SHIFT 28...Rick's ReFlections of his 32 years career
in the Fire Service...
PDX...from the MAX Train station.
The ‘airport’, a
place that I’ve called my second home for 31 of my 32 years…Looking back it
seems like quite the providential place to work. I remember as a kid, after my
parents had divorced, mom would load us four kids into our beat up car and
drive off to LAX to watch the planes take off and land. Later, mom would
remarry and my step-dad (aka…Poppa Jopp) had his own plane in which we enjoyed
numerous flights. Then as a young teenager (with seniority over my little
brothers) I had the benefit of the middle bunk, the one with the window with a
view to watch those same planes fly in and out of LAX, all the while listening
to aircraft and tower communication on my radio that had a built in scanner. OK,
maybe a little nerd-like…but it was fun. Then over the past decade I’ve been
privilege on several occasions to take a seat in these beautiful flying machines,
traveling about the world. Fittingly, joining the Air Force and landing a job
at PDX seems like just the ideal setting.
SWA 737 with Mt. Hood and Tower
SST...Supersonic Transport
Somehow I have never lost the fascination of watching
planes. Of course when the F15’s are performing their ‘vertical take-off’s’,
there aren’t many sitting in the station. And not just to watch them, but to be
in and through and around them has been quite intriguing. From the F4 Phantom
to the C5 Galaxy, from the SST (Supersonic Transport) to the Boeing 747, from
the Cessna 172 to the Leer Jet, from the ‘Guppy’ to the DC3, from the fixed
wing to the helicopter, from Travolta’s 727 to the galley of a L1011, from Air
Force One to a B1, from vintage to modern and from airport to airshow, all have
been part of my past. But most definitely their fascination will remain as part
of my future.
Rick aboard SST in 1990
Beyond the planes, the access in, around and through this
airport has an appeal all its own. ‘To go where no man’s gone before’. OK…that’s
a bit over the top. You get my point though. With my little yellow badge and a
couple keys, I’ve been able to see the side of the airport and airplanes that
most never even think of. And I still think it’s quite cool to drive anywhere across
the flight line…especially at night. They have such pretty lights:) And they call this a ‘job’.
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