Warbird Information Exchange

Two years ago, at the Chandler Field (Fresno) Father's day fly-in, we were turning onto final when I heard a rather indistinct request for a low fly-by. About the time we were turning of the active, I could feel rather than hear something big coming. Instinctively shrugging, I looked up thru the skylight and saw the underside of a P-40 passing perhaps thirty feet above. He disappeared out my windscreen and we turned off. Ken, who concentrating on the turn, finally said said "What he hell was that?!". Just then the gusty head wind we'd been fighting all the way from Visalia became the gustting crosswind. The old KCA, with no steerable tailwheel , started to weathervane. The ever eager line boys came out to grab the struts, so I had to get out on the ramp and ask them not to push on my irreplaceable alum struts. It was a quick series of interesting and EXCITING events, but we were finally able to get the plane located and tied down, without further incident. Later, I met Tony Banta next to his beautiful P-40. When I told him I was in the blue and yellow Areonca, he was very apologetic. I told him not not to fret as I really enjoyed the unique view of his aircraft and he'd made my entire year!

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Charles Neely

A few years ago we were at Davis-Monthan with our B-17 Sentimental Journey. They had a B-52 down the line from us and one of the crew came over to walk through the plane. After he did, he asked if the rest of the crew could come down and walk through as well. Well, they all came down and toured through the plane and were amazed at how cramped it was inside. They returned the courtesy and let us inside the BUFF. As both crews stood outside the B-52 comparing planes and eras, an older gent walked up and asked if we were with the B-17. We told him we were and he thanked us for keeping it in flying condition. I asked if he was a B-17 crewman and he told us he flew 14 missions as a waist gunner before he was shot down in 1944 and spent the rest of the war as a POW. Upon hearing this, the entire B-52 crew came to attention and snapped a salute. Each man then individually shook his hand and thanked him for the freedoms that we enjoy today. I thought that was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen

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The more I learn about aircraft, the more I realize I still have to learn.

We had some A-10 guys up in the A-26 at Frontiers of Flight in Dallas back when they had a show at Love Field. They sat in the cockpit and looked around. They began to ask about the type of missions 696 would have flown during the Korean War. We told them low level ground interdiction, at night, in the mountains, without NVG's. They realized we were talking about their current mission, without the titanium armor, without the electronic countermeasures, low and slow, etc... They were definitely impressed with the guys who came before...

I also met Boyington in 1982 at the CAF Show in Harlingen TX
Yes he did seem uninterested in talking to anyone as he was signing books.
However I did get a kick out of his reaction to every airplane that went by.
He kept trying to see out of the hanger as they went by. After all those years he was still an airplane nut.

As for his cranky attitude , I think he said it best at the end of his book,
Quote 'Show me a hero and I'll prove he's a bum"

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Think about what you just wrote – especially in context of the other posts here on this topic. Oh, sorry he didn't live up to your expectation of how a hero should behave.

Boyington, a bum?...wasnt so friendly?,...wouldnt shake your hand or say thanks? It probably would have bothered me to a little. But, still a Hero in my book!

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Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly!!

http://www.390th.org/
www.LSFM.org

Trae

Right, just look at him. "Oh, here you go little boy, sweet little kid." It's unfair to put your expectations on him. He did a great job for our country when we needed him. Thank god for men like him.

The squadron had a reunion at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's WWII weekend one year. I was vending in the flea market when a guy walked in, wearing a reunion ID card. He was looking at some of my stuff, and we were talking when I mentioned Boyington and asked him what he thought of him. He rolled his eyes, and said he wished he had a quarter for every guy who asked that question. He said he was a jerk (his words), and that he had to fuel his own airplane as none of the consolidated squadron maintenance guys could stand him. He said they would avoid working on his airplane whenever they could, and generally assign whoever was new in the squadron to work on his airplane. I didn't think to ask then but wonder if that had anything to do with his aircraft problems when he was captured...

I think Robert Conrad played Boyington better than Boyington played Boyington.

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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!

Great, great story.

Hear hear. More of that, rather than the feet of clay stuff (which isn't news or surprising.) Let's get a positive thread here.

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Thanks Guys!

There are alot more stories over the years...But that one stands out the most to me!

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Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly!!

http://www.390th.org/
www.LSFM.org

Trae

....not airplane related, but one of my favorite stories. I was working as an EMT on a commercial ambulance. Most of our work was picking people up from nursing homes to go to medical appointments and taking them home when they were done. One day, we picked up an older gentleman who was sleeping, coming out of some medical procedure. We got him loaded on the stretcher and I was wondering how we were going to wake him up when we got to the nursing home. When we walked into his room at the home, I saw all this 29th Infantry Division memorabilia around his bed- he was a D-Day veteran. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, CIB. A real good friend of mine had been a company commander in the 29th Division at D-Day- they were among the very first troops to land in Normandy- so I knew a bit of the unit's history. The 29th Division had a General Gerhardt who was a real character and affected being a martinet. The division newletter had the title "chinstrap" because he was forever yelling at the troops to buckle theirs, and the division motto was "29 Let's Go," also from a phrase he was fond of yelling. So as I was trying to wake him up, it just hit me to say in a bit louder voice, "C'mon, 29 LET'S GO! BUCKLE THAT CHINSTRAP!"

He opened his eyes, absolutely bewildered, but for just a second. Right away, he broke into the biggest smile I've ever seen on a person from a nursing home, and he was laughing silently as we moved him onto his bed. He couldn't talk (I think he had throat cancer) but he just kept pointing out his stuff on the wall, smiling and waving at me as we got ready and left. I think I really made his day. I never saw him again.

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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!

Sort of a reverse story.
I met the guy first and then heard the story.

A gentleman I know was a Hump pilot in WW2. I see him once a month or so and will sit and listen to him tell stories as long as he is willing to tell them. One time he was recounting the tale of a dual engine failure and crash landing of a C-46 at an airfield in China. The aircraft was written off as unrepairable and the fuselage ended up being used as a sort of diner. A year or so later I was in Washington DC at the Air and Space museum. After looking around I ended up in the bookstore and saw a book about the CBI and Hump flying. I picked it up and fanned the pages to the center and stopped. There was a picture af a C-46 fuselage off to the side that pretty much matched the desription given by my friend. I read the caption and sure enough, it was his. I bought a copy of the book and the next time I saw him I had him autograph it for me.

A few years back, I took my son with me to Thunder as I wanted to meet General Guenther Rall who had just released his autobiography. As we got to the front of the line, I asked if I could have my picture taken with him. He emphatically answered "Certainly!", so I asked my son if he would take the picture. My son grabbed my arm and pulled me down towards him and said "Dad, I don't want you to meet him, he is a Nazi". Yikes I tried to quickly explain to him that General Rall was not a Nazi and actually never was. With several dozen other people standing in line behind us, I hurriedly went around the autograph table to have my picture taken and was surprised to find that my son had handed my camera to the next gentleman in line and followed me. General Rall was beaming a huge smile at my son with his arms out and asked him to sit on his lap for the picture. Very hesitantly, my son got as far as his knee and sat perched there precariously. My son asked him what had happened to his thumb and in broken English, the General explained quickly. Then, he leaned in a little closer to my son's ear and I heard him clearly tell my son "Your father is correct. I was never a Nazi. Be a good boy and always listen to your father".
I will pass the photo and autographed book on to my son and hope that it passes down through the generations. That is also the reason that I will never miss another Thunder Over Michigan

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Earn my respect and never lose it.
Demand my respect and never gain it. -Me

...just another plane dreamer.

Like I said...I don't mean to dampen the spirit of this thread but I figured I'd share one of the very few disappointing encounters I experienced. As a teenager I really didn't have any kind of expectation of Mr. Boyington and was just happy to meet the legend in person. I won't argue that he is, and always will be, one of America's true hero's. I have never questioned his service and still respect the man for what he did.

I have met many other "hero" pilots or have watched them speaking in public such as George Gay, Chuck Jaeger, Bud Anderson. For the most part these guys were very polite, open, and accomodating to people. If memory serves me correctly George Gay was also signing copies of his book that same year. Even in his advanced age he was still happy to chat with the person about his experiences and to at least acknowledge the person with some common courtesy.

As for your two earlier posts I think you should sit back and rethink before you start hammering away on the keyboard. The man might be a hero but he certainly also had his flaws (as we all do). Sorry...but I'm not going to pretend like he was some congenial person when in fact he wasn't.


John