MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
soloed at GCAT. His career goals had an unexpected new purpose.
LEFT: Major Moseley signed Bud’s contract which stipulated that he work directly under Charles “Chief” Kidder.
BELOW: Bud Hadley entered Curtiss- Wright Technical Institute (CWTI) at Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale, CA, in 1937 as a student specializing in aircraſt engine maintenance. His son, Bob Hadley, supplied copies of his various licenses and other documents .
At 14 years old, Bud cheered Charles Lindbergh’s solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The heydays of biplanes and barnstorming had passed and modern commercial airlines were connecting the US coast to coast. Bud Hadley must have taken notice and formed a future plan to work in aviation. He had inherited his father’s mechanical skill and entrepreneurial nature but like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, he had decided there was “no place like home.” Fortunately he did not have to travel far to achieve his goal. By 1937, Bud’s parents had
divorced and he had settled in as part of his mother’s new family. At 23, Bud was ready to put his aviation career plan into action.
When Bud applied to enter CWTI, Major Moseley signed off on his school contract which stipulated that he undertake 200 hours of “special engine” instructions. His supervisor was to be Charles “Chief” Kidder, who at that time was the GCAT
18 |
DOMmagazine.com | may 2016
Airport Superintendent and Service Manager. The course fee was $75.00 which was waived in exchange for working with Kidder. Kidder was described by aviation author John Underwood as a “leathery old salt weathered by 18 years of naval aviation. Kidder was extraordinarily talented and marvelously profane.” Bud excelled under Kidder’s tough supervision, becoming a standout student mechanic. After graduation, Bud became an
instructor at CWTI. Determined to expand his career as a teacher he took training courses at UCLA and UC Berkeley during 1937 and 1938. He also earned his CAA certifi cation for A&P licenses and began contracting as a mechanic for local aircraft owners, movie stars, and stunt pilots. By 1939, Bud held a California state teaching credential, for which he intended to teach aircraft engine maintenance and welding. In 1940, he completed the ground course and
PLANT NUMBER 1 Following the attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, all American airports were immediately closed and general aviation aircraft were grounded for the duration of the war. Employees and students at CWTI were screened for security access, literally transforming them overnight as part of the war eff ort. That same month, Kidder submitted an article for Aviation Magazine in which he outlined the ramp-up of activity at GCAT, designated as Plant 1. The recently constructed Plant 2 was located fi fty miles away in Ontario. Kidder’s shops maintained 256 military aircraft including the P38 Lightning produced at nearby Lockheed. His four teams totaled almost 600 men of which 30 specialized in the engine overhaul shop at Plant 1, where Bud had likely been trained. Kidder ran a clean and effi cient workplace. “We have the fi nest hand tools, bench tools, shop machines, special parts stands and racks, aligning stands, and special tools such as valve grinders and cylinder grinders, and cleaning equipment,” he wrote. “We believe that polished tools neatly arranged on benches or tool boards do much to stimulate the morale of the individual mechanic and give the entire shop a degree of pride in its work.” At GCAT, Bud would have been
immersed in almost every aspect of aviation. At its peak, GCAT was home to distributors for Wright, Lycoming, Jacobs, and Menasco engines and parts; dealers for P&W and Continental engines; and for companies that made carburetors and spark plugs. Bud taught hundreds of mechanics
during the war. He also began teaching at Pomona Jr. College, originally a small private school which is now part of The Claremont Colleges. While teaching in Pomona,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68