A bunch of retired airline pilots, many of whom learned to fly as teens at Montgomery Air Field, are set on preserving a part of San Diego's aviation history that not many know.
The pilots were part of a group called Explorer Post 1011, sponsored by Pacific Southwest Airlines. Some served in the Air Force in combat zones from Korea to Desert Storm. Most became commercial airline pilots. What ties them together are memories going back half a century or more to their first flight lessons and later their flights with Pacific Southwest Airlines, United and American Airlines.
It is the history of Paciific Southwest Airlines and its link to Explorer Post 1011 that the group wants to revive.
The airline, known as PSA, was based in San Diego and flew primarily within California from 1949 to 1988. It grew out of Friedkin Aeronautics, a flight school founded by Kenny Friedkin in San Diego to train service members returning from World War II.
In 1949, Friedkin leased a Douglas DC-3 and started running weekly flights from San Diego to Oakland, with a stop in Burbank.
Along with being low cost, PSA was billed as, "The World's Friendliest Airline." A smile was painted on the front of their aircraft.
U.S. Air Force veteran Gregory Acuna, a retired American Airlines captain whose father was a PSA captain, is spearheading the effort to bring to life the history of the airline and its significance to the San Diego community. He and fellow retired American Airlines pilot Pat McCollam, both members of Post 1011, are working on a book, "Catching That Smile."
"We want to share a story deeply rooted in San Diego's aviation history, marked by resilience, community involvement, charity and a legacy that shaped not just my life, but that of many others within the Pacific Southwest Airlines family," Acuna said. "This narrative spans decades, intertwining personal journeys with the broader evolution of aviation in San Diego, a city where, once upon a time, careers seemingly flowed from either government work or PSA."
Acuna, who has written four historical thrillers, hopes to parlay his fiction writing skills into a nonfiction book that captures the history of the airline. But he and McCollam can't start writing until they get the history down. They are trying to collect as many stories as they can from PSA pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, ticket agents, rampers and anyone who worked at the airline before it was acquired by US Air in 1988.
Acuna and fellow aviation buffs are holding a gathering at noon May 20 at Phil's BBQ in Santee to collect stories from folks who worked for Pacific Southwest Airlines. Emmy-Award winning radio and television personality "Shotgun Tom" Kelly aka Thomas Irwin, who did a lot of volunteer work for the community and worked several Flights of the Eagles, is slated to emcee the event.
"I want to make sure this rich history is not forgotten," Acuna, 66, said. "The idea is to capture the essence of PSA's impact and the indelible mark it left on the aviation industry and those it touched."
The book will probably end up being as much a San Diego history as a tribute to San Diegans, like Air Force veteran Tony Claessens, a retired PSA pilot, who had taught hundreds of teens in San Diego to fly.
McCollam was among the young aviation buffs whom Claessens took under his wing. Claessens took McCollam along on his Burbank to San Diego flight each week for "Pilot's Ground School."
"Wow, what an experience for a 16-year-old kid. What an incredible privilege to experience what most kids could only dream about," McCollam said.
It was Claessens, an Eagle Scout, who worked with Pacific Southwest Airlines to start Explorer Post 1011. The post got off the ground in the spring of 1973 as a Boy Scout affiliate program and initially operated out of Crownair at Montgomery Air Field, now known as San Diego's Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport.
Acuna, a member of Explorer Post 1011, was among the many teens who heard about the post and learned to fly from Claessens. For many young people, it was a chance to get a private pilot’s license for a fraction of the normal cost.
The idea for the post came about while Claessens was soaring in a glider with his son and an eagle flew alongside their plane.
"The eagle was looking down the wing of the glider at me," said Claessens, 89, who flew B-47 bombers during the Cold War and later flew Flying Tigers Lockheed super constellation aircraft bringing Marines to Southeast Asia.
It was a special moment in the flight lessons he enjoyed with his son. Claessens wanted other young people to have the same opportunity to learn to fly as his son, so he approached the president of Pacific Southwest Airlines, J. Floyd Andrews, one of the airline's founders, about starting an aviation program for youths.
"I probably wouldn't have been able to walk into his office with this idea, but he already knew me," Claessens said.
When Claessens was a PSA co-pilot, it was his job to handle the public address system on the airplane and talk with passengers. He went a bit further and invited children up to the cockpit for a tour and a lollipop. He carried a bag of lollipops in his briefcase on every flight. "It was in keeping with the family spirit of the airline," Claessens said.
Word got back to Andrews and he had called Claessens to his office. That was several months before Claessens came up with the idea for the post, so Andrews already knew Claessens' desire to teach kids about aviation.
Claessens named the post the Eagles after that encounter in the sky and 1011 after the new Lockeed L-1011 Tristar plane.
Claessens' impact as a flight instructor continues today. "A lot of people still are contacting my dad with questions, asking him for his opinion and advice on how to handle certain flight situations," said Claessens' daughter, Brigitte Pendleton.
"It is stories like Claessens' that we are trying to get from folks who worked for PSA," Acuna said. "PSA wasn't just an employer; it was a family, a network of support and camaraderie that extended beyond the workplace into every facet of our lives. There will never be another PSA."
"In honor of the PSA legacy and people like Capt. Tony Claessens, who played pivotal roles in our careers in aviation, we hope to preserve and celebrate these memories," Acuna said.
Over the years growing up as a kid in San Diego, Acuna heard PSA pilots tell their stories. So now Acuna felt it was time for him to do that.
"Someone has to write this history down; otherwise, it will be lost forever," Acuna said.
For more details about the gathering May 20 of PSA and Post 1011 alums along with alums from Posts 727 and 737 which were aimed at flight attendants and mechanics and to share your memories of working at PSA, email gmacuna57@gmail.com. Cost is whatever you order for lunch. Acuna, McCollam and "Shotgun Tom" Kelly will be among those at the event writing down the historical information that attendees provide.
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .
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