You sold your former Piedmont pilots down the river, you must be proud. But you got yours, doh, retirement, etc, You must be proud attacking your former pia pilots on this board daily.
Boeing Boy post on flyer talk below when he retired a few years ago.
""Thanks for the well wishes, gang. I'll just copy the post I made on a similiar thread over on USAviation.....
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I've waited till the final notes of the fat lady's song faded away before adding to this thread....
My heartfelt thanks for all the kind words. All of you have become something of an extended cyberspace family and your well wishes mean a lot.
No person could wish for a better sendoff than these last three days have given me. It started with ShellNYC, whose inbound flight to CLT Friday was to be our outbound equipment.
My better half, joined us in CLT on Saturday for the flight to JAX where AtlanticBeach and his lovely wife had invited us to spend the night. After an evening of their gracious hospitality, waking up to the sound of the waves breaking on the beach sure beats any crew hotel I've ever stayed at.
The first big surprise came as we were departing JAX Sunday morning - fire trucks on either side of the taxiway to give us a dousing as we went by. I'll probably never know who arranged that, but they have my eternal gratitude.
Arriving in DCA, Art joined us for the flight to CLT. An added bonus was A stopping by the airport to add her best wishes.
In CLT, the group began to swell - and I'm not just talking about the amount of BBQ we ate. jimcfsus, l4pi, coachrowsy, dukeman plus his lovely wife, and (our youngest daughter) joined the group for the BOS turn. As fate would have it - being that for one day, at least, I was the oldest pilot at US - our airplane was the first 737-400 delivered to Piedmont in 1988. It seemed somehow fitting.
Arriving in BOS, I received the second from last surprise of the trip - an old friend from my former life of flying DC-3's was awaiting our arrival and joined the group for the last leg (of the day, the trip, and my career) to CLT. Needless to say, F/C was quite festive as we winged our way southwestward.
Passing west of NYC we get a selcal message to call LGA ops. Wondering what anyone could possibly want - surely I hadn't screwed anything up that much - we called LGA as directed. Who should answer our call but LGA777, adding his best wishes and providing the next to last surprise of the day.
Finally, into CLT for the final (in more ways than one) approach - #1 for 36R. Turning off the runway I was greeted by the final surprise of the day - firetrucks on either side of the taxiway once again. I'll probably never know who pulled what strings - the Chief Pilot had told me at the start of the trip that they had tried to arrange the water salute but that CLT didn't do them after dark. But whoever the Angel was, it capped off a memorial trip and career, with a great crew, a wonderful group of friends, and family to share it with.
So, again, thanks to everyone and if you're ever anywhere near High Point, NC, let me know.
(or "Rockfish", "Rockford", "Maverick")
9/4/79 - 11/19/06
Looking back on a great career and forward to a great retirement""
