jimh
Senior Airman
I wrote this up for iModeler earlier this year, thought you guys would appreciate it.
When you're a kid reading books about WWII fighter pilots they are but distant literary bits of history earmarked with grainy black and white photos. I'd seen the well known photo of Mike Rogers sitting on the wing of Beantown in several books. Fast forward 30 years. One day in June of 2012, while on tour with Collings, we were sitting on the ramp when we saw an A-2 clad veteran making his way to our P-51 Betty Jane. We watched him stand by the wing peering up in to the cockpit, and not wanting to interfere with this moment I approached the lady that was with him (his wife as it turned out) who was standing back by the tail. I introduced myself and asked her his story. She said that's General Mike Rogers…I said 'Beantown Banshee Mike Rogers?'…she smiled. She said his health was diminishing and he wanted to see a Mustang one more time. To look at him, you'd never know he was wasn't feeling well as he came back to the tail to talk to us. He was beaming. Wearing his original A-2 and carrying his original helmet and goggles…I could see the guy I remembered from the photos in books. I asked him if he wanted to get in the cockpit…he was moving towards the front of the wing before I finished asking. Although he was moving slower, he climbed up the landing gear like he'd been doing it his whole life. Once in the cockpit he sat silent for several minutes and soaked it all in. His hands went right for the throttle and the stick…I knew what he was thinking…he was back in his 20's…somewhere in Europe. We talked for quite a while, he slipped on his helmet for some photos and got out and patted the fuselage as he slid off the flap.
This was one of those once in a lifetime moments…our entire crew had gathered around to take it all in as well. She was full of gas and preflighted…we all looked at each other and there was only one thing to do…take him flying. I asked him if he wanted to go and with no hesitation he said yes. We scrounged a ladder and got him in the backseat and off we went. When we pulled out on the runway to takeoff I told him to put his hands on the controls and follow me through. As I pushed the power up to 55" I could feel him moving the rudder pedals with me, carrying a bit of right aileron to help counter the torque, he was right there. As soon as we broke ground I said 'your airplane'…and his airplane it was. He did some shallow 'S' turns as we headed towards the practice area about 30 miles East of the airport. We talked about what he wanted to do and started off with a couple big lazy rolls…which quickly ramped up to full blown full deflection rolls…he hadn't forgotten a thing. Next up were some loops…and a Cuban 8…then we settled down in to just flying around and soaking it in. We may or may not have burned both tanks of gas…I'll never tell, but it was soon time to head back to Santa Barbara. We did the overhead approach and he drove us through a beautiful crisp left beak about midfield…I dropped the gear and the flaps and told him not to let go, follow me through on landing…which he did, and again was right with me as we rolled out down the runway. The crew and his wife were waiting for us as we shut down…his smile said everything. He got one last mission. I look back on that day and it's almost surreal. And, now, harkening back to my younger days buried in history books and building models…this one is special. I didn't go full nostalgia and build the monogram B…aIthough maybe I should have? But this is the Tamiya 1/48…and will sit on my shelf with that once in a lifetime chance. You never know what life will drop in your lap…and this is one memory I will cherish.
When you're a kid reading books about WWII fighter pilots they are but distant literary bits of history earmarked with grainy black and white photos. I'd seen the well known photo of Mike Rogers sitting on the wing of Beantown in several books. Fast forward 30 years. One day in June of 2012, while on tour with Collings, we were sitting on the ramp when we saw an A-2 clad veteran making his way to our P-51 Betty Jane. We watched him stand by the wing peering up in to the cockpit, and not wanting to interfere with this moment I approached the lady that was with him (his wife as it turned out) who was standing back by the tail. I introduced myself and asked her his story. She said that's General Mike Rogers…I said 'Beantown Banshee Mike Rogers?'…she smiled. She said his health was diminishing and he wanted to see a Mustang one more time. To look at him, you'd never know he was wasn't feeling well as he came back to the tail to talk to us. He was beaming. Wearing his original A-2 and carrying his original helmet and goggles…I could see the guy I remembered from the photos in books. I asked him if he wanted to get in the cockpit…he was moving towards the front of the wing before I finished asking. Although he was moving slower, he climbed up the landing gear like he'd been doing it his whole life. Once in the cockpit he sat silent for several minutes and soaked it all in. His hands went right for the throttle and the stick…I knew what he was thinking…he was back in his 20's…somewhere in Europe. We talked for quite a while, he slipped on his helmet for some photos and got out and patted the fuselage as he slid off the flap.
This was one of those once in a lifetime moments…our entire crew had gathered around to take it all in as well. She was full of gas and preflighted…we all looked at each other and there was only one thing to do…take him flying. I asked him if he wanted to go and with no hesitation he said yes. We scrounged a ladder and got him in the backseat and off we went. When we pulled out on the runway to takeoff I told him to put his hands on the controls and follow me through. As I pushed the power up to 55" I could feel him moving the rudder pedals with me, carrying a bit of right aileron to help counter the torque, he was right there. As soon as we broke ground I said 'your airplane'…and his airplane it was. He did some shallow 'S' turns as we headed towards the practice area about 30 miles East of the airport. We talked about what he wanted to do and started off with a couple big lazy rolls…which quickly ramped up to full blown full deflection rolls…he hadn't forgotten a thing. Next up were some loops…and a Cuban 8…then we settled down in to just flying around and soaking it in. We may or may not have burned both tanks of gas…I'll never tell, but it was soon time to head back to Santa Barbara. We did the overhead approach and he drove us through a beautiful crisp left beak about midfield…I dropped the gear and the flaps and told him not to let go, follow me through on landing…which he did, and again was right with me as we rolled out down the runway. The crew and his wife were waiting for us as we shut down…his smile said everything. He got one last mission. I look back on that day and it's almost surreal. And, now, harkening back to my younger days buried in history books and building models…this one is special. I didn't go full nostalgia and build the monogram B…aIthough maybe I should have? But this is the Tamiya 1/48…and will sit on my shelf with that once in a lifetime chance. You never know what life will drop in your lap…and this is one memory I will cherish.
