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From Gene Banning's notes of 8/31/00: "hired in U.S. late 1932 or 1933; transferred to Panagra 9/37."  This is the front and back of a small booklet that was given CNAC passengers in the 1930s. The booklet has many pages to it, so click here to see the entire booklet. (Booklet Courtesy of Peggy McCleskey)  Captian F. E. Nelson    Signed by Floyd Nelson and M.L. Lessner From the CNAC Mailing List of 1965: Floyd Nelson c/o Pan Grace Airways Lima, Peru December 13, 2001 Received the following e-mail from Damaris Reynolds (Mrs. Lincoln Reynolds) "I'm going to my granddaughter's for Christmas and are they going to be surprised when I ask them to get on the air and direct them to your site! This message is really about information on Bob Gast. He joined the Canadia Air Force in World War I before the US was involved and flew with them. After the war he was a barnstormer. He liked to tell the story of a forced landing in a very small farm field with the nose of the plane up against the fence and the farmer coming up to him and saying, "Ain't going to try that again, are you?" Then he got a job as private pilot for Hertz, of car rental fame. Married Dorothy in Chicago. Must have left Mr. Hertz because he did some rum runing out of Miami. Very popular with pilots in those days: they would fly over to Cuba, pick up the rum, then drop the cases into one of the myriad small bays in the Florida Keys and a boat would pick them up. Then he was hired by PAA, and ended up in China. We got to know Bob and Dorothy very well during the spring of 1934. I stayed wth Dorothy the several days they searched for Bob's plane (when he crashed into Ningpo Bay - 8/10/34). She returned to the States. A fisherman found Bob's body some months later. I lost track of Dorothy after she left China, but I think she married Floyd Nelson who had been in China but went with Panagra. Damaris" February 23, 2003 I am looking at a picture of my grandfathers brother, Floyd Nelson. In the photo he is wearing a uniform with lapel pins that I do not recognize. The pins are a skull with angle wings sitting above a scroll/ribbon containing some text that I cannot make out. The uniform consists of a white jacket with standard suit coat collar, a black bow tie and braided rope epaulets. The shirt is a white tuxedo shirt with spherical pearl buttons. I have been on-line looking for any info as to what these lapel pins may mean. I have had no luck. I do have a fair amount of family information and pictures of Floyd. The photo shown on the web site looks exactly like the photos I have of Floyd. Let me give you some basic bio. info on the Floyd that is my Dad's uncle. He was born in Salt Lake City Utah in 1908 to Albert and Amanda Nelson. Both Albert and Amanda recently immigrated from Sweden, but meet and married in Utah. Albert had one older brother named Casper. Later in life Floyd married a women named Dorothy. The lapel pins may be from the time that Floyd spent flying for an airline that had routes over the Andes in S. America. Do you know anything about the lapel pins or uniform I mentioned? Would you like more info on Floyd Nelson? (NOTE: Yes, I'd like to hear more about Floyd Nelson) Norman Nelson E-mail nmilesn63@earthlink.net May 4, 2011 I was thrilled to find this link featuring Captain Nelson. I knew him as a small boy when he became a friend of my Mom and Dad's when we lived in Lima, Peru from 1951 to 1957. My father, George P. Nelson (no relation) would always try to fly with Captain Nelson as he traveled Latin America as Sales Manager for Outboard Marine Corp. Captain Nelson often stopped by the house for a visit and always remembered to bring me a toy airplane each time. This, no doubt, had everything to do with my interest in airplanes that has never waned. The only time I flew with the Captain was when my family moved back to the States in 1957. As I recall, we flew from Lima to Miami in a DC-7C. I have vivid memories of going up front to the cockpit to observe the flight deck activities. Sitting on the Captain's lap, I was allowed to gently grab the yoke. Times have changed... I remember hearing great stories from my Dad as Captain Nelson would report on his transition from the props to the jets (DC-8's I think??) I recall that Captain Nelson died of cancer circa 1960 because of the upset it caused my parents. Unfortunately, both of my parents are deceased, so I have no resource for additional information. If I happen to run across anything, I'll let you know. Regards, Christopher M. Nelson cmnelson707@aol.com  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |