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Woods
Kennard Rawlinson
His first year of high school was at Amelia High School and
the second year at Farmville. In 1935, Woods moved to Kalamazoo,
Michigan, so that his Aunt Eleanor Rawlinson could financially assist
with his college education. Eleanor Rawlinson was an English professor
at Western Michigan University. Woods took his last two years of high
school at State High School and first two years of college at Western
State Teachers College in Kalamazoo.
He took up Civilian Pilot training at Kalamazoo airport, while he was studying to be a manual arts teacher. Woods earned his Private Pilot’s license in 1940. His interest in flying lead to advanced pilot training at Purdue at Lafayette, Indiana, Stockert Flying Service at South Bend, Indiana, and Northeast Airlines at Burlington, Vermont. Upon graduation from college, Woods held a commercial license, an instructor’s rating, an instrument rating and a multi-engine license.
The
U.S. entered World War II in November 1941 when Pearl Harbor was
attacked. In 1942, Pan American Airways hired Woods as a pilot and he
was immediately sent to North Africa for the war effort. He married
Virginia Lake in April 1942, although Virginia could not go with him to
Africa since it was a war zone.
After the German General Rommel was
driven from Africa in October 1942, Pan American was no longer needed in
Africa and Pan Am’s military contract with the US Air Corp was
cancelled. Pan Am promptly sent him to Seattle where Pan Am had a
contract with the Navy to fly military personnel and supplies to the
Aleutian Islands.
Woods volunteered for service with the US Naval Reserve and was commissioned an Ensign. He was never called to active duty because the Navy felt that he was needed by Pan Am to help carry out its military contract flying. In 1944, the Japanese were driven from the Aleutian Islands and Pan Am’s Navy contract was canceled. Woods was immediately transferred to Miami and began a career in civilian flying for Pan Am. He was later transferred to Guatemala, Houston, Panama City, Central America, Caracas, Venezuela, New York, and back again to Miami.
Woods retired in 1979 at the mandatory retirement age of 60 and continued to live in Miami until Hurricane Andrew chased him northward in 1993. He and his wife moved to Daytona Beach to be nearer to their daughters. His son, Kennard Rawlinson, is a pilot with Federal Express.
After a 37-year career, more than 30,000 hours in the air, one wife and 3 children, Woods now lives happily with wife Virginia in a Florida “fly-in” community. There, this veteran pilot lives just a couple of blocks from the private airport, swaps flying stories with other pilots, and still observes takeoffs and landings everyday.
For more information about Woods K. Rawlinson, you may also consult the manuscript entitled “A Real Pro",
or
instead you may also return to our Home
Page.
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Woods as young man in Kalamazoo, circa 1939
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