In Memoriam

May 3, 1949 - November 12, 1993

Skip Wright, now that was one fine man, aviator, USMC Reserve and fellow Flying Tiger Line crewmember. I remember when Skip and I first met. It was fall of 1980, the NY base had just opened and Skip and I were in the crew room on the ground floor of Building 262. Skip was engaged in conversation with the flight op's personnel and one thing stood out, Skip laughed a lot and laughed loudly. Soon we realized that we were going out on the same DC-8 flight and fast became friends. I think one part of that conversation that cemented our friendship was when I asked Skip where he was from? "Manhasset" he said and my reply was, "Oh a rich boy"! Boy did he like that and laughed loudly. Through the years we keep in touch, visited one another and in 1983 Skip and I along with Claudia drove to Florida and went to the Daytona 500. Skip didn't talk too much about himself, in fact it was probably a year or so before I learned that he was active in the USMC Reserve, based at Chambers Field Naval Air Station Norfolk. If I'm not mistaken I believe Skip flew the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion. How cool is that!!!!!!! On October 25, 1983 I received a telephone call from Skip who told me that a FTL DC-8 had just landed and exited the runway and that he and his fellow Marines had witnessed it. When they learned that a Tiger DC-8 was on approach they all went outside to see the FTL DC-8- 63F land, you know the company that "Skip" works for! And as they say the rest is history!

As years went by we kept in touch but soon we went on to different equipment, different bases and sure enough sometime in the early 1990's I didn't hear from Skip and my attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. I had heard that he had passed away and all the indicators pointed in that direction but I never did receive confirmation until Skip's nephew contacted John Dickson.

Skip Wright you were a fine man and a great friend. I miss your friendship!

Submitted by
Kennard Rawlinson
FTL 5/8/78

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