From Las Cruces to the skies

Fidel Sanchez never planned to become a pilot. 

Growing up in Las Cruces, he learned to play the trombone, earned a music scholarship and went to New Mexico A&M to study civil engineering. Flying wasn't part of the plan until an Air Force ROTC aptitude test opened a door he hadn't considered. 

That discovery eventually put him at the controls of a B-52 bomber during the Cold War, sent him on 12 bombing missions over Vietnam and led to a 32-year career with Continental Airlines. 

Born June 22, 1938, Sanchez grew up in Las Cruces and attended a one-room Seventh-day Adventist school through sixth grade. About 20 students, ranging from first through 12th grade, shared a classroom with one teacher. Older students helped younger ones with their lessons — an arrangement Sanchez said worked well for him. 

It was there that teacher Frances Martinez introduced him to music, teaching students to read notes and play the recorder and harmonica. When Sanchez transferred to Alameda Junior High School, he wanted to join the band but didn't know which instrument to choose. The music teacher had a suggestion. 

"Well, you look like a trombone player to me," Sanchez recalled him saying. 

His mother bought him a trombone. At Union High School, he played in both the band and orchestra, eventually earning a four-year music scholarship to New Mexico A&M, now New Mexico State University. He also joined the New Mexico Army National Guard while still in high school. Once in college, he enrolled in civil engineering and participated in Air Force ROTC, initially with no particular ambition to fly. 

Sanchez said he eventually gave up his music scholarship because rehearsals and performances began interfering with his engineering studies. But another opportunity emerged when ROTC students took an aptitude test. 

The results showed that he qualified for pilot training. 

"Being a kid in Las Cruces, you really didn't think about being a pilot," he said. 

He passed the required physical examination and entered advanced Air Force ROTC. During his senior year, he began taking flying lessons with instructor Bob Crawford at a small airfield north of town. His first aircraft was a Cessna 150. 

"I took the lessons, and I got my license, and I really enjoyed flying," Sanchez said. 

After graduating from New Mexico A&M in 1961 with a civil engineering degree and an Air Force commission, Sanchez spent a year working for the U.S. Forest Service before entering pilot training at Webb Air Force Base in Texas. 

The training pushed him into unfamiliar territory. Sanchez recalled being the only Chicano in his class and learning to fly military jets in tight formations, sometimes close enough to see the other pilots in their cockpits. 

“I used to call them heart attack flights,” he said. 

By June 1963, he had earned his wings and was assigned to fly the B-52 bomber. 

During the Cold War, Sanchez and his crew flew missions under Operation Chrome Dome, carrying four nuclear weapons while remaining airborne in case they received orders to respond to a Soviet attack. The flights could last about 24 hours. Crews refueled in midair, continued north toward the Arctic and flew holding patterns while awaiting instructions. The possibility of receiving an actual attack order was never far from their minds. 

Sanchez recalled one mission when a problem with the aircraft's wingtip landing gear created additional drag and complicated the crew's fuel calculations. Bad weather later prevented a tanker from reaching them, forcing the crew to cut the mission short and return home early. 

Another flight stayed with him for a different reason. 

One Christmas morning, before leaving for a mission, Sanchez woke up his three children around 2 a.m. so he could watch them open their presents. He did not return until the following day. 

By 1967, the Vietnam War had brought a different assignment. 

Sanchez said his squadron was not scheduled to deploy before his planned departure from the Air Force. But when another B-52 crew needed a replacement co-pilot, he volunteered. Three days later, he was on his way to Guam. 

His wife, Patricia, was unhappy about the decision, he recalled. They had young children at home, and she knew the risks of sending him into a war zone. Sanchez ultimately flew 12 bombing missions over Vietnam. The round trips from Guam lasted about 12 hours, including aerial refueling, and required close coordination among the six crew members aboard the bomber. 

On one mission, a mechanical problem during takeoff nearly ended in disaster. Sanchez noticed that the water-injection system, which provided additional engine thrust for takeoff, was not working on one side of the aircraft. He warned the aircraft commander that they should abort, but the takeoff continued. As the B-52 approached the end of the runway, it still lacked the speed the pilots needed. 

"We're in trouble now," Sanchez recalled, thinking. 

The two pilots pulled back on the controls, and the aircraft cleared the runway lights before beginning to descend toward the ocean beyond the airfield. They managed to keep it flying, raise the landing gear, and continue the mission. Sanchez said he had experienced plenty of worry during his years in the cockpit, but he did not describe himself as fearful. 

"I never got scared. I got worried, but not scared," he said. 

His time with that crew ended after the 12th mission, and he returned to his family in the spring of 1967. He soon began a new chapter with Continental Airlines, although it did not immediately take him away from the war. 

His first assignment involved flying Boeing 707 aircraft under the Military Airlift Command, transporting U.S. troops to Vietnam and bringing others home. 

"All I did was change uniform," Sanchez said. 

Over the next three decades, he flew several types of commercial aircraft, including the Boeing 727, Airbus A300, and DC-10. His assignments took him across the United States and on international routes to destinations such as Mexico, Ecuador, Hawaii and Australia. 

The work brought new challenges. Sanchez recalled difficult approaches to the mountainous airport in Quito, Ecuador, where weather, elevation and a short runway demanded careful planning. On another assignment, he flew long overnight stretches over the Pacific between Honolulu and Sydney. 

His career also included a prolonged labor dispute at Continental during the 1980s. Sanchez spent two years on the picket line, taking temporary flying jobs elsewhere before eventually returning to the airline. He finished his commercial aviation career after 32 years with Continental. 

After retiring, Sanchez picked up his trombone again and joined the New Horizon Symphony Orchestra, where he performed for 17 years. His final concert came just two days before his 81st birthday. 

Despite the places he traveled, Sanchez's story remains closely tied to Las Cruces. 

At the Vietnam War Memorial within Veterans Memorial Park, a commemorative brick bears his name. His name also appears on a plaque recognizing Vietnam veterans, and his photograph is displayed among those who served. 

The recognition has a family connection, too. Sanchez recalled that relatives were serving in Vietnam during the same period he was flying bombing missions. One cousin, Ernie, later joked with him about how close the bombers had come to troops on the ground. 

During a recent interview at his home, Sanchez brought out photographs, certificates and other keepsakes from his years in aviation. He spoke about aircraft with the familiarity of someone who had spent much of his life learning what each could do and how to bring it home safely. 

For Sanchez, flying began as an unexpected opportunity while he was studying engineering in Las Cruces. It became a career that took him through the Cold War, Vietnam and decades of commercial aviation. 

He had started out wanting to play music. After a lifetime in the sky, he found his way back to it.