December 2, 2005

Flying the silver wings of Pan Am From pre-vet to pilot

By Donna H. Eliason
Staff Writer

Animals were his passion. So when New York City-born Barry Frank moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1948, he dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.

Barry Frank as a Pan Am pilot in a Lockheed L-l0ll plane in 1980.

At age 16, Frank found a job working with horses during the day, then sleeping in an empty horse stall at night. Needless to say, his parents weren’t thrilled with his living situation. “I took people on hayride and horseback riding trips,” Frank says.

When he was l8, he became an ambulance attendant during the day and delivered bodies to a mortuary after hours.
Even though academics weren’t his first love, he became a UCLA freshman and then transferred to UC Davis, intending to enter the veterinarian program. While there he worked for a vet and herded cows on a cattle ranch.

After his freshman year, Frank applied for admission to the veterinarian program. He was rejected, but officials in a requested interview encouraged him to get more experience and reapply.

After considerable thought Frank concluded, “When this is all finished, what will I know about philosophy, art or music? I want to know more than animal husbandry,” he says.

The Davis campus had a small airport, used mostly by crop dusters and the university flying club. Even though none of his family or friends flew, Frank decided to join.

Beginning pilot
“When I flew solo I thought I was going to kill myself,” Frank remembers. Once he took off in a two-seat plane along a runway with adjacent wheat fields. “The plane got away from me and went into the wheat fields. I didn’t stop but continued my take off. When I looked down I could see those deep tracks sunken in the field.”

In 1954, he returned to Los Angeles, where he took an evening philosophy class and worked as a caretaker for the UCLA medical school lab animals. Several student nurses, including a very attractive one named Carole, once visited the restricted lab. After touring his work area, he showed them the hanging refrigerated cadavers.

Carole stood out in his mind, but he couldn’t remember her last name. The search began. As a UCLA student, he had access to the student information card catalogue. Finally he found her complete name. “Then I went to the nursing office for the class lists,” says Frank.

Carole was surprised to find him waiting for her outside class. “I was very excited he found me,” she remembers. That was the beginning of a friendship, which led to a wedding on Dec. 19, l955.

After completing his philosophy class final exam, Frank enlisted in the Air Force. He was the only one in his group who passed all 23 Air Force Aviators Cadet tests. During his five-and-a-half year stint, the Franks spent two years in Morocco. Frank’s responsibilities included rescuing people from flooded areas, tankers and ships.

From Air Force to Pan Am
When they returned to the United States, Carole gave birth to twins, Lisa and Scott, in Florida. Debbie was born earlier in Texas. Now with five mouths to feed, the Franks decided even though Frank enjoyed the Air Force, he had more opportunities in civilian life.

They moved to San Bruno where Frank taught helicopter flying to Bay Area pilots. When he heard his friend Buckshot talk about the money he made flying commercial aircrafts, Frank realized he worked many hours for little pay. He wondered, “Why don’t I try that?” He applied to TWA and Pan Am, accepting the latter’s offer.

He flew as a flight engineer and then a co-pilot before becoming captain. While his family lived in Los Gatos and San Jose, Frank flew to every continent except Antarctica. “There’s so much beauty and culture everywhere. I loved the culture of the Hispanic people in Central America. I loved Scandinavia. I always thought it would be easy to live in Sydney, Australia,” Frank says.

Humorous memories
Frank chuckles about memories of his pilot days. His favorite story is about flying to Rome with “Moose,” a big, burly Texan co-pilot. “Moose” tried to contact the Air Traffic Control several times without a response. Later they learned no one understood his Texas accent.

Another time his co-pilot was making a difficult landing in Guatemala. Being concerned about their safety, Frank decided to land the plane himself. He circled the airport again, bringing the plane down. He says, “Sometimes after a difficult airport approach, I know I wasn’t nervous when it happened, but later realized it was a harrowing experience.”

Frank believes “the test of a good pilot is in his decision making. Often the safest course of action is to go around and do the task again.” He continues, “To be successful, a pilot must give undivided attention to the task at hand. He must put aside his troubles, his emotions, his kids and everything in a side compartment.”

He feels one of the most essential assets is a “sense of humor. I have to be able to laugh at myself.”

Greeting Passengers
As a pilot, Frank’s personal practice included walking through the cabin to greet all passengers. He jotted down information about individuals so he could personalize his comments when they left.

Barry Frank and his wife Carole live at The Villages.

Once when flying from Germany to the United States, a frightened woman sobbed in a back seat. By taking her hand and walking with her, she became calm and was able to rejoin her husband and two children. “In my experience I’ve found that holding someone’s hand and walking with them has a very calming effect,” Frank says.

Another time a child was kicking the seat ahead while rocking his own seat. Finally the large muscular man behind had enough and demanded the father discipline his son.The considerably smaller father took those remarks as a challenge, and stood up with clenched fists.

Both backed down when Frank assured them the authorities would be waiting at the airport if this wasn’t resolved. The son sat quietly for the trip’s duration.

Move to The Villages
After 23 moves during their married life, the Franks came to The Villages in l988, three years before Frank retired with 30 years experience as a pilot and flight instructor with Pan Am.

One daughter, Debbi, lives in Los Gatos. Lisa resides in Washington, and Scott in Pasadena. The Franks have six grandchildren.

Now at 71 years of age, Frank is not only the president of the Duplicate Bridge Club, but an avid (“if terrible”) golfer.

He enjoys letter writing, travel and investing, the latter stemming from his stock broker days in Encino. The Franks are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary by taking a five-week Australia/Asia river cruise in January.

“I had 30 marvelous years as a pilot for Pan Am. They were like a huge family. It was more than a job. I often wondered why I was paid for something I would have done for free,” Frank remembers.

“I was dedicated to my job and the company,” he adds. “There was no inconsistency working for the union and for the company. Pan Am’s slogan was ‘The World’s Most Experienced Airline’ and we did have many experiences.”