Full Text:

Red Arneth Touches Down After A High-Flying Career

(with photos)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

On a routine shuttle flight from Washington, DC, to LaGuardia International

Airport several weeks ago, the primary hydraulic system on the Boeing 727 that

Capt Paul "Red" Arneth was flying developed a leak.

The crew reacted calmly as all the hydraulic fluid leaked out and the plane's

"A" system failed, disabling the landing gear along with many other functions.

"The flight engineer lowered the landing gear with a hand crank, but we could

only put out half the flaps so we had greater speed than we should for the

shorter runways at LaGuardia," Capt Arneth said. "We landed at Newark (N.J.)

instead. Some of the passengers were nervous, but it wasn't a big deal. I did

get a lot of kidding from the other shuttle pilots who said I wanted to get in

an A System failure before I retired."

A few weeks later, on March 9, Capt Arneth officially did retire, piloting his

last flight for the US Air Shuttle. He was accompanied on Boston/LaGuardia

Flight 6061 by his wife, Liz, and several other members of their family. Capt

Arneth had reached the age of 60, the mandatory retirement age for pilots of

commercial passenger airlines.

"The last week was fantastic -- they really made it a special sendoff," Capt

Arneth reflected in an interview at his home in Sandy Hook. His logbooks

showed 18,419 hours of flight time after 31 years of being a commercial

airline pilot.

He started his career as a Navy pilot. After graduating from the US Naval

Academy, he flew the single-seat A-4 Skyhawk bomber for Attack Squadron

Twelve, based at Jacksonville, Fla. He served on two Mediterranean cruises

then volunteered for Vietnam, where he flew 50 missions. During his Navy

career he made more than 400 landings on the aircraft carrier USS F.D.

Roosevelt, which has since been decommissioned and scrapped.

Naval service, with its extended cruises, could be difficult for the families

left behind, Capt Arneth said.

"Our son, Gavin, was born in April 1964, and five days later I left for the

Mediterranean Sea for nine months," he said. "Evan was born in November 1966

while I was in Vietnam, and I didn't come home until February 1967."

After his Vietnam service, Paul Arneth was transferred to shore duty in

Jacksonville, flying test hops in the Skyhawks after they were overhauled.

"We just had to make sure that everything was put back together [properly],"

he said.

Paul Arneth left the Navy in December 1967 and joined Eastern Airlines in

February 1968. The family moved to Sandy Hook in 1971. Mr Arneth originally

flew the Lockheed Electra, a four-engine prop plane, then moved on to the DC

9, the Boeing 757, and the Airbus A300, finally becoming a captain of the

727s.

"That was two years before the (Eastern Airlines) strike," he said. "I was

very lucky. In December 1988, a year before the strike, the airline put out

bids for pilots and flight attendants to fly the shuttle. I saw the

handwriting on the wall, so I put in a bid. I was with the shuttle when Donald

Trump made an offer to buy it."

The strike hit Eastern about six months later, and eventually the airline

folded. US Air leased the shuttle from Trump for years before recently

purchasing it.

Although the Boston-New York-Washington shuttle run was viewed as unglamorous

by many pilots, it was, at the same time, very challenging, Capt Arneth

admitted.

"It's a very demanding route -- you are constantly being asked to change

altitude and air speeds because of all the (airplane) traffic," he said.

During the years the Arneths lived in Sandy Hook, their sons attended the

local schools, graduated from Newtown High School and left for college. Liz

Arneth worked as a substitute teacher at Newtown High School, then took a

position as an English teacher at Ridgefield High School, where she is also

now a dean and eligible to retire this June with 20 years of service.

"Paul is a very private man and never talks about his experiences," Mrs Arneth

said. "I never knew that he had 50 missions in Vietnam until recently. But I

remember him mentioning that he was flying over Philadelphia once, saw the USS

Roosevelt and was tempted to land on the deck for old times sake. Of course,

he was flying a DC-9 at the time. He retired with 180 days of unused sick time

-- if he had been a kid in school he would have had a perfect attendance

medal."

A sailor as well as a pilot at heart, Paul Arneth is looking forward to

serving on a six-man amateur crew that will be sailing from Massachusetts to

Bermuda on a 35-foot Island Packet, navigating with only a sextant and the

stars, in a Bermuda race this summer. He also will have a third reunion with

his fellow Navy officers in June.

But nothing can compare to the excitement and emotion of being joined by his

family on his retirement flight. Capt Arneth was accompanied on the flight by

his wife; their son, Gavin and his wife, Carolyn; their daughter-in-law, Lisa

Arneth, and granddaughter Molly, 3.

"Evan couldn't take part because he is in Minneapolis where he is being

trained to fly 747s for Atlas Airlines," Liz Arneth said, "And granddaughter,

Shanna, who is 1, was a little too young to come -- although she'll probably

be mad when she gets older and finds out she wasn't there."

"The flights to and from Boston were marked by beautiful weather and wonderful

views of both cities," Mrs Arneth said. "When the plane arrived at LaGuardia,

Molly joined her `Poppy' in the doorway of the cockpit and said goodbye to all

the people who wished him well on his retirement as they excited the aircraft.

It truly was a Hollywood ending to a remarkable career."