Jim's History
From the AFA I went to Purdue U. for an engineering M.S. degree, Reese AFB for pilot training, Luke AFB for F-100 training, and one year at Myrtle Beach AFB as an F-100 pilot. In Dec 67 I went to Tuy Hoa, Vietnam for a tour and then I extended for a 4 month tour flying "Misty" at Phu Cat and then another two months back at Tuy Hoa. My next assignment came down for a FAC at Fort Riley, Kansas. I wrote a letter to personnel stating that I hated living with the army which I had done a lot of at Myrtle Beach and I requested yet another extension in Vietnam. I didn't get the extension but my assignment was changed to instructing at Luke. However, by the time I got back to the states I had already decided that the peacetime Air Force was not for me with my jobs being dictated by a personnel system so when I arrived at Luke, I put in my papers to get out in a year. I was made an F-100 instrument instructor and it worked out quite well as the F-100 program was coming to an end just about the time I was leaving.
In Sep 70 I separated and went to Buffalo, NY and taught school as a substitute and flew F-100's and then F-101's with the Niagara Falls ANG for a few months before being hired by Eastern Air Lines in Feb 71 which caused me to move to New York City. Shortly after moving there I transferred to the ANG unit at Westchester County Airport flying O-2's. Also while in New York I got an MBA degree in finance at NYU.
In 82 I invested in a Part 125 airline flying a DC-8 and moved to Dallas to work with it. We tried to change it to a Part 129 Costa Rican airline but it failed when our inside guy in Costa Rica killed himself in a light airplane accident and all the doors began to close. So I moved to Miami in 83 with Eastern and stayed in the Ready Reserves taking correspondence courses until I had 22 years and Lt. Col. when I retired.
At Eastern I flew S/O on the B-727, L-1011 and DC-10 and F/O on the Electra, DC-9, A-300 and L-1011. In 89 we went on strike ending my career at Eastern. I owned two light airplanes which I rented out and instructed in and some condos which I maintained and rented out. This kept me busy until Hurricane Andrew hit in 92 destroying the airplanes and condos, so I became a roofer repairing all the damaged roofs around until Feb 94 when I was hired by KIWI, an airline owned and managed by striking Eastern pilots and flight attendants flying 727's.
That airline lasted until early 99 when it folded. At that point I decided to devote full time to what had been my hobby since leaving the AFA, investing. Most of my time (but not my money) is spent trading futures contracts on the computer and doing volunteer work with my church, small church PK-3 thru 5th grade school connected with the church, and Habitat for Humanity. Monday thru Fridays are spent jogging, swimming, trading and attending meetings. Saturdays are working on the landscaping and repairs for the church or for Habitat and Sundays are for Sunday school, church and the library. I plan to maintain this routine as long as I keep my health which is now perfect having never been in a hospital and I can't remember the last time I went to a doctor for any treatment. That pretty much covers my life except for the date of death, to be inserted much later I hope.
Written February 13, 2011.
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