Pilots u know!

evangilder said:

Well outside of the UK, it is a whole other language...

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just remember who speaks the proper english yeah

P-36 hawk in Finnish service

Well since the thread has been resurrected. I have had a chance to meet several WWII aviators of different aircraft. Here is one:
L to R
Joe Peterburs- 55th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, stationed at King's Cliffe, England. He served 36 years in the military, retiring in 1979 with over 2000 hours in pops and over 2000 hours in jets. He flew 125 combat missions in that time frame. He is most well know for shooting down an Me-262 flown by Walter Schuck.

Art Fiedler- 317th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Group, 15th USAAF in Lesina, Italy. He scored 8 kills and one probable in WWII, flying 66 combat missions. He was reactivated for Korea. He flew over 1000 missions in C-130s during Vietnam. Art retired from the USAF in 1975.

Clyde East- He started out in the RCAF before tranferring to the USAAF. He also flew in Korea. He is credited with 13 aerial victories. He retired from the USAAF in 1965.

To be able to catch these three heroes together for a photograph was one of the best memories. They are all great guys.

I would like to fly an AT-6/SNJ

I grew up in S CA in the early 1950's - very close to a Lockheed test field. P-38's, Hudson's and other Lock Heed aircraft flew over out school frequently. I remember how excited we were to see P-80's fly by.

Memories of the war were still fresh and of us "youngsters (boys and girls)" debated the performance of our personal favorites against all comers.

My favorite was the Lightening. One of my friends father flew Recon versions of this plane during the war and he, with another fireman, bought a surplus P-38 in the mid 50's. They put a seat behind the pilots and we all got rides. I only flew in this plane once as I had up chucked during my ride - therefore disqualifying me from further attempts.

I still love the Lightening and, if I had to go into battle in the air during that period, I would choose the P-38. I know it was not the best fighter but I think it proved itself in all
conditions and if flown competently could hold its own with most every other war plane of the era - and of course 2 engines means a better chance getting home.

Have met a few different pilots over the years, ususally meet them at airshows chat them up. Have met the German fellow who still flys gliders, met a fellow who flew Catalinas off the BC coast, and a fellow used to write with for a while who flew typhoons with 439 Sqd. told me he was shot down once by Thunderbolts over Falaise and actually once shot down an American plane. story was it was an B-17 that was damaged and crew had bailed out over normandy beaches left plane on auto pilot I quess thinking it would crash into the channel. Instead it kept circling over the beach so they sent up a plane to shoot him down.

Dated a girl in high school, whose father flew PBYs. HS Best friend's father flew basically everything from AT-6 to B-17 with a lot of B-25 and P-40 time. He got his private license before WW2, went to Canada and was an instructor for RCAF, then returned to USA and became an instructor and ferry pilot in USAAF. He told his son, his favorite plane was a Fleet Finch he flew in RCAF but also loved the B-25. My pal's dad became a minister and was just a great guy. I got his son into flying lessons as I was finishing up my own private ticket at Lincoln Park Airport in North Jersey. Then son got his dad back in the game in the late 60's. Here his obit:

Elroy E. "Doc" Hanton Obituary: View Elroy Hanton's Obituary by The Times Herald

Lincoln Park Airport was owned and operated by Eddie Gorski, former mech for Amelia Earhart.

Ed Gorski

oldcrowcv63 said:

Dated a girl in high school, whose father flew PBYs. HS Best friend's father flew basically everything from AT-6 to B-17 with a lot of B-25 and P-40 time. He got his private license before WW2, went to Canada and was an instructor for RCAF, then returned to USA and became an instructor and ferry pilot in USAAF. He told his son, his favorite plane was a Fleet Finch he flew in RCAF but also loved the B-25. My pal's dad became a minister and was just a great guy. I got his son into flying lessons as I was finishing up my own private ticket at Lincoln Park Airport in North Jersey. Then son got his dad back in the game in the late 60's. Here his obit:

Elroy E. "Doc" Hanton Obituary: View Elroy Hanton's Obituary by The Times Herald

Lincoln Park Airport was owned and operated by Eddie Gorski, former mech for Amelia Earhart.

Ed Gorski

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Good read on the subject of US citizens in the RCAF is called Immigrants of War
http://immigrantsofwar.blogspot.com...-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=22

pbfoot said:

Good read on the subject of US citizens in the RCAF is called Immigrants of War
IMMIGRANTS OF WAR -

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Thanks PB, I'll pass it on to my buddy, the retired KC cop (listed in the obit).

Also, I found the obit of my most frequent flight instructor. Another WW2 era vet who trained pilots stateside. He was a total classic aviator straight out of a WW2 propaganda flick. A real classic unforgetable character: Bill Fedishen, may he rest in peace.

Sun Journal - Google News Archive Search

Pilots I never knew...

Had a WW2 memorial plaque in my fraternity house hallway that included two brothers who had become WW2 flyers: One KIA in the AVG and one KIA with the Eagle Squadron.