Bob Moore was just 300 feet above the ground as he approached Park Airport in Atlanta, Ga., when he sensed something was not quite right with the engine of the small Stinson 10A he was flying.
Moore was just finishing giving a Marine captain his first flight lesson and had cleared the engine for landing when he heard a hesitation. He pushed in on the throttle, giving the plane some additional speed. Since the runway came to an end at the Chattahoochee River, Moore decided to pull up and circle around, not wanting to give the captain a scare on his first flight by having to stop short.
As the plane rose to 400 or 500 feet above the pine forest, the engine suddenly stopped. There was no place to land except for the trees.
Not one to lose his calm, Moore explained to the captain what to expect and instructed him what to do in the crash with an calm voice.
As they neared the forest, Moore aimed the plane between two large pines - rather than hitting one of them head on - with the hope the trees would neatly clip off the wings and the body of the plane would land gently in the smaller trees beyond.
The first tree hit a wing and broke it off. The impact slung the body of the plane around into the next tree and snapped off the fuselage. The cockpit landed in the smaller trees as planned and the men clamored out to safety.
They walked up the road toward the airport where they met emergency responders, astounded to find the two men alive. What was left of the plane was hauled off in a two-wheeled trailer.
That day in 1948 would not be the last time Moore survived an airplane crash.
DECATUR - Aviation is a theme that has been woven throughout Moore’s 90 years, from his servicein the Navy in World War II to the 30 years he spent working for Peterson Farms as a pilot andthe manager of Crystal Lake Airport.
Moore, who now lives in Decatur, grew up in Wichita during the glory days of Kansas aviation. His love of airplanes started at an early age. As a young boy riding in the back seat of the car he would pretend he was at the controls of an airplane as he watched the countryside fly past.
Moore's elementary school was across the street from Travel Air, now Hawker Beechcraft. He met the company’s president, Walter Beech - an aviation pioneer - and even got to take several plane rides with Beech as a schoolboy.
During that time Moore's father, Bill Moore, was a greens keeper who had built all three golf courses in Wichita. Moore started caddying at age 7 or 8 when he was still small enough to crawlinside the bags he carried for wealthy doctors and lawyers.
Growing up early
Moore’s family started visiting the Ozarks, making trips to Branson in a little Essex car that was so low to the ground the family often had to stop to move rocks out of the rough Ozark roads.
His parents fell in love with the beautiful green hills and valleys, and when Moore was in ninth grade his parents bought a farm in Pineville, Mo., along the Elk River.
Moore's parents returned to their jobs in Wichita, at the StearmanAircraft Company, which later became the Boeing Military Aircraft Company. Moore and his brother, Bill Moore Jr., 21 months older than he, were left in charge of the farm so the family could have two incomes.
On the farm, the boys had to learn quickly and shoulder the responsibilities of men.
“We were city boys. We had never milked a cow or put a harness on a horse,” he said.
The boys used a team of Percheron mares to plow and plant and cut hay. They had to learn new skills, such as how to separate milk from the cream which they sold in town.
During those years, Moore was a 4-H member and had ambitions of becoming a veterinarian. He traveled around the country administering vaccinations to farm animals.
After graduating from Pineville High School, he returned to Wichita for college.
In Wichita, Moore was employed doing blueprint work for Stearman. He met Leta Davidson at church, and in 1941 they were married.
Marrying Leta was the best decision he ever made, next only to deciding to become a Christian as a teenager, Moore said.
“She was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.
The marriage was to last nearly 60 years, until Leta’s death in 1999.
A cousin, the son of a wealthy doctor, was building Park Airport in Marietta, Ga., and offered Moore a job as the manager. The newlyweds moved to Atlanta where Moore learned to fly with instructor Jack Dunn.
“It came kind of natural to me,” he said.
World War II
The United States entered World War II in 1941 and it wasn't long before Moore joined the Navy. He served four years as a flight engineer, doing maintenance work and flying on patrol bombers. His crew often traveled overseas to pick up wrecked planes and bring them back to Norfork, Va., for repairs.
Back to Georgia
After the war, Moore returned to his job at the Park Airport in Marietta and also attended Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Okla., to become certified in airplane mechanics.
It was during this time that Moore experienced two plane crashes. From the first (recounted above) he walked away, but the second was more serious. Moore was doing some stunt flying and was unable to pull up out of a spin. His plane crashed nose first into the front yard of a little white house.
The home owner was standing on the front porch and watched the whole crash in front of him. He later told Moore that his neck stretched out about three feet when he hit the ground.
Moore was seriously injured and friends that took him in the back seat of their car to the hospital 40 miles away thought several times he had died during the ride. Moore's face was smashed, his ribs were separated and a deep cut nearly severed his knee cap. Despite the injuries, Moore healed quickly and it wasn't long before he returned to the air.
Peterson Farms
During the 1960s Moore and his wife owned Moore's Barbecue Drive-In restaurant in Noel, Mo., where they lived with their two sons. Lloyd and Lorrayne Peterson and Peterson pilot Lex Thompson were often guests at the restaurant. Moore enjoyed visiting with the Petersons and talking airplanes with Thompson.
One day Lloyd Peterson asked Moore if he would take the job as manager of the Crystal Lake Airport. When Moore took the job in 1966, the airport was little more than a grass strip. Over the years Moore worked as manager and pilot it was expanded into a 3,865-foot runway capable of landing a medium sized jet. Beautiful office buildings and hangars were also built there.
Moore's wife Leta, a skilled typist and stenogropher, worked as Lloyd Peterson's secretary. She and her husband kept in close contact over the radio, and she could often see him coming in for a landing out the office windows.
By the time Moore retired in 1996, he had flown a total of 27,000 hours for the Petersons, mostly delivering baby chicks. He flew in and out of some of the largest airports in the country, such as Miami and Chicago, and to Canada and Mexico.
Moore and Peterson remained close friends after his retirement. Peterson would often call Moore and ask if he would like to go on a ride in the car to see the countryside.
Moore, who still lives in Decatur, is a member of the Baptist church and is quick to help out his neighbors whenever he can. He has three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
"I've had a good life. There's nothing I can complain about, really," he said.
News, Pages 2 on 05/25/2011