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Planes Main Topic For Military Pilots' Order Of Daedalians

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By PHILIP MORGAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2008

TAMPA - Al Nelson answered the call for Air Force pilots in 1949, and he's glad there were no computers around to give away his secret.

If the Air Force had been able to pull up his World War II Navy record, it would have shown he was booted from aviation training for flying in an unapproved manner.

"I flew under a bridge and looped it," he says with a grin.

He wound up as a waist-gunner in the Navy version of the B-24 Liberator bomber in the Pacific, then spent about 25 years flying jet fighters for the Air Force: F-80s, F-86s, F-102s and F-105s.

The 84-year-old St. Pete Beach resident meets for cocktails and lunch once a month in a room full of living aviation history at MacDill Air Force Base. He's a member of the Order of Daedalians, an association of current and former military pilots from all eras and branches. The group got its spark of inspiration in 1921, the same year Congress set Nov. 11 as a holiday to honor veterans.

That year in a speech, legendary air strategist Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell suggested creating an organization to honor America's first military aviators - the nearly 14,000 men who served in World War I.

The MacDill chapter, which meets in the Officers' Club, has been active since 1972.

For those who gather, there's just one topic of conversation, and it never gets old, says Bud Patterson of Apollo Beach.

"You meet somebody new, it's 'What did you fly?' "

For him, the answer is big jets. Air Force. But his favorite plane was the B-17 Flying Fortress, which he flew in World War II. "It could take a lot of punishment. It was slow, but durable."

To a point.

Patterson, 88, was shot down over France and held as a POW till the war ended 444 days later. "My fighting weight was 157, but when I got released from the POW camp, I was down to about 128 because we ran out of food."

He sits at a table with other pilots who flew the relics, all stationed together at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey in the 1960s.

Steve Veve, 84, who lives near Ocala, flew Liberators in Europe during the American occupation after the war.

"At the time I was flying, I was 19 years old. I got a ride in one a couple of years ago, and I didn't realize how much noise there was."

Ray Carter, 83, flew B-17s, then B-29s and moved on to the big jets, ending his career aboard C-141 Starlifters in the 1970s.

Going to jets was an adjustment, he says. "You had to think about three times as fast in front of you. That was a problem for some, who couldn't adjust their thinking to flying 600 mph instead of 200 mph."

Brig. Gen. David "Tanker" Snyder, 52, a former MacDill commander who retired last year, enjoys the history represented by the Daedalians.

"More importantly, it's cherishing that heritage of all these people who have had a wealth of experience, served in combat and had harrowing experiences going back to the World War II days of seat-of-their-pants flying."

Cold War vets talk of the Strategic Air Command, when the Air Force kept bombers aloft 24 hours a day in case of nuclear war. Cappy Bie, 77, flew the giant, six-engine B-47 Stratojet bombers in the 1950s and early '60s.

"They were hard to fly. Until you got 500 or 600 hours in them, they weren't safe," says Bie, of Indian Rocks Beach. "But once you got to know them, they were good airplanes."

The Daedalians officially took off in the 1930s. It was organized by a lieutenant who had been inspired by Mitchell's speech of 1921. The name is taken from the Greek legend of Daedalus, the father of Icarus, who crafted wings for himself and his son from wax and feathers. (Icarus flew too high, and the sun melted his wings; Daedalus had a successful flight.)

For the last meeting before Veterans Day, retired Air Force Col. Perry "PJ" Dahl talked about the Pacific theater in World War II.

Dahl, who shot down nine Japanese warplanes, tells of the time he lost the twin tail booms of his P-38 fighter during a midair collision in a dogfight off the Philippines. He lost four planes in all, and draws a laugh from the crowd when he shares his commander's warning: "You lose one more, you know, and you're a Japanese ace."

Long a men's club, the Daedalians' rolls have expanded with the emergence of women in the military. Lt. Col. Jennifer Uptmor, 40, commander of the 310th Airlift Squadron at MacDill, filled out an application to join. The daughter of a former Navy jet pilot, she had long aimed for a career flying.

"When I talked to my dad about it, he said go join the Air Force; they're the best and they treat their pilots the best."

A guest at many meetings, Uptmor says it's fun to talk to the old-timers about how they did things. She gets useful tips from them. Like when some former pilots of KC-135 tankers told her how they used to fly with the cockpit windows open. That was something Uptmor had never heard of.

When a fire broke out in the cockpit of the KC-135 she was flying, she opened the windows to clear the smoke.

"Just by hanging out with these guys, I knew what to do."

The Order of Daedalians, Suncoast Flight, meets for refueling at 11:15 a.m. the third Tuesday of the month at the Officers' Club, 1904 Golf Course Ave., MacDill Air Force Base. For membership eligibility requirements, visit www.daedalian.org. Contact the

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