Annuals of Time

About 10 years ago I ran into a gentleman that worked for UAL. He was in his 80's. he mentioned to me that he started way back in 1932; UAL did not start as a company until 1933. His work began with old Varney Airlines hauling mail and freight. I was amazed. I told him that in his short lifetime he had seen the complete developement of the airline industry. He went from single prop mail planes to the first passenger aircraft. He then progressed to the larger passenger aircraft and then the first jets. Along the way, he was there when the first jets began commercial service. After that he saw all prop's leave the sky and the all jet fleets took over. And of course he saw the start of the wide-body aircraft and the 747. He said it had been one enjoyable ride. I loved to talking to him just to hear some of his old stories of what it was like before jets, TRACON, and ground holds. He told me when he first started, the pilots would follow the roads to get from one destination to another and if the weather was bad, they just went lower and lower to keep it in sight.
I lost touch with him. That is too bad, he should have put all his experiences in a book for later generations to read.