Warbird Information Exchange

hi all,

Here is a good question for you. Who are some of your favorite fighter pilots/heroes? Maybe ones that you love reading their stories or their exploits?

Most of mine are the lessor know pilots as their stories always fasinates me.

A few of mine:

-Lt. Don "Fibber" McGee of the 36PS/8PG.
-Lt. George Welch of the 47PS/15PG.
-Lt. James Morehead of the 8PS/49PG.
-Lt. Robert DeHaven of the 7FS/49FG.
-Lt. John Thacker of the 46PS/18PG.
-Maj. Floyd "Red" Parks of VMF-221.
-Lt. Max Louk of the 20PS/24PG.


And how can I forget Bob Vaught? Does anyone know if he is still alive?


Just to name a few. lol Anyway, these are some of my heroes/favorites.

Cheers,
Nathan

1st Lt. Charles F. Stuart JR, 381st Sq., 363rd Ftr. Grp., 9th AAF, Europe, WWII. P-51 Bs,Cs, & Ds....................My Dad.
Robbie

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Poor Max Louk never even got his engine started. He burned alive in his P-40B when it got hit and the canopy jammed

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One word, "Tex"

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Taylor Stevenson

I'm going with:

William Heier, a Black Sheep. I spent a wonderful afternoon at his home and every time since I've thought of a corsair (often), he's been in the cockpit.

Tommy Blackburn, because of the honesty he put in every page of his book.

Edwards Park, who got me to fall in love with Nanette also.

Pierre Clostermann. His book, the Big Show (Le Grand Cirque) is a masterpiece. I don't think I'll ever forget him saying goodbye to "Charles".

James Salter, for "The Hunters" and "Burning The Days". Read them.

Max Magee, because of his low level routes down in the weeds one glorious Sunday afternoon in 1966 when he caught bombs rather than drop them...

Your right Jack but he deserves recognition too. Reading about him he seemed like quite the character.


Remember Max Louk!


Cheers,
Nathan

Rex Barber, had lunch with him about 15 years ago
Bob Love, Mig ace

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Two words- Tex & Archie

My wife with the Aces when we took them to dinner after an event back in 2003

Tim

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"If I had to fight the same war over again, I'd sure want to fight it from the cockpit of a Corsair."
-Archie Donahue

Billy Drake. Flew Hurricanes with 1 Sqn in the Battle of France and Battle of Britain, then CO of 112 sqn (the original sharkmouth P-40s!) flying P-40s in North Africa. After a spell in Malta he flew Typhoons through D-Day as a Wing Leader. He ended the war with 24.5 kills credited.

He was on hand a couple of years back to witness the excavation of one of his Hurricanes in which he was shot down in France in 1940. A real character, I've had the pleasure of hearing him speak and meeting him on a few occasions.

Don Owen VMF-121/112 KIA 1945 my cousin
Lou Kittel CO 12th FS night kills over guadalcanal & Yamamoto mission
Bill Popp VF-17 110# jr college dropout flew with the best!
Cy Gladen 44th FS farm boy from MN
Don Beerbower CO 353rd FS another farm boy from MN
Parker Gies 20th PS, 354th FG & 70th FW typical unsung hero
Jim Byers 430th FS knowing jim was a experience!
Oscar Coen Eagle Squadron & 4th FG a simply wonderful fellow!
Hal Vita VF-9/12 what a great guy!
Harold Lentz 94th FS childhood hero
Harold Pederson KIA 1942 trying to save a friend
Chet Trout 40th FS/27th FS KIA 1945
Alex Currie 480 combat missions in 3 wars
Jack Coonan 26th FS/38th FS POW would have made ace but his wingman shot him down!
Noel Bacon 2nd Sqd AVG
Art Chinn CAF ace
Grant Mahony the greatest ace

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Witold 'Lanny' Lanowski. Another real 'character' that I had the pleasure of talking with several times during the 1980s. Flew with the Polish AF at thev start of WWII, then via France to the RAF. He then somehow ended up flying P-47s with the 56th FG, where he scored a further 4 kills to add to the 2 he scored with the RAF.

After the war, he stayed in the RAF, being badly burned in the crash of a Vampire in Germany, then spent some time flying as a mercenary in Katanga under Jan Zumbach (another real character - his book is well worth a read!)

Mike you forgot that Monogram's 1/48 P-47D Razorback was in his markings

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I didn't know that, Jack. There have been several representations of his plum and black bubbletop P-47 (M-model?) in model form. How was his razorback painted?

He used to tour the UK airshows in the 1980s with a table of models and photos, signing programmes for a small fee which he donated to the Cheshire Homes for the disabled (started by the great Bomber leader Leonard Cheshire after the war). My parents were involved with fundraising for a new Cheshire Home in the 1980s, so I got to spend quite a bit of time with 'Lanny' at airshows around that time. He passed away in the '90s, I believe.

I goofed Mike.
His markings were on microscale decals while Mike Gladych's
"Pengie III" was the Monogram model.
I've got some good shots of Lanowski when he was flying P-51s
with the 354th FG.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Americans-Tex and Archie
Germans-Galland and Hartmann
British-Bader