Joseph Albert Lloyd 'Al' Jones DFC - Course 22

April 24, 1919 - January 6, 2021 Joseph Albert Lloyd "Al" Jones was born April 24, 1919 in Vancouver, BC. He was the second child of John (Jack) Owen and Ruby Adeline Jones. They had a total of 3 children. His father and mother immigrated separately from Wales and Ireland and met in British Columbia, married and then moved to Seattle, WA where they opened a bakery on Queen Anne hill called Mrs. J's Fancy Foods. Al's acquaintance with a grade school classmate Naides from the Seattle area was to blossom into true love after WWII. He and Naides were married in 1947 and raised two children Leslie and Kevin. They enjoyed 55 years of marriage. Naides passed away in 2002. Al was blessed with 6 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild. Albert's career Al's original ambition according to his 1938 high school year book was journalism. That was short-lived as he always had a desire to fly. He soloed in a J-3 Cub in 1939 and proceeded to build time in the Cub and a Fairchild 22. Al had high hopes of getting enough time to be hired as an airline pilot. Al became impatient with the war effort in Europe and signed up with the Royal Canadian Air Force, (RCAF), in 1940. Upon graduating from the RCAF Cadet program, flying the Tiger Moth, Fleet, Avro Ansen, and Harvard (AT-6), he stayed on as an instructor in the Harvard AT-6 for another year. Al requested assignment to fly the RAF Wellington bomber. Al earned an RAF Distinguished Flying Cross and after completing 40 combat missions with the RAF, he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps flying another 48 combat night intruder missions in the British Beaufighter, and the Northrop P-61 Black Widow. Al retired in 1968 as a full Colonel. From 1945 to 1956, Al acquired ATP ratings in several aircraft - DC-3, DC-4, C-46, Lockheed Lodestar and later a rating in a DC-9. During this period, he flew for some non-scheduled air carriers building more flight time. In 1956, he was hired by Boeing as a production test pilot on the B-47 in Wichita and later the B-52 test program. Al flew the F-100 as chase plane on B-52 test hops. In 1962, Al transferred to the Commercial Airplane Division of Boeing, where he flew all models - 707 thru 747 and received the first FAA type rating in the Boeing 747. Al's expertise was tested the night D.B. Cooper hi-jacked a Boeing 727 and Al received a call to determine the speed that could be used to open the rear air-stair door in flight. Al also demonstrated the Boeing 737 high altitude takeoff & landing capability in Peru with airports above 11,000 feet. There is a legendary photo enlarged that is displayed at the Boeing flight crew training center in the main hallway of this epic event. Al retired in 1981 from Boeing as the Chief Pilot of the Flight Crew Training Division with 18,000 hours.