BOB WILBANKS 1959 - 1974 PILOT GSW DAL DFW Emmit is in the West Park nursing home in Hurst, TX. He's paralyzed from the waist down. Few remember the stories about him and Bob Wilbanks, when he and Bob both appeared with one arm tucked under their jackets as one-armed pilots as they boarded their DC-3 and awaited the passengers reaction. Or how about the one where Bob tied a black thread to the DC-3 primer switch and during a night flight pulled on the thread which caused the low fuel pressure light to illuminate briefly and brought poor Emmit to a nervous state. They were good friends. Bob's gone now to the heavenly hangar. -Clyde Hart (10/14/99) Emmett Spinks used to fly with Bob Willbanks a lot in the Central DC-3s. They both had a propensity for pranks. One well known trick for DC-3 pilots was to string a fish line from the primer, used during engine start, over and around restricting the line from view. If the perpertrator was sure the victim wasn't aware, he could pull on the line during take off causing the engine to run rough and even backfire. Of course engine loss on take off is not desirable, but we are all trained to handle this. So, one day when Willbanks was flying co-pilot for Spinks it was Bob's turn to fly. In the DC-3 it was normal for the pilot flying to occupy the left seat. This put Emmett in the right seat, the normal place for someone to use the fish line trick. On take off one of the engines started acting up and actually failed. Bob did not know that this was for real, thinking Emmett was up to his old tricks. That day things were out of norm for those two. No skulldugery was in effect. This was a real engine failure! Bob still didn't know this and camly said: "...come on Emmett, give me back the engine!" -Billy Walker (1/30/04) Bob Wilbanks died 1-81 -FARPA newsletter (8/2/05) BOB WILBANKS Not on 11/4/55 or Feb 1960 FL Roster He was CN pilot BOB WILBANKS GSW First Officer Per the 10/1/64 CN Pilot Domicile List B. J. WILBANKS Pilot seniority date of 10/21/59 Per the 10/28/67 CN/FL Pilot Seniority List B J WILBANKS Pilot seniority date of 10/21/59 Per the 9/1/72 FL/ALPA Seniority List -Jake Lamkins (8/21/11) B J WILBANKS DAL Captain Per 5/73 Pilot Domicile List B J WILBANKS Med Lv 8/3/73 per the 5/74 Pilot Domicile List Still need more info such as birthdate, obituary, photo, etc. -Jake Lamkins (8/23/11) FAL WILBANKS, B J ALPA# 0208884 DOB 12/08/29 DOH 01/01/59 Class DE 01/10/81 per the FAL ALPA list. -Jake Lamkins (7/13/12) Bobby Willbanks: Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Death Record Name: Bobby Willbanks State of Issue: Texas Date of Birth: Thursday December 05, 1929 Date of Death: January 1981 Est. Age at Death: 51 years, 1 months Last known residence: City: Euless County: Tarrant State: Texas ZIP Code: 76039 -SSDI (7/13/12) Nothing at FindAGrave, FTW newspaper. Found info under Willbanks spelling. Last named spelled with extra L. SSDI and ALPA records differ on DOB by three days. -Jake Lamkins (7/13/12) Posted at FLacebook and the FL Club: GSW DAL DFW pilot Bob Wilbanks' memorial webpage is updated. Found his birthdate and SSDI record. Still need a photo. Post your remembrance of Bob. -Jake Lamkins (7/15/12)