A Big Surprise At The Air Force Museum

[Tigercat]

I spent all three days at the Gathering in Columbus, during which I was able to get many signatures from the Legends added to the liner of my Eastman A-2 flight jacket. I figured that my time talking to WWII fighter pilots had come to an end.....but I was wrong! I had a surprise encounter with two very interesting gentlemen at the AF Museum the next day.

I left my motel Monday morning for Dayton Ohio, home of Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the U.S Air Force Museum. Upon entering the museum (which is beyond my comprehension, it is so awesome) I started viewing the WWII building. I saw a P-63 King Cobra which two older gentlemen were examining. I got into a conversation with them and one of the two guys, Don "Buzz" Wagner said he flew many WWII U.S. aircraft, but not the P-63. He mentioned that both of them were WWII fighter pilots and of course I got pretty excited.

Don said he had started his tour of WWII combat in the 31st Fighter Group doing Bomber Escort missions into Italy, Austria and Eastern Europe. He was flying the P-51 at this time.

Then, after flying 25 missions or so, he was transferred to the Southwest Pacific and began flying the B-25J gunship/strafers, which had a total of FOURTEEN forward firing .50 caliber machine guns! he finished the war with a total of close to fify combat missions and retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel. He flew a total of 24 different U.S. military aircraft.

Then the real interesting part started! Don introduced me to his friend, Colonel Kenneth Chilstrom, and we began to discuss his accomplishments. Ken began his combat tour early in the war and was a member of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group flying North American A-36's in the North African campaign, performing dangerous low level bombing and strafing missions. He was awarded the DFC and Eight Air Medals during his EIGHTY combat missions!

After rotating back to the U.S. Ken Chilstrom was assigned to Wright Field in Dayton, OH as a test pilot and was a member of the first graduating class along with fellow classmates such as Major Dick Bong, chief Lockheed test pilot Tony Levier, Bob Cardenas, and Glen Edwards, who I believe Edwards AFB is named after.

Ken Chilstrom flew flight test avaluations on most all of the enemy aircraft that were captured during the war after they were delivered to Wright Field. Examples of those in aircraft were the Bf-109, Fw-190D model, and the Me-262 as well as several Japanese warplanes.

On February 17, 1945 Ken was almost severely injured while flight testing America's first jet aircraft the Bell P-59, when it lost power during take off.

In September, 1946, Ken Chilstrom became Chief pilot of the Fighter Test Division at Wright Field and was supervising officer of some of the most famous test pilots in U.S. history including Pete Everest, Dick Johnson, Chuck Yeager, and Bob Hoover!!

In 1948 Chilstrom was in charge of flying the Phase II tests of the XP-86 Sabre Jet program at Muroc AFB in California.

In 1958 Ken was promoted to the rank of Colonel at the age of 37 and later that year was assigned to be Project Manager of North American XF-108 Rapier program at Wright Field. That plane was to be a Mach 3 interceptor, and was ultimately cancelled to divert those funds to the XB-70 program.

During his U.S. Air Force career, Ken Chilstrom flew 147 different military aircraft!!!

Anyway, I was totally in awe after spending some time with these two gentlemen, and enjoyed every minute of our conversation. I took some photos of them in front of a P-51 and also photos of Ken Chilstrom in front of the Me-262. I believe it is the one he actually flew. And YES, I did add both Buzz Wagner and Ken Chilstrom's signatures to my 27752 A-2 flight jacket. It was a wonderful day at the Air Force Museum!!!

P.S.----Ken Chilstrom has a book that has been out for a while which discusses his test piloting experiences. The title is "TEST FLYING AT OLD WRIGHT FIELD".

[Zachary]

What an experience that must have been! Speaking of Ken Chilstrom - he was interviewed for EAA's Timeless Voices of Aviation video oral history program during AirVenture back in July. I have edited his interview and it will be appearing online for free viewing in the very near future. What a life he has led!

Zack

[mustangdriver]

That is the best part of volunteering at the NMUSAF. This is a common sight there. It is amazing to hear what the vets have to say, and the memories that the old aircraft bring up.

[tom d. friedman]

lucky bugger.... you rubbed elbows with some incredible people!!! congrats!!!

[maxum96]

A couple of real heroes. I'm envious of you getting to meet them. I love listening to vets talking about their experiences in combat.

[Tigercat]

I had the opportunity to speak with Ken Chilstrom about his memories of his test pilot school classmates Dick Bong and Glen Edwards. He said that Bong was fairly "war weary" after coming back to the states following a lot of intense combat in the Pacific. He said Bong may have not been entirely familiar with systems differences between the P-38 and the P-80. I mean that in the sense that he was specifically familiar with the fuel management system on the Lightning and may have not been concentrating on the different means of fuel flow control that the jet required. This is how I understood what Ken stated about the accident that ended in Bong's death.

In regards to Glen Edwards, Chilstrom said he was a really great guy and an excellent pilot. Edwards commented to Ken that the Flying Wing was somewhat difficult at times to handle. He also said that he and Glen Edwards became very close friends during the period before Edwards untimely death in the YB-49 crash.

[Misterg97]

That's what makes time serving as a volunteer so special and I'll be there again tomorrow morning volunteering ...

[Django]

jealous...

[daveymac82c]

That's really great stuff.

I too am jealous. But hearing the story is nearly as good.

Cheers,

David