~ IN MEMORY ~
Navy veteran, NWA/DL Capt. Lawrence ‘Larry’ A.
Mullaly
October 15, 1947 ~ June 12, 2014
Born October 15, 1947 Lawrence Archer Mullaly was 66 years of
age at the time of his passing having struggled many years with
ALS. Captain Mullaly joined Northwest Airlines 10-26-1984
and retired with Delta Air Lines. Article excerpt: “Mullaly flew 135 planes in
his aviation career, clocking 25,000 air miles. He served as a top Navy pilot
assigned to the RA-5C Vigilante supersonic reconnaissance aircraft. He flew for
Northwest Airlines, was a captain for Delta Airlines, part of the Navy reserves,
and took a volunteer mission in the Commemorative Air Force flying military
aircraft, specifically the B-25 World War Two plane.”
To watch a video of Captain Mullaly’s final wish be
granted, please visit http://www.kare11.com/news/article/991438/391/Dying-veteran-pilot-granted-final-wish-
Article excerpt: “Mullaly proposed to his wife in the B-25.
They met aboard a plane when she was a Northwest flight attendant. “
Captain Mullaly is survived by his wife
Carol. The only mailing information that I could locate was a mail forwarding
address:
214 RAINBOW DR
# 11474 , LIVINGSTON TX 77399-2014
Should we hear more as to arrangements we will
be sure to pass that information along.
Additional information and/or corrections are
always appreciated.
Thank you,
~ Carol Faulkner, PCN death notice communicatordeath@pilotcommunication.net
http://pcnflightwest.blogspot.com/
http://pcnflightwest.blogspot.com/
From: RNPA News Sent: Friday, June 13, 2014
6:37 AM Subject: RNPA News: Larry Mulally Has Flown
West.
Please pass on the info that Larry Mulally,
US Navy, Air Florida, and NWA has Flown West after a 6 year struggle with ALS.
Celebration of life planned for August. More
later.
Larry Daudt
I’ve known Larry Mullaly for over 20 years. He flew the
Stearman, B-25, PBY and the Schlep at Planes of Fame East. He was also heavily
involved with the restoration of the MN Wing’s Miss Mitchell as well as
conducting B-25 Ground School for many years. Larry was diagnosed with ALS (Lou
Gehrig’s Disease) several years ago and has been fighting the good fight since
then. Larry is now at the VA in hospice care, but yesterday he returned to his
home town to share memories with many of the people he touched over the years.
Here is a story one of the local news stations did on the event. I thought I
would share it here so the people that knew him here could see the story. A big
Thank You to the MN Wing for bringing Miss Mitchell down to say good bye to
Larry...................................
Dying veteran pilot granted final wish
The St. Cloud VA Hospital helped grant a final wish for a former Navy pilot
dying of ALS.
Larry Mullaly, 64, made it home, to Pepin, Wisconsin Sunday afternoon
alongside his wife, Carol, and a care team from the VA. Six years ago, the
disease took his ability to fly, but in Pepin, he came home to a skyward salute
from a warplane he once flew.
"At the VA, if you are terminally ill, which I am, they give you one day to
go wherever you want to. I asked for Paris and they said no," Mullaly laughed.
"I said okay, how about Pepin?"
Mullaly flew 135 planes in his aviation career, clocking 25,000 air miles.
He served as a top Navy pilot assigned to the RA-5C Vigilante supersonic
reconnaissance aircraft. He flew for Northwest Airlines, was a captain for Delta
Airlines, part of the Navy reserves, and took a volunteer mission in the
Commemorative Air Force flying military aircraft, specifically the B-25 World
War Two plane.
"Flying was my heart and soul. I gave it everything I could while I was
able to. Now I can't do much of anything. My hands are curling up," Mullaly
said.
Mullaly was welcomed home with an emotional reception at the Pepin
Sportsman Club, tearfully saying goodbye to family and friends. But he smiles as
the B-25 plane Mullaly flew roared over the building, tipping its wings in
tribute.
"Memories," he said. "That used to be me."
Mullaly proposed to his wife in the B-25. They met aboard a plane when she
was a Northwest flight attendant.
"I told her if she could keep the wings level, I had a present for her,
well the present was an engagement ring," he remembered.
The two married on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and next week will
renew their wedding vows.
"Larry has faced this disease head on. He knew he only had a certain amount
of time. But in life, Larry said many times we had choices, even when he
proposed to me we said, we choose each other," she said.
His time in the air inspired his son to become a pilot too.
"We would go to air shows all the time and it was always him he could be
doing fly bys and stuff, so it was hard knowing it was the last time he would
see it fly," said Sean Mullaly, who works for a cargo airline in Michigan. "His
mind is 100 percent, if his body was able, he could jump in that plane and fly
as good as these guys were doing today."
The B-25 made one final pass, tipping its wings back and forth as it flew
into the horizon.
"There is the goodbye," said Mullaly, with a wave of his weak hand.
It was a final goodbye for the gentleman on the ground, who long ago earned
his wings.
Larry Mullaly personifies the Minnesota
Commemorative Air Force's gratitude to those who maintained and flew combat
aircraft in WWII.
Led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, 16 B-25s flew into the annals of
history on April 18, 1942, becoming the first allied force to strike Japan in
World War II. The B-25 immediately became a symbol of hope and victory for the
United States.
Seventy years later, I was "the bombardier-navigator" in the nose
of another B-25: "Miss Mitchell," the iconic aircraft belonging to the Minnesota
Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAFMN) located at Fleming Field in South
St. Paul.
It was a bright Sunday morning two months ago, and we were flying
from Fleming to Red Wing Airport to honor Larry Mullaly. Larry is a longtime
CAFMN member and, but for him, Miss Mitchell would never have left the ground
after many years of meticulous restoration.
We landed and taxied up to the small terminal where Larry and many
others were gathered. A former Burnsville resident, Larry has ALS (Lou Gehrig's
disease) and had to be wheeled up to his beloved aircraft for a closer view and
some photos..................................
==================================
==================================
Bill Emmer
writes.
Larry Mullaly was a dear friend, and we spent quite a bit of
time together early in our airline careers, beginning at Air Florida. In fact
he always claimed an un-official Guinness World Record: Most hours flown in an
aircraft with Bill Emmer. We had great layovers together, often as long as 6
days, because we flew with the most senior DC-10 Captain at Air Florida when
others would bid away from him. London and Paris were like home away from home,
and often we'd catch a train and go to another city such as Salsbury to see
Stonehenge, or to Dover and ride the ferry across the channel to spend the day
in Calais. For a Squid, he was a stand up guy...actually, he had many traps on
carriers in the A-5, and I guess it was quite a piece of iron to wrestle aboard
and then get stopped. I'm sure he loved every trap, of course AFTER he got
stopped, and occasionally after he changed flight suits...
Larry was an excellent and very technical pilot. Right after
we got hired by NWA he noticed a DC-10 being fueled at the gate, and could tell
by the angle of the center gear that the parking brakes were set. This was a
big NO-NO for that "walking" gear design, and true to form, he discovered that
there was no limitation in the flight manual restricting this operation, nor was
flight ops or maintenance even aware of it. At the time he had never been
qualified in the DC-10 for NWA. Most ironic was the fact that NWA developed and
OWNED the STC (supplemental typed certificate) for that center gear
modification on the DC-10.
I did his OE when he checked out as a Captain on the A-320.
It was like stealing from the company for me because he was so knowledgeable
and proficient, and we had a great time while he accrued 25 hours. He aced the
line check. We had a long SFO layover, and had quite a day on the town, dining
that evening at the Tadich Grill. The next day we flew Flight 28 SFO-MEM
(recall that the flight originated as a Whale in BKK, I think, flew to NRT and
then to SFO where it became an A-320). We held for severe weather East of MEM,
and eventually were able to work around the convective cumulo-bumpus and make
our way to the gate. We both were dis-satisfied with the performance of the
Bendix radar--delivered on the first 30 or more aircraft--and because of his
perseverance we wrote a fairly detailed critique of that equipment several weeks
before our 747-400 ran into a severe band of weather West of DTW, causing major
damage. We discovered that NWA had never accomplished any of the Bendix service
bulletins on any of the RDR-4A radars in the 320s, 57s and 400s. The money they
spent repairing that aircraft and the revenue they lost while it was out of
service would have paid to accomplish those bulletins on every aircraft equipped
with that radar.
When Larry proposed to Carol, at the time an NWA Flight
Attendant, they decided to get married atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris, a city we
both loved very much (and shared some great memories there as well--we both flew
there often as Captains on the A-330, and of course years earlier on the DC-10
with Air Florida). He had a cousin, I think, who was a Magistrate in Texas, who
agreed to marry them over the phone. On the day of the wedding they went up the
tower at the pre-determined hour and he whipped out the cell phone that had
worked all over the city only to find out that the Eiffel Tower was the antenna
for that part of Paris, and they were on the INSIDE of said antenna with no
signal whatever!!! Not to worry, our boy wonder (we were both Air Florida
Flight Engineers at heart, and often our systems knowledge saved the day)
located a pay phone, changed Euro bills into a boat load of coins and managed to
pull it off, creating a great war story along the way.
If you're interested, there's a pretty moving video about him
that aired on KARE 11 news a few years ago that is quite moving and still
available on line at
We lost Larry way too early. He had a heart of gold, and was
as true a friend as I've ever had. Toward the end of his life he lived in a VA
medical center hooked up to a ventilator, and he had great difficulty
communicating. Each day was a struggle. While I'm happy to say he's finished
that ordeal, I will miss him very much. I'd appreciate it if everyone who knew
him would raise a glass and toast his final departure. God Speed, my friend.
Blue Skies and tail winds where ever you are...
bill emmer
Larry is a great guy, I knew him from Air Florida and Northwest Airlines, he will be missed.
ReplyDeleteBob Crawford