The Gifts of History
The Story of King Abdulaziz and His Pilot
i The Gifts of History The Story of King Abdulaziz and His Pilot
Al Turath Foundation Michael Saba
i © Al-Turath Foundation, 2016 King Fahd National Library Cataloging-in- Publication Data
Saba, Michael The gift of history : the story of King Abdulaziz and his pilot. / Michael Saba - Riyadh, 2016 180p ; 24x28cm
ISBN : 978-603-8014-36-3
1- Abdulaziz ibn Abdulrahman Al-Saud, 1880-1953 King of Saudi Arabia |-Title 923.153105 dc 1437/4707
L.D. no. 1437/4707 ISBN : 978-603-8014-36-3
Published by Al-Turath foundation, P.O. Box 68200, Riyadh 11527, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Tel: +966 11 4807710 Fax: +966 11 4807708 Website: www.al-turath.com E-mail: [email protected]
© Al-Turath, Riyadh 2016
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owners.
ii Contents
Dedication ...... v
Acknowledgements ...... vi
Appreciations ...... vii
Prologue ...... ix
Foreword ...... x - xiv
Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1
Chapter 2 The Vision ...... 23
Chapter 3 The King and the President ...... 37
Chapter 4 The Plane and Its Pilot ...... 61
Chapter 5 Restoration ...... 93
Chapter 6 Joe and the Naval Crew ...... 103
iii Chapter 7 Joe’s Return ...... 111
Chapter 8 Recognition ...... 117
Chapter 9 The Death of a Legend ...... 129
Chapter 10 King and Pilot Recognized ...... 139
Chapter 11 Epilogue ...... 143
Photo Credits ...... 155
Bibliography ...... 156
Index ...... 160
iv Dedication To these great leaders of Saudi Arabia, the late King Abdulaziz who believed in the value of Aviation to his emerging country, the late Crown Prince HRH Sultan bin Abdulaziz, who built the modern Aviation in the Kigdom of Saudi Arabia .
The late King Abdulaziz Al Saud The late HRH Crown Prince minister of defence Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
v Acknowledgements
HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud HRH has facilitated this project using his energy and abilities in bringing everyone together personally and arranging meeting with His Majesty, the King and other senior Royal Family members . Without him this book would never have been produced . Al Turath Foundation The Al Turath Foundation has provided sponsorship and assistance in accessing archives and information and has made this project a reality . Special thanks to Dr . Zahir Othman and Dr . Osama Al-Gohary . Boeing The story of civil aviation in the Kingdom began with the DC-3 produced by the Douglas Corporation . Over the years as companies grow and develop this legacy has ended up under the care of the Boeing Corporation . From the first approaches Boeing was helpful and supportive in providing access to their archives and the archives of the Douglas Corporation in California . Joe Grant Joe Grant and his wife Marga gave so much to the telling of this story; Joe held a lifelong love of the Kingdom which was reaffirmed in 2006 when and Marga traveled back at the invitation of HRH Salman bin Abdulaziz . Joe’s energy and enthusiasm for everything he did is an inspiration to all who meet him . A significant portion of the photographs were from Joe Grant’s personal collection .
King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Al Jazeerah Aviation Museum Archives, Dr . Fahd Al-Semmari and the foundation’s We would like to recognize and thank the management staff for the access to their archives and for the time and staff of Al Jazeerah Aviation Museum for allowing and attention they set aside . photographs of SA-R-1 and the museum . Saudi Arabian Airlines for the materials and We would like to recognize and thank the information they provided . Production Crew Bruce Wendt, Colleen Hareland and Saudi Aramco staff for the access to their archives Mary Kay Anderson . and for the time and attention they set aside and the Saudi Research and Marketing subsequent delivery of photographs and artifacts . We would like to thank Saudi Research and Marketing Royal Aviation and Mr . Bob Reid of Royal Aviation for assisting in the production of this book . who under Boeing assisted in the restoration of SA-R-1 We would also like to thank: to flying condition . They supplied photographs of the Edward Grant, Tacey Grant, Bob Morgan, Jan Morgan, restoration . Lindsay Rohlfsen, Debbie Wilson, Khalid Nasser, Dr . Selwa AL Hazza and Hassan Husseini .
vi Appreciations
Saudi Arabian Airlines is one of the largest airlines in Saudi Arabia . This legacy began when Captain Joe Grant the Middle East and is the 25th largest in the world . flew a DC-3, the gift of then, President Franklin Delano I would like to thank Captain Joe Grant for his role in Roosevelt to King Abdulaziz in 1945 . Captain Joe Grant helping to create Saudi Arabian Airlines . From the first will forever remain a part of this great Saudi aviation airplane in our fleet, (the DC-3 that Captain Joe flew history . into Saudi Arabia in 1945), to today, Saudi Arabian Some of the material which appears herein was Airlines has made an indelible mark on the world airline previously published in “King Abdulaziz…His Plane scene . and His Pilot” by Michael Saba and is used because Ahmed Al Jazzar, President of Boeing, Saudi Arabia it is integral to the story of Capt . Joe Grant and King Boeing is proud to be a part of the legacy of Aviation in Abdulaziz .
vii
Prologue
The desert sighed under the pressure On the far horizon, the haze of the Arabian sun . Little moved thickened, the transparent soft focus in the still air; save the skittering of the heat haze over the distant of an invisible lizard somewhere in horizon became visible and became the vicinity . The hum, steady and gradually denser . The hum became persistent . Gradually increasing, as louder; it was unnatural . There was a some winged insect perhaps, the shape forming in the haze, a winged hum persisted, increasing in volume shape and the sound coming from gradually in imperceptible stages, it . A flash, as sunlight caught the continuous, low and was coming polished wings, a heavy body and from the west . the hard throbbing sound of Wright The ears of the robed men, R01820 Cyclone Engines burst on accustomed to the sound of the the group of Bedouin gathered in the desert, detected the continuity of desert outside Riyadh in a storm of the sound . It was different and not noise, power and grace . The gleaming natural . As one, their eyes turned aluminum craft skimmed over the towards the western horizon, gazing group and circled around them as if and searching . At first they saw in greeting . It was the promise come nothing . More, they felt a presence . true . A flying machine for the King - Friend or foe? Threat or promise? and in the Kingdom! Whatever the low sound was, it was approaching and fast . Foreword by HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Among all people on this earth there exists a planetary state met in February of 1945 following the historic Yalta thread of intelligence . It is from this global intelligence Conference . The DC-3 arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi that the gifts of history arise and are recognized . King Arabia just two days following Franklin Roosevelt’s Abdulaziz had a vision for the future of the people of death . There had been airplanes in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia . This book is about the King and the man before, but the DC-3 was a different breed of airplane . who would become his friend and colleague and how Developed to fly passengers in unprecedented comfort they worked together to make that vision a reality that and style, the DC-3 also had speed and range . continues to flourish and grow today . The durable and reliable DC-3 was certainly the right King Abdulaziz began to unite the kingdom in 1902 airplane for King Abdulaziz’s vision for the Kingdom, with the retaking of Riyadh . His next challenge was but it needed the right pilot . No one could have been to unite the people . Most were nomadic tribesmen, better for this than Captain Joe Grant . Bedouins, belonging to various tribes across the entire The King needed more than just a good pilot to get him peninsula . King Abdulaziz then moved to unite these from place to place, he needed someone who could nomadic peoples and encourage them settle into villages face challenges as an adventure and who would look by giving them added opportunities and incentives… at the kind of flying he was going to have to do, as Joe such as water wells and a variety of central services . Grant said, as fun . Like the old barnstorming days, they His next challenge was to create a sense of nationhood went places where there weren’t any landing strips or and unite the villages . The Kingdoms of Europe had navigational aids – they were true pioneers long created ties through marriages and King Abdulaziz, But the King envisioned an opportunity to further too, established his rule over the lands by bringing tribes unite all those villages by setting up airports and together through matrimonial unions . bringing people together . Unlike other countries, Most countries unite their urban centers with Saudi Arabia bypassed roads, and railroads in favor waterways, roads and eventually railroads . In a country of the age of aviation . The King subsidized air travel as large as Saudi Arabia, this would have been a massive to keep it affordable . This fostered communication by and expensive undertaking and would have taken bringing people of Saudi Arabia together who might decades . otherwise never have met . Soon King Abdulaziz and However at just the right moment, King Abdulaziz Joe Grant conceived a plan for a Saudi Arabian civil received a gift that he wisely used as a tool to help him aviation system, which eventually became Saudi Arabian unite the country . That gift was a DC-3 airplane from Airlines . the President of the United States of America, Franklin In the process they united the country and helped create Delano Roosevelt . Rather than wait for years to create modern Saudi Arabia . infrastructure on the ground, the King chose to unite his When Saudi Arabian Airlines was started in 1946 it had country through the skies . two missions: ferry people, mail and cargo within the President Roosevelt offered the gift of the DC-3 during a kingdom, and enable Muslims to make the pilgrimage meeting aboard the USS Quincy where the two heads of to Mecca . The fledgling airline may have been limited by
x the range and size of its DC-3s, but Joe Grant realized the maiden flight of the DC-3 between Afif and Taif on the vision . He established Saudi Arabia’s first national March 29, 1945 . He said that the aircraft was state of the airline and trained its first pilots . art and the best that America had to offer at the time . Today, Saudi Arabian Airlines has grown into the largest Joe found the cities of Saudi Arabia transformed, but airline in the region . The Kingdom operates half a Saudi traditions unchanged . Joe said, “What a wonderful dozen international airports, including King Abdulaziz culture! I don’t know whether the king awakened a International Airport in Jeddah, which remains the culture that was already there, or if he just perfected a busiest airport in the Kingdom . In addition there are culture that existed…” four regional airports and 16 domestic airports . Joe Grant again returned to Saudi Arabia in 2009, In 2006, and after a 65 year absence, Joe Grant, his meeting many senior princes who had flown with wife and crew members of the Quincy and the USS Captain Grant, they reminded Joe of the trials and Murphy returned to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of tribulations of flying in Saudi Arabia in those early days the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . This delegation again of aviation . Stories abounded as the princes recalled made history . Upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia, they flights throughout the Kingdom . All had fond memories were whisked around the country meeting members of of their time in the DC-3 with Joe . For most of them, it the royal family, government officials, Saudi Arabian was their first meeting with an American and they all Airlines personnel and other dignitaries throughout the commented on his friendliness and kindness . kingdom . A particular highlight was a visit to Saqr Al The highlight of the 2009 trip was a personal audience Jazeera Museum at the Riyadh Airbase which housed with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz . The king greeted Joe, FDR’s gift to the King; the original DC-3, lovingly his family and group at his farm in Janadriyah . Their restored to its original glory . eyes had not met in over six decades . When the King Joe captivated the audience at the museum as he recalled first saw Joe, he said, “Joseph, your face is still the same ”.
HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman prepares to pilot the F-15
xi HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman and Joe Grant share stories of their flying adventures
In 2009, Captain Joe Grant was the honored guest and I jointly presented a special edition copy of “King at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Abdulaziz…His Plane and His Pilot” mounted in a case conference, popularly known as the Oshkosh Air created from a wooden vintage propeller . Show . A re-creation of the gifting of the DC-3 by As Ford browsed through a copy of the book and saw President Roosevelt to King Abdulaziz took place with the pictures of Joe, King Abdulaziz and early aviation great fanfare . A large part of this reenactment was in in the Kingdom, he stated, “You are much more like support of several charities that work with handicapped Indiana Jones than I am . This is a cherished gift from children . you and the people of Saudi Arabia ”. “My time in Saudi Arabia was the greatest gift I could At a post reception following the banquet Joe was met ever have been given . At the time, I didn’t realize what and honored by celebrity pilots Academy Award winner an opportunity it was — I thought I was just doing my Cliff Robertson; hotel magnate William Barron Hilton, job,” Joe Grant said at a press conference immediately a pilot of 63 years; and brothers Dick and Burt Rutan, after landing . “Being with King Abdulaziz was one of the known for their 28,000-mile first, non-stop and non- greatest honors of my life ”. refueled flight around the world as well Spaceships One I have learned so much from this man over the years . Joe and Two designed to be the first commercial aircraft said the secret to happiness and living longer is to keep going into space . Earlier that day, Joe meet Capt . Chesley flying . I have learned that myself not only flying close to “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles who earth but in less than 50 years after King Abdulaziz met, famously ditched an Airbus A320 with 155 people on as an astronaut, I circled the earth in less than an hour board in the Hudson River that January without losing and a half with profound wonder and happiness . a single life . “Now that was a piece of real piloting,” said Captain Joe Grant was honored again at the annual Grant . With Joe’s history, he knew . Gathering of the Eagles closing event banquet . Presided Oshkosh was only one part of a very meaningful period over by famous actor and pilot Harrison Ford, Joe was for Joe Grant throughout his centenarian life period . He given a special award and delivered a keynote speech was invited and honored at the Smithsonian Museum to the hundreds in the audience . Joe, Delano Roosevelt of Air and Space shortly after his stint at Oshkosh .
xii Appearing in the hall that included Orville and Wilbur Together, King Abdulaziz and Joe Grant have left Wright’s first airplane, Charles Lindbergh’s “Spirit of a legacy . And at Oshkosh, that legacy has been St . Louis”, a Ford Tri-motor and a Boeing 707 cockpit, memorialized permanently . Located on the edge of he was asked which of these types of airplanes he had the Oshkosh Airport, stands the Memorial Wall . This flown in their own time . He turned and looked over the structure provides a dignified place for families and aircraft and remarked, “I guess all of them ”. friends to remember and honor their loved ones and Captain Grant was invited to fly into the 2010 Oshkosh pioneers in aviation . Its centerpiece is a monument Airshow with the formation of DC-3s as a leader of a formed of thousands of stones brought to Oshkosh from special celebration established for the 75th anniversary EAA members’ home states and countries . On both of the DC-3 . He was to be honored once again for his sides of the centerpiece, bronze plaques are installed role in the history of aviation and to be a featured guest annually to honor individuals who have gone west . and participant at each and all of these activities which In scripted on the Memorial Wall tribute is the were to be held one last time, however in early 2010 following: “Joe Grant was born at a time in history his health took a turn for the worse . During our last when aviation was in its infancy, in fact it was only a few conversation, Joe smiled and said, “Whatever you do, years prior to Joe’s birth that Orville Wright made his stay happy ”. On April 27, 2010, Joe Grant passed away at first powered flight . So you could say that from those the age of 102 . first awkward steps as an infant, Joe’s life very much The accolades that followed were extensive . Here was paralleled the development of aviation ”. a man who was born 4 years after the first flight of the The inscription continues, “Towards the end of the war Wright brothers who personified the history of aviation . at the request of President Roosevelt, Joe was sent to He personally piloted every means of flight from bi- Saudi Arabia with a specially equipped DC-3 . Roosevelt wing pre WW1 aircraft to jet airlines . And with great had given this DC-3 to the King of Saudi Arabia as a pride he had watched the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia go gift . The king would often ride in the copilot’s seat on from Bedouins on camels to becoming a world leader in many of their journeys . Joe was instrumental in the civil aviation . training of many future pilots . He developed a love for Joe Grant and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were not the country that continued till his death last year ”. The to be forgotten at Oshkosh 2010 in late July . The Last text goes on to refer to Joe’s “beloved second home of Time celebrations proceeded and Joe was acknowledged Saudi Arabia ”. at each of their events . When the DC-3 formation flew The inscription ends, ”They once wrote an article about overhead, one could feel the sadness of Joe’s absence . Joe Grant called the “Game of Life” . He was a person There was an aircraft missing that should have been who thought of others first . If you had ever met the man leading the formation with a special person in one of you soon realized that he put you first . He realized early the pilot’s seats . But his memory and the memory of on that if it is something that you love to do then do King Abdulaziz and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were it . Do not procrastinate; it is later than you think . Joe acknowledged at the Gathering of the Eagles banquet at Grant loved people and airplanes . He told everyone as the end of the airshow . they left, “stay happy” so on behalf of Joe Grant ‘STAY HAPPY’ ”.
xiii Astronaut HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz preparing to go into space
xiv
USS Murphy
xvi USS Quincy USS Quincy crewmembers
Introduction by Michael Saba
This endeavor was inspired by the 60TH anniversary of the February 14, 1945 meeting at sea between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz, and celebrated by the crews of the USS Quincy and the USS Murphy in 2005 . The USS Quincy carried Roosevelt from the Yalta Conference, where Roosevelt met with Churchill and Stalin, and the USS Murphy transported King Abdulaziz from Jeddah to the rendezvous in the Suez Canal for first-of-their-kind talks between countries .
1 1 Meeting of the late King Abdulaziz and Franklin Delano Roosevelt upon the USS Quincy
2 I was part of a group that organized a reunion of naval crewmen from those ships and relatives of the principal players – King Abdulaziz, Franklin Roosevelt and Colonel Bill Eddy, an American who was born in the Middle East, who was fluent in Arabic and later became the principal American diplomat in Saudi Arabia . The reunion met in Miami, Florida . Relatives of the principal players included Delano Roosevelt, FDR’s grandson; Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah, grandson of King Abdulaziz and son of the late King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah; and Jake Eddy, a nephew of Colonel Eddy . While assembling a good bit of background information for the reunion, we found the USS Quincy meeting to be a fascinating turning point in history . One of the more interesting aspects was that Roosevelt and the Saudi leader appear to have developed great rapport . President Roosevelt gave Abdulaziz two gifts . First was a wheelchair . Roosevelt had two wheelchairs aboard; as he noticed the difficulty the King had in moving about, he graciously offered one to the King . Second, and much more importantly, was a DC-3 airplane – at the time a state-of- the-art workhorse of aviation . Further research about the gifted DC-3 revealed it had flown as the first aircraft in the Saudi Arabian Airlines system and was in service until the late 1970s when it was mothballed . We also learned it was still in existence . It was found in an airplane junkyard in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s and was restored to flying condition by Boeing for the commemoration of the 100th birthday of the kingdom when it was flown over Africa and some of its original routes . Afterwards it was placed in the Saqr Al Jazeerah museum in Riyadh operated by the Ministry of Defense and Aviation . While talking with people at the Riyadh museum about the DC-3 – there had been thoughts about bringing it to the United States for airshows – we discovered that the original pilot, Joe Grant, who delivered the plane was still alive .
3 DC-3 / SAR-1
4 5 The late King Abdulaziz and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
6 Joe was 96 at that time (2005); he was an active businessman, still going to work every day in Stamford, Connecticut . He had retired as a TWA pilot in 1968 at the age of 60 . I contacted Joe and found that he had all these wonderful, fascinating stories about delivering the plane and being the King’s pilot . Joe also had hundreds of photos stored in his house . So with all that incredible history waiting to be shared I decided to write “King Abdulaziz: His Plane and His Pilot,” featuring the King and Joe Grant . We then began to assemble other direct sources of information about the story of the gift of the DC-3 to King Abdulaziz .
7 The DC-3 eventually became the first plane in the Saudi establish good relations with America . One of the Arabian Airlines fleet . Three more DC-3s arrived while more interesting outcomes of the meeting was that Joe was there . Roosevelt was impressed by the King . Roosevelt later King Abdulaziz was pleased with Roosevelt’s respect commented that he learned more about the Middle East for his culture and with the practicality of his gifts . in five minutes with the Saudi King than in all his years As a consequence, the Saudi King felt disposed to interacting with his advisors .
Joe Grant in his store in 2005 Joe Grant (right) in Saudi Arabia in 1940s
8 The King had talked with Roosevelt about many things, World War II started; he transported troops across the including new and future relations with the United Atlantic . In 1945, he was based in Cairo where he was States . He also talked extensively about Palestine and the told, “Joe you’re the guy to deliver this plane ”. issues of the day that the President should consider very Prince Faisal, later King Faisal, came to Cairo to facilitate seriously before making any decisions . I think he had a the delivery . Joe, with the Prince on board, flew the plane great effect on Roosevelt’s attitude about the Palestine into the Kingdom and to Jeddah on the Red Sea coast . question . Of course, Roosevelt died less than two At the time there was an airstrip in Jeddah and another months after meeting Abdulaziz, so these issues were one in Dhahran in the Eastern Province, but there were left to President Truman . no airfields in the rest of Saudi Arabia . Joe Grant was the pilot picked to deliver the DC-3 . After they reached Jeddah, Prince Faisal told Joe, “Now Grant had been a commercial pilot before the war and you have to deliver the plane to my father in Riyadh ”. was quite experienced . Joe was already in his 30s when
The late King Abdulaziz and Winston Churchill Rolls Royce given to King Abdulaziz from Churchill
9 The late HRH Prince (later King) Faisal
10 Joe headed to the capital across a country with no would land in the desert, then proceed to take out a load navigation aids, not even a road to follow . He told me he of stones and line them up on the desert . These “stone” used the sun to keep his course to Riyadh until he saw runways often became the location for airports in such the palace . Joe circled and, since there was no airstrip, places as Taif, Tabuk, and other parts of Saudi Arabia . he landed in the desert . He simply showed up and said, The first airport in Riyadh was built where Joe landed “Here’s your plane ”. and placed lines of rocks and a tent . The King was enthralled with the entire process and Joe told me he was fascinated with the King, particularly he asked Joe to stay with him as the pilot for his new in the sense of how insightful a person the King was . airplane . The war was still on but Joe was reassigned The King had the view that in the West, the United to stay with King Abdulaziz; he served as the King’s States in particular, had been settled with railroads and personal pilot for the next two years . roads and other infrastructure but he had the vision that Most of the flying in those two years were short the Kingdom could be developed more quickly through excursions from one part of the desert to the next . the use of aviation . Airplanes would get people around He took the King on many hunting trips and to many the country to communicate throughout the Kingdom meetings with tribal leaders around the country . Joe and to deliver people on the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage
11 to Mecca . One of the earliest routes that Joe helped to It was an amazing visit! We met King Abdullah at develop was a route from Damascus and Haifa down to his Janadriyah farm, where he had hosted President Saudi Arabia for the Hajj . Obama . The respect the King showed Joe was incredible . Joe Grant left in 1947 . He told me he always regretted We spent about four hours with King Abdullah and leaving Saudi Arabia then . Initially, he was there on loan the senior princes who attended Majlis-al-Shura, the from the U .S . Army; later with TWA, which eventually National Consultative Council, although it was much became the consulting group which established more informal than those I had attended in the past . We Saudi Arabian Airlines . Many of the TWA pilots and watched television and some soccer matches together administrators from that era have very fond memories of and had a most enjoyable time . Other senior princes Saudi Arabia; and the Saudis have fond memories of the would come in to visit with Joe and say things like, “Joe TWA pilots and administrators . Joe didn’t return until do you remember the time when . .?” There were some 2006, nearly 60 years later when he went with a group great stories . For example, Prince Badr bin Abdulaziz, of us to see his beloved DC-3 . And then, Joe returned to who was almost as old as King Abdullah, said, “Joe do Saudi Arabia for the last time in 2009, at age 101 . you remember when I was a young man and we flew
12 Joe Grant in the pilot’s seat
13 SAR-1
14 Captain Bob Morgan with TWA in Early TWA in Saudi Arabia U.S. TWA pilots in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
15 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abulaziz, (then the Governor of Riyadh) meeting with Joe Grant
from Riyadh on a medical mission to the North and flew wouldn’t come down . So you said well there’s only one back to Riyadh? Do you remember that?” Joe answered procedure I can do . It was to come down, bounce off the and said he did a lot of that and couldn’t recall that desert with the one wheel, hope that that would push the particular flight . other wheel down, which in fact it did . Then we circled Prince Badr pressed him on the story . He said, “We took and landed . You saved our lives, Joe ”. And Joe said it was off for the village, we landed in the desert, we picked up just his job . There were many other great stories . All of an ill person . We took off for Riyadh . We circled . And the princes had wonderful memories of Joe and greatly only one wheel of the airplane would come down . Then respected him . you tried everything to get the other wheel down and it While the first book was highly informative, this book
16 HRH Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz, HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman HRH Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz and Joe Grant and Joe Grant
The late HRH Prince Badr bin Abdulaziz, HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman The late HRH Prince Badr bin and Joe Grant Abdulaziz and Joe Grant
tells many of the stories in greater detail and includes Please permit me to say a little more about the Oshkosh many more of the photos from Joe’s collection . The first air show held every summer, besides what a fantastic book was called the “Oshkosh” edition which, in addition event it is! In 2009, Joe was the honored guest, and was to telling Joe’s story and showing some of his pictures, honored again in 2010 . There was to be a formation of also traces the history of civil aviation in Saudi Arabia… privately owned DC-3 Dakotas at the show, with Joe how Saudi Arabian Airlines was established and became Grant leading the formation . Sadly, Joe Grant passed the largest fleet in the Middle East and 20th largest in away in the spring of 2009, shortly after his 102nd the world . And to think, Saudi Arabian Airlines started birthday . However, the fleet of DC-3’s still appeared at with the vision of King Abdulaziz and Joe Grant, from the show . his time as pilot to the King of Saudi Arabia .
17 The late HRH Crown Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz and Joe Grant
First group of DC-3s in Saudi Arabia
18 A great reservoir of love and concern for America was and decided he wanted to build an operation and set created among the Saudis as a consequence of what up manufacturing in the Kingdom when he was 102 people like Joe Grant and other Americans did with the years old . I think that’s symbolic of another part of the people of Saudi Arabia . Those warm feelings remain relationship – the business opportunities . They exist and are reciprocated through wonderful hospitality and are waiting for Americans, not only for people like and respect . I would also mention that Joe Grant was Joe but for other Americans who are saying, “Business a very astute businessman . He was the world’s largest is hurting these days, I wonder where I should go?” manufacturer of puzzle rings . Originally developed in Well, what about Saudi Arabia? If a 102 year old man the Middle East, Joe brought puzzle rings to America can figure it out and say “I’m going to get this done and and now the business he formed – under the trade name it’s going to be in my family’s legacy,” then a lot of other Jose Grant – is the world’s largest distributor . Joe saw people should be able to figure it out too . Unfortunately, tremendous business opportunities in Saudi Arabia . Joe passed away before he was able to fulfill that dream . He knew what was happening on the business front
19 The Late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Joe Grant and Michael Saba
Joe Grant working in his Stamford, Connecticut jewelry store HRH Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz (who served in the Royal Saudi Air force as a fighter pilot in the 60s) and Joe Grant
20
22 The late King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia as a young man 2 The Vision
The man who united the regions of the Arabian Peninsula was among the great men of our age . Today King Abdulaziz is most often seen in images from a time well past his youth—seated while discussing the affairs of the world with other leaders such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill . But other images captured by Captain William Shakespeare (1910) may display more of the man who left his home-in-exile in Kuwait in 1901, with sixty-three men and a fierce ambition to retake the lands ruled by his ancestors a hundred years before . It was said his natural endowments were of exceptional astuteness and judgment of men, along with an indomitable will which enabled him to weld together in half a century the warring tribes of the Arabian Desert into the kingdom which bore his name . But in 1932 the Arabia that became his kingdom reflects no resemblance to today’s Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . No one in the adobe-walled villages of that time could have imagined the glass and concrete cities of Jeddah and Riyadh . Perhaps the best way to illuminate how it could have taken place is to see the emergence of the kingdom in the context of its historical moment .
The late King Abdulaziz
23 Jeddah flyover in the 1940’s
It is well outside the scope of this brief history to to attend to internal affairs . His great project was to elaborate how King Abdulaziz united his kingdom with create settlements for the Bedouins . He intended to a shrewd understanding of the loyalties at work in the settle the Bedouins in groups . His goal was to enhance regions of his birth . In any case, it is hard to imagine the prosperity and development of the Bedouins while that the weapons available to him, and an intimate promoting Islam amongst them, thereby enlarging Saudi knowledge of tribal culture would have placed him, a influence . dozen years hence, discussing the shape of the post-war The king’s intent was to transfer the loyalties of the world with FDR and Winston Churchill . There is more Bedouin tribes to the newly emerging state and his at work here . leadership . The creation of settlements was an important In the early part of the reign of King Abdulaziz within step in uniting the country and solidifying loyalty to the the Najd (the central province of Saudi Arabia), a state . quiet period existed . King Abdulaziz used this period
24 Aramco pipeline in Saudi Arabia
25 The King’s Palace in Jeddah, 1948
26 St. John Philby, Advisor to King Abdulaziz
Creating settlements further allowed the Bedouins to solidify the settlements and create a more permanent move from their nomadic life as shepherds to learning infrastructure . His advisor, St . John Philby, stated that in new skills for the collective benefit of the whole country . 1927 the number of inhabitants reached more than one Those skills included new agricultural skills and other hundred thousand . professions such as blacksmiths, carpenters, shopkeepers King Abdulaziz, in his wisdom, fostered settlements and many other occupations which required more composed of mixed communities from different tribes . diversification of labor . As planned, the settlements were The king’s actions encouraged the Bedouins to transfer located near sources of water . King Abdulaziz also sent their loyalty from a single tribal chief to a central Muslim scholars and advisors to the settlements to help leadership and government .
27 Digging a Water well in Saudi Arabia A Shop in a Saudi Arabian village
Many scholars have judged the wisdom, vision, and opened more communication and further interface process of creating a centralized state a resounding amongst the many diverse peoples of the peninsula . success . The success of the early settlements led to the The telephone and telegraph had been introduced to the eventual creation of many of the state institutions which peninsula during the Ottoman period, but they didn’t exist to this day such as the Majlis-al-Shura, the judicial widely open new communication lines in the Kingdom . system and many other state departments . Although King Abdulaziz, during his early reign, had King Abdulaziz also knew that he had to create religious leaders read and listen to verses from the additional infrastructure to allow better communication Koran via the telephone and telegraph, the Bedouins and unity amongst the new settlements . He didn’t want were reluctant to embrace the use of the telephone and each settlement to become a new domain . Consequently the telegraph . Radio did not come to Saudi Arabia until trails between the settlements became roads and roads 1949 .
28 Saudi Arabia in the 1940s
29 The great distances between settlements in Saudi Arabia It is a truism to say that in most cases it would have been slowed communication amongst the towns and villages . impossible to predict historical events by the decisions Was there any way to shorten those distances? and actions that set them in motion . In 1932, the loyalty As a Kingdom, Saudi Arabia stepped onto the world of parts of Abdulaziz’s nascent kingdom could hardly stage just as oil became a sought-after resource . It have been taken for granted . By means of power and emerged just as the Douglas Aircraft Company brought skillful diplomacy, the King had allied some tribes out an aircraft that would prove to make air travel to himself, but much of his support was based on his accessible to ordinary people (and at the same time a personality and qualities . In the midst of world-wide profitable venture for airlines) . Thus Saudi Arabia was depression, revenue had dwindled . It is no coincidence founded as technology and science were shrinking that within a year, the kingdom had signed an oil distances and reshaping the world in terms of wealth concession with the company that became the Arabian and power . American Oil Company .
Loading an Aramco DC-3 in the 1940s
30 The decision to enter this concession was, without doubt, a pragmatic decision, like others the King had made, as he united and consolidated his kingdom . Fate had placed oil under his feet, and that oil would help him fulfill his ambition . One can easily follow the thread from this decision to the King’s meeting with Franklin Delano Roosevelt on board the USS Quincy in 1945, and from that to an airplane, from an airplane to a pilot, and finally to the infancy of civil aviation in Saudi Arabia .
DC-3 in Saudi Arabia in the 1940s
Saudi Arabia in the 1940s
31 Roosevelt Archives 1945
Route of U.S.S. Quincy
(Noon Positions) January–February 1945 32 33 Roosevelt Archives 1945
34 35
3 The King and the President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United the coming years . First among them was King Abdulaziz . States, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great The Yalta conference ended on February 11th, 1945; Britain, and Joseph Stalin, Premier of the Union of President Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz met on Soviet Socialist Republics, met at Yalta to negotiate February 14th . the shape of the post-war world . Each was attempting Their meeting was brief, some five or six hours of to shape the future to their national interests . As conversation . No written complete transcript of all that he returned from this conference, Franklin Delano the two men talked about is available yet . But by all Roosevelt asked to meet with other men, leaders, who, accounts, they found in each other congenial company, a in his vision, held resources that would be important in
37 kind of like-mindedness—as King Abdulaziz is reported spare wheelchair . But Roosevelt wanted to give King to have said, they had much in common, both being Abdulaziz a greater gift, to acknowledge their personal heads of state with grave responsibilities who “bore in friendship and the link between the two nations . The gift their bodies grave physical infirmities ”. took the form of an airplane, the venerable DC-3 . During their meeting, the President gave the King his
38 The late King Abdulaziz walks down a gangway from the U.S.S. Murphy onto the U.S.S. Quincy
39 Great Bitter Lake: King Ibn Saud, in the U.S.S. Murphy, arrives from Jeddah
The King and members of his delegation aboard the U.S.S. Murphy
40 Henry “Bud” Meech – Recollection from his February 1945 trip to Saudi Arabia
The trip became royal butcher also performed his duties back there on a more exciting and daily basis . enjoyable after we Small charcoal burners were found in many locations entered the Red Sea on the main deck . The servants were constantly brewing on the way to Jeddah the coffee, which did not taste like our regular coffee . and learned a little I understand that cardamom spice is added which of the mission . We changes the flavor . We were informed that to decline an were definitely kept offer, of anything, was considered an insult . We should somewhat in the accept whatever was offered . The servants offered the dark as to the reason coffee, and once we accepted and tried it, we would look we were to pick up for the nearest way to avoid another sip . Today I much the king until we enjoy this coffee and the sweet tea which follows, but as left Jeddah with the an 18 year old, it was too much for my taste buds . One Arabian contingent aboard . The Murphy has a main of these servants was the man who carried his stove into battery of four 5” 38 caliber guns . Mount #1 was used as the ammunition handling room, looking for a place to a ridge pole for the tent over the forecastle, to provide be able to tend his fire, away from the wind . n living space for around 32 members of the king’s contingent . The rails around the forecastle deck were packed with luggage and other items . Mount #2 was also surrounded with luggage, bags of rice and other foodstuffs and unable to be trained to the right or left more than about 20 degrees . Mount #3 was the only gun in the main battery capable of firing in its full range . Mount #4, located on the fantail, was well surrounded by watermelons, of a size and weight we had never before seen . Also, they were sweet and delicious . More rice was also stashed there and of course the herd of sheep between the stern depth charge racks and the
Preparing sheep aboard USS Murphy
41 1945. Original Log from the U.S.S. Quincy:
42 The King and his party come on board the U.S.S. Quincy.
Left to right: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
43 Original Log from the U.S.S. Quincy continued:
44 Original Log from the U.S.S. Quincy continued:
45 Ambassador Gaafar Allagany’s recount as a child: FDR and King Abdulaziz
As a young student, of about 7, in a grade school in the meeting took place on the USS Quincy . So he “the Jeddah called Dar Al Saudia School, we were taken King” moved from the Murphy to the Quincy to meet walking from the school, which was not very far away the President and we were taken there and we sang a from an old Jeddah gate, to witness the departure of song that the school taught us for this occasion . It said the late King Abdulaziz to board the boat owned by the Abdulaziz of the clan of the Al Saud saved the country British consulate in Jeddah to the USS Murphy which from poverty which we were undergoing . It rhymes in carried him to the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal Arabic, but that was the first verse and I can’t remember to meet with President Roosevelt in 1945 just before the other verses . n the President died “ . . a few months before he died and
Former Saudi Ambassador Gaafar Allagany DC-3s became the first planes in the Saudi Arabian Airlines fleet
46 Crew members account of FDR meeting
Roosevelt was described to me by crewmembers of the The King had talked with him about many things, Quincy and Murphy who saw how easily he related to particularly about the new relations with the United the King . States in the future . He also talked extensively about During the meeting between FDR and the King, Palestine and the issues of the day that the President President Roosevelt was very polite and respectful to should consider very seriously before he made any the King . decisions . He had a great effect onRoosevelt’s attitude about the Palestine question . Of course, Roosevelt died less than two months after meeting Abdulaziz . So these issues were left to President Truman . n
Following his meeting with President Roosevelt, King Abdulaziz met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Fayyoum, Egypt
47 Excerpt from “FDR Meets Ibn Saud” by William Eddy:
To those of us who were close to the scene, this meeting was significant for several reasons: (1) It was a colorful meeting of two very different but equally impressive heads of state, who were spokesmen for East and for West . (2) The previously isolationist monarch, Ibn Saud, left his country for the first time . Since that day the doors have been swinging open to the previously closed culture of central Arabia . (3) The guardian of the Holy Places of Islam, and the nearest we have to a successor to the Assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, LtCol William Caliphs, the Defender of the Muslim Faith and A. Eddy (pictured behind King Abdulaziz), a well-decorated of the Holy Cities of three hundred million veteran of World War I, earned the Navy Cross and two Silver Star Medals. Born in Lebanon of missionary parents, Eddy people, cemented a friendship with the head was fluent in Arabic, and acted as interpreter for President of a great Western and Christian nation . The Roosevelt when he met King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. Eddy meeting marks the high point of Muslim was photographed with the king on board the destroyer USS alliance with the West . This moral alliance, Murphy. Photo courtesy of Mrs. Mary Eddy Furman. this willingness of the leader of Islam to face West and bind his fortunes to ours, symbolizes a consummation devoutly to be wished in the world today . With Eastern Europe and perhaps Far East Asia lost to us, with Western Europe and Latin America on our side, there remains a vast tract of land from Morocco to Pakistan and Afghanistan containing several hundred million people, vast resources of manpower, food and oil, and the strategic bases and the warm water ports which would be indispensable to us in a third world war .
The U.S.S. Murphy prepares to tie up alongside the U.S.S. Quincy so the King can move from one ship to the other for 48 his meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Overhead view of King Abdulaziz Al-Saud and President Franklin D. Roosevelt with Col. William A. Eddy
The gift DC-3 arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mansur spoke for the Kingdom: “In the name of my on April 14, 1945, just two days following Franklin father, His Majesty Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, I accept gratefully Roosevelt’s death, and just over a week since the final this most handsome airplane, a gift from his beloved correspondence between the two leaders . Colonel friend, President Roosevelt. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia William A . Eddy, who was the American minister in will value this gift for many reasons in addition to its Saudi Arabia, and who had interpreted for the King and valuable service in transportation: it will always recall the the President aboard the Quincy, formally presented giver, your late President, for whom His Majesty conceived the airplane to Prince Mansur, who was the son of King unparalleled admiration; it will knit more firmly the Abdulaziz and Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia . Each strands of friendship between our nations as it weaves its gave a speech about the airplane and the relationship way back and forth over our land, guided by American between the two nations . hands…”
49 Members of the royal family were flown in the airplane
50 In the eyes of the people he ruled, “King Abdulaziz to attack Abdulaziz’s positions . When Sharif Ali finally was taller . His shoulders were broader, he was a better surrendered to Abdulaziz in December, the future King of hunter, a braver warrior, more skillful in wielding a knife Saudi Arabia, acquired these airplanes as spoils of war . whether in personal combat or in skinning sheep, he The experience of being bombed evidently persuaded excelled in following the tracks of camels and finding his Abdulaziz of the value of airplanes for military way in the desert . In him his subjects saw their own lives purposes . From December, 1925 until the Second World in heroic size .…” War, King Abdulaziz slowly built the basis for a Royal There had been airplanes in the Kingdom previously . Saudi Air Force, buying military aircraft and building During the First World War, Britain’s Royal Flying airfields . Saudi pilots were sent to Italy and later to Cairo Corps, No . 14 Squadron, had operated in the Hejaz for training . region . In 1925, after the war, Sharif Hussein Ibn Ali, The DC-3 was a different breed of airplane . Developed whose rule over the Hejaz was being threatened by to fly passengers in unprecedented comfort and style, Abdulaziz, acquired six De Havilland 9 combat aircraft the DC-3 also had speed and range—in short, it was from Germany . These aircraft were eventually used big, it was fast, and perhaps most importantly, it was
The late King Saud bin Abdulaziz disembarks from airplane
51 The late King Abdulaziz boarding
52 53 1945. Original Log from the U.S.S. Quincy:
Crimean Yalta list of Saudis onboard the U.S.S. Quincy
54 Runway in the desert
modern . Like his stately Pierce-Arrow car, the DC-3 was State “…Lieut. Colonels Shumate and Ellis and a Captain an airplane worthy of a king . of the A.T.C. flew from Cairo to Jeddah…Stormy weather, Even more, the DC-3 was symbolic of the King’s however, prevented the plane from landing at Jeddah ascendance into the modern world . “With the advent of and they spent the night at Port Sudan where their plane the DC-3, the airframe revolution was complete and the landed only with the greatest difficulty. They arrived at modern airliner had arrived . …The aircraft established Jeddah the next day, only two hours before the arrival of a standard against which other airliners were measured ”. General Giles with Shaikh Yusuf Yassin…On August 5, Certainly no other aircraft of the era could have created the entire party proceeded to Riyadh on the King’s plane, such a stir . returning to Jeddah August 8.” There is little record of King Abdulaziz himself actually Records show that the King first flew in his gift airplane flying in the airplane for the first months following on September 29, 1945, flying from Afif to Taif . its delivery . When the airplane was delivered, the After the war’s end, the arrangements for military arrangement was for American army pilots to fly it, pilots continued for a time, but because of a lack of rotated every couple of months . suitable housing for the pilots in Jeddah, the military Records show that the airplane was used to fly members recommended that the plane and crews be moved to of the American legation in Saudi Arabia, and military Cairo, “even though their withdrawal means that the personnel . On August 8, 1945, William Eddy, then the king’s plane will be inoperative for some time to come ”. American minister in Jeddah, wrote to the Secretary of
55 ARAMCO charter aircraft and pilot
56 The late King Abdulaziz at the Jeddah airfield in 1928. The aircraft may be one of the captured DH 9s
57 58 59 60 Captain Grant flying his beloved DC-3 for King Abdulaziz
4 The Plane and its Pilot
The man who got the job of King’s pilot was Joe Grant, Joe says that flying the King was like “the old and he would stay with the King and the airplane for barnstorming days,” going places where there weren’t two years . any landing strips much less any of the navigational aids As much as the DC-3 was the right airplane for King of the time . Sometimes he didn’t know where they were Abdulaziz’s vision for the Kingdom, it needed the right going, but the desert people did, and that was all right pilot . The King needed a pilot who could take him with Joe . For Joe Grant, flying the King was his job . “The anyplace, who would look at the kind of flying he was King, he was the man I was working for . We could take going to have to do and think, as Joe Grant says himself, him anyplace in that desert ”. And he came to admire the it was fun . When King Abdulaziz got Joe Grant, he got people and the culture, so that when he finally left the the right man for the job . Kingdom, he had become part of it . It was a part of him .
61 “Most of our co-pilots were Saudis–we had four of them. Hamza Terrabzoni I liked the best and usually when I flew, the King would get Hamza.” – Joe Grant
62 As early as 1926, King Abdulaziz had thought of using his captured military aircraft for mail and commercial traffic . But the first real push to establish an airline in the Kingdom came during the war years and immediately after, as TWA entered into negotiations with the Kingdom . In September, 1946, the Kingdom signed an agreement with TWA to develop the airline . Joe Grant and another TWA pilot and mechanic, Mark Outhwaite, flew to Cairo to buy additional surplus C-47s . According to Joe, they bought five, and had three of them converted to passenger use . Thus, by February 1947 the Kingdom had six DC-3s flying, three with the “royal” registration SA-R, and the others with a new SA- A registration . One record indicates that there were ten DC-3s flying by August, 1947 . The agreement was for TWA to operate and manage the airline for five years – a relationship that turned out to be much longer . The vision of the King was that with domestic airline service, the far-flung regions of the kingdom would be drawn closer, if not in distance, certainly in time . And international service, especially in the region, would make the pilgrimage to Mecca more feasible . But it would take a few more years for infrastructure to catch up with the vision .
DC-3’s in the 1940’s parked at Saudi airfields. Joe Grant photos
Continued on page 68 63 Captain Bob Morgan:
Memoirs of his pilot days in Saudi Arabia
Captain Bob Morgan of Hickory, North Carolina, is I was discharged from the military December 18th, one of the last surviving pilots from the early era of 1945 and was employed by TWA as part of the first the DC-3 in Saudi Arabia . He was a contemporary of flight crew to go to Saudi Arabia . It was barnstorming Captain Joe Grant and flew with Joe inSaudi Arabia . at its ultimate . The only asset we had over the oldtimers Although he was assigned to Aramco initially and in aviation was our modern aircraft, a DC-3 . Paved later transferred as one of the first Saudi Arabian runways were non-existent, the same for navigational Airline pilots, he occasionally flew King Abdulaziz and aids, traffic control or weather facilities . members of the royal family . TWA eventually hired Being young, we believed we were indestructible and Captain Morgan and 12 additional American pilots were unknowingly well supplied with an abundance of to train and fly for the newly created Saudi Arabian guts . It really wasn’t’t that bad as our flying was mostly Airlines in 1947 . At that time, Captain Joe Grant was visual and during daylight . The vice-president of TWA’s named General Manager of the fledgling airline . north Atlantic division, C . R . Springer, came to Cairo The following recollections of his days in Saudi Arabia with other personnel for the purpose of securing surplus are in the words and photographs of Captain Bob military lend lease aircraft and equipment; and also to Morgan: assist the countries of Ethiopia, Iran and Saudi-Arabia in “At the end of WWII, TransWorld Airlines was awarded setting up their own national airlines . Also, TWA was to route extensions into India . TWA founded Iranian charter two aircraft to ARAMCO . Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Saudi Arabia Airlines The first aircraft to be conditioned for civilian use around the same time . They also leased two DC-3s to was a C47-B, a former lend lease from the British Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company) with crews . army . It was consigned to ARAMCO . The registration Aramco is a part of Standard Oil of California and was was 6408, and it’s American crew were Ralph Austin, instrumental in discovering and developing the oil fields George Carl and Robert Morgan . The purchase price in Saudi Arabia . was $20,000 . After the end of World War II, the British
64 parked many different types of lend lease aircraft at Dhahran over the Rub’Al Khali to Aden . At the time Ismalia, Egypt . These aircraft were brought to Payne no roads existed, motorized vehicles were useless and field, a United States Military base in Cairo, to be helicopters were nonexistent . We were advised by the conditioned for civilian use by the aforementioned American Embassy that if we traversed the area, ran into airlines . If the aircraft was to be used for flight the difficulty and had to make an emergency landing to take price was $20,000, if used for spare parts, the price was out our 45s and do ourselves a favor . Total flight time $10,000 . All of these aircraft were C-47s and almost was five hours . new . The British had huge storage areas for aircraft The recommended alternative route was from Dhahran parts, plus complete maintenance and overhaul depots, to Jeddah, take on fuel and proceed down the coast TWA purchased a large portion of this equipment for to Aden . Even this route was not without risk . If we $2,800,000, an extremely low price . For example, radios encountered trouble, we had at least a fighting chance . and instruments were sold for 8 cents per pound . New Total flight time was nine hours . engines cost $250 . TWA also bought the U .S . Army On one of my trips to Aden, we decided on the direct . Air Force maintenance facilities at Payne field . This route over the Rub’Al Khali and we saw things en route became a major maintenance base for TWA’s scheduled that can only be witnessed from the air . I believe that international operation, and the new carriers . Payne field we were the first to see this territory from the air . And is now Cairo international airport . there were also signs of ancient habitation in the hard The time I spent in Saudi-Arabia was from December pan areas of the Empty Quarter . This was truly an 1945 to spring of 1949 . I flew the ARAMCO charter first, unforgettable flight . and then transferred to Saudi Arabian Airlines as one of My time in Saudi Arabia was instrumental in the original 13 pilots . determining who and what I was to become in later Two men with Aramco working with their Saudi life . The Saudi people I have known have my greatest counterparts were most instrumental in the respect, especially the Bedouin . The first king was King development of oil interests in that part of the world: Abdulaziz Ibn Saud and he took pride in his Bedouin Max Steineke, who was the chief geologist and Floyd ancestry . I met and flew many members of the royal Ohlinger, an engineer . I flew these men many times, family and they were all great people . especially Steineke, on aerial surveys . Besides being a The Aramco contract folded and I was transferred over great geologist, he was a great teacher and I was an eager to Saudi Arabian Airlines . Our co-pilots and radio student . He would point out various changes in the operators were Saudi nationals . One Saudi crew member, topography and explain how these changes occurred . He a radio operator named Khaled Helawani, flew with also spoke of the vast quantities of oil under the Empty me quite often and we became close friends . He said Quarter . He theorized that the oil likely extended from something I’ll never forget . “Morgan, you are my friend, the Empty Quarter to Iran and the northern area of Iraq . and being my friend, you are my brother. And being my This all proved to be true . brother, I will die for you. Will you do the same for me?” n Aramco in 1946 had interests in Aden which is in present day Yemen and we made occasional flights from Dhahran to Aden . The most direct route was from
65 Map courtesy of Saudi Aramco Map/route additions by Bob Morgan
66 “You’d see a cloud of dust coming across the desert, one guard on each side on the running board–what an experience! Something to see…” – Joe Grant
Most of the photographs that record the history of civil aviation in Saudi Arabia were either black and white originally; or black and white copies of color originals are all that remain. Scattered throughout this book are rare color images that have been saved
67 Continued from page 63
Joe Grant spent two years in Saudi Arabia, mostly flying leave Saudi Arabia for?” I would have swum the King and the royal family . As his time wore on, he back, almost, to get back there. Because there saw other pilots in Cairo and Beirut flying new aircraft, I was happy. I was happy in Saudi Arabia. and he began to feel left behind . He tells the story like Probably it was all the challenges… this . . There were plenty of those, even for an old barnstormer . They were getting more airplanes, and all I When Joe Grant got to Saudi Arabia, there were only was doing was sitting back there in a DC-3. two airfields, one at Dhahran and the other at Jeddah, And that bugged me. I thought I was missing both improved as a military necessity . King Abdulaziz out on some of the fun. And I was…But what had a landing strip at Taif, where he had his summer did they put me in when I got back here [to] palace . If the King wanted his airplane somewhere else, TWA? They put me flying DC-3s. I’ll tell you, Joe had to pick out a likely spot to put the DC-3 down when I first got … there in Kansas City, and from the air . There were no landmarks, no large cities, they put me back in school and said hey, and no one to talk to on the radio . Joe pretty much you’ve got to get modernized, and they beat depended on the Saudis to find the places where the me down a bit, and I felt like, “What in the King wanted his plane . When he got there, he took a fix world are you doing here? What did I ever on the stars to find out where he was .
68 “We were an airline without airports.” – Joe Grant
69 “As we began to collect the money for ticket sales, I kept it in a footlocker at the foot of my bed, I had to call the minister of finance to find out what to do with it.” – Joe Grant
In 2006, Joe Grant returned to Saudi Arabia as a guest TWA passenger service through Dhahran . In the 1950s of the royal family . As he toured the places he had seen Saudi Arabian Airlines expanded its passenger fleet, 60 years before, he saw the development as the natural adding 10 Convair 340s and two DC-4s . The expansion evolution of the vision of the man he knew – King was in large part a response to the growing demand Abdulaziz . “He was one of the greatest men of our time . from Islamic pilgrims wanting to travel to Mecca and He wanted to bring his people up to what this great Madinah, and the airline’s destinations – Kuwait, Jordan, country is now . What a transformation!” Pakistan, Istanbul among them – reflected that demand . When Saudi Arabian Airlines was started in 1946, the The rapid development of the oilfields and the need vision for the airline was two-fold: to ferry people, mail, to bring people and equipment to the Kingdom was and cargo within the Kingdom, and to enable Muslims beyond the capacity of Saudi Arabian Airlines and to make the pilgrimage to Mecca . The fledgling airline TWA . In 1947 Aramco inaugurated its own transatlantic was limited by the range and size of its DC-3s . The passenger service with the “Flying Camel” – a DC-4 earliest routes connected Riyadh with Jeddah, Madinah, – flying from New York to Dhahran, with stops in the Taif, Dhahran, and Hofuf . Jeddah was linked to Cairo, Azores, Lisbon, Rome, and Beirut . A second DC-4, and, in 1948, to Damascus and Beirut . Transatlantic dubbed the “Flying Gazelle,” was brought on later the service to and from the Kingdom in 1946 was limited to same year . It wasn’t’t until 1961 that commercial aviation
70 Crown Prince (later King) Faisal arriving on an official visit
71 made the Aramco’s own transatlantic flights (by then maintenance even more a part of the aviation scene DC-6s) redundant . than ever . Early on, major repairs and overhauls had In 1946 the only “airports” in Saudi Arabia were at to be performed outside Saudi Arabia, but routine Jeddah and Dhahran . The field atJeddah had been maintenance, for both Saudi Arabian airlines and in use for some time, even prior to the unification Aramco, was done in-house – in the case of Joe Grant of the Kingdom . The Dhahran airfield was built by and the original crews of Saudi Arabian Airlines, by the the American military, under a 1945 agreement . As pilots themselves . additional routes were established, airstrips were located Aramco quickly built up its maintenance operation . by where pilots chose to land, and passenger services as By the 1960s, Aramco was doing almost all its own we know them today – making reservations, tickets and maintenance and repair in Dhahran – “everything from so on – were rudimentary . propellers and brakes to radios and seat cushions ”. Flying in the sand and heat of the desert makes
Many of these early images are from slides Joe Grant had taken of the Royal DC-3’s and the Saudi Arabian Airline aircraft, a few are in color
72 Flying in the sand and heat of the desert makes maintenance even more a part of the aviation scene than ever. Early on, major repairs and overhauls had to be performed outside Saudi Arabia, but routine maintenance, for both Saudi Arabian Airline and Aramco, was done in-house
73 According to an illustrated history of the airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines bought four of these Lockheed Lodestars in 1950. Only one may have been delivered to the Kingdom, but was never put into service
74 Evolution of the Saudi Arabian Airlines logos
75 Saudi Arabian Airlines DC-3 preparing to take-off from airport DC-3 at Riyadh airport
76 The late HRH Prince Fahad bin Abdulaziz (later Custodian of the Aramco Convair Two Holy Mosques) on board the DC-3
77 In 1949, Saudi Arabian Airlines bought fiveBristol 170 freighters to diversify the fleet. These aircraft could be adapted for cargo or passenger use–the seats could be removed easily–and could be loaded through clamshell doors at the front. The aircraft remained in service until 1958
78 With the Royal DC-3s (SA-R-1, 2, and 3) and the next speed and convenience of air travel allowed him to generation airliner, the DC-4 (SA-R-4), Saudi Arabia travel quickly to give Saudi Arabia a voice in changing took a larger diplomatic role in regional and world regional affairs . Crown Prince (and in 1953, King) affairs . Prince, and later, King Faisal had been Saudi Saud used the aircraft on state visits to regional powers Arabia’s diplomatic face since he was 14 years old (in such as Egypt and Lebanon, and the airfields at Jeddah 1919, he represented his father, King Abdulaziz on a and Riyadh allowed state visits to the Kingdom from diplomatic mission to England, and since 1926 he had regional and international powers . been the Kingdom’s de facto foreign minister), but the
79 The late King Saud of Saudi Arabia (in the back) with the late King Hussein of Jordan (right), and the late HRH Prince Nawaf (left) inDhahran in 1953
There were a number of years in which airlines operated without the luxury of buildings. Nevertheless, the protocols of immigration were maintained—passports and visas still had to be stamped. The SAA emblem on the front of the aircraft indicates that the photo was taken prior to 1952, when the airline’s abbreviation was changed to SDI to avoid duplication with South African Airways.
80 When Joe Grant and the other pilots and copilots The artifacts of that early history displayed on these were flying the first scheduled flights for Saudi Arabian pages are provided by Aramco family members . At first, Airlines, they didn’t think of themselves as making Aramco flew DC-4s between New York and Dhahran, history . Joe says he was just doing a job, working for the and touted the fact that they made the trip in less than King . As a result, few if any records of the day-to-day thirty hours flying time . By 1954 the company was flying operations of the fledgling airline—flight schedules, DC-6Bs . The usual NewYork to Dhahran routing was tickets, and the like—exist today . New York, Gander, Amsterdam, Rome, Beirut, Dhahran . Thanks to individuals who saved them as memorabilia, TheGander to Amsterdam leg was some eleven hours in there are some records from the days when Aramco flew the air . its employees internationally and within Saudi Arabia .
Airline ticket receipt for TWA leaving Geneva arriving Dhahran 1954
81 82 Page 1 of the Passenger Information Booklet for Aramco Aircraft
Aramco flight schedule for the DC-6B, front and back 83 The Evolution of an Airline…
84 …and Towards the Space Era
85 Throughout this small history, we’ve shown how development begins to drive itself, as aviation did, when, aviation was a significant tool in the modernization with airplanes there was a sudden need for airports, of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, beginning with King maintenance, fueling stations, passenger service, Abdulaziz and his DC-3 . Other regional powers had a immigration control structures, and, of course, trained vast head start in terms of development—transportation, people to man those tasks . King Abdulaziz and his sons governmental institutions, and the economic structure have had to be guided largely by their own vision and of the country . With aviation King Abdulaziz and his instincts to take the Kingdom forward . sons King Saud and King Faisal flew into the modern Other regional powers took their models from world . So to speak . colonizing nations . Saudi Arabia has never been When development takes place—has to take place—at colonized, and so development has had a uniquely Saudi the rate it did in Saudi Arabia, there is no guidebook . character . Amid the modern cities, highways, airports, There’s no plan to follow, no model . Sometimes and architecture, daily life in the Kingdom would still be
86 87 recognized by King Abdulaziz as distinctly Saudi . Dammam, and King Abdulaziz International Airport When Joe Grant returned to the Kingdom in 2006, after in Jeddah, still the busiest airport in the Kingdom) . 60 years, he found the cities transformed, but Saudi In addition there are four regional airports and 16 traditions unchanged . “What a wonderful culture! I domestic airports . don’t know whether the king awakened a culture that “Today Saudi Arabian Airlines has some ninety one was already there, or if he just perfected a culture that aircraft, including the latest and most advanced wide- existed…” bodied jets presently available, flies to more than Saudi Arabian Airlines today has grown into the second ninety destinations worldwide, and…carried more largest airline in the region . The Kingdom operates than eighteen million passengers in 2007 ”. From small three international airports (King Khalid International beginnings, the Kingdom has come far . Airport in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in
88 89 There is a new generation of flyers now in Saudi flying, to be sure, but in a different way . For Prince Arabia, men such as Prince Sultan bin Salman, who Sultan it may be because he saw the country from so far are exploring new relationships between aviation and above, that now he wants to see it in detail, flying low the development of the Kingdom . In 1985, Prince level, in a glider . It may be that this kind of aviation Sultan bin Salman became the first Saudi to go into will become part of the future of the Kingdom, as the space, a member of the crew of the space shuttle country gains a reputation as a premier place to soar . Discovery . After returning to Earth, as he stepped off The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has modernized at the airplane in Taif in his NASA flight suit, he realized an extraordinary pace . The benefits are apparent to that Saudi Arabia was “about to shift gears and go into everyone—large modern cities, highways, beautiful a new era ”. It recalls the time when the DC-3 helped airports and architecture . At the same time, daily life in his grandfather, King Abdulaziz, step into the modern the Kingdom is distinctly Saudi, in manner, in dress, in world . From now on, Saudi Arabia would look different . custom . Just as it was for King Abdulaziz, the concern During the first orbit, the astronauts all looked for their for leaders of the country is to sustain that unique own countries; later, they began to see their countries heritage in the face of an increasingly global sense of the in the contexts of regions, and continents . And finally, world . they saw themselves as part of the world as a whole—a One part of the vision that King Abdulaziz had for completely new context . (Opening remarks at the First aviation was that ease of movement throughout the Congress of the Association of Space Explorers, held in Kingdom would give the far regions of the country a Cernay, France . (2 October 1985) . Association of Space sense that they were one nation . That vision persists Explorers . Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz .) today . Many of the country’s leading citizens have These days, Prince Sultan and others in the Saudi expressed concern that the nation find a balance that Aviation Club want to see their country in new ways— does not diminish the values of tradition and heritage .
HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Payload Specialist, aboard the space shuttle Discovery mission site, June 1985. Photograph courtesy NASA
90 HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman gliding over Saudi Arabia (Photo by Roger Harrison, Wings Over Arabia, 2013) http://youtu.be/qJJpuTipQPk 91 SA-R-1 as it sits today in the Saqr Al Jazeerah Air Museum in Riyadh. The original crossed swords emblem on the front door has been replaced by a centennial commemorative design
92 5 Restoration
The original gift DC-3 airplane served the King and the Force base . Kingdom for a long time, first as the King’s personal In 1999, for the centennial of the Kingdom of Saudi airplane, the SA-R-1 . It’s recorded that King Abdulaziz Arabia, another restoration was undertaken by the first flew in the airplane on September 30, 1945, from Boeing Corporation, this time to return SA-R-1 to Afif to Taif . Later the DC-3 became one of the airliners flying condition . The photographs on these pages are in Saudi Arabian Airlines’ growing fleet of DC-3s . The the various stages in the process, from disassembly and king’s DC-3 held subsequent registrations SA-T-1 and transport, to running up the engines prior to the first HZ-AAX . flight . The restoration was contracted toRoyal Aviation; The DC-3 served the Kingdom until 1977, a 32-year the work was done in Saudi Arabia . span, clocking some 32,000 hours . For 10 years following The airplane now takes pride of place in the Saqr Al its retirement, the airplane sat out on the runway, Jazeerah Air Museum in Riyadh, where people can go neglected . In 1987 it was decided that the airplane to see and even sit in this great piece of Saudi Arabian should be turned into a static display; it underwent the aviation history . first of two restorations and was stored at Riyadh Air
Viewed from the front, the Saqr Al Jazeerah Air Museum reminds us of the undulating sand dunes all around
93 A few parts for the restoration of the DC-3 were obtained from an airframe resting in an aircraft junkyard outside ofRiyadh
An impressive collection of well maintained aircraft and artifacts are displayed throughout the museum
94 The aircraft in various stages of paint application. Photographs courtesy of Boeing and Royal Aviation
1999 image of the restored DC-3
95 Seating capacity today is two rows of 14 seats; the seats can be Joe Grant, back in the cockpit of the DC-3 after 60 years! Cockpit of restored DC-3 / SAR-1 stowed to increase available cargo space. There is a galley behind the cockpit doors and lavatory in the rear
96 Cockpit of restored DC-3 / SAR-1 The engine cowlings are not the original Tail section of restored DC3 / SAR-1 cowlings that were on the King’s DC-3, but a later addition to increase speed
97 The Saqr Al Jazeerah Air Museum houses many examples of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters used by the Royal Saudi Air Force through its history
T-33, Lightning and Tornado
Many larger aircraft are on display outside the museum
98 Saudi crew with HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz with his son HRH Prince Salman bin Sultan bin Salman and DC-3 / SAR-1 flown in 1999 after restoration
99 HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman and Saudi pilot Ret. Col. Flying the DC-3 / SAR-1 over Diriyyah, Saudi Arabia the first Al Zahrani Ali Ahmed Rashed flying the DC-3 / SAR-1 Capital of Saudi State (founded in 1745) in 1999 after restoration
Below: DC-3 / SAR-1 in flight
100 101 right to Left: HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz; Al Levesque, USS Quincy; Joe Grant; HRH Prince Bandar bin Khaled Al Faisal; Bob Winsjansen, USS Quincy; Henry “Bud” Meech, USS Murphy
102 HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman and Joe Grant
6 Joe and the Naval Crew
In June of 2006, after over 60 years of absence, crew Abdulaziz from President Roosevelt, were warmly members from the USS Quincy and Murphy along with welcomed by the people of Saudi Arabia . Captain Joe Grant returned to Saudi Arabia . Invited by Their welcome began aboard a modern Saudi Arabian the government of Saudi Arabia, this delegation made Airlines jetliner traveling from New York City to the history again with their visit to the Kingdom . Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . They were treated royally Albert Levesque and Bob Winsjansen of the Quincy, by the crew and passengers of the airliner from the Henry “Bud” Meech, of the Murphy and Captain Grant, moment that they arrived at JFK International airport the original pilot of the famous DC-3 gift to King until they returned to the U .S . many days later .
103 Joe Grant, accompanied by his wife, Marga, sees the restored DC-3 / SAR-1 in Saqr Al Jazeera Museum DC-3 for the first time in 60 years
Upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, they were whisked around old baby again . Would you offer me a job?” the country meeting members of the royal family, Joe was accompanied by his wife, Marga, and the Quincy government officials, Saudi Arabian Airlines personnel and Murphy crew members . For the crew members, it and other dignitaries throughout the Kingdom . A was the first time that they had ever seen the aircraft that particular highlight of their visit was a visit to Saqr Al was gifted to the people of Saudi Arabia in 1945 when Jazeera Museum at Arriyadh Airbase which housed their two ships brought together King Abdulaziz and the original DC-3 restored aircraft, the SAR-1 gift from President Roosevelt . President Roosevelt to King Abdulaziz . In the museum’s guest book, Grant wrote: “A great As Joe Grant rounded the corner and saw the DC-3 museum made possible by the pilots of a great country . I he last flew almost sixty years prior, his face lit up with am proud to be a member with these great pilots . Credit excitement and awe . “My goodness”, Joe said, “it looks to the great Kings who have followed King Abdulaziz exactly like the day I flew her into Saudi Arabia in 1945 ”. and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . It is an honor to be Joe Grant was almost 100 years old, but immediately given another look at the Royal DC-3 airplane and this said to General Muhammad Al-Mutani, his host and wonderful museum . God bless the Kingdom of Saudi Riyadh Airbase Commander, “I am fit enough to fly my Arabia ”.
104 When Joe and the crews of the Quincy and Murphy Levesque and Winsjansen of the Quincy, Meech of were presented special awards from General Al-Mutani, the Murphy and the Grants were honored at a special Joe recalled that the maiden flight of the DC-3 was dinner at reception at the Quincy House, the residence between Afif andTaif on March 29, 1945 . He said that of the U . S . Ambassador to Saudi Arabia . The Quincy the aircraft was state of the art and the best that America House is named after the USS Quincy and has a model had to offer at the time . replica of that ship prominently displayed in the foyer of the residence .
Joe Grant and General Al-Mutani
Joe and Marga Grant with General Al-Mutani
105 Joe Grant, General Al-Mutani and Saudi Air Force personnel
106 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, (then Governor of Riyadh), with Joe and Marga Grant
Front row: Marga and Joe Grant Back row: Henry “Bud” Meech, Bob Winsjansen, Al Levesque
107 Top row: Bud Meech, Bob Winsjansen, U.S. Ambassador James C. Oberwetter Bottom row: Joe Grant, a Saudi friend and Albert Levesque
HRH Prince Sultan makes a presentation to Joe Grant
HRH Prince Sultan presents a model of the DC-3 / SAR-1 to Joe Grant
108 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz (then the Governor of Riyadh), giving award to Joe Grant
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Marga and Joe Grant in the Governer Palace, Riyadh Saudi Abdulaziz (then the Governor of Riyadh), and USS Quincy Arabia Crew Member, Bob Winsjansen
109 HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz greeting Joe Grant during one of his visits
110 7 Joe’s Return
In May of 2009, at the invitation of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Joe Grant returned to Saudi Arabia for the last time . It was a memorable return with Joe experiencing reunions with numerous senior princes and dignitaries . Most of the princes and King Abdullah himself had not seen Joe since they were young men and children . The highlight of the trip was a personal audience with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz . The king greeted Joe, his family and group at his farm in Janadriyah . Their eyes had not met in over six decades . When the King first saw Joe, he said, “Joseph, your face is still the same ”. Joe and the King, in the presence of other senior royal family members and important Saudi personalities spent over three hours together . Joe was amazed by all of the recognition from everyone present, particularly his former passengers, who were all young men and boys when he transported them across the desert sands .
111 It was a wonderful experience for all at the farm . offices of HRH Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Stories of days of old abounded and memories of King Head of the National Guard; HRH Prince Badr bin Abdulaziz came alive . Some in attendance who had Abdulaziz; HRH Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz; HRH never met King Abdulaziz sat with Joe for a long time Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz; HRH as they marveled at his memories of the King and the Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz; and a number of other beginnings of civil aviation in the Kingdom . Saudi princes and senior officials . The senior princes Saudi Arabian Airlines and the Saudi Aviation Club reminded Joe of the trials and tribulations of flying honored Joe and his family throughout the trip which in Saudi Arabia in those early days of aviation . Stories included Riyadh visits to the Darat Al-Malik Abdulaziz, abounded as the princes recalled flights throughout the Saudi Arabian Airlines headquarters, and the Aviation Kingdom . Prince Badr bin Abdulaziz shared an incident Saqr Al-Jazeerah Museum where he sat, one last time, in when Captain Grant was assigned by King Abdulaziz to his beloved DC-3, SAR-1 . pick up his mother who was ill in an outlying district . She was to be transported back to Riyadh to receive Joe was hosted and presented gifts at the homes and immediate medical care and the young Prince Badr flew
The late HRH Prince Badr bin Abdulaziz, HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and Joe Grant
112 on the plane with Joe . proudly introduced Joe to their respective families . As Joe was preparing to land on his return to Riyadh, he When Prince Muqrin met Joe, he told Joe that he had attempted to lower the landing gear but only one wheel flown on Joe’s plane as a baby in the mid-1940s . All came down . Joe, recalled Prince Badr, had to try an had fond memories of their time in the DC-3 with Joe . emergency landing procedure wherein he would come For most of them, it was their first meeting with an down and bounce the one wheel off the desert to see if American and they all commented on his friendliness the action would free the other wheel and send it down . and kindness . Joe recalled the wisdom of the King and IT WORKED! Joe then lifted the plane back into the air, his love and care for his fellow countrymen to all Saudis made another pass and safely landed . “You saved our that he met . Joe stated, “King Abdulaziz was a great and lives,” said Prince Badr . In response to such stories, Joe wise man not only for his time but also for the ages . It simply commented, “I was just doing my job ”. was such a privilege for me to have known him . And what he meant to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world Prince Nayef and Prince Bandar presented pictures to will never be forgotten ”. Joe of the days when they flew together with Joe and
HRH Prince Fahad bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz and Joe Grant
113 Left to Right: HRH Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz, HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman, Joe Grant and Michael Saba HRH Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz
HRH Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz and sons with Joe Grant and Michael Saba
114 Members of the Royal Family disembarking from aircraft
DC-3s waiting for passengers to board
115 The Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir (then Saudi Ambassador to the United States) and Joe Grant
116 Gathering of DC-3’s at Oshkosh 2009 Oshkosh Airshow 2009 OC-3 preparing to take off honoring Joe Grant at Center Stage
8 Recognition
Shortly after returning from his historic 2009 of his presentation of the DC-3 gifted to King Abdulaziz triumphant return visit to Saudi Arabia, Joe was heavily by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt . Additionally engaged in preparations for an active summer and Joe gave two major presentations and appeared at fall of that year . Captain Joe Grant had been invited as numerous Oshkosh events honoring him and the an honored guest to the 2009 Experimental Aircraft memory of King Abdulaziz and their joint contributions Association annual conference popularly known as the to the history of aviation . Oshkosh Air Show . Joe was invited to receive awards and Oshkosh 2009 was also the site picked for the debut of make presentations at the 2009 event . “King Abdulaziz…His Plane and His Pilot,” the book The Oshkosh Air Show is the most well-known and which catalogued the historic achievements of King popular air show in the world; every summer it turns Abdulaziz, Joe Grant and Saudi Arabia in the field of the small Wisconsin town of Oshkosh into the aviation civil aviation . capitol of the world . Oshkosh attendance is estimated at The re-creation of the gifting of the DC-3 by President upwards of 500,000 yearly with up to 15,000 aircraft . Roosevelt to King Abdulaziz took place with great 101 year-old Joe Grant flew to center stage Oshkosh fanfare . A vintage DC-3 bearing early Saudia livery was from neighboring Appleton, Wisconsin in a DC-3, brought into AirVenture’s center stage and was greeted piloting the plane for part of the trip, as a reenactment by hundreds . The grandsons of President Franklin
117 Delano Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz – Delano sport pilot certificate and was honored at Oshkosh as Roosevelt and Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz the first certified and licensed armless pilot not assisted Al-Saud – attended the ceremony . Also present on by any prosthetic devices . During the ceremony, Prince the flight were Grant’s son and grandson, Edward and Sultan, who heads up groups in Saudi Arabia devoted to Michael; Steve Taylor, President of Boeing Business Jets, assisting disabled children, said, “People such as Jessica Ken Hoffman, former president of the Experimental are not disabled people, they are enabled people . The Aviation Association and Michael Saba . Prince Sultan, term ‘disabled’ is becoming increasingly archaic when we an astronaut and aviator, had flown numerous kinds see people like this ”. of aircraft including the DC-3 . In 1985, he flew as a At a press conference immediately after landing, Joe space shuttle payload specialist in a seven-member Grant said: “My time in Saudi Arabia was the greatest international crew . STS-51G Discovery was their means gift I could ever have been given . At the time, I didn’t of transportation . realize what an opportunity it was . I thought I was just Aviation’s role in assisting the injured and disabled was doing my job . Being with King Abdulaziz was one of the another featured highlight of the 2009 Oshkosh Air greatest honors of my life ”. Show . Jessica Cox, a licensed pilot who was born with Prince Sultan, pointing to Grant during the conference, no arms, was also riding in the DC-3 . She earned her said: “I have learned so much from this man over the
Three generations of Grants: Edward Grant, Joe Grant and Michael Grant
118 119
Left to right: Michael Grant, Joe Grant, Jim Bleth, OSHKOSH Rep and Jessica Cox HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman and Delano Roosevelt (to the left) Joe Grant onboard a DC-3 at Oshkosh and Joe Grant (to the right)
years . Joe said the secret to happiness and living longer we make it last much longer as we fly through the clouds is to keep flying ”. The king’s grandson grew to become a and see the earth from our own vantage point ”. Joe also pilot, as well as the first Arab and Muslim astronaut . pointed to his personal relationships with flying legends Roosevelt added that he would like to see developments Igor Sikorsky and “Wrong Way” Corrigan as well as his between the US and Saudi Arabia on the personal boss at TWA, Howard Hughes . level that was so in evidence at this special moment – The following day, Captain Joe Grant was honored “What you’re seeing here is all about relationships, and again at the annual “Gathering of the Eagles” Oshkosh maintaining relationships ”. closing banquet . Presided over by famous actor and pilot Later in the day, Captain Grant took another Oshkosh Harrison Ford, Joe Grant delivered a keynote speech to stage to deliver a stunning one-hour presentation which the hundreds in the audience and was given a special focused on his career as an aviator . He highlighted award . Joe Grant, Prince Sultan, and Delano Roosevelt his two years in Saudi Arabia with King Abdulaziz jointly presented Harrison Ford a special edition copy of and received numerous ovations during his succinct “King Abdulaziz….His Plane and His Pilot” mounted in a and witty remarks . “We pilots, unlike those tied to the case created from a vintage wooden propeller . ground, see things differently,” stated Joe . “We never have As Ford browsed through a copy of the book and saw a fixed horizon and adapt accordingly . Life is short but the pictures of Joe, King Abdulaziz and early aviation
120 Joe Grant receiving award at Oshkosh 2009 ceremony Top row: Businessman/Aviator William Barron Hilton, Joe Grant and the late Actor/Aviator Cliff Robertson
in the Kingdom, he stated, “You are much more like Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles who famously Indiana Jones than I am . This is a cherished gift from ditched an Airbus A320 with 155 people on board in you and the people of Saudi Arabia ”. the Hudson River in January without losing a single life . Captain Grant then asked the audience to look to the “Now that was a piece of real piloting,” said Grant . With tables in front of them and gifted them all with copies of Joe’s history, he knew . the book . At the Oshkosh event, the Society of Aviation and Flight At a post reception following the banquet Joe was met Educators, SAFE, also made Joe the first recipient of and honored by celebrity pilots Academy Award winner honorary membership in the history of the organization . Cliff Robertson; hotel magnate William Barron Hilton, Oshkosh was only one part of a very meaningful period a pilot of 63 years; and brothers Dick and Burt Rutan, as Joe Grant celebrated centenarian status . He was known for their 28,000 mile first non-stop and non- honored at the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space refueled flight around the world as well as Spaceships in Washington, D .C . shortly after his appearance at One and Two designed to be the first commercial Oshkosh . Appearing in the hall that included Orville aircraft going into space . and Wilbur Wright’s first airplane, Charles Lindbergh’s Earlier during this eventful day, Grant said he was “Spirit of St . Louis”, a Ford Tri-motor and a Boeing 707 particularly pleased to meet Capt . Chesley “Sully” cockpit, he was asked which of these types of airplanes
121 HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz , Joe Grant, and Delano Roosevelt speaking at Oshkosh award ceremony
HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz with Joe Grant presenting award to Harrison Ford, Oshkosh Gala night 2009 122 he had flown in their own time . He turned and looked Saudi Aviation were honored at a ceremony held in the over the aircraft and remarked, “I guess all of them” . museum . Another special moment occurred as Joe was shown Joe worked for Glenn Martin from 1930 to 1937, first the rest of the museum . When Joe looked at one of the as a mechanic and later as a pilot and aviation designer . airplanes flown by his maternal uncle, General Leigh He spent his spare time as a barnstormer flying willful Wade, on the first around the world flight in 1924, Joe participants from farm field to farm field for $1 .50 to commented, “Uncle Leigh was the man who taught me $2 . Joe with his brother Wilbur also started his own to fly in the 1920s . What a man and I learned so much commercial flying service during this period . from him ”. After being hired at Martin, Joe was assigned to help Joe’s next stop was at the Glenn L . Martin Maryland build a naval plane known as the PM-1 . He later Aviation Museum which is dedicated to the graduated to other Martin products including the fabled contributions of another aviation legend, Glenn Martin flying boat, the China Clipper . At the Martin ceremony and his company, Martin Aviation . Between 1909 and Joe was presented with a scale model of the China 1960, Martin designed and built over 80 different types Clipper . of aircraft totaling more than 11,000 planes . Joe and
HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on his left Delano Roosevelt, on his right HRH Prince Salman bin Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, and Capt. Joe Grant
123 Air Museum - Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Also honored at the ceremony were the contributions Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Ambassador to the United States of King Abdulaziz and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who presented the award, “Fire warms the body and for their contributions to aviation . It was noted that friendship warms the heart ”. the successor to the Martin Company, the Lockheed “Being in Saudi Arabia is a part of your life that makes Corporation, currently supplies the Kingdom with your life,” said Captain Grant . “Warmth, friendship and aviation products . feeling for one another—that is Saudi Arabia . The great The honors given to Joe Grant during his 101st year King Abdulaziz had a vision of friendship, and it is that were not the first in recognition of his years in Saudi vision and friendship, that we, as Americans, want to be Arabia . Previously, he was awarded the Parker T . Hart a part of ”. Award for fostering Saudi-U .S . relations and friendship During 2009, Captain Grant was also awarded “In Saudi Arabia we have a saying,” said His Excellency the coveted King Abdulaziz Medal First Class at
124 Adel Al-Jubeir then, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, presents medal to Joe Grant
the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D .C . Awareness Project Award . This honor is bestowed by This medal is awarded in recognition of significant the sponsoring organization only to those centenarians contributions made by an individual to the Kingdom of who have created a real historical distinction in Saudi Arabia . Other recipients of this medal include U . S . their lifetimes . Joe’s honor was featured in national Presidents George W . Bush and Barack Obama . publications such as the U .S . News and World Report . “What a wonderful honor,” stated Grant, “I cherish This magazine specifically noted Joe’s time in the my work and friendship with King Abdulaziz and to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with King Abdulaziz and be recognized with a medal bearing his name is very further noted their joint contributions and achievements special to me ”. in the history of civil aviation . The year was capped with another special award given only to centenarians—the National Centenarian
125 Satellite view of Saudi Arabia and Arabian Peninsula
126 127 Captain Joseph Grant 1908 – 2010
128 9 The Death of a Legend
Following the Oshkosh Air Show of 2009 and the center and celebrating flying examples of the Douglas DC-3 stage visit of Joe Grant in the vintage DC-3 with Saudi and the people associated with them one last time . A Arabia delivery, EAA officials made a decision to gather major inspiration for the event was Joe Grant and his as many existing DC-3s as possible for the 2010 air beloved Saudi DC-3 which served King Abdulaziz and show . It was also the year of the 75th anniversary of the people of Saudi Arabia so well not only as a means the DC-3, the airplane that changed the world . It was of transportation but also as a means of uniting the estimated that approximately 100 flying DC-3s were still country . existent; the goal was to have 20 to 25 of them present in The DC-3 and the C-47, its military counterpart, have 2010 . an extraordinary record; they changed the history of The event was planned by the Oshkosh organization aviation in Saudi Arabia and throughout the world . with the assistance of the Last Time Organization, an According to the EAA website, “The DC-3, in both organization created with the sole purpose of reuniting civilian and military configurations, has been a true Photo courtesy of Trev Morson, “The DC-3 Hanger” at www.douglasdc3.com Hanger” “The DC-3 Morson, of Trev courtesy Photo
DC-3s gathered in preparation for historic flight to EAA Oshkosh 2010 Photo courtesy of Trev Morson “The DC-3 Hangar” at www.douglasdc3.com
129 Douglas DC-3
workhorse aircraft since it was unveiled in 1935,” said By the late 1930s, it was estimated that 90 percent of Tom Poberezny, EAA president and AirVenture chairman. America’s airline passengers were flying in the DC-3 . “While the aircraft helped make air travel popular and More than 14,000 of the type were built, with some profitable in the 1930s and 1940s, the fact that it is 10,000 of them used extensively in all World War II still used around the world today is a testament to the operations theaters carrying the C-47 designation . aircraft’s design. We’re looking forward to welcoming these Fewer than 100 of the aircraft remain airworthy in the iconic aviation legends to Oshkosh for AirVenture 2010.” United States . Thousands of those airplanes went into Douglas Aircraft made the first flight of its new DC-3 civilian service after the war in countless applications, on Dec . 17, 1935 – the 32nd anniversary of the Wright from freight to fire suppression . The airplanes continued brothers’ first successful flight . It was first designed as an to be upgraded for many uses today, with one of all-metal passenger airliner, later evolving to a coast-to- the world’s leading DC-3 converters - Basler Turbo coast luxury transport complete with sleeping berths . Conversions - based at Wittman Regional Airport in
130 1948: Interior view of a DC-3.
Oshkosh, also home to EAA and AirVenture . a formal briefing, the last formation flight would take Captain Joe Grant was invited to fly into the 2010 off for the one-hour flight to Oshkosh . After circling Oshkosh Air Show with the formation of DC-3s as the the Oshkosh airfield in formation, the aircraft would leader of a special celebration established for the 75th sequentially land one by one on the center runway . At anniversary of the DC-3 . He was to be honored once this final event, all the DC-3 and C-47 pilots, passengers, again for his role in the history of aviation . crews, and even a group of paratroopers who would jump from the DC-3 aircraft, would join—for one last Joe started to receive notices from a newly formed time—to celebrate their joint activities . Joe Grant was Oshkosh show group in late 2009 . They wanted Joe to to be a featured guest and participant at each of these be at key events planned for the reunion . The event was activities . Joe and I talked on the phone and met many to begin at a neighboring Illinois airport and conclude times throughout the fall of 2009 and the winter which with a dinner where the pilots and crews would meet followed into 2010 . He had almost missed the 2009 for awards, music and fellowship . The next day, after Oshkosh Air Show due to health issues but that show
131 A total of twenty-three DC-3s crowded the skies above Oshkosh at the start of Airventure 2010. Photo courtesy of Steve Kurt
132 seemed to reinvigorate him . However, in early 2010 his show and been honored, but he also had actually piloted health took a turn for the worse . his beloved DC-3 one last time at that show . In early 2010, we discussed his upcoming 102nd We spoke of many things those last two days . He said birthday on March 24 and the plans for the day . Joe said, that flying had put him so high in the sky that he “When we first met, I was 98 and people would always already had been closer to heaven than most land bound ask if I was not looking forward to my 100th birthday . I people . We spoke about his barnstorming days in the would say no I was looking forward to my 99th birthday late 1920s and early 1930s and about the thrill of those first . Then I would look forward to my 100th birthday ”. experiences . Joe said, “That barnstorming was nothing He went on, “Now I am not so sure that I will even make compared to what those Rutan brothers are doing these it to 102 ”. He did . days . They are flying around the whole world without Shortly after his birthday in late March, his son told me refueling and now going off into space . Those boys are that Joe’s health was deteriorating rapidly and anyone real spacestormers ”. Later that year at Oshkosh, I told who wanted to see Joe one last time needed to come this “spacestormer” story to Dick Rutan . He loved the quickly . In early April, Joe and I met one last time . story and said, “I have got to tell Brother Burt what Joe said . No one has ever called us spacestormers before ”. As we visited, Joe expressed regret that he wouldn’t be able to go to the 2010 Oshkosh Air Show and be part of Joe Grant was a man of great wisdom and intelligence . the celebration of the DC-3 . But his eyes sparkled when At 102 he was still dispensing great philosophy and he recalled that not only had he attended the 2009 air coining new terms . He spoke of always doing the best that one can and staying positive . However, one of the
133 final thoughts Joe shared was about sweet memories of friends and colleagues that had gone before him . He especially spoke of memories of His Majesty King Abdulaziz and his eagerness to meet him again . As we finished our last conversation, Joe smiled and said, “Whatever you do, stay happy ”. On April 27, 2010, Joe Grant at age 102 passed away . The accolades that followed were extensive . Here was a man born four years after the first flight of the Wright brothers who played a major role in the history of aviation . He had experienced and flown, in their day and age, every means of flight from bi-wing pre- WW1 aircraft to jet airlines . And with great pride he had watched the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia go from bedouins traveling on camels to a world leader in civil aviation . Joe Grant and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were not to be forgotten at Oshkosh 2010 in late July . The Last Time celebrations proceeded and Joe was acknowledged at each of their events . When the DC-3 formation flew Joe Grant celebrates his 102nd birthday
134 HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Burt Rutan (one of aviation’s foremost innovators, at Oshkosh 2009). Always with a knack for coining new terms, Joe Grant referred to brothers Dick and Burt Rutan as “Spacestormers.”
135 Joe Grant, 1908–2010
overhead, one could feel the sadness of Joe’s absence . of the tables which seated the hundreds of top aviators There was an aircraft missing that should have been and aviation leaders held a special centerpiece created leading the formation with a special person in one of for this event—mahogany replicas of SAR-1, the DC-3 the pilot’s seats . But his memory and the memory of presented to King Abdulaziz by President Franklin King Abdulaziz and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were Delano Roosevelt and piloted by Captain Joseph Wade acknowledged at the Gathering of the Eagles banquet at Grant . The replicas were available to the participants at the end of the air show . the end of the show as a memory of the story of one of The opening speech that night was made in memory the most famous and historic DC-3 airplanes in history . of Joe Grant, King Abdulaziz and the Kingdom . Each
136 A young Joe Grant assists his family off board during his early flying career
137 138 10 King and Pilot Recognized
Joe Grant and The late King Abdulaziz have left a legacy together . And at Oshkosh, that legacy has been memorialized permanently . Located on the edge of the Oshkosh Airport, stands the Memorial Wall . This structure provides a dignified place for families and friends to remember and honor their loved ones and pioneers in aviation . Its centerpiece is a monument formed of thousands of stones brought to Oshkosh from EAA members’ home states and countries . On both sides of the centerpiece, bronze plaques are installed annually to honor individuals who have gone west . At the 2011 Airshow, visitors were invited to the EAA Memorial Wall induction ceremony . Joe Grant and his role with King Abdulaziz and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were memorialized at this ceremony .
The Memorial Wall tribute is a way saying “thank you” to those who have passed, for sharing their talents and enthusiasm, and for inspiring a new generation of passionate aviation enthusiasts . This annual ceremony honors, celebrates, and offers remembrance on behalf of dearly departed EAA Photo courtesy of Curt DeBaun Curt of courtesy Photo
139 Photo courtesy of Curt DeBaun
members and aviation enthusiasts . development of aviation.” It was a poignant service featuring a recital of the year’s The inscription continues, “As the war in Europe started newly inscribed names, the playing of taps, and an to rage Joe was working for TWA. He was a seasoned pilot inspiring missing-man formation flight overhead . and was given leave from TWA to join the Army. He flew Inscripted with Joe’s name in part is the following: Generals and important personnel. Towards the end of the war at the request of President Roosevelt, Joe was sent “Joe Grant was born at a time in history when aviation to Saudi Arabia with a specially equipped DC3. Roosevelt was in its infancy, in fact it was only a few years prior had given this DC3 to the King of Saudi Arabia as a gift. to Joe’s birth that Orville Wright made his first powered They used the DC3 on many hunting trips in the desert. flight. So you could say that from those first awkward The King would often ride in the copilot’s seat on many steps as an infant, Joe’s life very much paralleled the of their journeys. Joe was instrumental in the training of
140 Joe Grant on the right Joe Grant opening airline exhibit
many future pilots. He developed a love for the country that continued until his death last year.” The text goes on to refer to Joe’s “beloved second home of Saudi A r a b i a .” The inscription ends, ”They once wrote an article about Joe Grant called the “Game of Life”. He was a person who thought of others first. If you had ever met the man you soon realized that he put you first. He realized early on that if it is something that you love to do then do it. Do not procrastinate; it is later than you think. Joe Grant loved people and airplanes. He told everyone as they left, “stay happy.” So on behalf of Joe Grant ‘STAY HAPPY.’”
141 Joe Grant at his jewelry store
142 11 Epilogue
Early History of Saudi Arabian Airlines with Routes and Timetables
Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAR) began with a gift when during its early period in 1945 and 1946 . From the early FDR gifted King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud a DC3 in 1945 meetings between Captain Grand and King Abdulaziz, piloted by Captain Joseph Grant . Captain Grant a national Saudi airline was created . SAA operated until managed the precursor to Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) 1963 as a division of the Saudi Arabian Air Force .
143 The airline started scheduled services in 1947 with a The further development of air links in the country was fleet of 24-seat DC3s . The fleet was added to in 1949 by by the initial lack of infrastructure, but not soon new the acquisition of 5 Bristol 170 mk21E Freighters (in a airports emerged in the kingdom . The OAG guide of 32-seat configuration) . The advent of airline traveling 1950 still shows a very limited network with Jeddah- revolutionized the country as there were no paved roads Medinah-Damascus-Beirut operated twice weekly, or railways to link the major cities of the Kingdom . Long Jeddah-Medinah-Cairo twice weekly, Jeddah-Cairo periods of desert travel would now be reduced to a few twice weekly and Jeddah-Riyadh-Hofuf-Dhahran twice hours . weekly . The earliest timetable found for the following flights can be seen below:
144 Network Map1948- Length 4071 km - 8 destinations
145 “HZ-AAW C-54E Saudi Arabian A-l LHR 03APR64 (5562378294)” by Ken Fielding - Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The fleet of DC3 and Bristols was joined by 4 44-seat Convairs 240/340 and Lockheed Constellation, but the DC4 in 1952 . The aircraft all ex -C54 skymasters were traffic did not require such large aircraft and SAUDI delivered between June and July 1952 . As the company opted for the more modern and efficient Convair 340 . grew, the need for more aircraft became more pressing Ten were ordered in 1952 . The first frame was delivered as the DC4 , DC3 were becoming aged in comparison in May 1954 and entered in service the following June . to the modern airliners such as the pressurized DC6,
146 “Saudi Arabian Airlines Convair 340” by Ted Quackenbush - http://www.airliners.net/photo/Saudi-Arabian- Airlines/Convair-340-68B/0077669/L/. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons
To manage the growth of the airline Jeddah-Medinah-Beirut twice weekly a new management contract was Jeddah-Medinah-Cairo twice weekly signed with TWA, an agreement which Jeddah-Medinah-Damascus twice weekly spanned 4 decades . The OAG April 1954 timetable reflects the following routes: Jeddah-Damascus-Beirut twice weekly Jeddah-Cairo twice weekly Jeddah-Riyadh twice weekly Jeddah-Asmara twice weekly Jeddah-Riyadh-Dhahran 4 x weekly
147 April 1954 Network Map - length 6741 km -8 destinations
148 November 1956 network-length 10431 km-13 destinations
In 1956, the network expanded: Port Sudan is added to the network, 4 new domestic destinations are served Kharj, Nejran, Jizan and Khamis Mushayt . It is worth noting the last 3 destinations are in the southern part of the kingdom and Beirut is connected to Dhahran .
149 August 1958 International network covering 11479 km
150 August 1958 Domestic network-9361 km
In the August 1958 OAG travel guide, international services were extended to Amman, Jordan and to Hodeidah in Yemen via Jizan . The domestic network then increased extensively to Yanbu, Tabuk, Wejh, Turaif, Badana, Guriat, Hail, Gassim, Al Majma’ah, Sakaka etc . The route from route from Jeddah to Riyadh via Medinah and Unaizah, 2 additional stops are made at Al Rass and Shaqra are not shown on this map .
151 152 ** A special thank you to Ted Quackenbush and Kristian Sagia for their contribution to this section .
153
Photo Credits:
Thanks for HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulazizi, Al-Turath Foundation . - personal collection .
Most of the photographs are from the personl collection of Capt . Joseph Grant
Additional contributors: DeBaun, Curt–personal collection Franklin D . Roosevelt Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY Furman, Mrs . Mary Eddy–personal collection Grant, Edward–personal collection Harrison, Roger–Wings Over Arabia 2013, King Fahd Library Cataloging-In-Publication Data Kurt, Steve–personal collection Morson, Trev–“The DC-3 Hangar” at www .douglasdc3 .com National Aeronautics and Space Administration Saudi Arabian Airlines Winsjansen, Bob–personal collection
155 Bibliography
Air Craft Owners and Pilots Association . Kelly, Jacques . “At 101, Aviation Pioneer Keeps Going ”. 13 Nov . 2009 . Magazine . Al-Azzaz, Saleh and Gassim Haddad . Blue Impossible . Jan . 2000 . Book . Al-Mulhim, Abdulateef . “The Legacy of Saudi Aviation: Dhahran Airport, Pan Am and TWA ”. Saudi-US Relations Information Service . 23 Apr . 2012 . Newspaper . Al-Mulhim, Abdulateef . “Dammam Dome: Discussions with Bob Morgan” . 23 Apr . 2014 . Interview . AL-Semmari, Fahd and Jill A . Roberg . Forever Friends: Americans Share Their Fondest Memories of Work Life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1938-1998 . 2nd ed . Riyadh: King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives . 2000 . Book . Alshamrani, Safeer, Mohammad Ibn, and Adnan Ibn Saleh Altraif . “An Achieved Dream” . Riyadh: Royal Saudi Air Force . Book . Arab News . “Capt . Grant, Pilot for King Abdulaziz, Passes Away at 102 ”. 29 Apr . 2010 . Newspaper . “Bear Early MidEast Aviation Chronicled in Book: Joe Grant, DC-3 Pilot for Saudi King ”. Bear In The Air . 4 Feb . 2010 . Magazine . Bleth, Jim . “Joe Grant’s Book and Capt . Miller” . 16 Mar . 2011 . Interview . Brown, Anthony Cave . “Colonel Eddy ”. Oil, God, and Gold: The Story of Aramco and the Saudi Kings . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999 . Book . Bucaille, Maurice . The Bible, the Qu’ran and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge . Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1978 . Book . Cassidy, Martin . “Stamford Aviator, Noted Jeweler Dies ”. Stamford Advocate . 28 Apr . 2010 . Newspaper . Centenarian’s Archive . “At 101, Aviation Pioneer Keeps Going ”. National Centenarian Awareness Project . 2010 . Newspaper . Coll, Steve . “The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century . New York: Penguin, 2008 . Book . Eddy, William A . F .D .R . Meets Ibn Saud . Selwa Press, 2005 . Book . Experimental Aircraft Association . “Memorial Wall / EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, WI / Fly-In & Convention ”. EAA AirVenture 2011 . Magazine . Experimental Aircraft Association “DC-3s Flocking to Join AirVenture Birthday Bash .The 75th Anniversary of the Douglas DC-3 AirVenture 2010 AirVenture . 2010 . Magazine . Experimental Aircraft Association . “Radio Clips / Joe Grant” //www .airventure .org/radio/clips/2009 . Interview .
156 Facey, William . Back to Earth: Adobe Building in Saudi Arabia . Riyadh: Al-Turath in Association with the London Centre of Arab Studies,1997 . Book . Ghabban, Ali Ibn Ibrahim . Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . Paris: Musee Du Louvre, 2010 . Book . Golt, Rick ”. Eternal Saudi Arabia” . London, England: Elk Publications,1980 . Book . Grant, Ed . Personal Collection of pictures . Grant, Joe . “YouTube: HRH Sultan Bin Salman with Joe Grant at Osh Kosh Air Show 2011 . Video Interview by HRH Sultan Bin Salman . Grant,Tacy . “Joe Grant’s Resume ”. 22 Apr . 2014 . Nine Solos on OX5 Robin • 1929-1931 worked as a mechanic and barnstormed on OX5 powered airplanes, the oldest being the Waco 9 • 1929-1938 Worked as a mechanic and foreman at Glen L Martin aircraft • 1934 started Logan Flying Service Inc and served as VicePresident, Chief Pilot and General Manager . “We operated a flying school, charter service, aircraft sales and other services . I continued in this work until joining Pennsylvania Central Airlines”, Joe . • 1939-1942 Co-pilot with P .C .A . • 1942-1945 Air Transport Command the War • 1945-1947 Pilot for King Abdullah Aziz Ibn Saud • 1946-1947 founded and managed Saudi Arabian Airlines • 1947-1968 Captain TWA Domestic and International • 1969 Delivered a well and used Twin Comanche across the Atlantic and across the desert to Neiomi Niger • 1969-1971 Pilot for Randy Compton on a Beach Duke • 1971-1995 requalified his double instructors ratings and worked out of Bridgeport Airport part-time . Gratz, John P . “Joseph Jose Grant ”. TARPA Topics . July 2005 . Magazine . Harrison, Roger . “Wings Over Arabia” . Tarah International and Medina Publishing Ltd . 2013 . Hickory Aviation Museum, N .C . “Bob Morgan Article ”. 2010 . Magazine . House, Karen Elliott . “On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Contradictions and Future . New York: Alfred A . Knopf, 2012 . Book . Indian Rocks Ledger, PA . “Living History: Bob Winsjansen and the Quincy” . Jan/Feb . 2014 . Magazine Knue, Joe . “Internal Report regarding trip to Riyhad and Dammam, March/April 2008 ”. Michael Saba . Interview . Knue, Joseph . “Joe Grant/King Abdul Aziz’s DC 3 ”. Thomas Lippman . 6 Feb . 2008 . Interview . Lacey, Robert . Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia . New York: Viking, 2009 . Book . Life Magazine . Busch, Noel F . “The King of Arabia ”. 31 May 1943 . Magazine . Lippman, Thomas . “American Influence on Modern Saudi Arabia ”. Saudi-US Relations Information Service . 3 Oct . 2007 . Magazine .
157 Lippman, Thomas W. “The Day FDR Met Saudi Arabia’s Ibn Saud ”. The Link 38 . Apr . 2005 . Magazine . Lippman, Thomas W. Inside the Mirage: America’s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia . Boulder, CO: Westview, 2004 . Book . Long, David E . Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia . Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005 . Book . MacFarquhar, Neil . “The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East . New York: Public Affairs, 2009 . Newspaper . Meech, Bob . “List of Crew Members aboard the Quincy for the FDR and King Abdulaziz Meeting 1947” . 26 Jan . 2005 . Interview . Meyer, Karl Ernest .and Shareen Blair Brysac . “Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East . New York . W .W . Norton, 2008 . Book . Murphy, Pat . “Grant Project ”. 14 July 2008 . Interview . New York Times . Robinson, Ruth . “Success of These Rings Is No Puzzle ”. 11 Sept . 1983 . Newspaper . New York Times . “Diplomacy; Flyboys ”. 27 Dec . 1998 . Newspaper . NorwalkPlus . “Capt Joe Grant Barnstorms Oshkosh Air Show ”. 05 May 2014 . Magazine . Oxley, Owen . Saudi Arabia . The Great Adventure: The Americans Who Helped a Remote Desert Kingdom Become One of the Richest Nations in the World . London: Stacey International, 2005 . Book . Pakka, Kyle L . The Energy Within: A Photo History of the People of Saudi Aramco . Houston, TX: Saudi Aramco, 2006 . Book . PRNewswire . “Book Release - New Details - Early Barnstorming Days of Saudi Aviation” . Interview with Michael Saba . 2009 . Riyadh Daily Staff . “King Abdulaziz Plane to Be Moved out of Riyadh Air Base ”. Riyadh Daily . 6 Jan . 1998 . Newspaper . Roosevelt Archives ”Crimea. Conference USS Quincy Travel Performed by President Roosevelt in Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, Jan 1 - Feb 1945 / Map reflecting routs used by President Roosevelt via the USS Quincy, Aircraft and Car ”. Feb . 1945 . Book . Roosevelt Archives . “Quincy Trip Detail Itinerary ”. Feb . 1945 . Book . Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia . “StamfordPlus .com News - Stamford’s Joe Grant Receives King Abdulaziz Medal ”. StamfordPlus .com News - Stamford’s Joe Grant Receives King Abdulaziz Medal . 29 Jan . 2009 . Newspaper . Saba, Michael . “A Perspective on Saudi Aviation” . Saudi US Relations Information Service . 26 Feb . 2010 . Interview . Saba, Michael P . “Saba Article Arab News 2006 Quincy and Murphy 40 Year ”. Editorial . Cherished Memories of a Historic Meeting . 23 Feb . 2006 . Newspaper . Saba, Michael . King Abdulaziz . . His Plane and His Pilot . 2009 . Book .
158 Sabbagh, Isa Khalil . “As the Arabs Say . . “Arabic Quotations Recalled and Interpreted . Vol .1 . Washington, D .C . Sabbagh Management, 1983 . Book . “Saudi Arabian Airlines History ”. The Saudi Network . Saudi Arabia “Oil, Money and Business Blog” / “King Abdulaziz Pilot Has No Plans to Slow down ”. Siddiqi, Mazhar H . “Saudia Kicks off Jubilee Celebrations Tomorrow ”. Saudi Gazette 26 May 1995 . Newspaper . Stegner, Wallace . Discovery . The Search for Arabian Oil . Vista, CA: Selwa, 2007 . Book . Storm Lake Tribune . “Former Iowa Lakes Community College Professor and Pilot David Peterson Pens Memoir ”. 06 June 2013 . 05 May 2014 . Newspaper . Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud . . “HRH Sultan Bin Salman interviews Capt . Joe Grant, Oshkosh-7-2009 ”. //www .youtube .com/watch?v=WrdyUCGTW0Q . Video . Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud . . “A Loving Friend of Kingdom Passes Away: Prince Sultan ”. [Jeddah] 5 May 2010: 1 . Newspaper . Saudi-US Relations Information Service . “President Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz--The Meeting at Great Bitter Lake: A Conversation with Rachel Bronson ”. 17 March 2005 . Interview . Saudi-US Relations Information Service . “King Abdulaziz: His Plane and His Pilot – Michael Saba Book . SUSRIS . 26 Feb . 2010 . Interview . Time Magazine . “Desert Wind” . 5 Mar . 1945 . “USS Murphy, (DD-603, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr . 2014 . Blog . “USS Quincy, (CA-71 ”. Wikipedia . Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr . 2014 . Blog . Weldon, Frederic . TWA Contact Who Flew with Joe Grant . 02 Apr . 2011 . Interview . Winsjansen, Bob R . Apr 2014 . Interview .
159 Index
A Al-Turath Foundation iii, vii, 157 Bronson 159 Ambassador 46, 105, 108, 116, 124-125 Brown 156 Abdulaziz i, iii, vi, vii, viii, ix, xii, 1-3, 6-9, America 19, 48, 91, 105, 130, 158 Bleth 158 11-12, 16-18, 19-24, 27-28, 30, 36, American 3, 30, 49, 55, 64-65, 72, 113, Bucaille 156 37-39, 46-49, 51-52, 55, 57, 61, 156-157 Buraidah 151 63-65, 68, 70, 79, 86, 88, 90, 93, 99, Americans 19, 38, 124, 156, 158 Bush 125 103-104, 107, 109-114, 117-118, Amsterdam 81 Busch 157 120, 122, 124-125, 129, 134-136, Appleton, Wisconsin 117 C 139, 143, 156, 158-159 Arab 120,156-158 Abdullah vi, xi, 3, 12, 16, 111, 157 Arabia ix, 3, 9, 11-12, 15, 17-20, 22-25, Captain ix, 15, 23, 55, 61, 64, 103, 112, Adventure 158 28-31, 41, 48-49, 51, 55, 64-65, 67- 117, 120-121, 124, 128, 131, 136, Africa 3, 79 68, 70, 72-73, 79, 81, 86, 90-91, 93, 143, 157 Airbus 121 100, 103-105, 111-113, 117-118, Carl 64 Aircraft 3, 30, 51, 55-57, 63-65, 68, 72, 78- 120-121, 124-126, 129, 134, 136, Cassidy 156 79, 83, 88, 94-95, 98, 104-105, 115, 139-141, 155-159 Cernay 90 117-118, 121, 123, 130-131, 134, Arabian viii, ix, xiii, 3, 8, 12, 17, 23, 28, Churchill 1, 9, 23-24, 37, 136, 146, 156-158 30, 41, 46, 64-65, 70, 72-76, 78, 81, Clipper 123-124 Airfields 9, 51, 57, 63, 68, 72, 79, 131, 139 88, 93, 103-104, 112, 125-126, 143, Coll 158 Airline ix, xii, 55, 63-64, 69-70, 72-74,72- 146-147, 156-157, 159-159 Colonel 3, 36, 55, 49, 156 74, 76, 79, 81, 84, 88, 93, 104, 112, Arabic 3, 46, 48, 159 Comanche 157 121, 129, 130, 134, 141, 143-144, Aramco viii, 25, 30, 56, 64-66, 70, 72-73, Compton 157 147, 155, 157, 159 81, 83, 156, 158 Convair 70, 146-147 Airplane ix, 3, 11, 16, 31, 38, 49-51, 55, 61, Archives vii, viii, 32, 34, 156, 158 Corrigan 120 68, 86, 90, 93, 104, 121, 123, 129, Astronaut 90, 118, 120 Crimea 158 130, 136, 141, 157 Atlantic 9, 64, 157 Crimean 54 Airport 11, 65, 69, 72,76, 86, 88, 90, 103, Austin 64 Cyclone xiii 130-131, 139, 144, Aviation vii, viii, ix, 3, 11, 17, 31, 64, 67, 156-157 70, 72-73, 86, 90, 93, 95, 112, 117- D Airshow 3, 117, 139 118, 120-121, 123-125, 129-131, Dakotas 17 Airstrip 9, 11, 72 134, 136, 139-140, 156-158 Damascus 12, 70 AirVenture 117, 130-132, 156 Aviator 118, 120, 156 Dammam 88, 156,157 Al-Aziz 159 Azores 70 Al-Azzaz 156 Darat Al–Malik, Saudi Arabian Airlines Al-Faisal 109 B 112 Al-Jubeir 116, 124-125 DeBaun 139-140, 155 Badana 151 Ali 51 Destroyer 48 Bandar 17, 102, 109, 112-114, 160 Allagany 46 Dhahran 9, 65, 68, 70, 72, 80-81, 149, 156 Barack 125 Al Majma’ah 151 Diriyyah 100 Barnstorms 158 Al-Malk 112, Discovery 90, 118, 159 Basler Turbo 130 Al-Mulhim 156 Douglas vii, 30, 129-130, 156 Bedouin xii, xiii, 24, 27-28, 65, 134 Al-Mutani 104-106 Brysac 158 E Al Rass 151 Boeing vii, viii, ix, 3, 93, 95, 118, 121 Al-Saud 49, 118 Eagles 120, 136 Bristol 78, 144, 146, 152 AL-Semmari viii, 156 Eddy 23, 36, 48-49, 55, 156-157 Britain 37, 51 Alshamrani 156 Egypt 47, 65, 79 British 8, 46-47, 64-65 Altraif 156 Elliott 157
160 Embassy 65, 125, 158 House 159 Levesque 102-103, 105, 107-108 Empty Quarter 65 Houston 158 Library 155 England 79, 157 Hudson xiv, 121 Lindbergh 121 Ethiopia 64 Hughes 120 Lippman 157-158 Europe 48, 140 Hussein 51, 80 Lisbon 70 Experimental Aircraft Association xiv Husseini viii Lockheed 74, 124, 146 HZ-AAW 146 Lodestars 74 F HZ-AAX 93 London 157-158 Facey 159 Long 160 I Faisal 9-10, 71, 79, 86, 102 M Fayyoum 47 Iranian 64 Flyboys 158 Islamic 70 MacFarquhar 157 Ford xiv, 120, 122 Ismalia 65 Madinah 70 France 90 Istanbul 70 Majesty vii, 49, 134 Frederic 159 Italy 51 Mansur 49 Maurice 156 G J Mazhar 159 Gaafar 46 Janadriyah 12, 111 Mecca xii, 12, 63, 70 Gander 81 Jazzar ix Medina 157 Gassim 156 Jeddah 1, 9, 23-24, 26, 38, 41, 46, 55, 57, Medinah 151 Gathering of the Eagles xv 65, 68, 70, 72, 79, 88, 151, 159 Melhem 88 General 55, 64, 104-106, 123, 140, 157 Jeweler 20, 142, 156 Memorial 139, 156 Geneva 81 Jidda 40, 55 Meyer 158 Germany 51 Jizan 149, 151 Middle East ix, 3, 8, 17, 19, 156, 158 Ghabban 157 Jordan 70, 80, 151 Miller 156 Glen Martin Museum 123-124, 156-157 Minister 37, 47, 49, 55, 70, 79 K Glider 90, 91 Ministry 3 Mohammad 156 Golt 159 Kansas 68 Mohammed 112-113 Grant, E . viii, 118, 155 Kelly 156, 158 Morgan viii, 15, 64-66, 156-157 Grant, J xii, 37, 43, 111, 128, 136, 143, Khamis Mushayt 149 Morocco 48 155, 157 King Abdulaziz International Airport in Mosques vi Grant, T 159 Jeddah xii Mount 41 Gratz 159 Kingdom vii, xiii, 3, 9, 11, 19, 23-24, 28, Muhammad 104 Gurayat 151 30-31, 49, 51, 61, 63, 70, 72, 74, 79, Muqrim 113 86, 88, 90, 93, 103-104, 112, 121, H Muqrin 20, 112 124-125, 134, 136, 139, 144, 149, Murphy xiii, xiv, 1, 39-41, 46-48, 102-105, Haddad 156 156-159 158-159 Hareland viii Knue 159 Museum viii, 3, 92-94, 98, 104, 112, 121, Harrison 91 Kosh 157 123-124, 155, 157 Havilland 51 Koran 28 Muslim xii, 27, 48, 70, 120 Helawani 65 Kuwait 23, 70 Hickory Aviation Museum 64, 157 N L Hilton xiv, 121 Nawaf 80 Hizbollah 158 Lacey 159 Nayef 112-113 Hodeidah 151 Ladens 156 Nejran 149 Hoffman 118 Latin 48 New York 70, 81, 103, 156-158 Holy vi, 48, 156 Lebanon 48, 79 Niger 57
161 Nomadic 27 S Norton 158 Saba iii, vi, ix, 1, 16, 114, 118-119, 157-159, 160 O Sabbagh 159 Sagia 153 Oberwetter 108 Sakaka 151 Ohlinger 65 Salman vii, xi, 17, 21, 70, 90-91, 99-100, 102-103, 107, 109-110, Oilfields 70 112-114, 118, 120, 122, 135, 157, 159 Oshkosh xiv, 17, 117-118, 120-122, 124, 129-134, 139, 156, 158, Satellite 126 159 Saudia 46, 117, 159 Othman vii Saudis 12, 19, 54, 62, 68, 113 Ottoman 28 Saudi-US 124, 156-157, 159 Outhwaite 63 School 46, 68, 157 P Saqr Al Jazzera Museum viii, xiii, 3, 92-93, 98, 104 Science 30, 156 Pakistan 48, 70 Shaikh 55 Pakka 158 Shaqra 151 Palestine 9, 47 Shumate 55 Parker 124 Siddiqi 159 Payload 90, 118 Sikorsky 120 Peninsula 23, 28, 126 Silver 48 Peterson, David 159 Skiles 121 Philby 27 Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space xiv President v, ix, 1, 3, 9, 11-12, 36-38, 46-49, 103-104, 117-118, Soviet 37 125, 130, 136, 140, 157-159 Spaceships 121 Prince vi, vii, xi, 3, 9-10, 12, 16-18, 20-21, 49, 70-71, 79-80, Springer 64 90-91, 99-100, 102-103, 107-110, 111-114, 118, 120, 122, Squadron 51 135, 159 Stacey 158 PR Newswire 158 Stalin 1, 37, 43 Stamford 7, 20, 156, 158 Q States 3, 9, 11, 19, 37-38, 47, 65, 116, 124-125, 130, 139 Quackenbush 153 Stegner 159 Quincy xxi, 1-3, 31-32, 39, 42-49, 54, 102-105, 109, 157-159 Steineke 65 Sudan 55, 149 R Suez Canal 1, 11, 46 Riyadh xiii, 3, 9, 11, 16, 23, 55, 70, 79, 88, 92-94, 104, 112-113, Sullenberger xiv, 121, 123 151, 156-158 Sultan vi, vii, xi, 17, 70, 90-91, 99-100, 102-103, 108, 110, 112- Roberg 156 114, 118, 120, 122, 135, 157, 159 Robert 64, 157 SUSRIS 159 Robertson xiv, 121 T Robinson 158 Rolls Royce 9 Tabuk 11, 151 Roosevelt ix, xiv, xxi, 1-3, 6-9, 11, 23, 31-32, 34, 36-38, 43, 46-49, Taylor 118 103-104, 117-118, 120, 122, 136, 140, 155, 158-159 Terrabzoni 62 Royal vii, viii, 41, 50-51, 63-65, 68, 70, 72, 79, 93, 95, 98, 104, Toronado 98 111, 115, 156, 158 Thomas 157-158 Rub Al-Khalito Aden 65 TransWorld 64 Rutan xiv, 135 Tri-motor 121
162 Truman 9, 47 Turaif 151
U
Unaizah 151 United 3, 9, 11, 19, 23-24, 31, 37-38, 47, 65, 116, 124-125, 130
W
Wade 123 Wallace 159 Washington 121, 125, 159 Wekh 151 Weldon 159 Westport 158 Wheelchair 3, 38 Wilson viii Winsjansen 102-103, 105, 107-109, 155, 157, 159 Wittman 130, 163, 133 WrdyUCGTW 159 Wright, O . & W xiii, 121, 123, 130, 134, 140 WWII 64, 134
Y
Yalta xii, 1, 37, 54 Yanbu 151 Yassin, H . , 55
163 164 www.al-turath.com