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USAF PILOT TRAINING CLASS 55-INDIA
Welcome to the Official Web Page of USAF Pilot Training Class 55-India!
We are a group of USAF veterans who went into pilot training in the
1950’s, ending our training on February 24, 1955. The aircraft pictured
here are some of the planes we flew during our primary and basic training.
We all started in the
Piper Super Cub, the PA-18. After about 20 hours in the Super Cub, we
progressed to the North American T-6G, a World War II vintage trainer. Our
primary training was conducted by civilian flight schools, and we were based at
several sites for this phase:
Graduates from primary spread to several different bases for what was
known as “Basic Training.” Students were divided in those days into two
groups: Single Engine Jet, and Multi-engine. This was near the beginning
of the Jet Age, and those of us assigned to Single Engine Jets went to Greenville
AFB, Greenville, Mississippi; Webb AFB, Big Spring, Texas; and Williams AFB,
Chandler (near Phoenix), Arizona. 6 Pilots went from
Multi-engine students went
to Vance AFB, Enid Oklahoma, and Goodfellow AFB,
After primary and basic
training, the class scattered to the winds and the four corners of the world.
We did not meet again as a group until October of 1998, when we held our first
reunion, attended by nearly 90 members of the original class.
In the intervening years,
our members flew just about every aircraft in the USAF inventory, not to
mention some Navy and NATO types. A large percentage of the class stayed in the
service as a career, and most served at least one tour in
The period of training was
definitive in most of our lives: it was a turning point, a place where we
started on a great lifetime adventure that now has faded into distant but
distinct and cherished memories. We have a bond that cannot be broken; we are
well into the “Golden Years” but all that falls away at our reunions, when we
are once again young, brave, handsome, and “The Best Damned Pilots In The
World.”
In Primary Pilot Training
All Pilots began with the Piper Super Cub PA-18 above
We then tested our skill in the T-6 Texan
Pilots chose either single-engine or multi-engine training.
Both single-engine and multi-engine pilots flew the T-28 in Basic Flight Training
We learned the basics of formation flying in the T-28
Multi-engine pilots then flew the B-25 shown below
The pilots who chose single-engine training first flew
the T-28 and then
the T-33 aircraft shown below
Four beautiful T-33s on a beautiful day
USAF PILOT TRAINING CLASS 55-INDIA
USAF
Pilot Training Class 55-India was one of the larger classes trained in the
1950's. Our research has come up with a total over 600 names, gleaned
from class yearbooks, Preflight group pictures, and various official orders. Of
these, more than 100 are known to be deceased, and close to 250 have been
located. The names on this list represent the "missing," not all of
whom were members of the USAF Pilot Training Class 55-India.
Preflight at Lackland AFB,
We solicit anyone who
knows of the whereabouts of any of these men. Either contact us with
their address, or, if you prefer, contact the individual and ask him to get in
touch with his old classmates. Also, if you recognize that a name on our
missing list was a navigator candidate, send me that information and I'll
remove that name from the list.
Please click on the shortcut below and view the list of "missing" classmates. It's a big job to locate them. Please choose some classmates to search for. Click on the (Me) envelope icon below and send me an email with the name(s) of those you will attempt to find. I will place an asterisk before the names of those who I have been told already have someone looking for them. This should help avoid multiple attempts that could irritate people being contacted. Thanks for all your help.
(Me)
Darrell Schmidt
Click on the Envelope above to send me an email
I’m
always looking for more pictures to post to our site. If you find it is too large to be sent by
email,
if
you know how you can Zip
Then
you can go online to http://www.yousendit.com/
and load that zip file there.
Put
dschmidt1@cox.net as the receiver. You
can send zip files as large as 100 MB that way.
REUNIONS
We have had six reunions to date, in 1998, 2000, 2003,
2005, 2007 and 2009. They have been great get-togethers, swapping old stories
and reviving old memories.
Our
Washington DC reunion was held from September 30 to
October
3rd, 2009 at the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza at Tyson’s Corner, VA
Pete
Zuras dazzled us all with the entertainment
And
sight-seeing he arranged in the DC area.
He
did an absolutely outstanding job!!!!
Our
next reunion is planned for the Air Force Museum
Area in Dayton, OH in 2011.
Our
current reunion guru, Bob Klimek advises me the Preliminary
reunion
dates are 4-8 May 2011 at the Holiday Inn with the "Dinner Under
the Wings" scheduled for 6 May 2011 at the museum.
(Most by Dick Arnold)
2 pages
(Note: ABQ pages are selected at the bottom
left of each screen)
These by Bev
Janson) 3 pages
DCA Pictures (2009)
55-I Notam #7 (old but has good content)
(Use back arrow
to return)
(BOTH FOR SIGN-IN
AND VIEWING)
(Note:
In the upper left corner there is a “Sign In” icon)
(YOU CAN USE THE IE “BACK” ICON TO RETURN TO
THIS PAGE)
[Most recent edit is 25
July, 2010]
(If you should visit this web site sign the Guest Book
there, too)
55-I Pilots who attended the
Laughlin, NV Reunion in 1998
55-I Pilots who attended the
Colorado Springs Reunion in 2000
(Note: the rows are a little off due to the many steps that we’re
standing on)
Front Row: Howard Crites, Ben Brown, Jim Monk, Russ Rickard
2nd Row: Warren Green, x, Ed Unser, Dick Wyatt, Darrell Schmidt
3rd Row: John Burnett, Harvey Kimsey, Dick Blair, Bob Klimeck, x, Ron Weinert, Hans Terpstra
4th Row: Ron Atwood, Pete Chinburg, Gene Cox, John Owens
5th Row: Ray Nasypany, Joe Sperhac, Lee Wolfe, Kozy Korzan, Dale Dyson, Pete Zuras, Jim Hicks, Jay Hess
6th Row: Dave Bidleman, Wayne Wootten
Pilots at DCA, 2009
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Dick and Susan Arnold, Edd and Linda Barnes, Eldon (Barney) and Joan Barnes, Merle and Yvonne Bechthold, Don and Nancy Blair, George Bracke, Ben and Basak Brown, John and Jetta Burnett, Whee and Ginny Cameron, Pete and Ellen Chinberg, Bill and Phyllis Edwards. Ron Frink. Don Gierard, Warren and Grace Green, Don and Carol Hamm, Chuck Hoggatt, Hoyt and Betty Hook, Glenn and Beverly Janson. Ralph (Bud) and Mae Jensen and Daughter, Merlyn (Bud) Johnson, Ed Kane, Harvey Kimsey, Bob and Lucia Klimek, Darold (Kozy) and Holly Korzan, Armand (Skip) and Jeanne LaRocque, Ramon and Nona Lefevre, Bill and Suzie Lessard, Chuck and Pat Mielke, Jim and Shirley Monk, Steve O’Brien, John and Gwen Owens, Phil Phillips and Evelyn, RasRastall, Chet Rawie, Russ and Mary Anne Rickard, George Rowcliffe, Tom and Faith Sawyer, Darrell Schmidt, Marvin Skeen, Joe Sperhac, Bill Sturts, Ed Unser, Ron Weinert and Ruth Jordan, John Whipple, Bob and Anne Willis, Lee and Jan Wolfe, Wayne and Doris Wootton, Pete and Jo Ann Zuras |
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55-I Deceased Classmates |
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Adkisson, Robert B. Alitz, Laverne
W. Archer, Frances E. Armstrong, Edwin A Augustus, Michel Ayudin, Umit Barnes, Eldon Bechtold, Merle A. Belson, Joseph E. Buckey, Richard B. Cameron, Whee Clem, Sanford P. Colvin, Wayne Corbin, Neal H.
Dean, Scott E Devoe, Garner Ellwanger, Robert Foster, Lemuel E. Gimenez, Manuel Jr. Glasheen, Daniel Goss, Richard
D Hamm, Donald P. Hansen, Tage Bolt Hartley, Roger D. |
Hedeen, Robert L. Hoggatt, Charles V. Johnson, Merlyn (Bud) Kelley, Vernon B. Kjos Jr.,
Neil A. Loeffler, Fred Miller, Robert J. Nelson, Stanley F. Norris, Robert
G. Orban, Richard L. Philipski, Robert F. Sanford, Clem P. Saporito, Joseph W.
Simpson, Richard O. Sligh, Charles H. Smead, Jerry S. Smith, Harold Victor Thompson, Wayne H. Weatherwax, John J.
Windom, Charles Womble, Floyd A. Zobrack, Marcel J. |
REST IN PEACE!
