Thanks to the pilots!

The Class of 1961 at Valley City High School produced two commercial airline pilots (remarkable for a class of only 90) and I thought of Captains Roy Lang and John Manstrom when I wrote my current Wordchipper column (this piece appears weekly in a regional newspaper in eastern North Dakota and is available on my blog at Wordchipper.com). If you care to the read my essay on how aircrews are just as frustrated as passengers, if not more so, when experiencing weather or mechanical delays, you'll find it here in aprintable PDF: Thanks to the pilots!

As most of you know, John spent eight years as an active-duty Navy pilot and six years in the reserve, retiring as a commander. He then flew for 30 years as a Delta Airlines captain. He and his wife, Verna, also a VCHS grad, have lived in the Atlanta area of Georgia for 37 years. Roy was a TWA captain, spending 34 years with the airline and was Air Guard pilot for eleven years, retiring as a Captain. He and his wife, Lorrie, live in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

John flew mostly Boeing aircraft, up through the now popular 767. Roy was in the left seat of 727s, becoming a captain and instructor on the 757 and 767 aircraft types. Thanks to these exemplary professionals for their service to our country and for their outstanding and long careers with two major airlines. We're proud of you fellas! You can see a photo of these guys dancing with fellow classmates elsewhere on this blog.

(posted by Larry Gauper, 12-04-2010)