PHOTOS COURTESY ALOHA AIRLINES
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Aloha’s spirit followed young traveler in pursuit of long career in aviation
In 1957 my dad took the family to Kauai for a few days. I was 6 and DC-3s were flying then. I remember bugging my dad ... I wanted to fly the planes with the "blue tail"! Hurricane Nina struck while we were in Kauai.
It wasn't until 1963 that we flew again -- this time to Hilo. I was now 12. Aloha was advertising the jet-prop Viscounts on TV, and Dad kept saying, "That's what we'll be flying on." The day finally came -- July 10th. Flight 544 was delayed. Scheduled out at 1:35 p.m. ... We finally boarded around 2:45. The Viscount broke. ... We flew on an F-27. It had a blue tail. Loved the sound of the Rolls-Royce Dart engines!
My tonsils came out after the trip. Get-well gift from my mom ... a Revell model of the F-27! The assembly instructions had Aloha's address for free decals! Aloha sold models of the Viscount at their ticket office on Bishop Street ... also gave out decals for it! I began collecting schedules and still have them.
Befriended an Aloha pilot over the phone seeking details about the Viscounts. His name: Jim Mooney. He sent me a postcard of Aloha's Viscount ... and invited me out to tour the operation. My dad dropped me off at the "Red-Brick Building." Jim showed me around. Took me in the cockpit of a DC-3. Showed me how the ADF worked. 1963 marked the year I knew I'd become a pilot. Jim and I stayed in touch for several years.
February 1964, Dad took my brother and me to Maui for a one-day trip. This time we flew on a Viscount-N7416 ... then Aloha's newest! My favorite airplane to this day!
1965: Freshman year at Saint Louis High ... project for Economics Geography class ... my assignment, a report on airlines. Aloha gave me the grand tour as I took 8 mm movies. The "multimedia" presentation scored me a 100-plus-10 from Brother Esper.
I soloed in 1969, and while working on my instrument rating in 1971 with another Aloha captain, Bill George, I crossed paths again with Jim Mooney. And I still fly today as a corporate pilot and flight instructor.
Too many memories to list.
Over the last many years I've had continuing business dealings with Aloha ... all very ethical. The people are the airline ... and they were passionate about it. They care about their community ... and gave back over the years.
Strangers, ambassadors, mentors, colleagues and friends ... Aloha is family.
Mahalo and aloha oe!
Ray Ferreira Jr.
PHOTOS COURTESY ALOHA AIRLINES
John F. Kennedy, then a senator, was among many celebrities -- John Wayne, Jane Russell, Ester Williams and Shirley Temple Black, to name a few -- to fly Aloha. He did so in the 1950s.
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PHOTOS COURTESY ALOHA AIRLINES
Flight attendants poses in a jet-engine intake. An Aloha Airlines jets soars into the sky.
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