~ IN MEMORY ~
USAF veteran, NWA Capt. Paul Douglas Saastad
July 9, 1939 ~ January 16, 2025
USAF blog site…entry was taken from Spence AFB online
guestbook, Paul Saastad wrote: “I was a cadet at Spence in class 61-F. I was a
yank from Wisconsin and being in reb country for the first time in my young
life was a real experience. A great experience!” https://spenceairbase.com/guestbook.html
PCN memorial site
From the retired Northwest Airlines pilot group,
NWA colleague Paul Saastad died on January 16,
2025. Paul, age 85, died of natural causes near his home at Port Townsend, WA.
He grew up near Spooner, WI and after college entered the USAF. Most of his
military years were spent flying the KC-135 tanker. Paul was hired by NWA on
August 01, 1966. We were honored to have him in our ranks.
Bill Day
Easily one of my very best trips flying for NWA was when Paul did my OE while I upgraded to Captain on the B-747 Classic. He demo-ed the first leg to NRT, where he introduced me to Yankee after dining at the Yellow Awning...as you can see he believed that wide body Captains should be well rounded individuals with the social skills necessary to maintain the stature of that high office!
ReplyDeleteI'd already heard that his voice rivaled Sinatra, so I approached Yankee and asked to pay for some Karaoke time. As I was handing him some yen he asked me what I wanted to sing. I said “The Summer Wind by Sinatra”. I told him that Paul would be singing. He handed me the money back and said “Paul doesn't pay.” The rumors were true. Paul could easily have had a career as a professional singer.
The next evening we departed NRT for SIN. The weather was not good for most of the route, with considerable convective activity that worsened the further south we flew. It was particularly bad off the coast of Viet Nam, and of course due to the lightning activity the HF radios were miserable. Great time to NOT BE a Second Officer.
Finally, we were in a descent to SIN, and suddenly broke out with clear skies and unlimited visibility at about 0130 in the morning. Soon we were on a right downwind headed south at FL200. Abeam the field we were cleared the visual for Runway 02L.
Anyone who flew the Whale for NWA was made aware that boards were not to be used in flight. It just wasn't done. You might recall the infamous quote by Flipper to our Republic brethren: “Speedbrakes are like erasers on pencils--if you use them, it's because you made a mistake.”
I looked at Paul and said that Boeing put these boards on the airplane for a reason, and in a 3-holer I would just drop the gear and use full boards and roll out on a 5 mile final. He just shrugged and said “I've never used them.” I called for the gear, used “a full Nelson” (full boards), rolled out on a 5 mile final fully configured, on speed on glide slope. He talked me through a nice touch down, and as we taxiied in after my very first landing he didn't say a word. I figured I'd really pissed him off. We shut down at the gate, secured the flight deck and worked our way curbside for pickup. Still not a word, and Paul, if you new him, was quite talkative. I figured he was either really tired given the early morning hour or really pissed at me for having used those boards.
As we checked into our beautiful hotel (Swiss Grand Clark Quay), Paul asked me if I wanted to grab a beer. I agreed, and we changed shirts in our rooms and met downstairs in just a few minutes.
He lead the way to a place on the quay just a few steps from the lobby, and we were immediately served a beer. I began to apologize for using the speedbrakes, and he stopped me by raising his hand and saying “NO, you've got me all wrong. I'm not at all mad at you. I'm mad at myself for not realizing my blind stupidity, for not having questioned such foolish advice. I'm remembering all of the times that speedbrakes would have been by far the best solution over the course of the last 20 years that I've been teaching on this airplane.” Excellent instructor that he was, this had made him livid.
As the trip progressed we worked our way back to NRT, another trip to Yankees, and finally an Initial Captain Linecheck to SEA where he was based. I've never had a more enjoyable trip. We shook hands after the flight, and I walked away never again to enjoy being with one of the finest men I've ever met.
God Speed Paul. Fly safe.