William "Bill" OAKES,

William F. Oakes

Bill's 2011 Autobiography

After graduation I worked with my father at his Garage on Main St. for a couple of years.

I joined the Army in 1963 and went to school in Alabama for aircraft maintenance. I then relocated to South Vietnam for a year to put my new skills to work. Upon returning, Virginia was the next stop, to learn to repair and maintain helicopters. I was asked to stay as an instructor until I was discharged in 1966.

I joined the Westport Fire Department in 1966 and held positions of firefighter, Lieutenant, and Captain before retiring as Assistant Chief.

I was self employed for the next 10 years in retail sales.

Because of my love of airplanes I joined US Airways and worked in Bridgeport, Westchester County, NY and finally as a supervisor at the Greenville/Spartanburg Airport in Greer, SC.

The next stop was Greenville Hospital for some heart surgery.

Now it’s hobbies, woodworking and building and flying radio controlled model airplanes.

The plane in the picture is a ¼ scale model of the plane for which I was Crew Chief while in Vietnam.

All of my planes are electric powered, hence I’m known as “Electric Bill” at the local flying field.