Most pilots can tell you when they caught “the flight bug” - that distinct moment when they fell in love with flight and knew they’d never be content on the ground. For Capt. William F. Allen (Northwest, Retired), the flight bug started as something quite different: a case of tonsillitis.
It was 1948, and Capt. Allen was a child living with his parents on the Armed Forces Radio station, Berlin, half a block from the Brandenburg Gate. His father commanded an Infantry Mortar Company over Utah Beach during the Normandy Invasion, and then remained on active duty. Since both his parents were fluent in German, Capt. Allen’s family had been selected to be part of the post-war occupation force.
During the Russian blockade and resulting Berlin Airlift, Capt. Allen contracted tonsillitis and needed surgery in Frankfurt. He clearly remembers going with his parents to Templeholf, where the ramp was filled with aircraft and he watched a C-47 unload bags of coal. Upon boarding the plane it was discovered that none of the seatbelts were small enough for Allen. He was about to be deplaned when fate took a turn and changed his life forever…
Read the full story here.