Reprint: Getting to Know George Llewellyn

George runs circles around men half his age. He has traveled the world while maintaining his interests, hobbies and work schedule. George started life in Philadelphia and as a pre-teen became fascinated with rotorcraft planes as Pitcairn autogyros frequently flew over his home on their way to the Philadelphia airport on mail runs.

After high school, he started Engineering studies at Drexel Institute in Philadelphia and concurrently became a Toolmaker apprentice at Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corp (previously Baldwin Locomotive Works) in nearby Eddystone, PA. He enlisted in the Army during the Korean conflict and after returning from Korea in 1954, he started taking flying lessons at the Westchester Airport in a J-3 Cub. He soloed in three months, getting his PPL early in 1955. He also flew a J-3 Cub on floats at the Philadelphia Seaplane Base in Essington, PA. (cont ->)

In mid-1955 he moved to Los Angeles attending Northrop Aeronautical Institute to get an Airframe and Power Plant Mechanics license (then called an A&E license), but soon learned there was a similar program at the Los Angeles Trade Technical Jr College for a lower cost. During this time, he worked nights for Western Airlines as a baggage handler at the LA International airport. After earning the power plant license he was able to get a job with Pan American World Airways as a mechanics helper. He continued on to get the Airframe license. In 1958 he moved to San Luis Obispo, CA to take Aeronautical Engineering at Cal Poly. One year later he moved to San Jose, CA to attend San Jose State College in their Aeronautics program and worked for Bob Wright (Wright Bros Aviation) at the San Jose Airport as both mechanic and parts manager.

Since Wright Bros did the Lockheed Missiles and Space Corp aircraft maintenance, several of their pilots became friends and enticed him to move to work at Lockheed for a better future. One of the positions was in the Environmental Test Lab where orbital space vehicles and all their equipment went through testing in the high (cont ->)

altitude chamber and other environmental testing such as vibration and temperature variations. Some of the equipment was made at a subsidiary location near Hiller Helicopter Co where more rotorcraft were observed to enhance that interest.

In 1963 he became a partner with a friend from Wright Bros Aviation in a 1959 Cessna 172, N4189F. While on a visit to his parents in Philadelphia in 1988, he went back to the seaplane base to get his seaplane rating. On this trip back to CA, a stop at Oshkosh also provided a chance to get a couple more seaplane flights. He has his Combined Seaplane Ratings (ASES and ASEL).

He met his first wife at San Jose State College and they had four sons, three of which are still alive, one passing from suffering serious injuries in a downhill bike accident at the age of 16. George has now seven grandchildren and six great-grandkids. He and a coworker at Lockheed started building two 35-ft Piver-designed sailing Trimarans in 1962 as fun projects. This hobby turned into a business call LASCO Marine, building many partial (kit) tri’s and many complete tri’s in sizes from 22 to 45 feet in length. One of their 40-foot Victress models became the first to circumnavigate the world. He bought a trimaran while in Guam and spent a few years rebuilding it, while flying back and forth from San Francisco. He sailed it to the Philippines with the man whom he bought it from and who was helping him rebuild it. He then sailed it by himself to Japan where he lived for several months. His plan was to sail it around the world.

These boat building years ended in bankruptcy in 1968 due to a lack of business experience and the economical downturn. After several years selling marine engines, he returned to his other work, the love of aviation. He went to work at TWA, then World Airways, and finally United Airlines where he worked until retirement in 1996, working the final 10 years in maintenance line engineering.

During a 1993 sailing cruise with friends in the Greek islands, a stop was made at Hydra in an isolated cove where they landed to go snorkeling. There he met a German lady, Birgit, who had been visiting a convent on top of a mountain. She had hiked down the steep mountain with a Greek lady, her daughter and a Greek nun with 2 donkeys. Since Birgit was the only one who spoke English, this chance improbable meeting resulted in a lasting friendship and what has just become a 25-year marriage anniversary in August 2021.

In 1996, George and his soon-to-be wife Birgit bought a 1968 Cessna Cardinal in Kentucky which needed work. They found a hangar in Indianapolis where Birgit was then working and living. Working on it to make it airworthy took some time, but in June 1998, George flew it to PA and then to Half Moon Bay CA where he had obtained a hangar for it. Since then, he has owned several Cardinals, one a 1968 model purchased as a “fixer” and restored to good condition and flown. Three other “project” category Cardinals went to new owners to restore.

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Pacific Coast Dream Machines 2003

Another interest has been skydiving with only two unusual events, one with a brand new harness with a misplaced chest strap. The jumps, while exciting to George, would be terrifying to most people. The first jump produced a brief breathtaking moment as he opened head down and proceeded to have the rig come off his shoulders but stopped at his bent elbows, Whew! Had to get that fixed quickly! The other event was years later with a newer model canopy, when he inadvertently installed the capewells which were twisted, resulting in a good opening, but flying backwards. He made the choice to continue backwards rather than cut away his chute. Looking over his shoulder, he managed to land safely, only after going through some tree branches before hitting the ground. He has accomplished over 200 jumps. Besides flying an airplane, George enjoys sailing and construction work (building, repairing & creating). He is an active member of four Masonic Lodges of Sequim, Port Angeles and Port Townsend. He became a Master Mason in 2019, having served in all of the ranks.He served as Vice President of EAA Chapter 430. He has been to Oshkosh five times.