I vividly recall my first flight. I do not remember who I was with but we drove to the Atlanta Airport before WW II and got into a Ford Trimotor passenger plane, took off and flew over Atlanta. That flight lit a fire in young Rigdon (age about 9-10) that has never subsided to this day: flying and airplanes of any sort.
In my youth during WWII, I had a workshop in the cottage at the end of the driveway at 87 W. Wesley Road. I built airplane models, mainly solid models of WW II fighters. I created hanging dioramas of dog fights. I’m a bit surprised that i did not turn into a glue or dope paint sniffer!
At GA Tech i signed up for Basic AirROTC and enjoyed most of it. Willis Carmichael, Jim Manry and I then joined the GA Air National Guard at Dobbins AFB in Marietta.
One weekend, several of us ANG members joined a flight to Los Angeles on a Navy PBY piloted by Garland McNutt, a Chi Phi and Naval Reserve pilot. It was a s…l…o…w flight requiring several refueling stops. The PBY was an amphibian, high-wing, two engine patrol plane used primarily for sub location and depth-charge bombing in WW II. It creeped and groaned but was steady and got us there and back.
In LA I visited the Paramount Picture Studios, as arranged by Dean George Griffin at Tech. He knew Y. Frank Freeman, Executive Vice president of Paramount whom I met briefly. I received a great tour and had a fine time touring around Los Angeles. I stayed with relatives of the Rutland, Atlanta friends of my parents.
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