prev. a flight instructor, charter and barnstorming pilot prev exp. 786 hrs, mostly on Lockheed 10a Bill worked for the Stanley Company as a shipping clerk from 1935 to '36, then was a general electrical contractor ('house and motor wiring - small repairs') until he became a flight instructor at his local airport (Sunset Airport, Chambersburg PA)
He had a one-year contract with the ATA, which they wanted to extend - his CO wrote: "First Officers Fitzgerald, Elliott and Hoover. All three excellent pilots and are some of the best types of Americans that I have seen over here. I think everything possible should be done to get these pilots to renew their contracts." Bill replied that he had decided to return to the US "after February 16th [1942] as soon as the details of my transportation can be arranged", but sadly before this happened he died in an accident.
d. 8 Feb 1942 (Died in ATA Service) - Anson W1793 crashed into the side of a hill in bad visibility 3 miles N of Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland. The accident committee concluded that he flew into snow-covered ground "in conditions which would cause confusion between ground and cloud". He and Earl Renicker (q.v.) were buried at Altrincham Bowden and Hale Cemetery, Cheshire, near Hubert Dixon (q.v.)
He was "an exceptionally careful and steady pilot and his general behaviour was excellent." His parents Gernard and Louise wrote "He studied hard and to be a good pilot was his whole ambition. Sorry as we are that he had to give his life so soon in this his chosen occupation, we are proud that he was a member of your organisation."
with thanks to Barbara Grayson Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file): |
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via George Cogswell
