Mid-fall 1947, Mr. Taliaferro called me to his office for a non-scheduled meeting.  I thought maybe his records were different than mine.  I found out that they were not, and we were on target for quotas, but it hadn’t been easy.  The large Corsair orders, mostly for the Korean War, had necessitated long hours of flight testing and speedy resolutions of problems.  Secretly, I was proud of our performance.  But I knew one glitch in the rhythm of our present operations would cause a slow-down.

“Harding,” Mr. Taliaferro barked.

I was standing in front of his desk.

“Sit down.  We have a problem.  I can see it coming, but don’t know how we can avoid it.”

Needless to say, he had my full attention.

“Lindbergh will be here tomorrow on a top secret consultation, and he wants to fly our F4U-5, one right off the production line with zero flight time.  Do you see the problem?” he asked.

Lindbergh had been my idol since I was six years old, and our family had driven from Ft. Smith, Arkansas, to St. Louis to see the massive celebrations and parade for the Spirit of St. Louis.  I remember my mother especially being ecstatic about Lindbergh.

I answered Mr. Taliaferro after that brief reminiscence. “It will interfere with our production by everyone wanting to see him in person when he goes to the flight line.”

His office was like a morgue for a couple of minutes.  Then an idea hit me, and I asked, “If you’ll let me use your name, I have a solution.”

“Let’s have it.”

“I’ll leave schedules as they are, and anyone deviating will have to talk to you, not me.”

Taliaferro softly grunted but then said, “Do it.”

The next morning, I made my announcement.  But what really happened was that the plan backfired on me.  I was concluding a flight and taxiing in when Lindbergh was greeting the flight office group.  I ran as fast as I could and reached the back row.  Lindbergh saw me, smiled, and waved.

What a smile, what an aviator, what a guy!  I’m sure everyone there felt the history of that moment and the significance of our encounter.

Later in my life, in other industries, I have found "an edge" exhilarating and important. If reading His Edge leads you to develop "an edge," you will have captured the esprit of the esprit de corps found in the successful people around you.
~Wayne Harding _______________________________________________________________