Top Stick
With Some Help From A Guardian Angel
by
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Why write a book? Having written many documents and staff studies as an officer in the Air Force, and as an aircraft accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board and all kinds of correspondence while with the Federal Aviation Administration, one would think I would have had enough. When I asked my three children, Marla, Jim and Kerstin, if I had ever told them of the Great Depression and the Big War they learned at an early age to make a hasty retreat. Perhaps someday they will enjoy reading about old Dad’s experiences .I started an outline many years ago when I opened an old foot locker and found a treasure chest of material. My mother had saved every letter, newspaper clipping and picture she had received through the years of my military service. I had also saved a huge box of military flight and personnel orders, and like all Air Force pilots, I had my Form V, a record of all my flights from training days to retirement. I had all the material for a book! In reviewing this treasure trove, nostalgia ran rampant. I quickly realized that nostalgia begets memories, which in turn expands and confirms more and new memories. However, let’s cut to the chase: I had a rather unusual and near fantastic military career. It was not because of heroics on my part, or because of unusual bravery or courage. It was most unusual simply because some great opportunities came down the pike and presented themselves to me. Serendipity, some call it. Being a most inquisitive type, and having a bent for challenge, I would invariably go for it- whenever the opportunity presented itself. . One might say that the title chosen for the book is immodest, too bravado or vain-glorious. It really is not. I was awarded the title, but I must admit that it was my lucky day, or karma descended on me when I was assigned the very finest advanced flying instructor. We were always on the same frequency, and our personalities meshed; thus the award. And that’s the way things went, by and large, through the years. Everything kept coming up roses. My story is a period piece and told with the mindset of a young 21-25 year old pilot. It is factual and true to the best of my ability. As the Brits would say, "There’s no duff gen in the book; it’s all pukka gen!"(Good stuff) But I think that just maybe, Lindy, when flying the airmail between St Louis and Chicago, may have sprinkled just a dab of lucky dust on me as he flew over our farm in Lacon, Illinois.
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About the Book
A saga of a young American boy, reared in the U. S. heartland during the hard years of the 1930s. He was in his prime for entry into World War II, which just happened to coincide with his dream and vision of becoming an Army Air Force pilot. His goal of winning silver wings was fulfilled, but his longing to fly in the war as a fighter pilot faded, as his career assignment made an abrupt change of direction. He slowly learned that his assignment of "flights to everywhere" could be very interesting and rewarding. This is not a wide-ranging memoir, but a story with considerable distinction and information about the World War II period that may be new and surprising to many readers. Fasten your seat belts and delve into this fine story, told just the way it was, by this most lucky young man.
About the Author
Harold A Jacobs is a retired Air Force Lt Colonel whose entire career was in the field of aviation. Though trained as a single engine pilot in the AAF class of 43-K, he and his entire class were assigned to multi-engine aircraft upon graduation. He first served as an instrument flight instructor, then as a four engine C-54 transport pilot in Casablanca, French Morocco, Cairo, Egypt, Karachi, India, Paris, France, and Rhein-Main Air Base, Frankfurt, Germany. He then flew B-29s and B-50s on long range reconnaissance missions. He also served as a reconnaissance operations officer at Wing and Command Headquarter levels. In 1955 he was honored to serve on the original U.S. Air Force Academy staff at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. After 21 years active duty with the USAF he retired from the Air Force and then worked two years as an aircraft accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. The next 15 years were spent as an FAA Air Carrier Operations Inspector (check-pilot) in the B-707s and DC-10s at Northwest Orient Airlines, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His flying experiences were varied and global as he amassed over 15,000 hours of flying time. He and his wife, Madeline, married 51 years, reside in San Diego, California.