Ernie P.

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An early morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird pilot do I describe?

Clues:

(1) He first attempted to become a pilot in a foreign service.

(2) His next attempt lead to his being classified as a cook.

(3) He had been interested in aviation from an early age.

(4) He finally qualified as a pilot. Only then did he join his country’s military and was only awarded pilot status nearly 18 months after becoming a pilot.

(5) At the war’s outset he was, despite his low rank, one of his country’s most experienced aviators.

(6) He was still serving as an active pilot at war’s end.

(7) At least one official document stated his aircraft had never been struck by a single enemy bullet.

(8) Early in his wartime career, his engine was struck by a cannon shell. Even so, he managed to land safely.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Afternoon clue. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird pilot do I describe?

Clues:

(1) He first attempted to become a pilot in a foreign service.

(2) His next attempt lead to his being classified as a cook.

(3) He had been interested in aviation from an early age.

(4) He finally qualified as a pilot. Only then did he join his country’s military and was only awarded pilot status nearly 18 months after becoming a pilot.

(5) At the war’s outset he was, despite his low rank, one of his country’s most experienced aviators.

(6) He was still serving as an active pilot at war’s end.

(7) At least one official document stated his aircraft had never been struck by a single enemy bullet.

(8) Early in his wartime career, his engine was struck by a cannon shell. Even so, he managed to land his badly damaged aircraft safely.

(9) He was wounded after colliding with an enemy aircraft and crashing.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Ilmari Juutilainen? (I've heard the "no bullet hits" story about him, and he was an extraordinarily good pilot.)

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

No, not Juutilainen; although his story does fit that clue. As a reward for trying, here's a mid-afternoon clue for you. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird pilot do I describe?

Clues:

(1) He first attempted to become a pilot in a foreign service.

(2) His next attempt lead to his being classified as a cook.

(3) He had been interested in aviation from an early age.

(4) He finally qualified as a pilot. Only then did he join his country’s military and was only awarded pilot status nearly 18 months after becoming a pilot.

(5) At the war’s outset he was, despite his low rank, one of his country’s most experienced aviators.

(6) He was still serving as an active pilot at war’s end.

(7) At least one official document stated his aircraft had never been struck by a single enemy bullet.

(8) Early in his wartime career, his engine was struck by a cannon shell. Even so, he managed to land his badly damaged aircraft safely.

(9) He was wounded after colliding with an enemy aircraft and crashing.

(10) He began the war flying night missions and reconnaissance missions.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

An evening clue. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird pilot do I describe?

Clues:

(1) He first attempted to become a pilot in a foreign service.

(2) His next attempt lead to his being classified as a cook.

(3) He had been interested in aviation from an early age.

(4) He finally qualified as a pilot. Only then did he join his country’s military and was only awarded pilot status nearly 18 months after becoming a pilot.

(5) At the war’s outset he was, despite his low rank, one of his country’s most experienced aviators.

(6) He was still serving as an active pilot at war’s end.

(7) At least one official document stated his aircraft had never been struck by a single enemy bullet.

(8) Early in his wartime career, his engine was struck by a cannon shell. Even so, he managed to land his badly damaged aircraft safely.

(9) He was wounded after colliding with an enemy aircraft and crashing.

(10) He began the war flying night missions and reconnaissance missions.

(11) He got lost in heavy fog and flew into a neutral country and was interned.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

OK, I had the wrong war. It's Georges Madon.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Indeed, Sir; Georges Felix Madon it is! More than a few people are of the opinion that Madon was the greatest of WWI aces, in both raw score and service. Well done, Top_Gunn; and you are up. Please post your question. Thanks; Ernie P.


His name is right up there; but more than a few believe it should be at the very top of his group.
Question: What warbird pilot do I describe?

Clues:

(1) He first attempted to become a pilot in a foreign service.

(2) His next attempt lead to his being classified as a cook.

(3) He had been interested in aviation from an early age.

(4) He finally qualified as a pilot. Only then did he join his country’s military and was only awarded pilot status nearly 18 months after becoming a pilot.

(5) At the war’s outset he was, despite his low rank, one of his country’s most experienced aviators.

(6) He was still serving as an active pilot at war’s end.

(7) At least one official document stated his aircraft had never been struck by a single enemy bullet.

(8) Early in his wartime career, his engine was struck by a cannon shell. Even so, he managed to land his badly damaged aircraft safely.

(9) He was wounded after colliding with an enemy aircraft and crashing.

(10) He began the war flying night missions and reconnaissance missions.

(11) He got lost in heavy fog and flew into a neutral country and was interned.

(12) He escaped on his second attempt, by drugging and kidnapping his guard; and managed to get back home. He was rewarded for escaping captivity by being court martialed and imprisoned by his own service.

(13) After two months in prison for escaping, he was assigned to fly artillery observation missions.

(14) His request to be transferred to a pursuit group was finally approved.

(15) His tactic of flying very close to enemy aircraft before firing resulted in several occasions when he returned with blood and brains from his opponents stuck to his aircraft.

(16) On one occasion, an enemy’s goggles were stuck in his bracing wires.

(17) His string of victories lasted over two years.

(18) He was notorious for being very nonchalant about victory claims and verifications.

(19) Perhaps as a result, his final score reflected far more β€œprobables” than β€œconfirmed” victories.

(20) Had even 2/3 of his probables been confirmed, he would have been one of the highest, perhaps the highest, scoring aces of his war.

(21) His response to a question about his personal score elicited a response that (para) β€œthe enemy knows his losses”.

Answer: Georges Felix Madon



Georges Felix Madon (28 July 1892 – 11 November 1924) was the fourth ranked French ace pilot of the First World War. His lengthy career and wide variety of aviation experiences were remarkable.

Madon was born in Bizerte, Tunisia and was athletic from an early age. He was short but had an erect stance, and was exceptionally strong. He boxed and played football.

Madon first became interested in aviation when just 15 years old, when he made an unsuccessful attempt to build his own craft. He had quit school to get over a siege of malaria. After building models and kites, he fabricated a bicycle-powered "aviette".

His desire to fly led him to attempt to become a pilot for the Ottoman Empire. When that failed, he enlisted in the First Engineering Regiment in Versailles, and ended up as a cook. He repeatedly requested pilot's training.

He subsequently qualified as a pilot in June, 1911, after 19 lessons. On 12 March 1912, he enlisted in the French military and received his military pilot's license at Avord, France, in January, 1913. Although only a corporal, he was one of France's most experienced military pilots. He originally flew reconnaissance and night-time bombing missions while assigned to fly prewar Bleriots with Escadrille (squadron) BL30. The night flying missions were some of the first ever, and his experience probably accounts for this assignment. Certainly it saved his life, when on 30 October 1914, his engine was destroyed by a direct hit by 77 mm cannon fire. It took exceptional skill to coax the Bleriot to a dead stick landing against the wind within French lines.

In April, 1915, thrown off course by heavy fog, he flew into Swiss air space while qualifying upon a new 80 horsepower (60 kW) Farman, and was interned for several months. It took him two tries to escape, but he freed himself in December by chloroforming and kidnapping his guard. His reward was a court-martial and 60 days confinement.

He was then posted to Escadrille MF218 as a sergeant directing artillery fire. He requested transfer to a fighter squadron.

After retraining at Pau and Cazaux, he was posted to fly Nieuports with N38 on 1 September 1916. He scored his first victory on the 28th. By year's end, he was up to four and had been promoted to adjutant.

He began the new year by strafing an enemy locomotive to a halt. Later, on July 2, 1917, he was wounded in action when he collided with an enemy aircraft and crashed. By then, he had 12 victories. The following month, he was commissioned a sous lieutenant. By October, his confirmed score was 17, with 20 unconfirmed. He was said to have returned with blood and brains on his plane's propeller three times; another time, he brought home the glasses from an enemy observer's face stuck in his plane's wire bracing.

By March, 1918, his personal score stood at 25 confirmed. He was appointed to command Escadrille Spa38, which was re-equipped with new Spad XIIIs. Although principally a photo reconnaissance unit, Spa38 aggressively defended itself. They lived up to the motto they adopted from their commander; "Whoever rubs against me gets *****ed". They also adopted his black thistle insignia on their planes.


As part of Madon's new role, he mentored other pilots who became aces because of his tutelage; among these were Andre Martenot de Cordou, Hector Garaud, and American David Putnam.

By war's end, he was credited with 41 confirmed victories and 64 probables. About the latter, he once nonchalantly remarked, "The Boche knows his losses." His score of 41 still ranked him fourth among all French pilots.

In an ironic twist, he was promoted to temporary captain on the last day of the war, Armistice Day, 1918. In an era when fighter aces' careers were commonly measured in months, he had had a two year string of victories. With seven years flying experience, he was one of the world's most experienced aviators by war's end.

Madon stayed in aviation after the war ended. In 1922, he flew a radically designed racing monoplane scheduled for the Coupe-Deutsch Race. The Simplex monoplane had a 320 horsepower (240 kW) Hispano-Suiza engine crammed into a short fuselage; pilot view was seriously limited by a rearward seating behind a barrel radiator. Madon crashed the plane during a test flight and suffered severe injuries.

Precisely six years after Armistice Day, at age 32, Madon was killed in his native Tunisia preparing for a tribute to fellow airman Roland Garros. His aircraft suffered mechanical trouble, and he gallantly crashed it into the roof of a villa rather than hit spectators. He died in Tunis.

Madon's legacy is founded on more than his experienced long service to his country and his long rise through military ranks. His score sheet included an incredible 64 probable victories. Confirmation of any sizable number of these might raise him to a score greater even than the Red Baron himself, von Richthofen.

Madon was awarded three medals by his own country, MΓ©daille Militaire, Chevalier de la LΓ©gion d'honneur and Croix de Guerre with ten palms. He also was awarded the Italian Order for Valor, and the Romanian Order for Valor.

The Avord Air Base, near Avord in central France, where he learned to fly, is named "Base AΓ©rienne 702 Capitaine Georges Madon".

"George Felix Madon, Lieutenant temporary (active) engineer, pilot aviator, officer elite fighter pilot of an indomitable energy, heroic bravery and supreme skill. Also winner in the ordinary course of committed countless battles without concern of many opponents, or the removal of our lines, never reached even a single bullet through the devastating speed of his attacks, the precision of his maneuvers, the infallibility of his shot, wounded sometimes in terrible falls, leads tirelessly by his splendid example, the squadron under his command and it shows every day with new exploits. On 11 August 1918, he slaughtered his 40th enemy plane. A injury. Chevalier de la LΓ©gion d'honneur for war. Nineteen citations. "

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Again, looking for the name of a pilot.

1. Flew a B-17

2. Not a movie actor (just to get the obvious ones out of the way).

adavis

Jay Zeamer?

Best Regards,
=Adrian=

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Not Jay Zeamer

1. Flew a B-17.

2. Not a movie actor (just to get the obvious ones out of the way).

3. Set some aviation records in the 1930s.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Let me take a really long shot here. How about the most famous (non-movie actor) B-17 pilot of all; Paul Tibbets? People tend to forget he flew B-17's before he flew the B-29's. Thanks; Ernie P.


Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. (February 23, 1915 – November 1, 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay (named for his mother), the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Because Tibbets became less interested in a medical career, he dropped out of the school and joined the U.S. Army. On February 25, 1937, Tibbets enlisted as a flying cadet in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. After a short period of time, Tibbets was sent to Randoplh Field at San Antonio, Texas, where he began his flying practice. During his studies, he proved by his performance, that he was an above-average pilot. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1938 and received his commission and wings at Kelly Field, Texas. After the graduation, he was transferred to Fort Benning. During that year, he served as a personal pilot of George S. Patton. On December 7, 1941, during his regular work, he heard about the attack on the United States on the radio.

First months of the war, Tibbets was serving in antisubmarine patrol on the East cost of the United States. Tibbets was named commanding officer of the 340th Bombardment Squadron, 97th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces, flying B-17 Flying Fortresses in March 1942. Based at RAF Polebrook, he piloted the lead bomber for the first Eighth Air Force bombing mission in Europe on August 17, 1942, and later flew combat missions in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. On October 9, Tibbets participatd in an opreration as a leader of one-hundred plane raid of a French city of Lille. One third of bombarders were shot. However, this operation was considered successful. Before the invasion of North Africa in 1942, Tibbets was selected to fly general Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gibraltar to begin the Operation Torch. For Tibbets, the war in North Africa introduced him to real warfare. He claimed that he saw real effects of bombing civilians and loss of his brothers in arms. Upon completion of his combat tour, Tibbets was assigned as assistant for bomber operations to Col. Lauris Norstad, Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations (A-3) of the Twelfth Air Force, a position he held until returning to the U.S. to test fly B-29 Superfortresses. "By reputation", Tibbets was "the best flier in the Army Air Force". One of those who confirmed this reputation was then-General Dwight D. Eisenhower, for whom Tibbets served as a personal pilot at times during the war.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Good try, Ernie, but not Tibbets.

1. Flew a B-17.

2. Not a movie actor (just to get the obvious ones out of the way).

3. Set some aviation records in the 1930s.

4. Not a general (ever).

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Evening clue:

1. Flew a B-17.

2. Not a movie actor (just to get the obvious ones out of the way).

3. Set some aviation records in the 1930s.

4. Not a general (ever).

5. Didn't finish high school.

psb667

Howard Hughes

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Not Howard Hughes. But he knew Howard Hughes. Closest answer so far.

1. Flew a B-17.

2. Not a movie actor (just to get the obvious ones out of the way).

3. Set some aviation records in the 1930s.

4. Not a general (ever).

5. Didn't finish high school.

6. Probably best remembered today for the books he wrote, one in particular.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Okay.... Very interesting. I think I'll let this one run a while longer. Good question, Top_Gunn. Thanks; Ernie P.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Afternoon clue:

1. Flew a B-17.

2. Not a movie actor (just to get the obvious ones out of the way).

3. Set some aviation records in the 1930s.

4. Not a general (ever).

5. Didn't finish high school.

6. Probably best remembered today for the books he wrote, one in particular.

7. Had an intense interest in meteorology.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Last clue for today:

1. Flew a B-17.

2. Not a movie actor (just to get the obvious ones out of the way).

3. Set some aviation records in the 1930s.

4. Not a general (ever).

5. Didn't finish high school.

6. Probably best remembered today for the books he wrote, one in particular.

7. Had an intense interest in meteorology.

8. His B-17 carried no bombs during the three years that he flew it.

psb667

B17 or stratoliner

adavis

Robert N Buck?

Best Regards,
=Adrian=

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Robert N. Buck it is; you're up.

Buck, a TWA captain (and later, chief pilot), and his crew flew their B-17 "Two Kind Words" into thunderstorms and snow to conduct research on radio communications in bad weather, a big problem for aviation, especially military aviation, in the 40s. (And yes, it was a B-17, complete with turrets, not a Stratoliner.) His book "Weather Flying" is still in print, with a new edition coming out later this year. In his autobiography, "North Star over My Shoulder," he said he preferred forecasts prepared by people over the computer forecasts, not because people are better forecasters but because by talking to a human forecaster you could find out how certain the forecast was. Buck dropped out of school in his teens to pursue youth aviation records. If ever you needed a story to show that formal education isn't needed for smarts, this is the one. He taught himself instrument flying when the only instruments you had for that were turn-and-bank, airspeed, and the wet compass. Later on he learned celestial navigation from books. There's a story that he wanted to give his son the middle name "Betelgeuse," after one of his favorite stars, but his wife nixed that and they compromised on "Orion."

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

A bit more on Buck, and which covers all the clues given by Top_Gunn. He was an interesting character. A good question about an almost unknown pioneer in aviation of that era. Thanks; Ernie P.


Robert Nietzel Buck (January 29, 1914 – April 14, 2007) broke the junior transcontinental air speed record in 1930 and for a time was the youngest licensed pilot in the United States.


He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on January 29, 1914 to Abijah Orange Buck (1869–1932) and Emily Nietzel. Emily was Abija's second wife, and she was the daughter of Elizabeth Bellingrath.

In 1930 at age 16 he took lessons in a Fleet Aircraft using a Kinner engine. He received the United States Department of Commerce license #13478.

On October 4, 1930 he beat the junior transcontinental airspeed record of Eddie August Schneider in his PA-6 Pitcairn Mailwing he named "Yankee Clipper". His time was 23 hours, and 47 minutes of elapsed flying time. The junior record only counts time in the air and excludes time spent on the ground. Robert said on February 6, 2005: "I was the youngest to fly coast to coast and that record still stands. I had my license at 16 and after that, they raised the minimum age to 17. With that change no one could break my record."

In 1937 he began flying for TWA. He became a pilot in 1940 and he became chief pilot in 1945. He married Jean Pearsall in 1938.

In 1965 he flew around the world from pole to pole in a Boeing 707. This was done with several other pilots in shifts. In 1970 he flew TWA's first Boeing 747 on Flight 800 from New York City to Paris. He retired from TWA at age 60 on January 28, 1974.

He died on April 14, 2007 in Berlin, Vermont.

1914 Birth in Elizabeth, New Jersey
1930 (circa) Move to Westfield, New Jersey
1930 Pilots license
1930 Junior Transcontinental air speed record
1931 Flight to Havana
1932 Flight to Mexico City
1937 Begins at TWA co-piloting DC-2s and DC-3s
1939 Howard Hughes buys TWA
1943 November, flying B-17G "Two Kind Words" for severe weather atmospheric research.
1945 Chief pilot at TWA
1945 Lockheed Constellation introduced at TWA
1965 Pole to pole around the world flight in Flying Tigers B-707-320G
1970 First 747 commercial flight for TWA
1970 Writes Weather Flying
1973 Time magazine reports: "Jumbo Jet Pilot Robert Buck maintains that soaring is no more hazardous than flying in a commercial airliner"
1974 Retires from TWA on January 28
1974 Living in Vermont
1975 Writes Flying Know-How
1981 Induction into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey
1992 Writes Art of Flying'
2000 (circa) The Active Retired Pilots of TWA (TARPA) Award of Merit
2000 Writes Pilot's Burden: Flight Safety and the Roots of Pilot Error
2002 Appears on NPR Morning Edition on April 15
2007 Died in Vermont on April 14 at the age of 93

Top_Gunn

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@adavis: Your turn to pose a question, Adrian.

Ernie P.

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All;

Adavis has been missing for over two days. I guess we'll have to move on. The floor is open. First to post a question has the floor. Thanks; Ernie P.

adavis

Next warbird:-

1) Twin engine.

2) Transport.

3) Designed for both military and civilian usage.

Best Regards,
=Adrian=