I recall...     siting out by the sheet metal shop, eating my lunch watching Air Force B-52’s making touch and go landings on the runways.

I recall...     going to work one day through Westmorland on the back road around the airport. A VW Beetle right in front of me hit a slippery spot and rolled over. I stopped and helped the guy roll the car back upright. He was unharmed. He started it right off and drove off. That impressed me!

I recall...     quite a few Convairs skidding off the runway in Utica and getting stuck in the snow.

I recall...     “Chooch”, a line mechanic, running up and down the snowbanks as he chased a plane going to the terminal. Usually because he forgot to put the aircraft logs in the cockpit!

I recall...     Wally Nark used to be the manager of all the inspectors. Then he resigned from his management job to be just a regular aircraft inspector. He used to come up with some stories about how the people in management are backstabbing bastards who would do anything to keep their job or get a promotion. He used to tell stories of bosses and their secretaries having sexual parties and how jealous the bosses would get if some guy started talking to his secretary. Wally was very susceptible to rumors. He would start a conversation with, “What's the latest?” or “What have you heard?” The mechanics soon started making up outlandish rumors and telling them to Wally. He would believe everything he heard! Wall also had a speech impediment. He lisped a little. Naturally all the mechanics got on that. He also had a hearing problem so the guys would make believe they were talking and Wally would start turning up the volume. Those mechanics at Mohawk had no mercy!

I recall...     that Mohawk issued hard hats to all the mechanics. I think this was a result of me and some of the other guys injuring our heads. The hats were white and would always be falling off. A lot of guys wouldn't wear them. I always wore mine. I didn't need any more stitches in my head!

I recall...     that the mechanics uniforms were changed from coveralls to two piece pants and shirt – blue color. I liked the coveralls better!

I recall...     Bill Kopie - Bill was a mechanic in the Check Crew. He was hired at Mohawk while he was working for Pan American Airlines in Miami. Ralph Rhinehart also worked at PanAm and was hired at the same time. Bill and I had a common love of airplanes, especially WWII era airplanes. Bill was in the US Army Airforces during the war. He was an armorer who took care of the guns of the B-24 bombers in Italy. He eventually flew as a gunner on the big bomber too. I used to eat lunch outside with Bill and Dick Burke and Ron Knasick during the summer months so we could watch the planes shoot landings and take-offs.

I recall...     Larry Peck. Larry Peck was a stock clerk who became our local union chairman. When he negotiated a new contract, he had it read that the last place anyone could bump was the stockroom. Talk about taking care of yourself!

I recall...     “Chief” Phil Graziano. Chief was a sheet metal man who was retired from the Navy. I used to talk with him about his Navy days. He told me he was originally a gunner's mate on a battleship but after Pearl Harbor they needed aviation people so bad that they took the guys with other ratings and trained them in aviation skills. He became an aviation tinpecker. Chief was a scrounger. During lunch and breaks he used to wander around the hangar and the ramps to see if he could find anything in the junk piles that was worth keeping. I liked him!

I recall...     Bill Scheri and John Peterpaul. Bill was a mechanic in Engine Buildup and Peterpaul was a sheet metal mechanic. Both of these guys went right up the ladder in the IAM ranks. They both ended up in Washington DC as Assistant General Chairman. They seemed like okay guys to me.

I recall...     the Gold Chip Service. A new head of operations and maintenance, a retired US Navy captain named Capt. Kelly, was hired because of his Washington DC contacts. He started giving gold Mohawk Airlines medallions. They were good for a drink on the plane. They were about 2 inches in diameter and had an image of 3 Mohawk employees on one side. They were given out if a plane was late or cancelled. A lot of Mohawk people got one as a memento. I still have mine!

I recall...     that once or twice a year Mohawk would sell off unclaimed items which were left on board airplanes. I remember buying a raincoat and a sport coat real cheap. The money raised went into Mohawk employee's benefit fund.

I recall...     the company would have a Christmas party for all the employees in the Exo building. There would be a Santa Claus with presents for the kids. There were refreshments for everyone. It was pretty nice! Mike Mihalczo, an electrician used to be the Santa Claus.

I recall...     the union used to have a Christmas party each year in a church hall. I don't remember the name of the church but I recall it was on a hill and it was a very slippery to walk from your car to the church. I remember it was snowing with piles of snow all around. We enjoyed the party!

I recall...     one time I was overpaid $150.00 in my paycheck. I took the check to my foreman, Bob Kingsbury in the Accessory Shop, and he took the check back to payroll. When he returned he gave the check back telling me that payroll said that the amount was correct. Like a fool I started arguing that they were wrong. I argued so vehemently that he took the check back and made payroll write me another one minus the $150.00. Later on, as I thought about it, I realized how stupid I was. I made up my mind that if any future paychecks were overpaid I wouldn't bitch about it. If a paycheck were underpaid, then I would complain!

I recall...     the blizzard of 1966. For three days I didn't go to work! I didn't get paid for those days because I was honest and called in telling the foreman that I was snowed in and couldn't get to work. After the blizzard ended I got to work and found out that the guys who called in sick got paid for their days off! So I learned a valuable lesson. Anytime I couldn't or wouldn't go to work, I would call in sick. And I did exactly that until the day I retired.

I recall...     the sick leave policy of Mohawk. If you were off three days you had to bring a doctor's slip. If you were sick for tow days in conjunction with a holiday or regular days off you had to bring in a doctor's slip. Whenever you called in sick, even for one day, you had to report to Miss Miodunka, the company nurse. She had a little room in the corridor between the Line and Overhaul hangars. She would give you a little lecture on taking care of yourself and give you a slip to go back to work.

I recall...     Dr. Pender, the Mohawk company doctor. He used to be at Exo every Thursday and if any employee had a problem you could go see him and he would give some advice and a prescription free of charge. It was a good deal and I went to him two or three times. If you needed some follow up medical work, he would see you at his Utica office, but then you had to pay for his services. I never went to his office. Dr. Pender’s primary job as Mohawk's doctor was to give physicals for the executives and shots if your were going out of the country on business.

I recall...     the pass policy of Mohawk Airlines. When I first started in 1960, you had to pay $1.00 one way and $2.00 round trip. That was changed a few years later to $2.00 one way and $4.00 round trip. You had to buy the tickets ahead of time from the ticket counter. When you went to get on a flight, the ticket people would make you wait until all the paying passengers were taken care of. Then they would take your name and call you by seniority after all the passengers boarded. Sometimes they would forget that pass riders (non-revs) were waiting to be called and the plane would leave with empty seats! So I learned to hang around the ticket counter and remind the counter people that I was still waiting. Some didn't like to be reminded but then I didn't like to be left behind! All in all we usually got on.

I recall...     having an accident in the Hydraulic Shop. I was pressure testing an accumulator from a Martin 404. As I was filling it with hydro fluid, I was distracted and after it was full of fluid it over-pressurized and blew up with half of it bouncing off my right forearm and hitting the ceiling. It scared the hell out of me! I was very lucky because it was a round shape and just glanced off my arm only bruising it. I could have broken my arm or been hit in the head. I was a lot more careful after that!

I recall...     the progress reports that Mohawk had the foreman make out on every mechanic. Once a year the foreman would call you into the office and give you a progress report. This was a form that rated you on your work performance for the year. You were rated: excellent, above average, average, below average or poor on several categories like: job ability, attitude, absenteeism, tardiness, etc. The foreman would ask us to sign the form at the bottom. We refused to sign them because the union told us not to. The reason for that was that if you signed that meant that you agreed with your foreman's evaluation. I found that these progress reports varied with the foreman. In the Accessory Shop, Batch always gave “above average” ratings. I thought that was pretty good, but when I got bumped into Check Crew the foreman, Mert Smith, gave me “excellent” on every category! So I realized that it was a personal thing with each different foreman.

I recall...     being a substitute bowler for Steve Mealie in the Instrument Shop. He belonged to a bowling league in Rome, NY and I would go as his sub. It didn't cost me anything to bowl. I would even take the kids with me sometimes. The reason I wasn't a regular member of the team was that it was about a 30-minute ride, too far to be committed each week.

I recall...     in the wintertime, if the hangar doors were left open, the waterlines would freeze and sometimes crack. This was common on the Line hangar side because they had to move so many planes in and out especially early in the morning when they had to be up at the gate. Many a winter morning I would punch in and find water spraying in the Line hangar from the frozen, broken pipes. What a mess!

I recall...     Fred Buttenschon. Fred was a stock clerk who could spread more rumors at Mohawk than anyone else in the whole system. Some rumors would spread like wildfire through the whole Utica base in a very short time. I think Fred started out by just telling the latest news at Mohawk but was having so much fun doing that, he just started embellishing the stories and finally creating stories to fit all occasions. Whenever a new rumor came out everybody would ask if Fred said it. If he did, it was taken with a grain of salt. It was really funny to hear some of these rumors. It was funnier yet if they turned out to be true. Fed Buttenschon is one of the Mohawk legends. He even went on to become an Allegheny, USAir legend too! More power to him!
 

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