AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2020 - 18

LETTERS
Spread your wings

HANGAR TALK

Mark Baker's President 's
Position in the February 2020
AOPA Pilot ("Spread Your
Wings") was spot on. There
are many flying organizations
that allow pilots of all flavors
to "spread their wings" and use
their gift of a pilot certificate to
its maximum potential. Several
were featured in the column,
and many dozens more have
graced the pages of AOPA Pilot
over the years.
One conspicuous absence
to date is also a group that has
worked closely with AOPA
for many years. The Flying
Physicians Association is a
dedicated group of physician
pilots who have two passions
in their lives; and our organization gives them the only
forum in which to learn about
both. We have regional and
national meetings/fly-ins during which we teach each other
with rich, varied continuing
medical education lectures,
and expand our knowledge
of aviation safety with evening discussions. Many of our
members are multiple-thousand-hour pilots with rich,
valued experiences, and a
wide variety of aircraft from
172s to MU-2s.

WAYPOINTS

A century of perseverance

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
Editor in Chief

Tuskegee Airman shares 100 years of wisdom
HE NEEDED A BIT OF ASSISTANCE lifting a knee high

enough to get onto the airstair step of the Cirrus Vision
Jet, but you could imagine a time 65 years earlier when he
easily could have scrambled up the ladder into a Lockheed
F-80 Shooting Star or a Northrop F-89 Scorpion ready
to head off into combat over Korea. Retired U.S. Air
Force Col. Charles E. McGee, one of the last remaining
Tuskegee Airmen, turned 100 on December 7, 2019, commemorating his centennial by flying a Vision Jet on the
day before his birthday and flying a Cessna Citation M2
the next day on his birthday-all after flying a HondaJet
on his ninety-ninth birthday. And by "flying," I mean
flying-not just
along for the ride.
Pilots who flew
with him say he
handled all the
controls with
aplomb and had
complete situational awareness
regarding airspace, nearby
traffic, and air
traffic control
expectations
(see "Birthday
RETIRED U.S. AIR Force Col. Charles McGee is welcomed
Flight for a Hero,"
at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to help celebrate his
100th birthday.
page 48).
By the time he flew those early jets in Korea, he was
already battle hardened, having flown 137 combat missions in World War II-P-39s, P-47Ds, and, of course,
the Red Tail P-51 Mustangs that became synonymous
with the Tuskegee Airmen.
After 100 combat missions in Korea, McGee flew
again in Vietnam, safely returning from 172 missions in
McDonnell Douglas RF-4 photo-reconnaissance jets. He
retired from the Air Force in 1973 after 409 combat missions-one of the highest of any U.S. Air Force fighter
pilot-and with 6,308 flying hours, an exceptionally high
number for a military pilot.
But McGee's biggest battle was not in the skies over
Europe, Korea, or Vietnam, but on the ground in the
Editor in Chief
United States where he and fellow African American
TOM HAINES is a
43-year pilot with
servicemen were seen as grunts only, not given the
thousands of flight
opportunity to excel because of the belief that they were
hours in scores of
models of airplanes.
not capable of more.

During an interview with AOPA in the spring of 2019,
McGee shared the prevailing excuses early in World War
II for not allowing black aviators. Number one was that
there were no black mechanics, and white mechanics
would never be permitted to work on airplanes flown
by black pilots. As an experiment, he said, the Army
agreed to train a group of African Americans to be aircraft mechanics. "The Army expected them to fail. And
they didn't," McGee said. In fact, the first authorization
for the 99th Pursuit Squadron-an all-black flying unit
trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama-was an
experiment, McGee said.
When the mechanics succeeded, the "Army Air
Corps said, 'Oh, my gosh, then we need an airfield for
the pilot training,'" McGee recalled. They found $4 million to build training bases-including Tuskegee Army
Airfield-to train black pilots, even though there were
already dozens of training fields in the country. The
Army leadership couldn't imagine black pilots training
on the same fields as white pilots.
As is evident now all these decades later, McGee and
the other Tuskegee Airmen battled through years of segregation and racism to succeed. What is most surprising
in talking with McGee is that there is no bitterness. He is
matter-of-fact about how it was and he continues today
to be an advocate for perseverance in reaching goals. He
speaks often to schoolchildren, encouraging them to rise
above whatever circumstances might try to hinder them
from reaching their goals. In our interview he describes
it as his four Ps:
Perceive: Dream your dreams and pinpoint something
you like doing.
Prepare: Get a good education. Learn to read, write, and
speak well.
Perform: Let excellence be your goal in everything you
do. Always do your best. Nobody can ask more from you.
Persevere: "We could have gone off, bowed our heads
as they called me names-didn't like me-and not served
our country." Don't let circumstances like that be an
excuse for not achieving.
Clearly in his century of life, McGee has developed
great wisdom from which all of us can benefit. He is a
national treasure of whom I and many others are in awe.
Happy birthday, Colonel McGee.
AOPA

We estimate there are about
4,000 physician pilots in our
country, and only a small percentage of them share this
valuable experience. We would
welcome all of these flyers who
would like to share their passion
for flying and medicine. Check
us out on fpadrs.org.
Dr. John R. Mulvey
FPA President Elect
AOPA 7045797
Elkton, Maryland

EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org

@tomhaines29

18 | AOPA PILOT February 2020

I enjoyed the article
on Col. Charles
McGee ("Waypoints:
A Century of
Perseverance").
A few words, an
amazing life, and this
world needs more
men like him!
Thanks for putting
the spotlight on an
American hero.
Roger A. Badger
AOPA 7579155

Head in the clouds

I agree with Dave Hirschman
("Dogfight: Head in the
Clouds"). I've experienced vertigo twice in real weather, once
while solo. It is at the very least
an uncomfortable feeling and
for me reduces self-confidence
and replaces it with a feeling of
dread.
Foggles prevent seeing
the horizon but shadows cast
across the panel, I think, still
contribute to an awareness of
aircraft attitude that keep "the
leans" at bay.
Ken Welch
AOPA 464570
Mount Pleasant,
North Carolina

ERRATA

"Ohio Aviation History from A
to W" (February 2020 AOPA
Pilot) incorrectly identified the

Any flight in a Lockwood AirCam is a good flight, said AOPA
Associate Editor DAVID TULIS. "The view from either the front or
rear seat is spectacular, and it elevates photography because of the
variety of angles you can capture from the open-cockpit design-
although precise communications can be challenging." It takes a
lot of teamwork to pull off air-to-air photo missions, which combine
safe-but close-operating distances, optimum sun angles, and an
eye for background details. AirCam builder-owner, pilot, and musician Jeff Auen knew the aircraft from nose to tail and had an expert
hand. Bristell pilot John Rathmell in the more powerful 915iS with
AOPA Technical Editor Jill W. Tallman ("BOOSTED BRISTELL, P. 66),
and Jonathan Still in the Bristell LSA, all rose to the occasion for a
pre-dawn departure and formation flights that continued through
sunset over Florida's pristine Ten Thousand Islands.

18 | AOPA PILOT April 2020

Gemini mission commanded by
Neil Armstrong. It was Gemini
VIII.
"Pilots: Courtland Savage"
(February 2020 AOPA Pilot)
misidentified the manufacturer of the CRJ 700 and 900.
It is Bombardier.
In "Postcards: Flying in
Italy" (March 2020 AOPA
Pilot), a caption incorrectly
identified the location of the
Tyrrhenian Sea. It is off the
west coast of Italy. Additionally,
accompanying photography
should be credited to Mary
Michael, and the Italian Air
Force Museum in Bracciano is
25 miles north of Rome, not 15.
"Island Adventure" (March
2020 AOPA Pilot) incorrectly
stated the number of bison
originally on the island; there
were 14.
AOPA Pilot regrets the errors.
We welcome your comments.
Send letters by mail to Editor,
AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation Way,
Frederick, Maryland 21701 or by
email (pilot@aopa.org). Letters
may be edited for length and
style before publication.

http://www.fpadrs.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2020

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