Oral history transcript, Paul L. Thornhill, interview 1 (I), 12/4/1987, by Ted Gittinger

How Thornhill became Vice President LBJ's pilot in 1962; Thornhill's and James Cross' duties; the Jet Star airplane; Thornhill's flying experience; Thornhill's plane wreck in India; Air Force One crew; Thornhill having to fire a crew member; providing meals on the plane for LBJ; airplane security; sleeping and eating arrangements for LBJ's pilots; staying at the Jordan Ranch and in Stonewall when LBJ was president; the Ranch's runway; Don Short; difficulty trying to be secretive about LBJ's trips; LBJ as passenger; flying under conditions that were not ideal; providing an adequate number of pilots for long trips; the logistics of transporting the president, staff, security personnel, and press in two planes on trips; Sam Houston Johnson as a passenger; specific trips Thornhill flew for LBJ, including flights that involved dangerous situations; flying LBJ back to Texas after Richard Nixon's inauguration; reports of secret trips LBJ took to Mexico; LBJ inquiring about Thornhill's career plans after the Johnson administration; stories that LBJ took things from Air Force One; Thornhill's and Cross' work and promotions after the Johnson administration; Thornhill's retirement; mementos of his association with LBJ.