October 2003                                          The Megaphone                                              Page 4

My Love Affair With Planes

Growing up as a child in the W.W.II era, toy trucks and airplanes were the toys I wanted to play with. As I grew into my teens I was always intrigued with air craft and loved going to Indy to see them flying in and out. Never would I ever think that I would someday almost live on them.

Sherwin-Williams was on a fast track, as they were one of nine companies who leased department in K-Mart. We were opening stores at a fast pace. After managing Home Improvements in Louisville and Ft. Wayne, I was promoted in early 1967 to a district managers job. With problems in the Illinois and eastern Iowa area, I inherited a terrible district. But it ended up with us moving to CA. in December 1969, as a Regional Manager for 9 states. By the way, K-Mart took over all leases in 1973, became 100%  company owned, and I was then looking over some 300 company owned paint stores.

I said all of the above just to give you the back ground. As a DM in the two Midwest districts, about 60% of it was driving. In CA it required flying 70% of the time into the 9 western states. I had to fly back here to Cleveland every 6 weeks or so plus make other eastern trips from out there. When I moved to Cleveland in 1978, my jobs also required a lot of travel. I ended up flying into 37 states and hundreds of cities. I had over 100,000 miles with United alone. Didn't have all of the free tickets like they did in the 1980s and 1990s, but still had rewards for the mileage you got.

I enjoyed flying for the most part, but there were a few times that I wasn't sure that I wish that I wasn't. So I will tell you some of the "incidents" that I can recall right now.

When I started flying there were mostly prop planes. My first flight out of Ft. Wayne was a jet-propelled Convair but there were times they were the old faithful DC-3 aircraft. On a flight from Indianapolis to Champlain-Urbana on a DC-3, our aircraft had to make an emergency landing back to the airport due to oil troubles and that was scary as we landed with all of the emergency vehicles following us. From that incident on, it never stopped.

We were attempting to land in fog in Dayton when the pilot gave it full throttle and we were upwards bound. He was going to miss the runway, but he got it right on the second try. Slid on an ice patch in Detroit but the pilot quickly corrected it before we went off the runway..

I was on a flight from O'Hare to Peoria on an Ozark when the airman setting across from me, who had been acting funny, got up and was going to open the back door of the plane, but another man and I jumped on him. The flight had one stewardess and she was in the rest room. Police were waiting when we arrived. Found out he had been discharged from the Air Force for a medical reason.

I had 3 aborted landings on one flight in CA because as soon as the fog moved out, we started in but the fog would come back. Aborted flights happened a few other times, a 747 blew his front tire taking off at San Francisco, the top piece of an engine was loose, so we made an emergency return to Houston. One plane was all over the landing strip at San Jose, but he was dodging prairie rabbits. These are just a few of the times something happened that came to mind.

Leaving Seattle with one of my men, we checked in, went to the gate, but by the time we got to the gate our flight to Portland and on to San Francisco was canceled. We walked back to the check-in counter but got no reason. Suddenly a lady came running it asking "Was there really a bomb on the incoming flight from Vancouver, B. C?"

The plane landed way out at the end of one of the runways, where after people got off, the bomb in the pilots safety kit was removed but not set to go off, so we were told. An employee of United was in on the threat to get $250,000 from the airlines. There were no screening machines at the time. We got another flight that got us home at midnight.

One of the funny trips was this one. My boss and I had to fly to Cleveland on December 20th, for an emergency meeting of company personnel changes and new strategy. We were returning to San Francisco on December 23rd. Instead of a 727 they used a 747 they needed to get out West. There were only 79 passengers, and a crew of 13. About halfway home they started playing games and were giving away wine and champagne.

I won the second game which required naming 10 parts of the body having 3 letters, such as leg. I won a magnum of champagne. My boss won one of the ten games, a bottle of wine, for remembering the number of crew members on board.

I don't drink so I told the boss I would bring the champagne to his New Year's party. At the baggage claim, I set the champagne, on the floor, where he had set his stuff. I placed my brief case and trench coat there also and went to the rest room.

In the rest room I hear these two big explosions. The stuff had all been setting by a Hertz auto rental booth. A sky cap hit both bottles with his cart, busted booth bottles all over our coats and our brief cases. My boss missed getting it on him as he was picking up the luggage. Saved the coats but the smell on the brief cases was just too much to deal with. We got out right away leaving the booze on the Hertz counter and a few people.

Some time, I will tell you the rest, or let's say more of the story. There were also good times including meeting stars and musical groups.

The Ol' Panther
Jerry McClish 1956
North Ridgeville, OH