Peter Allen talks about Johnny Myers - Part One

Eric Rhoads - Personal Jet and Helicopter Pilot for Johnny Myers

Director RJ McHatton with pilot Eric Rhoads

Eric Rhoads

Eric Rhoads is a lucky guy. He was hired to be the personal jet and helicopter pilot for the legendary aviator and businessman Johnny Myers. We drove down to Redondo Beach to meet with Eric for our new documentary “The Flying Man” about the Life and Times of Johnny Myers. Eric sat down and started grinning as he remembered “Myers” as he called him. Eric first met John Myers about three years before he died, when Eric was hired to be his pilot. Over the years they became good friends. Eric said that his life was changed for the better because of the wisdom and character and integrity he learned from John Myers. Eric said that “Myers” was a “hand-shake” type of a guy. Someone who was bigger than life, someone who once he became your friend, you could count on being a friend for life. Eric talked about John’s love for the outdoors and for his dog Gus. He told great stories about flying with John Myers and Gus. He said that John Myers might not be well known in the general population community, but that among the pilot friends he knew, John Myers was a true to life hero. Eric said that everywhere he went, he saw how people lit up with enthusiasm when they met John Myers. Eric said that John was well respected among people all around the world. Eric talked about when he flew with John to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. when they introduced the P-61 Black Widow Night Fighter that John Myers was the original test pilot. He talked about the man he was fortunate to call friend. Eric talked about his many tripw with John Myers up to the Flying M Ranch in Merced, where John ran a real cattle ranch. He said that John Myers loved cattle and ranching. We talked about John Myers love for boating up at Big Bear and his joy for driving fast cars. Overall Eric kept talking about the wisdom and integrity and character of John Myers. He talked about the good friendships that John Myers had built up over a lifetime well into his 90s. He talked about the last time John Myers flew a helicopter and how thrilling it was to see the master fly it perfectly. I could tell that Eric enjoyed his time with John Myers and that he would never forget the lessons he learned from that tall man with the dog.

General John Dailey -- Smithsonian Institute - Air & Space Museum

General John R. Dailey -- Director at the Smithsonian Institute - National Air & Space Museum.

I drove up to Washington DC from Baltimore. It was raining in Baltimore, but the sun was shining in DC. There must be something huge happening in DC because there are kids and buses everywhere. I circled around until my GPS took me to the entrance of the National Air & Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institute. I was there to interview the Director of the Museum, General John R. Dailey, for my new documentary "The Flying Man" about the legendary test pilot Johnny Myers. Johnny Myers once was a board member at the Smithsonian and General Dailey had become a close friend of Johnny.

My interview with General Dailey went very well. He talked about the wisdom and character of Johnny Myers and how each had a unique view on aviation history. Johnny Myers was a test pilot, and John Dailey was a four star general, a Marine pilot with over 6000 hours of flying experience including fighter planes and helicopters. General Dailey had flown over 400 combat missions in Vietnam. He earned numerous awards, including the Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Vietnam Gallantry Cross. After Vietnam, Dailey continued his dedication to his country by working his way up to General. He also worked in the top leader positions at NASA and the Marine Command. Now John Dailey is the Director of the Smithsonian Institute's National Air & Space Museum.

I was really moved and impressed by my interview with John. He is truly a nice guy, and he gave me a great interview about Johnny Myers. I would like to return soon to interview General Dailey about his own personal life story. When you meet some of these heroic people, its sometimes hard to believe that this person did all these incredible achievements. It makes you realize that we are all people and that anyone can be a hero if they dedicate themselves to others.

I learned a lot in my short interview with General John Dailey. I asked myself what can I do to serve others and sacrifice for others, the way General Dailey has done his entire life.

Johnny Myers - American Hero Test Pilot

Johnny Myers: American Hero - Test Pilot, Aviator, Attorney

A few months ago I was contacted by a Writer-Director, Robert Dal Collette, who told me about an exciting project about fighter pilots, jet test pilots, and legendary pioneers of aviation. It was called the "Legends of Aviation" tribute to be held in January in Beverly Hills. Sort of like the Academy Awards for Aviators. Robert explained that we would be creating about nine short biographical videos for the recipients of this years awards. I became very excited about this project, because creating video biographies are my favorite thing in the world.

The first of the nine projects was to be a tribute film about the recently iconic aviation test pilot Johnny Myers. I had never heard of Johnny Myers, but every pilot I asked, surely knew of him. He was a great mentor to so many people. He once was a very successful lawyer for famous movie stars like Bing Crosby, but he gave up his lawyer life so he could pursue his love for flying.

Johnny Myers became the top test pilot at Northrup, courageously testing several of the top secret jets over many years. He is very famous for his role in testing and developing the first night fighter plane, the Black Widow P-61.

His nickname was "Maestro."

Charles Lindbergh credited Johnny Myers for saving his life once down in New Guinea.

Johnny Myers had passed away last year so we couldn't interview him, so I was fortunate to interview two of his grandchildren, veteran pilots Bob Hoover, Clay Lacy, Bill Anders, Tony Bill, Linden Blue, Barron Hilton, and several other pilots who all knew his story.

The tribute dinner is coming up this January 22nd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. I hope everyone likes our video biography.