WILDEST DREAMS! A PILOT'S STORY OJ Smith Oral History WW2 Combat Alaska Bush

Description: This is a rare 200+ page oral history of World War II combat pilot, commercial airline pilot, and Alaska Bush pilot OJ Smith. It is a beautifully curated collection of transcripts from interviews, photos, and related documents. PLEASE visually inspect the photos for this item prior to purchase. 👀📖 ***OUR PROMISES TO YOU***We ONLY upload original photos with every listing. We NEVER use stock images, photo filters, photoshop or AI. We NEVER adjust the contrast or colors to hide flaws or fading. You work hard for your money! Don’t risk purchasing from a seller who can’t be bothered to upload more than one or two poorly framed and blurry photos, or who only uses a stock photo, or drowns their images in filters to hide flaws. You deserve nice things! ✨📚✨ ***NOTES ON CONDITION*** (I use speech-to-text when describing the condition—please forgive any typos or punctuation errors!) Overall, this book published in 2001 is an excellent condition. The book is clean and free of any defects that would compromise its binding or readability. There is no cigarette smoke damage and the book has a neutral odor. There is very minimal writing within the book . Towards the beginning of the book, the appears the publisher added tribute and obituary to O.J. Smith, who passed away between the first printing and the revised edition. This book was put out by a small independent publisher, and on this page they added half sheet of paper with corrected or additional information that the publisher taped to the page and then signed. This was the only writing detected, and this modification was done by the publisher of the book even though it’s a bit amateur. The publisher seem to do a good job with the books binding. It seems pretty solid and all pages are intact. The most notable defects are residue from a sticker on the front cover boards top right corner, that’s barely noticeable and will likely come all the way off with a bit of elbow grease. There’s also residue from some sort of label or barcode sticker on the very last and paper. ***BOOK’S FORWARD*** I've been thinking for a long time about putting together the story of my life. I get to talking around the dining room table at Umiat, and people always like my stories. So one time I was telling my stories and Judy Parrish was in Umiat and she said, "OJ, you really should put these stories on tape!" I said, Yeah, I've been thinkin' about hiring one of them ghostwriters." She said, "Ghostwriter, hell, I'll do it, but it'll have to be next year." I said, "Next year's too late. I'm not sure I'm gonna be alive long enough!" This was the summer of 1990. I always tell it like it happened and don't try to make myself sound better than I was or other people sound worse. A lot of the things in this book happened a long time ago. I just tell them like I remember them though other people might remember differently. OJ Smith Umiat Enterprises, Fairbanks, Alaska March 1993 I first met OJ in 1985 when my colleague, Bob Spicer and I ended up in Umiat after a geological research trip down the Colville River. We had extra boat fuel that we were keen to get rid of and we needed to have our stuff hauled from the river to the runway for our pickup. Bob had met OJ before and already knew that OJ charged $100 for hauling stuff from the river, but thought we might be able to strike a deal even though we didn't have $100 worth of boat fuel. We found OJ in the air traffic control tower and after shooting the breeze a bit, started to work up to our proposition. As we kind of danced up to the subject, OJ's eyes started crinkling ever so slightly. He was on to us immediately but let us go through the whole dance and eventually struck a deal. Basically, he decided that he liked us. His parting shot on the subject was to not let anyone know that he'd agreed to such a deal because it would ruin his reputation. That story pretty much typifies OJ. First, he's probably the smartest and most perceptive person I've ever met, especially when it comes to people, and I'm by no means the only person who feels that way. He's very rough on people who treat him disrespectfully; but, if he likes you, he's as easygoing a person as you could hope to meet. And, if you're so lucky as to become a friend, his kindness and generosity are unparalleled. This book, like OJ's life, has its gritty moments. A lot of books about bush pilot life make the life sound very romantic, albeit tough. Life in the bush has a lot of moments that are anything but romantic and this book reflects some of those times. Judy Parrish University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona March 1993 CAST OF CHARACTERS The following people contributed to the stories in this book and a little background on their places in OJ’s life is in order. Elly Smith is OJ’s wife of 40 years and Jay and Ray, both pilots, are their sons. Elly manages Umiat Enterprises from their home in Fairbanks and Jay and Ray help out at Umiat. Ray who is a commercial pilot, does most of the flying at the time of this writing. Jacquee, Elly and OJ’s youngest daughter, has a growing interest in aviation and now lives in Homer, Alaska. OJ’s older daughter, Vicki Hopkins, lives in Maryland and works with children who have special needs. Hardy Smith is OJ’s older brother. Hardy is a pilot also although he no longer flies commercially. He and OJ both flew 20 years for the Air Force and more than 40 years on the North Slope for Wien Air and as big game hunters. Hardy is now concentrating on the guide end of it. In his words, “OJ and I have been pretty close. He’s done more for me than the entire family together.” Jim Anderson, a native of Alaska, was flight engineer/mechanic on the DC-3 when OJ was flying the DEW line. He spent some time as an aircraft mechanic for a fire fighting contract shop before opening A&P’s (airframe and power plant mechanics). He works on airplanes out of his shop near the Chena River in Fairbanks. George Malo was one of OJ’s student pilots in the 1950s and, according to OJ, a real natural on the controls. He was Director of Operations as well as a pilot for Umiat Enterprises for almost 40 years. Now he flies for Frontier Flying Service and Alaska Airlines. His wife, Jane, was a stewardess for Alaska Airlines. George is now an aviation industry consultant on hazardous materials and manages several contracting crews. John Bishop also took some of his training from OJ at Eielson Air Force Base. OJ says that “Bish” should stick to what he does best now, notwithstanding Bishop’s nickname as “Captain Mudpuddle.” John told this story: “I landed a float plane on a pretty small lake, and it wasn’t until I had splashed to shore that I heard some kids on the bank say, ‘I’d have bet you wouldn’t make it.’” Bishop has also flown for several of Alaska airlines over the years. He now flies 767s for American Airlines and manages a boat in the Seattle area. He and his wife live there. George Clayton and Don Gilbertson were pilots, senior to OJ for Wien Airlines. Clayton was a mentor to OJ when they first flew out. Clayton’s father was an accomplished pilot during the early years of aviation. Gilbertson, who I suspect was the best natural instrument pilot of them both, cuts a commanding presence because of his stature and impressive drinking partner. Bruce Hopkins was a pilot for Umiat Enterprises in the late 70s and early 80s, and his wife, Lynn, worked for Umiat Enterprises for a time. Bruce now flies for Frontier Flying Service out of Fairbanks. PROLOGUE I was born on March 1, 1922, in Llano County, Texas, fourth of seven children to Oliver and Daisy Smith. As of this writing, 1998, I have been flying for fifty-eight years and am still doing all right. The title for this book is Wildest Dreams! A Pilot’s Story. Instead of spending three years as a buck private (salary $21 per month), and then spending two years in college to qualify as an Aviation Cadet (total of five years), I finished Aviation Mechanic School at Chanute Field, Illinois, came back to Texas and immediately went into the Enlisted Pilot Program. I received my wings on July 3, 1942 at age 20. This was my “Wildest Dream” come true. I was flying combat when I turned 21 years of age. After retiring from the Air Force I have flown the Alaska Bush for over 40 years and have probably logged more hours flying the North Slope of Alaska than any other pilot dead or alive. I still fly commercially. Like the flight of the fabled Phoenix, this manuscript has been reduced to ashes more than once. However, it has continually risen from the ashes to haunt me. So now with the ongoing and consistent encouragement of my cousin, Leonardine Liddie, it is finally going to be finished. This has taken me ten years! Also, my thanks to my family, friends and all who have helped out, especially Monroe (Ziggy) Zartman who contributed some of his worldly wisdom. OJ Smith 17 April 1998

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Location: Salem, Oregon

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