Cal Moore, a 91 year old WWII Army glider pilot presented “How a Fascination With Wings & Wheels Shaped My Life”. Licensed as a pilot at 16, Cal became Virginia’s youngest barnstormer at age 18. By this time he and a friend had rebuilt a Ni chol as Beazley NB-3 airplane from the parts of several crashed planes. The 1927 Chevy of which he was eventually so proud of was purchased for $7.50 with body damage and without an engine, transmission or tires. Using great resourcefulness and his high level of mechanical aptitude, Cal soon had a driving machine to be admired.

Cal enlisted in the Army at the time their glider program was getting underway. Despite his extensive flight experience, the Army trained him as a truck mechanic. Good sense or luck finally prevailed and a year later, as an Army, glider-wings wearing pilot, he embarked aboard a former French luxury liner for an airfield in England.

Cal participated in glider operations for the Normandy invasion, the invasion of Holland, and the invasion which crossed the Rhine (River). A unique facet of an Army glider pilot’s job was becoming a short term infantryman after landing. During the post-landing chaos, in enemy territory, under fire and amidst crashed gliders, these pilots had to find a combat unit to join until they figured out how to get back to a rear staging area for return to their airfields.

Cal’s story testifies to the merits of careful observation of one’s environment for staying healthy and alive, ingenuity in problem solving, and keeping productively busy in the face of adversity. His solitary journeys through hostile territory back to base were unscripted and largely unassisted. Serendipitous opportunities for improving one’s lot had to be taken advantage of. All one’s senses needed full employment to avoid danger. Plans never worked out as originally imagined and improvisation was essential. A spare time project at one of Cal’s operating bases in France was building a radio. Crystals, wiring and coils were unavailable. Cal used wire and a headset from the radio of a nearby, wrecked German fighter aircraft, a cardboard toilet paper roll, and a Gillette “blue blade” razor blade to make his own working receiver. Another project was the removal from a German FW-190 fighter of an armored pilot seat which was then installed in Cal’s glider prior to crossing the Rhine.

After the war Cal worked for General Motors for many years, supervising the network of dealers in the Eastern half of the U.S. To this day he continues his can-do habits, improving and maintaining his Manassas and Deltaville homes. He remains active in the association of WWII glider pilots and gives presentations and advice to ROTC and Army active duty troops.