Flew 166 Missions Over 'The Hump' During WWII

A celebration of the life of Weston Ament, a WWII veteran and former manager of the Calaveras County Airport in California, will be held March 19th at the Calaveras County Airport.

Ament passed away November 29th at the Mark Twain Medical Center.

Ament learned to fly at an early age, and managed to fly solo before his dad knew what he was up to, according to the Calaveras Enterprise newspaper.

But when his father realized that aviation was his son's true calling, he arranged for Weston to attend the Boeing School of Aeronautics. He graduated in the fall of 1941, and went to war rather than begin a career in the airline industry.

Ament flew in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East for the U.S. Army in his first tour. During his second tour, he was deployed to India where he flew 166 supply missions over "The Hump" in the Himalayas.

After his military career, he finally got that airline job, and flew more than 30 years as a commercial airline pilot, setting three speed records in the Convair 880.

After retiring from the airlines, he became manager of the Calaveras County Airport. He was also an accomplished aerobatic pilot, building a Pitts Special biplane he flew in airshows and on movie sets across California.

Ament retired from flying entirely in 2006 at the age of 88 with over 38,000 hours in his logbook.

Ament was 94 when he passed away last November. The celebration of his life will include a barbecue and potluck social event at the airport beginning at 11 a.m.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.facebook.com/weston.ament