Roger Meadows, who is a member of this list, provided me today with a scrapbook he has kept of Catalina's seaplane history, with an emphasis on Avalon Air Transport. Dick Probert's AAT was the airline that eventually purchased and operated the famed "Mother Goose"--one of the only three Sikorsky VS-44s ever built.
There is a wealth of information in this scrapbook, including personal accounts by Probert of AAT's early years and the problems he faced in setting up his airline.
Roger also gave me a VHS tape narrated by Probert featuring an hour's worth of color 16mm film footage of the 14-odd years the airline was in business, including extensive footage of the VS-44 in flight.
Next month, I will be travelling to Northern California to interview Dick's widow, Nancy, who is in possession of the original 16mm films (she shot most of the footage herself). Chuck Liddell has graciously agreed to fund the conversion of this footage to High Definition video for WINGS Part 2.
I'll also be travelling to Chico, CA, to visit my family and to Roseburg, OR, to interview David Johnston, former employee of Dick Probert and author of The Knights of Avalon.
