In Memoriam

March 8, 1935 - August 21, 2023

"BG" was hired by Flying Tigers on March 1, 1962 and retired on T-Day as a B747 Captain based in LAX.

The following is from Jim Handsaker:

I flew with “BG” when I was just a “runny nose” at FTL. He was a good guy to fly with. Lot’s of fun. He was not big in stature and I remember he said he never had trouble adjusting the seat or rudder pedals; “all the way up and all the way back”. He had a nice sail boat and spent much of his time sailing.

We received more from George Gewehr, FTLPA Historian:

B.G. O'Hara was a very unique person. He was comfortable with with himself and others. He was a popular member of the crew no matter who he flew with. He grew up in an airline family, his father flew with American Airlines. Before he flew with American he flew for C.N.A.C., in China. B.G. as we referred to him, I never knew his first name, started building a boat in the back yard of his home. It grew so big the question was asked, “How are you going to get it out of the yard?”. “I don't know, I haven't figured that out yet”, was his answer. I mention B.G. in my book. We were sim mates on our initial DC-8 training. The instructor was Ron Hall. He gave us the P.T.C. routine for four hours. Afterwards as we left the sim building, B.G. Said to me, “I, guess the fun days of flying are over”. I answered, “They can't be that bad every day”.

Anyone else wishing to contribute to this page with archived pictures or testimonials is encouraged to contact us at email@flyingtigerline.org