Monday, Jun. 15, 1959
Just for Fun
The little blue-and-white Piper Comanche slipped in under the light overcast almost unnoticed, touched down gently at Los Angeles International Airport and taxied to the customs shack in a remote corner of the sprawling field. Out stepped a 56-year-old grandfather. "I've got 30 gallons of gas left," announced Max Conrad, "and I'd like to trade that for a glass of water." For Veteran Pilot Conrad, it had been a long time between sips of water. Carrying only a supply of coffee and tea, he had flown an incredible 7,683 miles nonstop from Casablanca in a 250-h.p., single-engined aircraft, beating by some 700 miles the previous distance record for light planes. His time in the air: 58 hrs. 38 min.
Lean, grey-haired Max Conrad is a throwback to the romantic days when pilots flew for fun and adventure as much as for profit. But he got into flying by accident. After college he started an orchestra, took up flying only so that he could transport his band from place to place more conveniently. In 1929 he gave up the band and went into the charter-flying business in his home town, Winona, Minn.
In 1950 Conrad contemplated his growing family, concluded it would be easier to feed and educate them in Switzerland. Finding an inexpensive villa near Lausanne, he installed his family there and began making flying visits from Minnesota to Europe. In 1952 the family moved back to the U.S. and settled in San Francisco, but Conrad had learned to like the long hours of flight. He made profit out of pleasure by ferrying U.S. planes to distributors and customers in Europe. To while away the lonely hours, he composed songs in flight, chiefly to keep himself awake, became known as the "flying songwriter," though none of his efforts have yet been recorded commercially.
Conrad took off from Casablanca last week with a whopping 5,000-lb. overall weight (the plane weighs 1,504 Ibs. empty). As his 500-gallon gas supply drained away, he throttled his engine back from 125 m.p.h. to 100 m.p.h., flew most of the way "right on the deck" in good weather at less than 500 ft. Conrad's only crisis came as he neared the coast of Texas, when he decided to drink some tea. "The Arabs put mint in it, and it had become rancid," he explained. "Boy, was I sick!" "Everybody likes to break a record," he said after landing. "I finally decided to do it officially." He flew on to San Francisco, got an enthusiastic welcome from the two youngest of his ten children Francesco, 9 and Ann, 7. Said son Terry, 16: "He's the type of person who will just keep flying. I guess he'll fly until he drops dead."
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