THE HANGAR IT’S A SMALL WORLD
They say, “It’s a small world.” The aviation world is defi nitely small, and it’s even smaller in the helicopter industry. As I look back on my aviation career, it seems like only yesterday I started on my career path. That was in 1986 when I was in the U.S. Army working as an UH- 1H crew chief. Sometimes in the moments of life and career, we don’t realize whose path we are crossing — it takes a bit of refl ection to realize this. Now that I am taking some time to refl ect on my past, I realize that I have been fortunate to have met and worked with some very special aviators.
While listening to stories from
my Grandfather of his WWII experiences, I realized how special of an occupation he was in and I began to grow fond of aviation. My Grandfather, Sgt. Steve Schmidt, fl ew as a B-17 tail gunner with the 351st bomb group out of Polebrook, England with the Army Air Corp. My favorite aviation photo of all time is my Grandfather in front of his B-17, “The Duchess,” with Clark Gable standing as part of her crew. My Grandfather fl ew a mission where Clark Gable served as the plane’s
AROUND
BY STEVE SCHMIDT
engineer. His stories of how Clark Gable refused to go on so called “milk runs” and actually took fl ak through the plane on one of those missions is from a bygone era of the greatest generation. That was a time when you could look at Hollywood and they produced men like Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Mel Brooks who all served their country from the front. That photo of my Grandfather and also one of him being presented his Distinguished Flying Cross is my fi rst link to aviation greats so many years ago. It was those intriguing stories that lead me to join the U.S. Army as a helicopter crew chief. It was not until I was much older that I realized how close I was to that great generation. I truly feel honored — only wishing I could ask him just a few more questions. Last week I took my son to see The Cold Blue — a documentary of the B-17 crews of WWII fi lmed in color. It was quite extraordinary look at those aviators of the past. Though he only met his Great Grandfather as a baby, it was my way of showing my son what those men and his Grandfather accomplished. (As a side note, it looks like the Memphis Belle has been restored and is only a day’s
drive away — a defi nite road trip this summer for us!)
Once I got out of the Army, and
two years of Airframe and Powerplant school later, it was time to take my practical exams. One of my buddies from school said there was this guy on the south side of Chicago that had openings, and we could carpool down and take our oral and practical tests. One Saturday, off we went in search of our DME — a man by the name of Cornelius Coff ey. I had no idea who Coff ey was as we sat down at his dining room table for the oral portion of our exam. As I gazed at the plethora of awards, plaques, certifi cates, citations and other distinguishing memorabilia on his wall, it dawned to me — Cornelius must be a very accomplished man in the aviation world. His wife was sweet, cooking in the kitchen and only coming out to ask Cornelius to give the dog his daily shot and say hello. After the oral portion of the exam, he asked us to drive to the aviation vocational school for the practical portion of the test. During the drive, he gave us the history of Chicago. You could tell by the look in his eyes he saw Chicago in the light of the past — like
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DOMmagazine.com | aug 2019
MRO Europe | London, UK October 16-17, 2019
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