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Life continues to come at us no matter what we do. We play the cards we are dealt. And, as we say in the flying business . . . keep your eye on the horizon and never stop trying.
CAP WAS BORN, Charles Allen Parlier II, son of Doris & Charles Parlier, older brother of Jonathan & Melissa, on 6.July.1948, in Reedley, California, near Fresno, in the San Jaoquin Valley. He received his nickname, Cap, from his mother -- a simple acronym of his initials. For those interested in Cap's paternal genealogy, click HERE. He grew up in San Mateo, California, and graduated from Hillsdale High School in 1966. He left California for the first time to attend the United States Naval Academy, Class of 1970, then chose to become a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. To complete his academic education, Cap obtained his Master of Science degree from the University of West Florida in 1973.
AFTER THE BASIC School in Quantico, Virginia, Class 2-71, he completed Ranger School, then joined the 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division. 
To his good fortune, he was the only officer with a set of blues, so he had the hardship duty of an exchange tour with the British Army Royal Welch Fusiliers Regiment at Gun Club Hill Barracks in Kowloon, Hong Kong. When he returned to his reconnaissance platoon [2nd Plt., C Co., 3rd Recon Bn.], they were attached to 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, aboard USS Denver off the coast of North Vietnam during Operation LINEBACKER II in early 1972. (There may be a book in there!) Next stop, flight school at NAS Pensacola, FL, followed by his fortuitous assignment to HMA-169 at Camp Pendleton, CA. He learned to fly the AH-1G attack helicopter. In the desert Southwest, they adapted classic, fixed-wing, aerial combat techniques to the performance characteristics of attack helicopters. After a full tour, Cap was selected to attend the US Navy Test Pilot School, Class 73, at NAS Patuxent River, MD. As the attack helicopter project officer, he lead the test team to qualify the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile, the 5" Zuni rocket, and tactics for use of the AGM-65 TOW missile overwater. From the excitement of flight test, he joined the staff of Headquarters, III MAF in Okinawa, Japan. In 1981, Cap resigned from active duty and joined the Marine Corps Reserve from which he eventually retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1995 after 25 years of service. LtGen Victor Krulak, USMC (Ret)Mr. Thomas E. Ricks, author of MAKING THE CORPSCAP LEFT ACTIVE duty in 1981 to join Hughes Helicopters as an experimental test pilot. He was the project manager and test pilot of the Hughes 500MD Mast Mounted Sight attack helicopter. After completing the appropriate testing, the team took the aircraft on an extended tour of Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece and Israel during the Summer of 1982. After the demonstration tour of Hughes 500MD MMS aircraft, Cap spent considerable time at the US Army's Yuma Proving Grounds testing the YAH-64 prototype attack helicopter for the Army. McDonnell Douglas acquired the company after it moved from California to Mesa, Arizona, and changed the name to McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company. He participated with others in the development and testing of a full authority, fly-by-wire, digital, inertial flight path management, flight control system. He tested the AIM-9 Sidewinder, the Matra Mistral and Stinger air-to-air missiles. He also developed the air combat maneuvering capability of the AH-64A attack helicopter culminating in several aerobatic airshow performances including the 1988 Farnborough Airshow. It was at Farnborough Cap met Anatoly Kovatchur, a Mikoyan experimental test pilot and MiG-29 demonstration pilot. At the 1989 Paris Airshow, Cap renewed his friendship with Anatoly Kovatchur and met Gourgen Karapetyan, a Mil experimental test pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union. It was at Paris Gourgen told Cap about the extraordinary efforts of the helicopter pilots at Chernobyl. Later, at the Redhill Airshow in England, a message from Gourgen was passed to Cap asking for his help to provide special medical treatment for one of the Chernobyl pilots and fellow test pilot, Anatoly Demjanovich Grishchenko. With the help of several key individuals, Anatoly arrived in Seattle in April 1990 for a bone marrow transplant at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center under the direction of Dr. John Hansen. Unfortunately, after a valiant struggle, Anatoly died 2.July.1990, of complications from an infection acquired prior to his transplant. Cap was able to visit Anatoly's grave in Zhukovsky, Russia, South of Moscow, as well as visit many of the other Chernobyl pilots stationed at Torzhuk. John Pekkanen wrote an exceptional article about Anatoly for the May 1991 issue of Reader's Digest titled "The Man Who Flew Into Hell." The heroism of the Chernobyl pilots is the subject of Cap's historical novel, Sacrifice.
CAP JOINED BEECH Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, in September 1991, as the Manager of Flight Test. He was promoted to Group Manager, Technical Engineering, responsible for flight and ground test, aerodynamics, and structures. In 1993, Cap was promoted again and assigned as Vice President, Engineering, for Raytheon Corporate Jets in Hatfield, England. Jeanne, Courtney, Tyson and Taylor joined him in England; Jacy decided to stay in Wichita to complete her senior year in high school. Cap and the family enjoyed their stay in England. 
A highlight for Cap was Jeanne's birthday present to him in 1994, a flight in Ms. Carolyn Grace's Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, that proved on rare occasions, real life can actually exceed fantasies. In September 1994, when the Raytheon Company announced its decision to move Raytheon Corporate Jets to Wichita and combine it with Beech Aircraft to form Raytheon Aircraft Company, the family returned to the US. Cap remained in Hatfield until July 1995. He was appointed as the Chief Information Officer of Raytheon Aircraft Company in July 1996, to form Enterprise Information Services and build a global, interactive, information services system to support the company's world-wide operations. IN FEBRUARY 1998, Cap embarked on a new challenge for his leadership skills as the Chancellor of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's, Prescott, Arizona Campus. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is an exceptional institution established in 1926 that has a great deal to offer university students beyond just an education. For those with children approaching college age, take a good look at Embry-Riddle; and for those without children in this age group, tell your friends. The rewarding experience ended in October 2000 when Cap had to reluctantly resign after serious differences with the president proved insurmountable.IN SEPTEMBER 2001, Cap began his next adventure with Piaggio Aero Industries, SpA, in Genoa, Italy. Piaggio is a venerable Italian aviation company founded in 1915 and has a rich history of innovative designs. The company had some difficulties in the 1990's but emerged with a new owner and renewed vigor in 1998. Their primary product is the P.180 Avanti, business, turboprop airplane -- the fastest, most comfortable and efficient aircraft of its size. Cap's initial assignment is Vice Technical Director - Business Aviation, with responsibilities for the P.180 and future business aircraft development; he picked up the additional assignment as the Systems Group Manager. He was based in Finale-Ligure, Savona Province, a modest coastal village west of Genoa, where the engineering facility is located. Cap left Piaggio in June 2003.CAP WAS FORTUNATE enough to find a good job in Wichita . . . at home. In July 2003, he began work as the Manager Engineering Services for Senior Aerospace Composites, a small specialty composites company. We produce composite components for many aerospace companies -- Boeing, Airbus, Cessna, Gulfstream, Hamilton Sunstrand, and many others. This is the smallest company Cap has ever worked for, and yet it has a small town, family feel to it -- everyone knows everyone, and we all seem to do a little bit of everything from time to time. This is also the closest, most consistently hands on, engineering he has done. All in all, a very good fit for Cap. Then, as life does, the new CEO (4th in 1.5 years) decided he did not need an engineering department and Cap's time with Senior ended in March 2005.CAP REJOINED RAYTHEON Aircraft Company in June 2005, as the Premier I Program Manager. The aircraft is a fantastic machine and a dream to fly. Cap has concentrated on coordinating the company's actions with suppliers to tweak up the aircraft's subsystems -- a challenging and rewarding job. A definite perk with the job was obtaining his Premier, single-pilot, type rating and begun taking missions in support of his primary assignment. Cap has also completed company qualification with the Baron and Bonanza as well, part of the price of the Premier type rating. And, as if that is not enough, Cap was granted a company-sponsored membership in the flying club. All-in-all, this is a bit of dream job.THE SAGA CONTINUES. The next stage is just beginning. More to follow.
CAP STARTED WRITING in the Marine Corps with a couple of articles published in the Marine Corps Gazette, as well as several technical papers at the Naval Air Test Center. He continued writing technical papers until he left the cockpit for management. Cap's experience and Jeanne's encouragement inspired him to write his first novel, Cast The First Stone, for the Turner Tomorrow Awards writing contest; he did not win. He enjoyed writing so much, Cap decided to finish a story he began in 1979 that became his first published novel, The Phoenix Seduction. Strangely enough, Cap decided to attempt to tell the incredible story of the Battle of Britain and used some of his time in England to do technical and site research for the story. His literary agent at the time told him the book was too long, so it was split into three books, To So Few - The Prelude, To So Few - Explosion and To So Few - The Trial . Cap also co-authored with Kevin.E.Ready, a book about the TWA Flight 800 tragedy; TWA 800 - Accident or Incident?. Cap's third published book, Sacrifice, the true story of the Chernobyl helicopter pilots who helped save the world, is now available on-line, in some bookstores, and can be ordered from any source. He hopes his fourth book, ANOD'S REDEMPTION, the follow-on companion book to The Phoenix Seduction that takes Anod through her final confrontation with her tormentor, was published in Fall 2004. This paragraph has been updated enough to present the message; the current state of Cap's writing can be found HERE
JEANNE teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at several local institutions of higher learning in Wichita -- Friends University, Bulter College and Southwest College. She works very hard to keep her course material current and update. She teaches management, introduction of business, business ethics, leadership and human resources.
JEANNE AND CAP have four wonderful children: 
Jacy, our only daughter, is the oldest of our children [although a grown woman and no longer a child] and mother of Aspen and Shalee. Jacy has done such a good job producing babies, we've suggested she make a few more grandchildren for us. ;-) .
ASPEN SHAE is the oldest of our grandchildren and as such shall serve as the poster child for her generation. She is turning out to be quite the little character, but we guess all grandparents say that. We love to listen to her chatter about one thing or another. She is very perceptive of the world around, which is a nice way of saying she has an aggressive curiosity that must be constantly monitored. Jacy has done very well raising Aspen to be a loving, helpful, little girl, but Poppy is trying to get her ready for flight school. As with all young children, Aspen is both audacious and insightful. Her little pearls of , Aspen Humor . can be found HERE.
For family & friends who may be interested in a simple family photo album, GO HERE. We last updated the family album page on: 6.May.2004.
