This Week's Meaningless Topic (#112)(Oct 28)

[Rodger Pettichord]

Hi all. In addition to being fans of airplanes, most of us on this forum are also fans of legendary pilots like Jimmy Doolittle (USA), Amy Johnson (UK), Erich Hartmann (Germany), Nancy Bird Walton (Australia), and Inuk bush pilot Johnny May (Canada). These folk fill us with awe. And that fact opens us to this week's topic.

 

THIS WEEK'S MEANINGLESS TOPIC:  What legendary pilot(s) are in your personal Hall of Fame?

 

[NOTE: Next week's topic will be supplied by KenQ. He's working on a good one, so get your thinking cap on!]

[Ken Q]

I'll agree with Rodger's example of Jimmy Doolittle.  Now his squadron of B25s flying off the deck of the first USS Hornet (CV8) to bomb Japan was an amazing feat.  But I most appreciate him for the first instrument flight on September 24, 1929, where he took off, flew the pattern with his view blocked, and landed safely, entirely by instruments.  While the Doolittle Raid was a brilliant achievement, and had a negative effect on Japanese morale, and a positive on on American.  However, his first instrument flight paved the way to aviation as we have it today.

 

Incidentally, I am a frequent visitor to the site of that memorable occasion.  It took place at the Mitchel Field AAB in Garden City, Long Island.  Long closed, Mitchel Field still has a military presence in the Navy Exchange and DOD Commissary which we frequent.  Also most of the WW2 flight line still exists, and is the home of the Cradle of Aviation Museum where my former boss and good friend now works.  

 

Ken

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Ken Q

[adambar]

Capt. "Wild" Bill Kelso (John Belushi) 1941

Ted Striker (Robert Hayes):  Airplane 

[gumbypickett]

The late Bob Hoover, with his performance in his aero commander

at air shows.

I got his autograph many years ago.

cheers

Gumby

[Rob Abernathy]

Only semi legend I've met is Bob Reeves of Reeves Aleutian Airlines when I was stationed at NAS Adak, AK  (69-71)  Great guy and had some amazing stories of when he was a full on bush pilot. 

[boetie]

A more contemporary era pilot - QANTAS pilot Richard de Crispigny who was the Captain on flight 32 when the A380 suffered an uncontained engine failure out of Singapore. I read his book about the incident. A very good read. The documentary is a good watch also.

 

Cheers

Graeme

 

[paulb]

Gosh! There are so many . Having an interest in aviation history I have read many biographies.

 

I will mention just three that come immediately to mind -

 

Roland Beaumont - 

Wing Commander Roland Prosper "Bee" Beamont, CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar (10 August 1920 – 19 November 2001) was a British fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and an experimental test pilot during and after the Second World War. He was the first British pilot to exceed Mach 1 in a British aircraft in level flight (P.1A) and the first to fly a British aircraft at Mach 2 (P.1B).

During the Second World War, he flew more than five hundred operational sorties. He also spent several months as a Hawker Aircraft experimental test pilot developing the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest and was responsible for introducing these types into operational squadron service. He pioneered the ground attack capabilities of the Typhoon and led the air-to-air campaign against the V-1 flying bomb.

 

Eric Brown -

Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN (21 January 1919 – 21 February 2016) was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history.

Brown holds the world record for the most aircraft carrier deck take-offs and landings performed (2,407 and 2,271 respectively) and achieved several "firsts" in naval aviation, including the first landings on an aircraft carrier of a twin-engined aircraft, an aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, a jet aircraft, and a rotary-wing aircraft.

He flew almost every category of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force aircraft: glider, fighter, bomber, airliner, amphibian, flying boat and helicopter. During World War II, he flew many types of captured German, Italian, and Japanese aircraft, including new jet and rocket aircraft. He was a pioneer of jet technology into the postwar era.

 

Douglas Bader -

Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, DL, FRAeS (21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probable's, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.

Bader joined the RAF in 1928 and was commissioned in 1930. In December 1931, while attempting some aerobatics, he crashed and lost both his legs. Having been on the brink of death, he recovered, retook flight training, passed his check flights and then requested reactivation as a pilot. Although there were no regulations applicable to his situation, he was retired against his will on medical grounds.

After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, however, Douglas Bader returned to the RAF and was accepted as a pilot. He scored his first victories over Dunkirk during the Battle of France in 1940. He then took part in the Battle of Britain and became a friend and supporter of Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory and his "Big Wing" experiments.

In August 1941, Bader bailed out over German-occupied France and was captured. Soon afterward, he met and was befriended by Adolf Galland, a prominent German fighter ace. Despite his disability, Bader made a number of escape attempts and was eventually sent to the prisoner of war camp at Colditz Castle. He remained there until April 1945 when the camp was liberated by the First United States Army.

Bader left the RAF permanently in February 1946 and resumed his career in the oil industry. During the 1950s, a book and a film, Reach for the Sky, chronicled his life and RAF career to the end of the Second World War. Bader campaigned for disabled people and in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 was appointed a Knight Bachelor "for services to disabled people". He continued to fly until ill health forced him to stop in 1979. Bader died, aged 72, on 5 September 1982, after a heart attack.

[John Heaton]

in my case - it has to be Charles Kingsford-Smith - first to fly the Pacific

 

However - Paul B - above mentions 2 well known aviators under his Bader section

the UK branch of my company used to sponsor a particular airshow in the London Area, and I attended one

To meet some people from the USA - a company I was to be involved with.

 

Two of the guests at the lunch table were Bader and Adolph Garrand - and although I used to consider Bader as 

somewhat a hero in what he did without legs - i could not get to like some of his attitudes - considering the achievements of

Galland - which were way above Bader in the air - he was just a little bit "toffee nosed" as we call it in the North of England

[boetie]

Will you please stop adding a month to your subject phrase Rodger? Get Halloween done first!

[wain71]

18 minutes ago, boetie said:

Will you please stop adding a month to your subject phrase Rodger? Get Halloween done first!

Rodger either wants Christmas or next year has something big planned....

[W2DR]

Col. Robert Morgan. Pilot of the Memphis Belle. I'm looking at his autograph on a picture of Belle as I write this. He should be in the Hall of Fame. As should all the other members of Belle's crew. And all of the others who flew and sacrificed so much for us back then.

[Rodger Pettichord]

6 hours ago, boetie said:

Will you please stop adding a month to your subject phrase Rodger? Get Halloween done first!

Okay, okay. The problem is that the old folks' home attendant does not always keep the day and date board up to date. I always check it on the way to my pudding treat, so blame it on him.

[flyingfish55]

Three legends in my opinion are  Chris Jesson, ex BEA, BA, easyJet and numerous other companies who taught me how to fly and get me through to my wings. Secondly, Eric Moody. He was the captain, and in some eyes the hero, of BA flight 009 which lost all four engines en route from Kuala Lumpur to Perth WA in 1982. I met him when he was guest speaker at the British Airways Virtual (BAV) dinner in 2015 and who kept us simmers captivated for hours recounting the event. No bravado, no puffing out his chest or embellishment of his, and fellow crew members' actions. Here is the wikipedia link to the event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_009. Lastly, whilst working in Bangkok in 1986 I met an old RAF member who was one of the crew of the plane which attempted to bomb the bridge on the River Kwai, albeit unsuccessfully. He saw himself as just another bloke doing his job. 

Edited October 28, 2022 by flyingfish55

[Nick Cooper]

7 hours ago, boetie said:

Will you please stop adding a month to your subject phrase Rodger? Get Halloween done first!

 

No idea what you mean....

[Rodger Pettichord]

Nick snuck in and changed my heading from November back to the proper October. That's why I love the guy! What a great Moderator!

Edited October 28, 2022 by Rodger Pettichord
Missing words

[TerribleT]

Bert Hinkler

Kingsford Smith AND his crew{s}

Bobby Gibbes

Douglas Bader

Guy Gibson

Leonard Cheshire

Followed by so many post WWII in the jet era.

[John York]

In China the American four-engine bomber pilot who landed his aircraft on link matting and flew off it again crowded with liberated survivors including my wife from the infamous prisoner of war camp Eric Lidell died in.   

 

 

[boetie]

2 hours ago, John York said:

In China the American four-engine bomber pilot who landed his aircraft on link matting and flew off it again crowded with liberated survivors including my wife from the infamous prisoner of war camp Eric Lidell died in.   

 

 

John that is goosebumps stuff.  How wonderful and blessed your wife's and your life must be as a result. There are truly brave women and men in our lives.

Cheers

Graeme

[Stillwater]

I would nominate Erich Warsitz into this selection.

He was the first person to be brave enough to fly in a plane without propeller: As a test pilot he flew the first rocket-powered plane (Heinkel He 176) and the first jet-powered plane (Heinkel He 178), both in 1939. 

After the end of the war, Warsitz was living in an apartment in the American sector of Berlin, but at 3 a.m. on the night of 5 / December 6, 1945 he was abducted by four Soviet officers. Numerous interrogations followed, concentrating on his former work on the development of rocket and jet aircraft. He was required to sign a contract which obliged him to co-operate with the Soviets for a period of five years on the development of related technology, but he refused. As a result, he was condemned to twenty-five years forced labour. Shortly after this he was transported to Siberia, to the penal colony 7525/13.

After his return in 1950 he founded a precision mechanical firm. In April 1983, Warsitz suffered a stroke and as a result died at the age of 76 on July 12, 1983, at Lugano, Switzerland.

(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Warsitz )

[wolfko]

Sully

[Pukcip]

1. Sir Douglas Bader (one of my dogs is named Douglas for him).

2. Geoffrey Wellum (one of the few, wonderful gentleman)

3. Mary Ellis (without her and her fellows there would have been no “few”)

 

4. Neil Armstrong (enough said)

 

5. John Peters (his face being plastered over Iraqi tv was a significant influence for me)

 

 

[Sniper31]

Every A-10 pilot that showed up when we called them on the radio in need of fire support RIGHT F****** NOW. If I ever run into any A-10 pilot in a bar, drinks are on me. Saved my bacon on more than a few occasions in some rough firefights.

[Pukcip]

10 hours ago, Sniper31 said:

Every A-10 pilot that showed up when we called them on the radio in need of fire support RIGHT F****** NOW. If I ever run into any A-10 pilot in a bar, drinks are on me. Saved my bacon on more than a few occasions in some rough firefights.

 

At a leadership team event with work we had a presentation by one Gary Prout who had received a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (one below Victoria Cross) for his actions in Afghanistan.  He does it as part of a "making decisions quickly under pressure" session and once we got our bad decisions out of the way, his story had us in tears. He uses talking about it as therapy in a way but he called out the A-10 pilots that came in to help him - said it was the best and most daring flying he'd ever witnessed and without doubt saved his life.    He'd never been able to find out who the pilots were which was a shame - he wanted to buy them a beer. 

 

 

[Sniper31]

7 hours ago, Pukcip said:

He'd never been able to find out who the pilots were which was a shame - he wanted to buy them a beer. 

Yes, this is the same for me. I have never been able to meet any of the pilots, some of whom I talked to directly on the radio at the time we needed thier close air support help. I have spent some time after certain missions trying to find some of them, but it's very difficult as in the U.S. military, the A-10's belong to the USAF and me being a U.S. Army Infantry guy, we are just never based near each other at all in combat zones or back in the States. 

[larryisenor]

Grant McConachie:

Built a small bush pilot operation in the Yukon into a major international airline.
Larry