After the Alameda/Oakland office was slated 
for closure and the base was being moved to 
Warner Robbins -- I was offered a place there. 
Didn't think I could do that and instead 
took a job (seasonal) with Delta in SF. 
Got married in '75, worked for TIA 
(became Transamerica) for the Director of 
Training and kept the FAA happy by keeping 
600 records in shape and knowing what 
they wanted in their coffee. When the 
records "swat" team came in, we made 
out fine.  Made many good friends, 
some I'm still in touch with. 
 
In 1989, after the big earthquake I had a 
bad medical issue and separation 
(separation 1st, earthquake 2nd, 
diagnosis 3rd) -- overall an interesting 
and challenging year! Moved back east 
to be near my ailing Mom in 2000 and 
stayed until 2005. I've been in 
Arizona since summer of 2005.

I've just had a great conversation with Ed Chandler -- 
who I found out lives here in the area. So, I thought 
it would be a good idea to send this back to you and 
let the laughs commence. I'm hopefully going to meet 
Ed in between his Mason work for coffee and have a 
few more laughs. 
Best regards,
JoAnne

ONA/Alameda and North Field Oakland
I was so happy and at the same time, so sad as I 
looked over the website and thank you for your 
efforts to connect the old crews and ground people.
 
The pictures and memorials gave me a few hours of 
great memories of the crews and the many stories 
I can still tell from those times.
 
Peter Rowland, DC-9 Chief Pilot, was my working 
chief in the little satellite office first on 
Alameda Naval Air Station, then at North Field, 
Oakland, CA. I can recall the marines saluting 
me at NGZ as I drove to work. When we moved to 
the North Field, we were just a few buildings 
away from Saturn and TransAmerica. Pete was a 
working chief and later Jesse Williams became 
the Assistant Chief. The company operated 
DC-9 30 series QuickTrans contract from 
Alameda Navy to Indianapolis to Navy Norfolk. 

I can remember travelling home to the Tidewater 
area in Virginia for the weekend (when Pete was
in town) to visit my family. 
 
I handled crew records, interline passes for 
family members (remember the great flights 
on AirCal to Palm Springs), would look over 
grievances and call Richard Hockman to tell 
him whether they were legit or not, ha ha. 
And, obliged other crews from Saturn, World, 
and TIA (TransAmerica later) if they needed 
a deadhead seat. I remember when Wright 
Patterson came about and the baby 8s from 
Eastern were being overhauled. I'd get a 
call from Wilmington asking me to meet the 
plane for a subservice for United to Hawaii 
-- the plane was dry and, of course, I was 
the runner! We'd land, rent one room and 
head for the beach. The ops folks there 
were great. I can remember typing live 
with Wilmington on the Telex with (Maurice) 
Salomonsky (gone now), alerting me to the 
town of Cincinnati's crowning of the 
pork queen. 
 
From Dennis O'Connor calling collect, 
always announcing himself as "Colonel" 
or "Brigadier General" O'Brien, every call 
a different title -- they were all 
characters. When they set up the base in 
Macon, GA, I recall one of our guys, young 
F/O Bill Gregory, getting into a little 
trouble in a roadhouse. Of course, Pete 
could always fix any problems that came 
up, but kept a notebook that read 
"In case of my demise, please DESTROY."  
 
Brick Bradford calling in after a upgrade 
prof check, needing a few days off . . . 
had us in stitches. He announced that 
he was picking up some Johnny Walker and 
going home, after a rest, to his "bride" 
Mary. I also remember Starkloff coming into 
town, making sure we were working hard. 
And, every now and then we see Mr. Ferris! 
Who could ever forget those really good times.


I saw where Sy Weiner had passed away. I remember 
him contesting crew hours one time -- and Les 
Ferris asked me to investigate all the records 
and get back to him. I was such a kid -- and was 
a little intimidated over what I would find. 
Mr. Ferris made it clear he wanted it resolved 
quickly -- nothing like pressure. Well, Sy was 
owed the discrepancy and I sent a 3 page "why 
he should get it" letter to NY. When Mr. Ferris 
received it, he called me right away. 

In his restrained, calm approach, he announced 
himself, "JoAnne, this is Mr. Ferris" and then 
said he was calling about the pay discrepancy 
and that he had just received it. There was an 
unbearable pause and he thanked me for the good 
work, saying they would be cutting Sy a check 
that day and, would I be so kind as to call 
the good Captain and tell him "he won."  
 
I saw where Gene Kirschenbaum has also left us 
-- he was a character who forgot everything and 
was a little hard of hearing from flying the Hercs 
for so long (and the Electras). One night I got a 
call from Macon (the Warner Robbins domicile). 
It was about midnight. It was a call from the 
Macon Hilton (crew hotel) saying that they had 
Captain Kirschenbaum there and he was checking 
out, but had no money to pay for his stay, 
ha ha. He had forgotten his Captain's checkbook! 




Warner Robins January 1975



Captain Gene Kirschenbaum, January 1975



Gene Kirschenbaum and Bob Boettcher, 
Spring 1975. Taken at Patrick Air 
Force Base, FL



ONA Cargo July 1976

So I had to pledge my 1st child that the bill 
would be handled and off he went!! He was a great, 
sweet man and I'm sure so missed.
 
I've been so reminiscing about the group and have 
lots of memories . . . don't know if the law of 
limitations will cover some of them (Like flying 
left seat on the Electric from 22K to 2K with 
the runway in sight!). 
 
Overshooting with Dave Case and Bill Gregory 
coming into Indianapolis -- and those two crazies 
taking it nose down to make up for it. I'm sure 
they did it just to scare me, ha ha. Or flying 
so close to Rushmore that the stall warning light 
came on and I heard "pull up" way too many times! 



From Maggie Lloyd Zeibakīs photo collections
Dara Young, Bill and 
Jane Gregory 1976 
Christmas 

I've run into Dave and Vicki Case a couple of 
times over the years when I visited Alameda. 
And via the site, have truly enjoyed his 
Maverick . . . 
 
Or, coming into Indianapolis (which they all 
used to call "Indian NO Place") with class A 
on board, fire alarms sounding, and the CAB 
meeting us in the hot spot area of the field. 
There we waited on the ground for 8 hours with 
WALLY (a behemoth of a guy), the station 
manager, sleeping (hungover) on the long 
tables there, waiting to be reloaded after 
the false alarm. Oh my goodness.
 


Going in for a show at Navy Norfolk, waiting 
at the crew hotel with Captain Dave Lampard, 
our leader that day -- after the walk around, 
in his most British voice, announced that the 
plane was grounded, as it was "pissing oil" 
and he would not fly it. He's gone, but was a 
swarthy, clever, funny, Richard Burton type 
of man that really commanded everyone's 
attention. Those were the days of "braless" 
crusaders. Lampard took to calling all women, 
Tits McGurk! His writing was as entertaining 
as he was (minus the accent). We so enjoyed 
him.
 
To me, they were all gods -- steady, fearless, 
ex-mercenaries -- brave and complicated. 
 
And in the cockpit, they operated with 
professionalism and great confidence 
(not counting the nose down story earlier). 
I always looked forward to seeing what type 
of notes (after I found out about them) in 
the trim -- I so miss those days.

I wrote to David Bradford
about Brick and Mary Bradford 
and a few more thoughts.
 



Brick and the other guys were just gods 
to me. Brick was confident, the ultimate 
professional and could tell stories that 
would keep us all in stitches -- 
especially after performing proficiency 
and upgrade flights with the more junior 
guys. I can recall him telling us that 
he was done for the week and had to go 
home to his bride (Mary -- a name, she 
told me, he still calls her)! I used to 
go to their house for BBQs -- and am 
sure I met David at one time or the other. 
 
On a weekend, I was deadheading back to 
the east coast, where my family lived, 
and gave Brick a ride to Travis AFB. 
He taught me how to drive my 4-speed VW 
(my 2nd one that I bought from Jesse 
Williams -- thanks, Jesse -- I had that 
girl for 20 years) without using the 
clutch. 



Left - to- Right, 
The gentleman with the necktie is Captain 
Bill Rakowski, AirCal/American pilot, 
Ron Hart, Ron Wilson, Carl Von Doymi
and Tom Kennan from ONA at Jim Hamiltonīs
funeral - photo courtesy Captain 
Ras Nielsen 

He and Carl Von Doymi were racing formula 
Vs at the time and would slip those little 
cars into the belly for transport 
(I think no one will care about that now, 
ha ha). 
 
Years ago, I ran into Von Doymi. I was 
flying from Norfolk to San Francisco with 
a change in Nashville. As usual, there 
were thunderstorms and we were notified 
that we'd have to "sit" until the storm 
passed before proceeding safely on to SF. 

The flight attendant announced the name 
of our captain -- and I just knew there 
couldn't be another Captain Von Doymi 
anywhere on the planet. She led me to 
the cockpit so I could say hello. Carl 
did not recognize me at all -- and was 
talking to me like I was a 3rd person! 

When I told him -- CARL, IT'S ME. He did 
a double take and said, 
"Did you dye your hair?" 
By then, my hair had turned white/blonde. 
After a great little visit -- he kept the 
cocktails coming and came back and talked 
some more. Brick's son wrote to me and 
told me that he had raced with Carl 
in the old days (thanks, David).
 
Like I said -- these guys were gods to me 
-- smart, funny, needy, self reliant, 
always reading something -- never lost for 
words -- a family.




BUY IT HERE!
A Present from Peking
by ONA pilot 
David Lampard



Garden City, NY, Doubleday & Company,
Inc. 1965. ONAīs Lampard tells the 
story of an American aviator who gets 
entangled in the war between Chian
Kai-Shek's Nationalists and Mao's
Communists in 1940s China.  

Photo courtesy Maggie Zeibak
A Present from Peking by ONA pilot 
David Lampard - published 1965

MISS ONA JULY
A beloved colleague

ANNA-LIISA WALLIN RIP

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MISS ONA AUGUST


MAGGIE LLOYD ZEIBAK

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MISS ONA NOVEMBER

LILLEMOR OSTLUND GARSTEN
AND ROSEMARIE NEUBER

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MISS ONA DECEMBER

KARIN BAARDSEN EVENSEN

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ONA F/A SENIORITY 1966

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