Forrest Lintner, 30-Year Veteran Of Civilian And Military Aviation

Forrest E. Lintner flew them all - from a 1930s-era biplane to Boeing's 707 - in a military and civilian piloting career than spanned 30 years, including hops over the infamous ``Hump'' in the Himalayan Mountains.

Lintner, 78, a 30-year veteran Northwest Airlines pilot, died last week.

His interest in airplanes began in the mid-1930s in Wolf Point, Mont., where he soloed in an Alexander Eagle Rock, a popular biplane of that time. For the next 37 years he was wedded to airplanes.

``He was a real professional, but didn't make a big deal out of it,'' said his son Gary, a pilot for Reeve-Aleutian Airways in Anchorage.

When World War II started in Europe in 1939, Lintner joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was assigned to ferrying planes from Regina to White Horse, Yukon Territory, and later flew twin-engine Avro Anson's in the Coastal Command.

In 1942 he joined Northwest Orient Airlines and shortly after was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps. After a stint in the Aleutians Islands, Lintner was transferred to the China-Burma-India Theater where he was chief pilot at the Dum, Dum Air Base in Calcutta, India.

Lintner was one of those who made flights over ``the Hump'' - the hazardous trip ferrying troops and supplies from India over the towering Himalayas to the China-Burma combat zone.

Gary recalls his father telling a tale about the time he and a mechanic were breaking in new engines on a C-47 in India. The plane was

approaching the airfield for a landing, and as Lintner was bending over to lower the landing gear, a condor smashed through the plexiglass window next to the pilot's seat.

``If he was seated upright, the condor would have hit him, causing serious injury and even causing the plane to crash,'' Gary said.

In 1945, Lintner rejoined Northwest Airlines and began flying commercial runs through the Aleutians and on to the Far East. Later he was assigned to flights in the continental United States.

``He was a reserved guy . . . a crackerjack pilot, a perfectionist,'' said Frank Houston, a close friend of Lintner for many years.

Personal records show that Lintner flew a wide variety of planes for Northwest - DC-3, DC-4, DC-6, DC-7, Martin 202, Boeing Stratocruiser, Lockheed Constellation, Lockheed Electra, DC-8 and the Boeing 707.

Lintner retired from Northwest Airlines in 1972 and later, with his wife, Nancy, bought a mobile-home park in Arlington. They operated the park for about five years before selling it.

Lintner never flew another plane after he retired.

``He only liked the feel of big airplanes. He really didn't enjoy small planes because they bounced around too much,'' his son said.

Lintner is survived by his wife; sons, Gary, of Chugiak, Alaska; Dean of Burien, Steve of Seattle, and daughter Jennifer Daley of Granite Falls.