Just came across this site tonight! Looks like the best site I've seen concerning the history of TWA. Check this site out! AWESOME!
http://www.twahistory.com/2006/10/
There's a FANTASTIC 727 landing video under the Jan 2008 blog...Awesome stuff!
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Just came across this site tonight! Looks like the best site I've seen concerning the history of TWA. Check this site out! AWESOME!
http://www.twahistory.com/2006/10/
There's a FANTASTIC 727 landing video under the Jan 2008 blog...Awesome stuff!
damn, stuff like that makes me wish i was born 20 years earlier!
Wow, that 727 landing video was awesome!
Great sight Tommy, thanks for posting it. I really enjoyed the Peter Sellers commercial and the 1960 coke commercial, great stuff and I look forward to exploring more of it when I have more time.
LGA777
I've had the pleasure of meeting Capt. Ed Frankum, TWA Chief Pilot in the late 70's.Quote:
damn, stuff like that makes me wish i was born 20 years earlier!
He's an absolutely fascinating man to talk to and a virtual encycopedia of TWA facts (as he was with the company for over 40 years)
I met him because I was wearing a T-shirt with a drawing of a TWA Connie on it and he wanted to know where I got a T-shirt with "his favorite" airplane on it.
He told me stories of how when he was a young co-pilot, he got the calls in the middle of the night to co-pilot endless touch and go flights of the Constellation at LAX with Howard Hughes.
I was invited into his basement "Office" that is anyone on this forums dream. Plaques, models, citations, pictures. He was the chief pilot who flew Pope John Paul II on his return to Rome in the early 80's.
I could spend hours listening to his stories, and as he saw that I was an aviation "nut", he offered me several gifts of his "JUNK" The one I cherish most is a slightly beaten 747 model from his office. (I was given the choice of choosing one from and unbelievable assortment including a C-5A or Lockheed Jestar, both in TWA colors. I have a number of books and even a coin that was blessed and given to him by the Pope on that flight.
Unfortunately the "Captain" was in a car accident two summers ago and has'nt fully recovered from a stroke early last year.
I truly cherish all the conversations I had with this man and wish him well in his health.
Just found a couple of fun TWA videos some of you might enjoy !
T0iJ_cvu ... re=related
rRUJTheY ... re=related
cEYMXk4- ... re=related
Enjoy
LGA777
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHNA57
James Edward Frankum
James Edward Frankum, 87, former TWA Chief Pilot and Executive Vice President of Flight Operations, died of natural causes on March 2, 2008 at St. Francis Hospital in Manhasset, New York.
Frankum, a 50-year resident of Manhasset, was born in Knox County, Indiana on Feb. 25, 1921. The son of a trucker, Ed Frankum was an eight-letter athlete, and captain of his football, basketball, baseball and track teams his senior year at Lincoln High School in Vincennes, Indiana. It was at this time that he met Madalene Tharp, who would become his lifelong partner and wife.
Frankum's big break came at the age of 18 when he won a local academic competition offering a grand prize of free flying lessons. This would set a course for an illustrious career in the burgeoning airline industry.
Prior to joining TWA in 1942 as a co-pilot, Frankum served as a flight instructor in Mansfield, Ohio, training Air Force pilot instructors. During the war years, TWA was commissioned by the U.S. Air Transport Command, where Frankum served as a pilot.
After the war, at the age of 25, he was domiciled in Cairo, Egypt, where he piloted DC-4's throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Upon returning to the U.S. in 1950, Captain Frankum was at the center of numerous company milestones, including commanding the Constellation, TWA's first transcontinental aircraft, recently featured in the movie, The Aviator.
In 1959 he commanded TWA's first Boeing 707 to cross the Pacific. This signaled the inauguration of the company's round-the-world service. He achieved this as the youngest TWA pilot to command its first commercial jetliner.
Frankum's reputation as a talented pilot and tenacious union negotiator caught the attention of corporate management to which he was soon lured. He rose quickly through the corporate ranks, ultimately becoming Executive Vice President of Flight Operations, where he managed over 7,000 employees: pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and ground personnel.
Frankum never lost his passion for flying, though, and despite his executive responsibilities, he always maintained his pilot status.
In early February 1970, he took delivery of TWA's first Boeing 747 and test flew the world's largest commercial aircraft around the world. It was received by over 100,000 onlookers on its visit to nine European cities. The historic event was a 10,000-mile proving flight. Its flawless operating performance earned TWA FAA certification for transatlantic service.
On Feb. 25, 1970, Captain Frankum celebrated his 49th birthday by commanding the first 747 commercial flight ever to operate in the United States. After this historic Los Angeles to New York flight, he was presented the Key to New York City by Mayor John Lindsay.
In the years that followed, TWA's first and only Executive/Chief Pilot commanded the 747's that transported Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II to and from the United States. He safely negotiated to the ground, an armed hijacker with a plane full of passengers, and commanded the company's inaugural Lockheed 1011 flight...just a few more of the achievements that highlighted his amazing career and life's experience.
After 42 years of service, Ed Frankum retired to enjoy his second passion, playing golf.
We might get a bit of this history back when JBU opens in T5, I hope they leave some of the interior untouched. I remember that place vividly, especially flying TWA