Interesting Story

[ToddP]

I subscribe to this e-mail newsletter called heroic stories. The one today was aviation related so I'll post it here.

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Reaching over 34,000 subscribers in 106 countries, this is...

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HeroicStories #494: 8 March 2004
www.HeroicStories.com
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He Taught Us to Fly Story
Editor:
by David Wethington Clayton
Bennett
Hawaii, USA

During World War II, Jimmy Maris was an American bomber pilot based in
England. He encountered horrors and fears beyond imagination. By flying
and surviving his required number of missions, he joined what was
called
'The Lucky Bastard Club'. Jimmy was especially lucky, as the plane he
flew -- the "Bad Penny" -- was lost on the very next mission, and
everyone in the new crew was killed.

Rotated back to the United States, he spent the rest of the war as an
instructor, and then earned a college degree under the GI Bill. Because
he loved both flying and teaching, he went to work for Purdue
University
in its aviation department. Within a few years, Professor James Maris
was head of the department of Aviation Technology at Purdue.

From the 1950s until his retirement in the 1980s, he often walked
around
campus, asked students if they had ever flown, and offered them a
flight. This motivated many students to major in aviation. Professor
Maris shared his enthusiasm for flying, but he couldn't have known what
an effect he would have on his students.

In the early 1990s, two professional aviators from Purdue started
working together, and soon realized that Professor Maris had introduced
them both to aviation. They went to their supervisor, who went to his
supervisor, and arranged a surprise.

A few months later, Professor Maris received a phone call, asking him
to
pack for a warm-weather trip. On the appointed day, Professor Maris and
his wife went to the Purdue airport to board a jet from NASA and fly to
Cape Kennedy. The next day, he watched two of his former students lift
off -- as pilot and co-pilot of the space shuttle.

About a year after that, a major airline was preparing to take one of
its older 727 jets out of service. One vice president of the airline
suggested donating the airplane to an educational institution. This
vice
president, like many others, started his aviation career because of
Professor Maris. He suggested that Purdue's Aviation Technology
department might use the plane for educational purposes. Purdue's
president accepted the offer.

A crowd gathered at the Purdue airport a few weeks later. The Purdue
band, the press, and dignitaries of all kinds were there. So was the
president of the university, waiting to receive the 'keys to the plane'
and give a speech. Professor Maris was there, too.

The 727 appeared in the skies, entered a flight pattern and landed. The
plane taxied up to the crowd with the band playing and cameras rolling.
The pilot was supposed to give the keys to the president of Purdue.
Instead, he gave them to Professor Maris and thanked him for
introducing
him to aviation. The pilot's name was Neil Armstrong.

James Maris, who missed death by one flight in World War II, had
created
astronauts! I was so very fortunate to study under him in college: it
was an honor and a privilege I will cherish forever.