THE SMELL OF C-54 ENGINES, RAIN AND SNOW ALBERT LOWE

                           I served on the Berlin Airlift from December 1948 to September 1949                          in Fassberg, Germany.  I flew  267 flights from Berlin to Tegal                          Airbase in the French section. I was an Aircraft command and                          Instruction pilot.  Our C-54's carried 10 tons of coal per flight                          and our shifts were 12 hours long. 0600 to 1800 and 1800 to 0600.                           This made for long days and nights. The weather was very rough December                          through March.  Amazingly, I only had 3 missed approaches due to                          weather.  And the weather was in my favor on Christmas Eve 1948                          when a snowstorm closed down Tegal  Airforce base and allowed me to                          spend Christmas in Berlin.                               It is my opinion that we blazed  the trail in all weather be it                          night or day. My memory will always  retain the sounds and sights of                          rain, snow, C-54 engines, red  hot exhaust stacks and the labor                          and strain of lifting heavy loads  into the air.                            For those  of us who participated and still  survive,  we can hold                          our heads  high and be extremely proud that  we were a part of the greatest                          humantiarian undertaking the world  has ever known.     Albert Lowe