Bill Lightfoot of Quail Run is pictured at 21 about the time he began teaching British cadets how to fly Stearman PT-17 biplanes at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. in 1941. Photo provided
Bill Lightfoot was in his fourth year in a small Presbyterian liberal arts college in South Carolina in 1941 when he got his civilian pilots license. He decided to quit school and become an aviation instructor for he United States Government. Read the rest of this entry »
Wearing his leather flying cap, goggles and a leather flight jacket, Don Bunger of Port Charlotte, Fla. looks like the quintessential World War II Aviation Cadet. He learned to fly pursuit planes at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. in 1944. Photo provided
Don Bunger was in “Class 45-B,” the last class of pursuit pilots to graduate from Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. at the end of World War II. He soloed and got his wings flying a Stearman PT-17 two cockpit biplane just days before the program closed for good.
2nd Lt. Ochen of Venice, Fla. is pictured in his leather flight jacket a life time ago during World War II. Photo provided
This interview first appeared in the Charlotte Sun newspaper, Port Charlotte, Fla. on Sunday, March 5, 2006 and is republished with permission.
Learning to fly a Stearman PT-17 “Kaydet” fabric-covered, two-seat biplane at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. in 1943 was a far cry from piloting a B-26 “Marauder” twin-engine attack bomber against a heavily fortified German bridge during the closing months of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Second Lt. Al Zimmerman flew a P-51 Mustang fighter in the 355 Fighter Group in Europe during World War II.
A gorgeous but lethal P-51 Mustang fighter plane knifing its way through puffy white clouds seemed to fly off the wall at De Carter Brown’s Port Charlotte, Fla. studio. Read the rest of this entry »
