Presentation Date: April 24, 1997
Wally Dean
Aviation's Golden Age, and Pan Am's Clippers Aviation's Golden Age, and Pan Am's Clippers
"Aviation's Golden Age, and Pan Am's Clippers"
Wally Dean's flying interest, fueled by the luminaries of 1930s civil aviation, was nearly snuffed out in a training accident. But he survived to fulfill his childhood ambition of piloting airplanes, and retired from one of the most "romantic" flying careers that any pilot could dream of. Dean was the Golden Gate Wing's guest speaker at the April 24th dinner meeting.
Dean grew up in Los Angeles, where his father worked for an aviation parts company. And that gave young Wally opportunities to meet such flying pioneers as Roscoe Turner, Wiley Post and Harold Gatty, Amelia Earhart and Paul Mantz as they came in for various parts for their aircraft. Wally brought a portion of his extensive collection of photographs and other memorabilia as he shared the many, many interesting events of his childhood and adult years as an aviator.
In his personal, rambling style, Dean spoke at length on the cross-continent and trans-world flights of Wiley Post in his "Winnie Mae". His Lockheed Vega featured jettisonable landing gear to boost streamlining for the long legs of Post's trans-U.S. ventures. When it came time to land and refuel, a foot-wide landing skid was extended. Many photos in Dean's collection are priceless documents of a time when aviation's glamor was matched only by the stars of the silver screen. Wally showed a photo of himself wearing the helmet to the underwater diving suit Wiley Post wore to establish an altitude record in the "Winnie Mae." Dean also had photos of the Alaska crash which claimed the lives of Post and comedian Will Rogers in 1935.
Dean said his Dad didn't like cats, but tolerated Roscoe Turner's lion cub whenever the flyer came around. The cub had a particularly annoying habit of curling up for naps under Mr. Dean's desk, usually remedied by a brisk "shooing" away. As the cat grew though, Wally's dad ran into a challenge. Noticing the lion under the desk one day and seeking its swift departure, Mr. Dean tried gentle persuasion. When that failed, he kicked at the cat. Wally's dad had a lion paw with extended claws slash back at him.
On other occasions, Wally got a chance to shake Amelia Earhart's hand, and he got her to autograph a photo. He also showed shots of the Pitcairn autogyro in which Earhart flew coast-to-coast, and set altitude records in 1932.
In 1939, Wally was inspired to pilot flying boats. He had visited the Pan Am terminal on Treasure Island and was thrilled to see the big aircraft maneuvering in and out of the lagoon. He was also captured in a photo which was published in a recent book on the Pan Am Clippers.
An accident in a trainer threatened to derail young Dean's flying career. He was out in the Mojave desert town of Baker, enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training program, when his instructor attempted some close-to-the-ground aerobatics in a Waco biplane, to impress a highway motorist. From Wally's pictures, you wondered how anyone could have survived the impact of the plane as it failed to pull out of a loop. Wally suffered a broken back (in three places) and fractured ribs.
Delayed by his injuries, Wally finally did make it to flying boats in 1943, where he flew Martin PBM Mariners in the Pacific. Dean told of how Pan Am prepared for the possibility of war in 1941, with Clipper crews carrying sealed instructions on how to get the flying boats to safety once hostilities began. One Clipper ended up nearly flying around the world to avoid falling under Japanese attack. The Phillipine Clipper aided forces stationed on Wake Island by making a special reconaissance flight.
Wally started as a bow boy on Boeing Clippers for Pan American Airways, securing docking lines on the flying boats when they landed. He ended his career with Pan Am flying Boeing 707 and 727 airliners. At least one of the flying boat models, given to Wally by the wife of a Pan Am Clipper pilot, will be included in the San Francisco Airport Museum.
Those who attended the April meeting were also fortunate to hear the wonderful tunes of "Mo Cats", Jeff Hector, Noel Melanio and Mark Warren. It was truly entertaining jazz to kick off another truly great evening.