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Book Description & Author Bio
Bert Yetman retired from the United States Air Force as a jet fighter pilot after 20 years of active duty. The stories in this book relate to the years following his military retirement. Having pursued corporate flying for a couple of years, he applied to TWA for overseas work and was given the opportunity to begin airline flying in Saudi Arabia. He spent four years flying B-707’s and B-737’s from Jeddah, S.A. His contract with TWA was for two years, after which Saudia, the airline, took over management of the airline, and offered the proverbial “bag-of-gold” to sign on for another two years flying B-737’s. It was a rough four years, especially for my wife who was not allowed in-country for the first year, but joined me for three years after that. However, the reward came later. Resigning from Saudia in 1979, he was hired by Southwest Airlines (SWA) in Dallas, TX, and spent the next 13 years with them. After the federally mandated age 60 retirement for airline pilots, he ferried B-737’s to new owners globally. At age 70, he gave up flying airliners, and confined his aviation to private planes.
Come along as we reminisce about aviation-oriented adventures and people around the world, from Alaska to Saudi Arabia. Exciting flights, and countries I hadn’t been exposed to in the USAF. Now, some 40 years after my time in Saudi Arabia, they are opening up the country to tourists. Until now, foreigners, except contract workers, were not allowed.
After retirement from SWA, while ferrying B-737’s, I was privileged to fly into Russia for refueling, and aircraft delivery to Guangzhou, China. Both places were considered “enemy” during my time in the USAF. Repossessing an aircraft I had delivered to Guangzhou six months earlier was really interesting to me, as I kept thinking of it unnecessarily, as an adversarial challenge.
Book Stats & Updates
The following stories are snapshots of my life of flying around the world after spending 20 years in the United States Air Force.
If you have served with the USAF, then you may have extra appreciation, get an extra laugh, from what you read.
And if you, like me, have looked down on the endless ocean, flown through hurricanes, or landed on runways that don’t deserve the name, then you’ll enjoy these stories as well!