EMMETT SPINKS 1950 - 1976 PILOT FTW ACF GSW DAL DFW Heading to FTW for the pilots lunch at Ernie's at 1200 on July 16th. Just talked with Bill Blackmon and he says they always have a good turnout. Patt McDonald said he'll be there too. He's in cardiac rehab after stent implants, and doing fine. Will go to see Emmit Spinks in the Westpark Nursing Home in Euless before I come back. Emmit has been paralyzed from the waist down for over 7 years but his mind is still very alert. Bill goes to see him every Sunday morning after church. I know he'd enjoy hearing from his old cohorts. -Clyde Hart (7/3/01) On the way home from Louisiana on 2/11, from visiting a high school friend who's dying, I had lunch with Patt McDonald and Jim Ford. Before meeting them I went by the West Park Nursing Home in Bedford, TX and visited Emmit Spinks again. Emmit is still alert and apparently has full memory. He recognized me immediately. Emmit has been paralyzed for over seven years and would love to hear from all Central/Frontier employees who remembered him. I don't know how much time he's got left, but he may outlive a lot of us. Drop him a card or something. -Clyde Hart (2/11/03) Emmit is in the Westpark nursing home on Westpark road in Bedford, TX. Don't know the address. Just know how to get there. He was my first captain back in 1964 on CEN. -Clyde Hart (2/12/03) I've never gone through DFW without stopping off to visit with Emmit. He was my first Captain at CEN in 1964. We overnighted at the Aladdin (remember)Hotel in MKC and our F/A was Kay Albin. We shared a room back then, and it was memorable when Emmit came back and started calling up all his girl friends from DAL-FTW-AMA-OKC-TUL and MKC. Didn't get much sleep. Emmit's mind is very alert and he still is a voracious reader. Bill Blackmon visits him every Sunday after church and will have the address of the West Park Nursing Home in Bedford, TX. You may get the address on the web or by just calling up. Emmit would enjoy hearing from any or all. Imagine being paralyzed from the waist down and being stuck in bed these past seven or eight years. Bill told me that his legs had atrophied. He had thought of taking him to a luncheon, but changed his mind. -Clyde Hart (2/17/03) The address is correct, but he would be unable to answer the phone. Thanks to you and Clyde Hart, and it is a great Idea. I tried years ago to get Emmet a Computer for his room, and he was unable to even to understand it. He is in very bad shape, bed fast, and unable to sit up or walk. He is very lonely, and would really enjoy hearing from anyone. I know he would enjoy cards and letters. Please advise all of your Patrons. I go visit him as often as I can, and he has very little company. He is still alert, and has a pretty good memory. He can still visit and talk of many years ago. Good Luck, and Keeep Up the Good Work. -Bill Blackmon (2/19/03) Just thought I'd add a little levity to the site. Just talked with Bill Blackmon and he said that Emmit had been isolated from the restaurant portion of the West Park Rest Home for placing his hand on the private parts of a 90 year old woman in her wheelchair. Emmit was in his wheelchair. I guess Libido lives on. Emmit was one of the first Captains I flew with on CEN, and I still visit him and love the guy. I wish more of our troops would go see him too. One of a kind...... aren't we all? -Clyde Hart (6/20/03) Just received word from Bill Blackmon that Emmett Spinks passed away July 11. This came from his daughter, who hadn't made any arrangements yet. Emmett was a Central and Frontier pilot who retired in 70's (exact date unknown) When I get more info, I'll pass it on. -Jim Ford (7/12/04) Posted at the FL Club Emmett Spinks has died Jim Ford emailed, "Just received word from Bill Blackmon that Emmett Spinks passed away July 11. This came from his daughter, who hadn't made any arrangements yet. Emmett was a Central and Frontier pilot who retired in 70's (exact date unknown) When I get more info, I'll pass it on." Emmett was about 87 years old & had been in a Euless TX nursing home many years. -Jake Lamkins (7/12/04) Grief, good ole Emmett. When I worked in load planning, I use to give him his wx and papers when he was leaving DEN. He always used to ask for me to do this, cause we always had a couple of jokes to share. His mostly about peanut butter or his kids. Bye for now, Emmett. Fly high. -Bill Fleming (7/12/04) The info for Emmett Spinks: Services at the Greenwood Funeral Home July 16 (Friday) at 1:PM 3100 White Settlement Rd. Fort Worth, TX 76107 817-336-0584 -Jim Ford (7/12/04) Yesterday was a bad day. I received a phone call from Emmett Spinks' Daughter. Emmett died Sunday evening, and I have known him from the start of CEN. I have been visiting with Emmett for 10 or 12 years in the Nursing Home. He has hung on for 87 years, and finally Hung Up his Head Set, and has Flown West. He was unique, and there will never be another like him. The Funeral is Fri. 1:00 PM. at Greenwood Funeral Home, 3100 White Settlement RD. Ft. Worth Tx. May His Soul Rest In Peace. -Bill Blackmon (7/13/04) He was my first Captain on Central, and we became friends over the years. Still remember that first trip laying over at the Aladdin Hotel in MKC with Kay Albin as Stew. Visited him every time I went to DFW. He spent over 14 years paralyzed from the waist down. Hope he’s in heaven now flying DC-3’s with Bob Wilbanks. -Clyde Hart (7/14/04) Emmett was one of a kind, and has touched every ones Heart in a special way. You have to like him, and will remember him. He and Wilbanks, and a dozens of us that worked and played with them, know that they had a special place in our lives. I personally visited him at the nursing home for at least 10 or twelve years, and never ceased to laugh with him, and walk away, shaking my head. Without exception, when I walked away I had a very special feeling for him, and knew that he really was a talented person. He made you a part of his life and you were a little envious knowing that he lived to the fullest. As you know, I have remarried after 10 years of being a lonely Widower, and I married my 1st wife's very best Friend, and we all went to school together. Peggy is the Godmother of all of my kids, and we finally got together, and married over a year ago, and I moved here to OKC, where I was born and raised. We are very much in love, and it has been many years since I have been so happy. We have so many common interest, and Friends and Relatives and have a very good life. However, she had a severe Arthritis Attack in her lower back, and it was as if she had been struck by lighting. After several months of treatments, we finally found a Neuro. Surgeon that fixed it, and she is still restricted to 1 hour of travel. So, Emmett's Daughter called me early Mon. morning, and told the me the grim news, and I was saddened, but relieved that he had Flown West. Hung up his Head Set for the last time, and I know he is better off now, as I watched him bedridden for all that time. He was so alone. He continued to suffer, but still had his Humor and still made me feel better. So to answer your question, I will not be able to be there, but Yes, Yes, I think it would be GREAT, to get together and I will forward this to a few of the guys, and suggest what you suggested. Thank you for the Reminder, of our Caring of one of our own. God continue to Bless Our Group, and the Good OLE USA. -Bill Blackmon (7/15/04) The memorial service was very nice and there was a dozen or so pilots there plus a couple of mechs and a half dozen or so stews. It was a very nice service and I was glad I got to meet his family. I had met one of the kids years ago but they were little 'uns then. We all did alot of visiting in the hallway before and after the service; in fact they had to ask us to come in and be seated so the service could start! But there was no get-together afterward (other than in the hallway again) but I think we got most of our visiting taken care of. I had a chance to talk to one of Emmett's daughters after the service and she said she would send me a good picture of Emmett and a list of the attendees so we can put it in Emmett's FAL Alumni Obituary page as Jake had asked me to do. Yes Emmett was a great guy and I believe anyone who had ever gotten to know him would agree with me there. It seemed like he always had a smile on his face and a hello for anyone he met. I remember once when we sat down at the Zebra Room bar in the Aladdin hotel in KC that he stuck out his hand to the bartender and introduced himself to the bartender as "Emil Spence". Being a new F/O I asked him why he did that and his reply was that he really liked to meet people but using his real name in a bar wasn't a good idea but his alias was close enough that he would remember to answer to it if necessary! And sure enough the next time we came in he was heartily greeted with "Hello Emil" like he was a regular (which was close to the truth). That same month, he was sincerely trying to teach me how to consistently make a good landing in a DC-3 but it wasn't going too well. I was getting very discouraged that I would ever learn how and told him that I appreciated his help but maybe we should just forget the whole idea and I would find something else to do for a living. Then Emmett got serious and told me that even a monkey could be trained to take off and fly a DC-3 but they never could teach a monkey how to land one. Then he smilingly said to me "Don't you want to be better than a damn monkey?" So we went back to work on the problem and eventually got it solved. He loved monkey stories and jokes. Enough reminiscences. Take care of yourselves and God Bless. -Frosty Frost (7/17/04) I have so enjoyed Emmitt's webpage tonight!! i never knew him......i must've come onboard AFTER he retired...... not certain about that, but i don't recall ever flying with him..... from everything i've read on the webpage, i'm certain i'd remember him if we ever flew together. anyway, i wanted to share (in private) a funny story that ron gallop shared with me this morning by phone about emmitt...... he and emmitt were flying together and overnighting in DEN at one of the earlier, rat trap hotels...... after having several cocktails, they retired to their rooms...... as he was heading to his room, ron discovered a couple, very young girls standing outside emmitt's room..... in fact, ron said there were ALWAYS girls around emmitt...... anyway, the next morning, ron asked emmitt HOW and WHAT on earth was it that he did to always attract the women? emmitt replied, "it's right here!" with that, he pulled back his uniform jacket lapel and hidden beneath was a button with the rolling stones tongue on it..... written underneath the tongue was, "i eat pussy!" the guy HAD TO HAVE BEEN a shear treasure!!!! i'm sorry i never knew him! -Jo Delle Davidson Burwell (7/19/04) Having flown with Emmitt a bunch, I'm sure Ron's story is true. His usual greeting to a brand new stew was, "Hi, I'm Emmitt Spinks and I'm sterile." A trip with him was one long and hilarious party!!! -Phil Stallings (7/20/04) Emmett must have retired about 1976 so that's why you didn't know him. The first time I met Emmett was shortly after I started at FYVCN in 1964. He appeared to be drunk and a state policeman was intent on arresting him. The flight had only a 5 minute ground time and FYV manager Don Enos managed to explain to the cop that Emmett was just clowning around and had to leave to fly an airplane. Naturally, Emmett did not give us a delay when he called his times in. Don explained Emmett and his shenanigans afterwards to me. The next time I saw Emmett he got off the DC-3 wearing dark glasses and carrying a white cane. You got to remember he was in full uniform during both these incidents. Another favorite of his was that big notebook he like to carry emblazoned in large letters "How To Fly In 8 Easy Lessons" or something like that. We knew to expect the unexpected with Emmett and there was always some laughing going on. It still goes on with the re-telling of Emmett stories. -Jake Lamkins (7/20/04) Your recollection made me think of the first time I saw Emmett. I thought you may want me to share it with y'all... Not long after the merger in 1967, I was sitting on a B-727 jumpseat waiting to commute to SLC. We were parked in front of the DEN crew room door. In those days our terminal (A) was under the old control tower. It was late in the afternoon, dusk as I recall, when the crew room door opened. An old captain unfamiliar to me appeared. He was very noticeable however, as he looked like he could barely walk. With a captain's hat on his head, and a bag in each hand, he trudged outside. The light from the crew room cast an eerie glow around his silhouette. I asked the captain, Leonard Pratt, "who-is-that?" Pratt said: "why that's ol' Emmett!" Captain Pratt then turned on his nose wheel light spotlighting this decrepit looking old captain. Suddenly, Emmett stopped - slowly bent his knees - and placed his bags at his feet. Then, he slowly removed his hat and carefully placed it on top of his flight bag. All of a sudden he does the liveliest soft shoe dance you can imagine. This goes on a minute or so when Captain Pratt reached up and extinguished the nose wheel light. Just as suddenly Emmett stopped, then ever so slowly retrieved his hat and carefully placed it upon his head. Then, he gently bent his knees and grasped his bags. I didn't see him slowly trudge off to his waiting Convair. I was on the floor with my sides aching from the hilarity of what I had just witnessed. Yup, that was my first memory of Emmett. I reckon my memory of him is similar to that of many folks. There is no doubt that Captain Emmett Spinks was someone we will never forget - someone we will think often - someone who always makes us smile. What a wonderful legacy! Blue Skies & Tailwinds Emmett... -Billy Walker (7/20/04) Leonard was one of the original heroes of flying and I guess he really did it all. A wonderful human being and a great friend - I loved being around him. He was/is a legend to some of us oldtimers. Leonard had lived at Heber Springs for years Rusty told me at the Picnic that Emmett had passed away. The stories that could be told on those guys would produce two best sellers. They were both American Originals. Never again will aviation see, or be, as it was in their day. Thank god I was a little part of it and got to know the main players. The ones who lived it and made it happen. It was our life: We lived it and loved it. -Jack Chambers, Cabot AR (9/25/04) The first time I saw Emmitt Spinks was in MKC standing by the airstair door while passengers were boarding, all bent over with one arm hidden under his coat ,saying you all go on up and your capt will follow you. -Brady White (3/18/05) I arrived one cold morning in old MKC and went to Breadfast with my leader, Spinks. As we left the cockpit on the DC-3 he asked for the gust lock. A piece of 1/2 in. bungee cord with a big steel claw on each end that we hooked over each yoke. He stuffed it all up his left uniform coat sleeve but he left about 4 inches and the claw hanging out. We went right through the terminal to Joe Gilberts cafe. It was all I could do to keep from roaring with laughter with all the stares we got. I flew a lot with Emmit and it was never dull. -Rusty Lambert (3/19/05) In January 1965, Wayne Brickey and myself were working flight line in FSM, when The flight from DAL landed and was parked at gate 1. I think it was flight 142 with stops at FSM, FYV, JLN and MKC. As we went under the aircraft we noticed much hydraulic fluid pouring our onto the ramp. After we worked the cargo we both told Capt. Spinks about the leak, Emmett said "it's not that bad, w're going schedule." We dispatched the flight and just a few minutes after take off Emmett called in saying he had an emergency and was returning to FSM. We notified dispatch and watched for him to land. He landed from the East on 7/25 and when he touched down , a smoke cloud went about 100 feet into the air as all four mains exploded. We found out later that when you blow the gear down, it also locks the mains. Wayne and I were the first ones to the aircraft. We opened the air-stair door to deplane the psgrs onto the runway. What happened next is forever burned into my memory. The first person down the stairs was a young girl, who was a student at University of Ark. She was really giggling and asked if we had another airplane to take her to FYV. I have often wondered what Emmett told the passengers on the intercom. Here was an airliner that just had an ememgency landing, blowing out all of it's tires, and the psgrs thought it was funny. You know Emmett always called himself "the friendly Egyptian". -Tony Worden (3/27/05) Retirees Dick Koplitz, 29 years, Captain, DEN Emmett Spinks, Jr., Captain, 25 years, DFW per FL News, Jun/Jul 1976 -Jake Lamkins (3/27/11) E C SPINKS JR Pilot seniority date of 5/3/51, MED 6/1/71 per the 9/1/72 FL/ALPA Seniority List. E C SPINKS DFW 737 captain per the May 1976 FL Pilot Domicile List. He retired in Jul 1976 when he turned 60 years old. -Jake Lamkins (7/19/15) FLacebook - FL Club FLight West: Emmett Spinks FTW ACF GSW DAL DFW pilot Emmett Spinks' memorial webpage has been updated: http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Emmett_Spinks.html Several items added and moved to a non-ad website. He is one of the real original characters I have met in my life. Be sure to read the 1974 article he wrote for the FL magazine. -Jake Lamkins (7/20/15) I was reading some things in Emmett Spink's memorial web page this morning and my mind was flooded with "Emmett stories". One I was involved in after the fact while I was working in Denver. It was probably in 1969 or 70. A couple of us were sent to survey damage to a CV 580 that lost the Capt's sliding window in flight. Emmett was the captain and I forget the F/O. Emmett wrote in the log book that the Capt's cockpit window had departed the A/C at altitude. Rapid decompression,and underlined the words,VERY IMPRESSIVE. We were talking to the F/O and he said even with his lap belt fastened, Emmett was sucked through the window up to his waist and was unconscious. He said I started looking for an airport. I thought Emmett was dead, and I had to get on the ground fast "and scratch the old SOB's name off the seniority list." What love we had for each other in our FLamily. -Bill Guthrie (8/3/15) FLacebook post about Emmett Bill Guthrie Years ago he owned a club in Dallas and did his own stand-up comedy routine. He was hilarious. Emmet was one of a kind. We use to have the CN Christmas parties at his club. Gerrie Donaldson He was with my husband Don Donaldson. It was quite a story! Great guys! Bill Guthrie I could not remember Don's name. I met the flight when they came in. Don talked to us for a while after Emmett left. What he said about “the old SOB” was said in fun. Lanette Duncan Emment! No one ever before or after like him (4/11/20) Lanette Duncan Oh my God! Emmett was one of a kind for sure. (7/23/22) Bill Guthrie I can remember when he had a club in DAL. He did a stand-up comedy routine. Phillip R Stallings I miss flying Co-Pilot for Captain Emmett. He was a good pilot and a hoot to be with. (7/25/22) FLacebook FLIGHT WEST UPDATED Frontier Memorial Webpage EMMETT SPINKS 1950 - 1976 PILOT FTW ACF GSW DAL DFW http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Emmett_Spinks.html I added some stories and pix plus updating the webpage. If you ever met him, you would remember him. He spread good cheer everywhere he went. I remember a DC-3 flight with him about 1965 in which he announced we were on a "Mystery Flight" and did not know our destination. There was a city up ahead that looked like Dallas and he was going to land to see if it was. Post your remembrances of him. -Jake Lamkins (7/26/22)