MikeD said:
Just noticed this. Len Morgan, late WWII pilot and 33 year Braniff pilot, and great writer for Flying magazine (back when it was more than glossy ads for flight academies), passed a about 2 months ago. Just found this small obituary about his life. For most of you here, you're too young to remember his writings, but they were fabulous works of aviation literature that I grew up reading from Dad's issues of Flying from the 70s and 80s. Today, apart from the glossy ads, all there is in Flying is articles by Richard Collins about C-210 this and C-210 that, blah, blah.
A very sad time for aviation with Len's passing..........
A. G. Leonard (“Len”) Morgan, 82, died March 11, 2005 in Palm Harbor, Florida. He is survived by Margaret May Morgan, his beloved wife of 61 years, a son, Terry Len Morgan of North Carolina, a daughter, Juliet Kathryn Morgan of Palm Harbor, Florida, a brother, Michael John Morgan of Birmingham, Alabama, two grandsons, three granddaughters and two great granddaughters. Morgan was born in Indiana and educated in Georgia and Kentucky. After graduation from high school he enlisted for pilot training in the Royal Canadian Air Force and arrived in England a week after the Pearl Harbor attack. He transferred to the United States Army Air Forces in Egypt and flew Air Transport Command routes in Africa and the Middle East. Upon return to the States in 1943 he was an instructor at Reno Army Air Base. Following the war he served with the 123rd Fighter Group, Kentucky Air National Guard. In 1949 he began a 33-year career with Braniff International Airways at Dallas, Texas, during which time he flew domestic and international routes as well as on military charters to the Far East during the Vietnam War. Morgan wrote hundreds of articles on aviation topics, authored and/or published more than 30 books and was a contributing editor of FLYING magazine. Len requested that no funeral or memorial service be held. The family requests that memorial donations be made to the Salvation Army.
The following is from Len Morgan's Daughter:
I rode with my Dad on his final flight yesterday, March 24th. We took off out of Clearwater Airpark around 1425 on Runway 16. My friend and fellow pilot asked which direction we were going and I said due west. The Gulf of Mexico connects two of Dad's favorite homes, Texas and Florida. The thirty-four years in Texas were his best times, but he settled into the sunny days of Florida for the last fifteen years and grew to love it.
My daughter, Morgan, was our backseat pilot. She adored her grandfather and had spent every other weekend for the last year coming home to see him from the east coast of Florida. She was with him when he passed away and did not want to miss his final flight.
The skies were overcast but the ceiling was 8000'. It took us only a couple of minutes before we were flying over the intercoastal waterway and into the vastness of the Gulf. I held Dad on my lap for the last part of his journey and told him again what a wonderful man he was. I silently said the Lord's Prayer and we slowed the plane down to 60 kts. With Morgan holding the window open, I kissed him goodbye and released him.
The final journey of my Dad, Len Morgan, has been completed. I hope he knows that his wife and daughter and my two daughters thought he was a giant of a man.
Rest in peace, Dad.
Kathy Morgan
