Tracing your flight instruction legacy...

[RyanShort1]

On one of the Waco-related threads there was mention of an old instructor who'd flown an the aircraft now owned by wacoykc. That brought to mind an old idea I had...

Maybe I'm crazy, but it would be interesting to see how far one could trace back flight instructors and see what famous pilots might be in the mix - or not. I wonder if some of the truly great pilots of WWII weren't instructors who taught their students well.

Sorry to say, I'm not sure I can get mine back that far. I've tried to contact my first instructor, but none of the contact information I had for him works anymore. I'm pretty sure he was trained in the Navy in T-34s, though, and was serving as an Air Force navigation trainer at RAFB at the time.
I've had other instructors of course, and I may go on and ask them some crazy questions...

Ryan

[sugarkane]

my flight instructor is younger that my last girl friend
and she was 11 years younger than me..

he is great though and has a very high standard of airmanship

[wacoykc]

My first lesson was with a former P-38 pilot who is still alive. He remained in the military from WWII up through Vietnam, attaining the rank of Colonel. His name is Darrell Larkins. My second flight instructor was a CBI "Hump" pilot who flew C-46's and C-47's. He passed away about 1997. His name was Erwin "Esh" Eschelman.

[Obergrafeter]

One of the biggest mistakes I made was several years ago when Archie Donahue offered me a CAF check ride and I didn''t travel down to the valley and get it. (He was CAF Operations Officer at the time) Would love to have that signature in my log book. I have taken rides with Sandy Sansing and have his signature in my log book, but it would be nice to have two WWII Heros in my book.

[Ztex]

Two of my instructors were young punks building time...

I flew my instrument training with a Marine, former F-4 flyer...he was a great guy! Tough tough...but man did I learn a lot from him.

No one famous...

[Second Air Force]

I can't trace this gentleman directly to my instruction, but the owner of the flight school I worked at was trained by a gentleman who was a charter member of the OX-5 Club. He was in his nineties when I met him 18 years ago, and his only 'story' was about being a passenger in a Ford Trimotor with Charles Lindberg seated across the aisle from him.

[A36pilot]

One of my first instrutors was a Corsair factory test pilot during WWII.

[gilt]

My instructor, mentor, and employer for my first 6 years in aviation, learned to fly in a Hisso Jenny at Mitchel Field in 1922. He was further tied to the absolute beginning of US military aviation by serving under Benny Foulois and having Foulois' signature on his Army Air Service Discharge.

Tom-

[BigGrey]

My PPL instructor, 1979, is now a third generation United captain. His father was a B-29 pilot possibly Silverplate. The son of my instructor was planning on being the fourth generation United pilot in the family but abandoned that plan for something a little more sure and stable.
Most of the instructors I flew with back then are now airline captains with the exception of one, a former Marine fighter pilot in the 70's. He just never seemed able to get hired even though he was a heck of a pilot and taught me a lot about high performance airplanes.

I used to ride in backseats with other instructors and students every chance I got. One instructor was Captain Incredible and most of us know about his wartime exploits.

Les