May you all have a safe, filling and HAPPY Thanksgiving!

Dick

I have received so many requests regarding my health I felt required to write this. 10 years ago I had back surgery and 3 week after the surgery I fell on my kester and cracked the L5 vertebrae. Since then I have had lots of pain and have tried EVERY therapy available. The pain gets up to the 9 to 10 level every evening (requiring 3 glasses of gin!)<G> I have recently had the newest and greatest therapy – stem cell injection. It takes anywhere from 4 to 8 months to do it’s thing. Hopefully cure the pain allowing me to get off opiods! I still go to the gym every day and now work out in the pool.

Thanks for thinking of me. The Wallybird

I RECEIVED THIS FROM PAT McNAMEE – – AND JOE POOLEY SUFFERED A MASSIVE HEART ATTACK [at home] LAST NIGHT.  ONE OUTSTANDING GUY – – THERE WILL BE MORE COMING AS SOON AS PAT gets all the info….I WILL FORWARD.MAC SAID TO FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ON TO OTHER WESTERN FOLKSPLEASE, NO PHONE CALLS AT THIS TIME…sf

Stan Franks

Military veteran, WA/DL Capt. Charles Joseph ‘Joe’ Yaeger Jr.

November 13, 1939 ~ November 3, 2019

Notification with the passing of retired Western/Delta pilot Captain Charles Joseph ‘Joe’ Yaeger Jr., age 79.  Captain Yaeger joined Western Airlines 10-30-1967 and retired with Delta Air Lines. Captain Yaeger is survived by his wife Beverly Taylor, their children and their grandchildren. 

Obituary information may be viewed online at

A memorial service for Joe will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Camarillo on December 4, 2019.

For those wishing to send a personal note, condolences may be sent to the family at

233 Camino La Madera , Camarillo CA 93010-1748.

Thank you,

~ Carol for the PCN 

Obituary………… Charles Joseph “Joe” Yaeger, Jr.

Camarillo – Charles Joseph Yaeger Jr, 79, passed away peacefully at his home in Camarillo on November 3, 2019 surrounded by family and friends. Joe was born in Chicago on November 13, 1939, the only son of Brooksie and Charles Joseph Yaeger, Sr. He graduated high school in Chicago before attending the University of Missouri on a Navy ROTC scholarship where he earned his BA in Business in June 1961.

Immediately after graduation he married Ruth Ann Moore of Mexico, Mo on June 10, 1961. They remained happily married for 42 years until her passing in April of 2003. Joe and Ruth Ann had 3 children; Chuck, Julie and Mark.

Joe was sworn into the USN in 1961 and went directly to flight training at Pensacola, Florida. He was stationed at North Island, San Diego before moving to Whidbey Island, Washington flying P2V Neptune’s for sub patrol. He had 2 deployments to Kodiak, Alaska and Iwakuni, Japan. His last station was at Pt Mugu, California, where he served until 1966 when he left the Navy. Joe then entered civilian life as a commercial airline pilot for both Western Airlines and later Delta Airlines. He retired in 2005 after enjoying more than 40 years of flying for both the Navy and the airlines.

After the Navy, Joe and his family moved to Camarillo where they have been residents since 1966. He was an active member of Trinity Presbyterian Church for the past 53 years, serving both as a Deacon and Elder. He was involved with the Christmas Parade for 15 years, serving as parade chairman for six of them. He was active with the Rio Mesa High School Booster Club for many years serving as President in 1980. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District for 12 years, 3 of them as the President. He chaired the Ventura County Golf Club from 1989 to 2011. For 6 years, he was a docent at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. For all his community activism Joe was recognized as Camarillo Man of the Year in 1979 and inducted as a Camarillo Don in 2012.

Joe had a variety of interests and hobbies. He was an avid reader, he loved traveling, playing golf, and spending time building and improving his home and church. Most importantly, Joe loved his family and friends. He cherished spending time playing bridge, partying, and traveling with his many lifelong friends. He spent as much time as possible with his kids and grandkids. He will always be remembered for his loving, generous, and kind spirit.

Joe leaves behind his current wife Beverly Taylor of 11 years. He also is survived by his 3 loving children Chuck (Liz) Yaeger of Dallas, Julie (Tim) Atencio of Las Vegas, Mark (Amy) Yaeger of Dallas, and six grandchildren Charlie, Will, Matt, Abby, Sam and Eric; Bev’s children Matt and Tim Ross and their families.

A memorial service for Joe will be held at the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Camarillo on December 4, 2019 at 4pm. Memorial gifts in Joe’s name can be made to the Trinity Presbyterian Church.

May 13, 1934 ~ November 1, 2019

Notification with the passing of retired Western/Delta pilot Captain Ralph E. Fernandez, age 85.  Captain Fernandez joined Western Airlines 08-29-1966 and retired with Delta Air Lines in 1994, based 030/SLC.  He is survived by his daughter Tiffany, his grandchildren plus many other extended family members and close friends.

Obituary information may be viewed online at

Service arrangements are not known….should we hear more we will pass along those updates.

Thank you,

~ Carol for the PCN 

Obituary……….Captain Ralph, Uncle Ralph, Ralphie, Rotten Ralph, Supersonic Taco (Air Force), Little Rabbit, Grandpa and Dad, Ralph was called so many things but one thing is for certain, if you had the pleasure of meeting him, you never forgot him and if he called you a friend, you were sure to know what a great gift that was.

Born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1934 and 1 of 8 children, Ralph was the first in his family to finish high school and the only one to go to college. His father had immigrated from the town of Comillas, Spain in the early 1900’s.

Ralph lived a life only one could dream of. He loved baseball as a child and was the catcher on many teams. As a graduate and student body president of Bishop Byrne High School in Port Arthur, Texas he entered the ROTC and went on to graduate from Louisiana University at Lafayette with a degree in Electrical Engineering. From there he entered the Air Force and flew many airplanes, but the F-104 Starfighter and C-130 were his favorites. He was stationed out of George AFB and traveled the world, finishing his tour with 6 months flying fighters in Vietnam at the beginning of the war. His love for flying didn’t end there as he was hired by Western Airlines right after Vietnam. After Western merged with Delta Airlines, he continued on and flew with the airlines for over 35 years as a Captain and then as a Check Pilot. After retiring in 1994, he moved to Mesa, Arizona and began building spec homes on golf courses and eventually retired from that and lived half the year in Yuma, Arizona on his “senior trip” and the other half on the Mesa in Santa Barbara with his only daughter.

With a personality larger than life, he embraced life and said to wake up was always a good day. He enjoyed watching football and never missed his Saturday/Sunday games or the daily Sudoku or crossword puzzle in the newspaper.

Ralph was a local fixture at Mesa Cafe´ and made many friends over the course of his 15 years here in Santa Barbara. Everyone that got to know him, knew what a special man he truly was with a heart of gold, a sense of humor even too raw at times for some and a person you could always count on for great life stories and advice if you needed it. He adored and cherished his 2 “grandbabies” as he called them and in recent years counted on golf season to arrive at Santa Barbara High School to read all about his granddaughter, Melia (Haller).

“Dad, I have looked up to you all my life. Sharing a B-day with you was no coincidence as you have been my best friend for life, my rock, my ear and my biggest fan. Anyone that was lucky enough to know you knew what an incredible human you were, fun, stubborn, fiercely smart (thank you for passing that to your grandkids) and most extremely giving and kind man on Earth… and funnier than anyone I know. Your legacy lives on with your grandchildren. I hope we all continue to make you proud. We have all lost a part of ourselves with your passing. We will miss you beyond belief but find comfort knowing that you are with your best friend and sister “Mimi” in heaven and many of your dearest friends. God speed and I sure hope you are having a scotch and water with all your buddies right now.”

Ralph passed away peacefully at Serenity House on November 1, 2019 at the age of 85. Ralph is preceded in death by his parents, all of his siblings and most recently his closest sister, Mercedes “Mimi” Dutton whom he loved as his best friend his whole life up until her death in June 2019. He leaves behind his only daughter Tiffany (Haller), son-in-law Kurt, grandchildren Melia and Garrett, niece Gaye Lynn, nephew Lloyd and great niece, Katie Lynn as well as more friends in this world he called family than you could count.

Published in The Santa Barbara News-Press Online Edition from Nov. 17 to Nov. 21, 2019.

Takes the fun out of an emergency landing!!!

Thanks to Hal Cody for this link. When go-around power was applied with #4 at idle, #3 was slow to spool so the real VMC for the 2engine go-around was approzimately 15 knts higher at 145 while Hank was flying the published VMC of around 131. The hit the ground so vertical that the total parts package we found was 300 by 350 feet
Dick
https://youtu.be/y1scQPdrpVk

A great friend to many and respected colleague, Captain M.G. ‘Rick’ Wilson passed peacefully Aug 30th just a week before his 80th birthday. Though he perhaps he waited too long for medical attention for a recent illness, he did live an extremely active and enjoyable life to the end. He was always proud to be a Western Pilot – and a darn good one he was. No obituary as yet but a celebration in Maui is planned for the weekend of Sept 14th. Details will be posted when finalized.

Good afternoon Dick,

I have a hangar next to the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center.  I have been helping them with uniform displays. To date we have a Delta Captain uniform, Northwest Captain and a Continental Captain’s uniform.  We are missing a hat and emblem for a Western Co-pilot.  I  was wondering if anyone out there might be interested in donating the hat for the museums display.

Thank you,

Murdo Cameron

mcameron@roadrunner.com

208/640-1620

mcameron@roadrunner.com

Hi,  Barry’s wife, Barbara, just sent me this.  He passed away a week ago, and services will be August 12th.  The obituary will be in this Sunday’s Seattle Times.  Please pass this on.  Thanks,  Gary
From: Barbara Crider <brcrider2272@comcast.net>
Subject: Sad news
Date: August 2, 2019 at 3:49:09 PM PDT
To: Gary & Rose Gebo <garyandrose@comcast.net>

Barb