Growing up on a farm, Eugene Engledow learned a lot about hard work and becoming a self-made man. It was here too, though, that he discovered his passion: He wanted to fly and work on planes.
“(As a child) if I’d see an airplane fly over and it landed, I’d run out to see it,” he said. “I wanted to fly, but I didn’t ever intend to be a pilot. But I had some good jobs and contracts, and I got to do it.”
Engledow has been flying planes of all kinds since he was 23 years old, and he turned 99 last year. More than 76 years after he started, his passion for aircrafts and flying hasn’t waned.
From a young age, Engledow discovered he had a talent as a mechanic, and worked on tractors, Model T’s and Model A’s (two of the earliest automobiles) to contribute to the family farm. His dream was not really supported by his family — after all, in 1932 modern flight technology was less than 30 years old — but he was bound and determined, he said.
“I wanted to be a pilot when I was still at home and my dad said ‘Don’t ever expect any help from me; those things are dangerous.’ The minute I got to California I started flying.”
At 21 years old, armed only with a high school education, Engledow got his first job at a Ford garage in 1934 and made $38 a month — a step up from the average income of $1 per day during the Great Depression. Two years later, Engledow met Grace Slagle, the woman that would become his wife, and with just $100 to their name the two moved to California to pursue a new life together.
After finding a job at Strathearn Ford Motors, the young man fulfilled his oldest dream and took his first flying lesson. He flew a 38HP Aeronca, a two-cylinder plane, for 35 minutes. The lesson cost $6.
Meanwhile, Engledow was promoted from mechanic to foreman at Ford, and in 1940, he was offered a position as an aeronautics mechanic at Cal-Aero, an independent flying school where Army Air Cadets were trained during World War II. He said that he felt compelled to continue helping out his former employer, so for six months, he worked eight-hour shifts at both jobs.
Engledow was working at Cal-Aero when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, and in 1942 he was hired as a foreman of air repair at Gardner Field AFB, and he was able to live his dream of working on all sorts of military planes, and flying in them nearly every day.
“I was not a fighter pilot but I rode in them, and I flew all the primary and basic trainers, but mine was all in maintenance with Doolittle’s airplane,” he explained. “I got to fly with the test pilots to make sure everything was as it should be.”
Engledow is referencing Lt. Col. James A. Doolittle of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders. Doolittle, who was a pilot and officer in the Air Force, led the renowned air assault on Tokyo on April 18, 1942. Later, Engledow was delighted when the famous pilot thanked him for his service by autographing his pilot license.
After that, Engledow worked at several different military aircraft companies, and was offered many positions. When he was presented with the opportunity to work on space crafts, he leapt at the opportunity. From 1957 to 1968, he worked on highly classified projects at Rocketdyne, a division of the Boeing Company.
“I helped to build several types of rocket engines like the Atlas, the Thor and the Jupiter, and lots of small drone engines and launchers,” he said.
Engledow has been awarded several times for his more than 70 years of service, receiving the Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” and Charles Taylor “Master Mechanic” awards, which are only given to pilots and mechanics that have been at it for more than 50 years. He retired in 1975. However, he is still receiving accolades for his role in American aeronautics.
“The boys at home have it planned that on my birthday, I’ll be flying over my hometown in formation with some local pilots in town and my flight instructor. Last year on my birthday, I flew in formation with me leading, and the mayor proclaimed October 7 Gene Engledow Day in Bolivar, Missouri.”
In his lifetime, Engledow has owned more than 70 planes. Today, Engledow spends his time buying, fixing, trading and selling planes and other motor vehicles.
“I try to fly enough to stay current, a couple times a month,” he said. “It’s all I do now. I stay active. I work on something all the time, whether it’s trading, buying and selling planes. … (The mayor is) actually a heart surgeon and he put two stints in me last May. He told me I shouldn’t be flying much, but I just keep on going.”
Story and Photos: http://www.themonitor.com
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