Pilots u know!

[BlackWolf3945]

Maybe he served in it for 10 years during the 1880's, before the plane was invented, and after 10 years realised that the "Air Force" was not going to be invented until 1903. Then he retired and returned to the Air Force in the 1980's when there were some jobs available

What a co-inky-deenk, some of us know the same fellas...

I shouldn't really say that I 'know' Dick Hewitt, though. I've met the man thrice and only once did we exchange more than five minutes worth of pleasantries. I was quite impressed with Dick, a really nice fellow, but a pal of mine knows him much better than I...


I've met a great number of people, but cannot claim to 'know' them. Some of the more enjoyable meetings were with the following folks...

Robin Olds
George Gay
Robert Morgan
Don Lopez
Clarence 'Bud' Anderson
Günther Rall

Alotta folks are enamored of Chuck Yeager. I admire the man for his accomplishments but having met him twice I have to say that he's one of the biggest pricks on the face of the planet. I guess he earned the right to be a prick, though... LOL I'm still glad to say that I've met the man...


Now, some other folks that I knew/know fairly well...

Elmer Pankratz, aka 'Pank', who flew with the 160th TRS, 363rd TRG. I met him not too long ago. Don't have any shots of the man himself, but here's his F-6D, named 'You Cawn't Miss It!'

Walter Grabowski flew with the 511th FS, 405th FG. He passed away in August 2003 and we miss him greatly. Some of you may be familiar with this shot of Walt tooling along in his Jug...

There is a fella in our club who was in the USAF and says he flew Thuds with the 354th TFS, 355th TFW during Vietnam and retired just after the Gulf War. He makes claims of two and a half MiG kills in Nam and of having been shot down, captured and escaping.

I will not mention his name, but I will say that although I am firmly convinced that the man was in the Air Force and did fly, I am doubtful of some of his claims. Especially now that I found his name listed on one of those websites that exposes folks who make untrue claims. My own research has so far uncovered no evidence of his being in Nam with the 354th TFS or 355th TFW. His photo album has a ton of shots of Huns, though... hmmm...

In the end, whether he turns out to be a BS artist or not, I am glad to know him. He's a good friend and fun to be around.


Toddy Bull, The fella who lived across from me when I was a kid, had something to do with B-29s and mentioned the 'Atom Bomb'. I dunno what he was; aircrew or groundcrew. He passed away before I was old enough to know him as more than 'Mr. Bull, the man across the street'. I should really look into his background a bit. I never got to know the guy very well and I regret not asking more questions of him.


Although not a pilot, a fellow who lives across the street from me now was a member of the 82nd Airborne. I will not name him for reasons which may become apparent. I know relatively little about his wartime service; he participated in Overlord and was one of only three to make it out of the plane. Of the two that landed alive, he was the only one to last the first twenty minutes. I found out the hard way that he cannot talk about it and is greatly distressed by the experience to this day. His wife told me what little I know and asked me not to mention it to him again.

I feel very deeply for the man, but I cannot hope to ever truly sympathise with him because I've never had such an experience. All I can do is to try and understand...


Fade to Black...

 

[P38 Pilot]

The 1980's guys!!!!!! Very funny!

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

and CC, no air force was invented in 1903, most had infact already be created to some extent.......

 

[cheddar cheese]

In 1903 the Wright brothers had Global Air Superiority...Save for a few Hot air balloons...

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

what about the flak?? the first flak gun was fired in 1878 i believe.....

 

[cheddar cheese]

With a max. Celing of 12 feet the Wright Flyer flew beneath the flak...

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

well how could the wright flyer have air superiority when she had no armourment?? even balloons carried guns......

 

[BlackWolf3945]

You guys really know how to f*ck up a thread... at least it's somewhat entertaining this time...


Fade to Black...

 

[P38 Pilot]

Hey guys! I thought we were taalking about the pilots! The Wright Brothers did fly but didnt have any armanent! Wasnt the first plane the to fly with weapns was during World War I??? How about we get back on topic about the "Pilots u know!" (The topic i made....)


PS: My emoticons r snipeing the hippie! I dont like HIppies!

 

[cheddar cheese]

My Uncle flew a Tiger Moth a while back as part of a corporate outing

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

 

[P38 Pilot]

Blackwolf, those sounded like some great pilots!! Im glad u got too know some of them. U should look up more about this Mr. Bull. Try to find out more if he flew with the B-29 during the atomic bombing or if he was a ground crew member who assisted the bomber.

Ive got a story.

When i went to a museum, there was a beautiful Spitfire being displayed. I commented on what a beautiful bird she was and this British guy next to me said, "It sure was a honor to fly her." I turned to him and asked about his service with it. He told me that he was flying with the RAF during several missions. He never said though. He was telling me how he shot down 5 ME109s, 2 Focke Wulf 190s. He told me what flying the spitfire was like. He said "why it's the best bloody feeling in the whole wide world" and how he wished he could fly her one last time....

I thought that was a wonderfull story so i put it on here. I didnt get his name or the squadren he was with but he sounded like a great pilot.

 

[lesofprimus]

"Flying high into the wild blue yonder... OFF we go, not OF we go......"

You must be a youngster... Either that or ur really proving what people say about folks from Alabama.....

 

[R Leonard]

Ummm

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun.
Here they come, zooming to meet out thunder,
At 'em boys, give 'em the gun
Down we dive spouting our flame from under,
Off with one hell of a roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame
for nothing can stop the Army Air Corps!


Not bad for a Navy kid.

Rich

 

[P38 Pilot]

What did u say about people from Alabama?! We are probably more patriotic than u people up north! (yankee....)

 

[P38 Pilot]

And i am not a NAVY KID!!! Nobody in my family who has gone to war have ever joined the navy! We have always been since WWII, Army, Army Air Corps, and Paratroopers! (well actually my great-uncle has been the only paratrooper. He was in the 101st airborne, screaming eagles!) But nobody in my family has ever been with the navy! (Army includes the infrantry as well...) And we had 3 of my cousins to fight in Vietnam with the Army!

One of my cousins actully fought at Hamburger Hill and lived to tell the tell!

 

[P38 Pilot]

Lesoprimus,

Did u get your signature quote from the Vietnam war movie, "Full Metal Jacket?" U know the one with R. Lee Ermy? The part where they are in that HU32 transport and that crazy gunner is using those civilians as target practice.

Joker asks, "How can you shoot women and children?"
He replies, " Easy you don't lead that much! Haha! (countinues shooting.)

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Hey folks - time for another pilot story;

In another post I spoke about my wife's grandfather. His name was Ed Chamberlain and he flew B-24s with the 30BG, 819th BS, 7AF. I think he got in about 10 or 20 missions by war's end. If you go the "Best B-24 Website" and look under the nose art, his plane "Out of This World" is on there.

After the war Ed and his wife Hope (My wife's grandmother, she's still with us, 84 years old) moved to Delaware and made friends with some pretty influential people. Ed's business partner, was a fellow named Rollins. They ran a small airport and also had a couple of other business, which included what are today Orkin Exterminators and Rollands Trucking.....

In 1953 Mr. Rollands asked Ed to fly another business associate to Washington DC. This guy was the Governor of Delaware, Cale Boggs I believe his name was. Anyway on the way into DC the aircraft they were flying caught fire. Ed put the plane into the Potomac River and when both men were egressing Boggs accidentally kicked Ed in the head, knocking him unconscious and causing him to drown. Mr. Rollins was so grief stricken that he offered Ed's children (My Father-in-law) a college education anywhere they wanted to go....

Hope remarried, unfortunately the guy was a real dirtbag, physically and emotionally abused her kids. At 14 my father-in-law, Bob left home and moved in with a friend. Holding on to a dream to follow in father's footsteps Bob got in contact with Mr. Rollands and asked him if his offer was still valid. Mr. Rollins honored his word 13 years earlier and paid for Bob's entire education. Bob enrolled in Colorado University (CU) Boulder, finished 4 years of college, completed ROTC and became an air force officer.

In my father-in-laws 20-year career he flew B-52s, F-15s, F-16s, F-5s, C-130s, and the B-1B. His last duty assignment was the chief production test pilot at the B-1B production facility at Rockwell. His final claim to fame was over the July 4th weekend, 1987 when he and a fellow pilot broke something like 80 world speed and altitude records with the B-1B. Although many of his records have been eclipsed, he still hold 7 individual records and 21 shared, all with the B-1.

Bob now flies for united airlines, he has one more year before forced retirement (60 years old). For what he went through as a kid and how he was able to move forward had always been an inspiration for me. My wife always jokes how I'm married to my father-in-law instead of her. Father-in-law, flight instructor, mentor, friend, (and soon to be Grandfather - my wife and I found out we're expecting, got the surprise on father's day) I really look up to him.

Those of you who live close to the southwest US - remember this story any time you see a Rollins Trucking truck!

 

[P38 Pilot]

That was a great storie Flyboy! Congrats on the expecting baby too!

 

[P38 Pilot]

Ive got another story to tell...

My neighbors down the street (well more like my friends. we play army alot!) knew somebody who was a waist gunner aboard a B24 liberator was shot down over Germany. Before he was shot down they had flown 23 missions over Germany. Well he was able to bail out and he lived but was taken as a POW in the famous POW camp Stalag Luft. (Correct me if i got the name messed up but it was something like that.)

He was a POW for 1 whole year before they were liberated. During that time the Germans took good care of the men they held captive. They allowed them to send mail, recieve food, and let their families know that they were ok and not killed. Well when they were liberated they were thankful for the Red Cross's help into sending their mail and reciving food and supplys.

Im srry to say this man is now dead. He died only two years ago but in his will he donated $5,000 to the Red Cross since they helped him during the war.