[archy]

My chief instructor in Airframe and Powerplant mechanic's school was a fella named Austin Niblick, who most folks called Nib, who had held Braniff Airlines ID card number 3, hired on before they even took on any pilots. When he was starting out in aircraft maintenance himself, he got a start servicing aircraft used on government contract airmail routes.

There were photos of him with two people on his office wall. One was of him in his younger days, working on the broken aircraft of a tall lanky mail pilot named Charles Lindbergh. The other was of him with Fitz Fulton in front of the Braniff hanger where *Fat Albert,* the just-delivered bright Braniff orange first 747 to be put into commercial passenger service, sometimes known as *the great pumpkin* was parked. I imagine they took it up for a spin shortly afterward.

Pity there wasn't one of the three of them together.

-archy-/-

[Archangelsk]

I imagine they took it up for a spin shortly afterward.

I cannot imagine spinning a 74 under any conditions. :-)

[BenLurkin]

Wonderful story. Thank you.