it to Fond du Lac, see my next post to enjoy video of NWA Ship 704 in flight.

Cockpit Chronicles: Behind the scenes with a flight attendant — Crew Meals

Well, this woke me up this morning!  Can anybody tell me what aircraft this is?

My first impressions are of the flight attendant.  Can't help noticing the very long straight hair, hanging freely to the middle of her back, wisps hanging nearly into the food!  The sunglasses perched on the top of her head.  The earrings.

All grounds for dismissal back in the 1950s.  We must have been very boring back then.

It was also amazing to me that both the captain and first officer had their laps full of food trays at the same time.

The size of the galley is a wonder.  And we thought the Boeing Stratocruiser had a large galley!  They do have lots more to do than we did, and I'm sure in half the time!

It's a real education to see what goes on behind the scenes on today's flights.

Lost Twin Cities 4 Preview

TPT-2 Lost Twin Cities IV, featuring Northwest Airlines, will premier Wednesday, August 13 at 8 p.m.

Fay Kulenkamp and Anne (Lady Skywriter) Kerr being interviewed.

Way back in April, as we filmed this segment about Northwest Airlines at the NWA History Centre, we were told it would probably air in August.  That seemed such a long wait.
And in the flash of an eye, here it is upon us.
Those of us who were interviewed have no idea if we will be included in the production or wind up on the cutting room floor.  We will discover the content right along with the rest of you.
For more information, check out my post of April 21, 2014

Northwest Airlines: Remembered and Celebrated

Bruce Kitt stars in this week's segment of Bloomington Today, a City of Bloomington, MN cable network feature about the NWA History Centre.  Good job, Bruce!

Happy July 4th, everyone!

NWA Systems Operations Control, Segment 2 October, 1996

NWA Systems Operations Control, Segment 1 October, 1996

Thanks to Bob DuBert for alerting me to this. A fond look-back at a great airline! Watch for Segment 2, tomorrow!

D-Day Pilot Dick Brown Remembers . . .

l-r Dick Brown and Joe Farrell with their Martin B-26 Marauder bomber
Photo courtesy Richard Brown

June 6, 1944, retired Northwest Airlines Captain Dick Brown participated in the D-Day invasion, a significant turning point for Allied forces in WW II.

Today, 70 years later, his memory of that day is crystal clear.

"We knew something was up," Dick said.  "We heard this huge racket around midnight.  We all ran outside and looked up.  The sky was full of C-47's (DC-3's) towing gliders.  We went back to bed. A couple of hours later they woke us up again and by 5 a.m. we were taking off from our base in England in lousy weather - 500 ft. ceiling and raining.  We had to form up under the clouds, then climbed up in formation to on top, which was about 11,000 ft.  During climb we lost two aircraft when the leader made a turn, they lost sight of us and crashed into each other.  When we came out on top it was daylight, so we tried to regroup and join with other aircraft. Over the channel we found a hole in the clouds and descended down to 1500 ft. to get under the cloud layer. The channel was full of ships as far as we could see. We headed for our target on Utah Beach and we could see landing craft about 1/4 mile off shore. I felt sorry for them because they would be digging a foxhole in the sand while I would be back in my bunk on dry land.  We got shot at by ground fire but didn't lose any aircraft over the target so we headed home."

Dick's bomb group moved to southern England in July and then to Normandy in August to an air field just inland from Omaha Beach.   "I had two crash landings, but both times the whole crew survived them.  Had the nose shot off twice, and at least three times they counted over 100 holes from flak," Dick recalls.

He flew 66 missions, the last on September 12, 1944.

"I arrived back in the states in October, 1944, and after some R&R at home I spent the winter towing targets for B-24's out of Harlingen Texas. There were seven W.A.S.P.'s in the outfit and they were great pilots," he said.
"I was discharged in May, 1945 at Fort Snelling and went over to Northwest Airlines to apply for a pilot job. They told me it would be a couple of months and I got a call from them in August."

Thus began his 36-year career  as an airline pilot. Dick started in the DC-3 and spent the last seven years of his NWA career flying the Boeing 747.  Along the way he flew, and thankfully survived, the ill-fated Martin 202, which was Martin's attempt to capture the commercial aviation market after WW II.  Note: The Martin B-26 Marauder bomber Dick flew during the war was the precursor to the 202.

Dick Brown today - full of vim, vigor (and stories)  at 92 years of age.
Photo Anne Kerr

Oh yes. Joe Farrell (photo on top of page) and Dick were reunited at Northwest Airlines a year after they returned from the war. Dick was hired a month before Joe, so he was senior to him, which provided endless ribbing over the years.  Joe Farrell died in 2005. Stay tuned for more Dick Brown stories in future posts.

Howie Wing Gallery

In my last post, I tell how former Northwest Airlines stewardess Helen Jacobson Richardson is key to my discovery of Howie Wing.

To recap, for one year prior to joining Northwest Airlines, Helen flew for United Airlines.

Helen Jacobson at work for United Airlines, 1938-1939

In January, 1939, Kellogg promoted Howie Wing by arranging the first radio broadcast from an airplane.  Here Helen Jacobson is making sure Bill Janney, who played the part of "Howie", sound effects man Alexander Binnie and actor Robert Strauss are comfortable.

Helen's experience set me on a hunt for information about Howie Wing. Who was he? Please note: This will not be  the whole delicious story of Howie Wing and Kathy and Jim Hanmel's discovery of long-lost episodes of Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation radio shows.  For the whole story, please read Kathy's 3-part report of 2005 and her follow up report in June 2007 in Radio Recall, the journal of the Metropolitan Washington Old Time Radio Club.

"The airplane had greater impact upon our popular culture after the sky battles of WW-I over Europe. The Howie Wing Radio Program was created by Wilfred G. Moore and aired from 1938 to 1939. Wing was a 21-year-old "junior pilot" whose adventures were typical for aviator fiction of the time. He was taught by Captain Harvey, a WW-I ace. Howie's girlfriend was Donna Cavendish. A fellow pilot was Zero Smith, one of the best "tough weather pilots" but cranky, devious, and generally disagreeable, and often suspected of working for the Germans. The villain of the show was Burton York, who posed as an insurance agent to discredit Captain Harvey." wingnut.org

Following is a sampling of tidbits I have enjoyed thanks to the research of Kathy Hammel and her team, who so graciously have shared them with me, and now I share them with you!

When young listeners sent in their two circle K box tops and a nickel, they received the Cadet Aviation Corps handbook, pilot wings and an official membership certificate with their name neatly typed on it. Kathy Hammel

Included in the handbook are these handsome profiles of an "air stewardess" and commercial pilot: Note: click on the pages for easier reading.

Before long other airlines got into the act:

Thank you Kathy for opening up the whole new world (to Lady Skywriter) of old time radio!

l-r Kathy Hammel, Jerry Haendiges, and Kathy's husband  Jim, in Jerry's recording studio
 Jerry digitized and cleaned up the recordings Kathy and Jim found so that they sounded brand new.
 Jerry has a pretty extensive website at http://www.otrsite.com/radiolog/

Last but not least, Click here to listen  to episodes of Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation. Note: I suggest you may find it easier to listen to individual episodes, listed below the collection.

Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation

"Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation," was a children's radio serial about a young pilot and friends who foiled spies and smugglers with some fancy flying. Written by Captain Willfred Gibbs Moore, a flying reservist who served as a pilot in WWI,  Howie Wing was considered authentic and educational."  
From  Kellogg's and Howie Wing, by Kathy Hammel, Radio Recall, June 2007, the journal of the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club.

Earlier this year, in my tribute to Helen Jacobson Richardson, I mentioned having seen a newspaper clipping at Helen's memorial about the first dramatic broadcast in radio history made from an airplane, "Howie Wing, a Saga of Aviation." Helen was the stewardess. Below she is pictured with (l-r) Bill Janney, who played the part of "Howie", sound effects man Alexander Binnie and actor Robert Strauss on an unspecified United Airlines airplane,  January 20, 1939.

Minneapolis Star, January 20, 1939, courtesy Mary Jo Nelson, Helen Richardson's daughter

I visited the NWA History Centre and the Minnesota Historical Society, searching their Northwest archives for news of this flight.  No luck.  I entreated Helen Jacobson Richardson's children to search for the newspaper clipping I had seen at her memorial, still assuming that she was working for Northwest at the time of the flight.  Mary Jo Nelson came up with the photo above and sent it to me. The photo's caption reminded me that Helen had flown for United before joining Northwest that same year, 1939.  No wonder there was no mention in Northwest Airlines archives anywhere.  The clipping Mary Jo sent me had no source or date.  I took it back to the Minnesota Historical Society to their Gale Family Library newspaper collection and found the above clipping in The Minneapolis Star, Jan. 20, 1939.

In the process Lady Skywriter became enamored of Howie Wing, and set out to find out more about him. I discovered a wonderful resource for old radio shows, The Metropolitan Washington Old-Timer Radio Club. I requested information about Howie Wing, and was put in touch with Jack French, editor of Radio Recall, the organization's newsletter.  He, in turn, referred me to Kathy Hammel, their Howie Wing expert.  Kathy responded immediately and began educating me on Howie Wing.

Stay tuned to learn more about Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation.

Helen Jacobson Richardson Loved Northwest Airlines!

Courtesy, Minnesota Historical Society

Among many artifacts Richardson donated to the Minnesota Historical Society is the "gum caddy" that Helen used to pass gum to passengers to alleviate pressure-popping in their ears.

Helen Jacobson Richardson died January 6 at Friendship Village in Bloomington Minn.  She was 99 years old.  She was the third stewardess hired by Northwest Airlines in 1939. All registered nurses, the first two, in order, were Dorothy Stumph and Virginia Johnson. Helen brought additional experience to Northwest, having already flown for United Airlines for a year, and surviving an airplane crash in the process. 

Helen began her career in the air on a dare from her friend, Bob Richardson, a medical intern at St. Paul Bethesda Hospital, where Helen was a nurse.  Helen surprised Bob and her family when she took him up on it, flying for United for a year before home-town Northwest began hiring. Bob and Helen kept in touch and eventually married in early 1942, which meant Helen was done flying.  Married stewardesses were not allowed. ("I know," Lady Skywriter groans, "the same thing happened to me in 1960!") 

After Helen's memorial service at Fort Snelling Chapel, friends and family gathered at the Officer's club. It was nice to meet Helen' kids and peruse a table of mementos. I became distracted by the sight of two uniformed Northwest and Delta flight attendants in attendance and I raced over to them to ask the obvious . . . how did you know Helen?

Wayne Snyder, Denise Martin, Anne Kerr, Marsha Martin, Jerry Nielsen
Wayne and Jerry serve on the NWA History Centre Board.

It seems Helen was a passenger on a flight of Denise's in 2006.  She sat in an aisle seat and they talked from time-to-time.  Helen shared the story of her early flying days with Denise, and when she deplaned Denise said, "Helen pressed a piece of paper in my hand with her phone number on it." She said, "I'd like to continue this conversation." And they did.

Denise called her sister Marsha, also a NWA flight attendant, and they visited back and forth with Helen. Then one day Denise was asked to work a demonstration flight on an A-380 that Airbus was bringing in to MSP, hoping Northwest would buy for their fleet.  Denise got the idea to invite Helen to come along to see this huge new aircraft.  She went to her boss at the airline, telling Helen's story, and a ticket for Helen was obtained. Although Helen declined to go on the flight, she had a great time visiting the airport, meeting then-NWA President Doug Steenland and various other dignitaries, and enjoyed sharing the limelight.

Marsha Martin retired from NWA just before the Delta merger, and Denise is still flying. They came to Helen's service to pay tribute to a special friend.

Remember that table of mementos I mentioned earlier?  On it I saw a newspaper clipping about a flight Helen worked for United in January, 1939, before she joined Northwest.  The clipping referred to the first radio broadcast from an airplane. WCCO and "Howie Wing" were mentioned.  This clipping has opened up a whole new world for Lady Skywriter. Stay tuned for news on this in a future blog.  Although she has left us, Helen continues to bless us.