Ralph Pilots Helicopter to Save Boy Scout Troop

This is a continuation of stories about Ralph’s flying experiences. Read previous, related posts below:

• The Sky's the Limit
• Trailing Clouds of Glory - Highlights from Ralph's Flying Experiences
• Dream's Take Flight - More Highlights from Ralph's Flying Experiences

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In the late 1960s, Ralph and Ella were now living in Long Beach, California, and Ralph was working as a salesman for Hughes Helicopters, working out of the Culver City office.

During this time, Ralph attended an International Association of the Chiefs of Police (IACP) convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was there representing Hughes Helicopters, specifically showcasing several police helicopters.

One day during the conference, they got a phone call from a local TV station, KLAS, and they were told that 16 boy scouts were stranded on a mountain east of Las Vegas. Would it be possible for a couple of helicopters to go out and rescue them? Off Ralph went in one helicopter, with a sheriff’s deputy in another, and a cameraman from the TV station along as well to record what came next.

What had happened was the boys started their trek on the east side of the mountain, and they were supposed to hike over the mountain and finish on the west side, but they ran into treacherous terrain along the way. Additionally, one boy had a broken leg, and it seems like another one had an injury. They were trying to slide down the rock face, and that’s when they got scared and stopped.

As Ralph flew in, he saw there was no level place to land the helicopter. The only way he could pick people up or let them off was to hook a skid on the rock ledge. Seeing a helicopter fly up one side of a mountain and hook one skid on a ledge, it could look dangerous and reckless. If it was your first time seeing it, you might think, “Oh my gosh! look at what that guy is doing!" But Ralph had done it hundreds of times on other occasions so he was very practiced. He admits that he was taking a chance but that it was marginal and not unsafe. (He also admits that he was perhaps a little cocky and a smart-aleck pilot at the time!)

Example of a Helicopter Balancing on a Skid
(Image Source)

Ralph dropped the cameraman off on the mountain, and he helped the boys in. The sheriff's deputy was in a helicopter behind him and did the same thing. They would pick up two boys at a time, drop him off further down the mountain (less than a mile away), and return and repeat until all the boys were out of harm’s way. The whole task took less than a half hour.

How did Ralph feel about being a hero that day? “It’s just one of the things you do when you're working."

This whole story has a funny ending: The TV station sent a copy of the video coverage to Hughes. Several department heads and vice presidents watched this coverage, and they see the helicopter fly in (because they had dropped the cameraman off previously). Here was the sheriff's deputy in uniform, and here was Ralph in a white shirt and tie (as he was in the middle of a meeting when they got the call). Then a VP watching this jumped up and said, “Who the [heck] is that?” Ralph was obviously not one of the sheriff's deputies, and what was a company employee doing flying like that?

Ralph’s boss responded, reassuring the Hughes leaders that this wasn’t a publicity stunt, but it was an honest to goodness rescue and they handled it the best way possible.

Ralph concludes: "It was an interesting career, a lot of fun. Wish i could do it again!"

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Source: From a phone conversation with Ralph on April 9, 2018

Ella Becomes a US Citizen

“Scottish by birth, American by adoption, and humbly grateful for both.” This is what Grandma Ella often says. She is undoubtedly proud of her native heritage, but it’s also arguable that she’s one of the most patriotic “adopted” Americans around!

On 3 May 1957, Ella petitioned to become a naturalized citizen of the United States, and on 14 June 1957 she officially became one. 

In honor of America’s Independence Day on July 4th, I wanted to share some of the requirements to become a US citizen. It’s a big deal to change your citizenship! But I love Ella’s philosophy - to celebrate both nationalities and to be “humbly grateful for both.”

Ella's US Naturalization Record

What does it take to become an American citizen? The requirements might have been slightly different in 1957, but today it includes the following:(1)

For an adult immigrant to become  a U.S. citizen, he or she must go through the process of naturalization. GENERAL requirements for naturalization call for the immigrant to:

• Be at least 18 years old at the time of filing the Application for Naturalization, Form N-400 
• Be lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States 
• At the time of the filing the application, have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least for five years OR for at least three years if you meet all eligibility requirements to file as a spouse of a United States citizen
• Have demonstrated continuous permanent residence 
• Have demonstrated physical presence 
• Have lived within the State or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services District for at least three months prior to filing 
• Have demonstrated good moral character 
• Demonstrate an attachment to the principles and ideals of the U.S. Constitution 
• Demonstrate an ability to read, write, speak and understand basic English 
• Demonstrate a basic knowledge of  U.S. history, government, and civic principles 
• Take an oath of allegiance to the United States 
• Receive a Certificate of Naturalization

You are not a U.S. citizen until you take the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony.(2)

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

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Notes & Sources:

1. Source: https://www.usa.gov/become-us-citizen
2. Source: https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/naturalization-test/naturalization-oath-allegiance-united-states-america

Dreams Take Flight - More Highlights from Ralph’s Flying Experiences

An Aeronca 7AC Champ

This is a continuation of stories about Ralph’s flying experiences. Read previous, related posts here, and here.

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Fast forward about 10 years. Now as a young father living in Wilmington, California, with his sweetheart Ella and twin babies, Ralph was working two or three jobs to support the family. At the time, one of those jobs was was working for a fellow in their church congregation selling dog licenses door to door.

While working one day in Hermosa Beach, California, he knocked on the door of a United Airlines pilot and they got talking about flying. Ralph thought, “Wow! That would be fun.”

So I agonized over it for a day or two and talked to [Ella] and said, I think I’d really like to learn how to fly, and she said, “Well, why don’t you do it? That will be your college.” I didn’t finish college, so whatever money we spent on my flight training, that would be my college education. Ok!

First Entry in the Logbook

Ralph began his basic flight training at age 23.

This is pilot logbook number one. So my first lesson was on February 8, 1957. Familiarization ride. And there’s all my training. [Pointing to the stack of 10 logbooks in front of us.]

Coincidentally, he trained at the Torrance Airport, formerly called the Lomita Air Field, that same spot where he would watch the planes come and go as a boy during WWII.(1)

Over the next 5 months, when Ralph wasn’t working to support his family he was working toward the basic requirements of earning his private pilot license for a single engine airplane. The first part of his training was at the Torrance Airport with an instructor named Vern Young, flying in an Aeronca Champ. He later switched to train with the nearby Compton Flying Club, where he could fly for less: Airplanes rented for $4/hr versus the $7/hr at Torrance.

The requirements to earn a private pilot license in 1957 were not that different from what Ralph teaches to his students today, six decades later. That instruction included a minimum number of hours of flight training with an instructor, cross country flying (day and night), take offs and landings (T/O’s), solo flying, and passing a written exam.

There are only minor differences between then and now, such as he recalls that he needed 35 hours of flight time, rather than the required minimum of 40 today, and the cross-country requirement was less as well. Additionally, there was previously not the emphasis on instrument training (in fact, most of the airplanes didn’t even have radios at the time and only major airports had control towers).

Image Source

Going Solo

When it was time for Ralph to fly solo for the first time, he went back to an instructor at the Torrance Airport. They started out with an hour of dual flying in the Aeronca Champ (Ralph as pilot with the instructor in the back), and the instructor said, “Do a good job today and I’ll get out and let you fly.”

Ralph was quite familiar with flying out of Torrance airport, which characteristically had a crosswind. The advantage to that is the Ralph was comfortable flying with the crosswind - it didn’t bother him at all. But he learned he still had to be alert. Ralph related:

I was so used to cross winds at Torrance - I mean, it was always 15 degrees, you could count on it, the runway was runway 29, 290 degrees, I think, anyway it was almost east and west, and the wind would come around Palos Verde Hills and it was always a crosswind. It was anywhere from 10 to 15 knots, 15 degrees, off. 

So I’m going around and [the instructor] said, “Let’s do a couple touch and go’s.” So I’m coming around, this was a day there was no wind. Dead calm. I’m coming in, trying to slide the airplane down like this in the crosswind, and I’m having a hard time keeping it lined up. And he said, “What are you doing??” And I said, “I’m compensating for the crosswind.” He said, “Look at the windsock!” The thing is hanging like this [Ralph showed his arm hanging straight down]. “There’s no crosswind! Fly the airplane.” I straightened up and looked and sure enough! I made a couple of good landings and he said, “Have fun! Good luck!”

And that was on [checking his log book]...I had my first solo right there. 15 minutes, on April 15, 1957. Takeoff and landing, solo, check, ok.

The lesson that he learned that day? To fly according to the conditions you’re in. Don’t fly according to habit.

Following his first solo flight, Ralph’s shirttail was then cut off, signed by the instructor, and hung up in the flight school. This is a tradition that is still carried on today. Why? Wikipedia has this explanation:

In American aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot's shirt tail is a sign of the instructor's new confidence in his student after successful completion of the first solo flight. In the days of tandem trainers, the student sat in the front seat, with the instructor behind. As there were often no radios in these early days of aviation, the instructor would tug on the student pilot's shirttail to get his attention, and then yell in his ear. A successful first solo flight is an indication that the student can fly without the instructor ("instructor-less" flight). Hence, there is no longer a need for the shirt tail, and it is cut off by the (often) proud instructor, and sometimes displayed as a trophy.(2)

However, it's likely that any pilot will tell you a different take on the folklore that Wikipedia hasn’t documented yet: It’s because flying solo “scares the *&%$ out of you.”

License in Hand and First Passenger

Five months after his first flying lesson, this is the entry in his log book:

July 18, 1957, go for checkride, private pilot, flight exam and return with private license.

And now for his first passenger:

Then my first ride right after that when I got my license, that’s where I took [Ella] up in the Luscombe, and that was [chuckling]...[her] first time flying and my very first passenger after I got my license. Same day.

A 1946 Luscombe Silvaire

So she got in the airplane with me, and it was this old...1946 model Luscombe. And the windshield was plastic, and it had been sunbaked in the summer, so this was summer, July 18, and I’m coming around on final approach and I turn westbound into Compton Airport, and as soon as I turned westbound, the sun hit that sunbaked windshield and it turned opaque. Just all white.

And I said, “Oh gee, I can’t see the runway.” I’m trying to look through this silvered windshield and around the side and everything, and I made BOOM, a hard landing. It didn’t bounce but it just hit hard. And I thought, “Oh, she’ll never ride with me again.” Do you know what she said? “I’ve seen you do better. Let’s go around and do it again.”

And so they did. “And it was so smooth!”

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From interviews with Ralph and Ella recorded at their home, on 9 February 2014 and 10 July 2016, with additional details shared over the phone on 29 April 2018.

Notes & Sources:

1. As a young boy living in Lomita, California, in the early 1940s (during WWII), one of Ralph’s favorite activities was lying on the grass in his front yard and watch the Lockheed P-38 airplanes fly overhead as they would take their final approach to the nearby Lomita Air Field. Read more about it in this blog post: http://greatflyingscots.blogspot.com/2018/04/trailing-clouds-of-glory-highlights.html.
2. Read more about requirements for solo flights here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_solo_flight

See Also:

• Trailing Clouds of Glory - Highlights from Ralph’s Flying Experiences: http://greatflyingscots.blogspot.com/2018/04/trailing-clouds-of-glory-highlights.html
• The Sky's the Limit!: http://greatflyingscots.blogspot.com/2014/05/they-skys-limit.html