I first met Whitey in the spring of 1996. Whitey was probably the most unique and charismatic person that I have ever known. When he talked everyone listened, he was a great story teller and the ultimate aviation buff. Where ever we went, he seemed to know everyone. I have been studying WWII aviation my entire life and knew virtually nothing about it in comparison to Whitey. He has owned several old warbirds, their high maintenance and his love of air shows lead to the formation of Fantasy Flight, as mentioned by several other Buccaneers above. Fantasy Flight was one of the most amazing things that I have ever been involve in. Almost every weekend in the summer of 1996, my wife and I would either help in the cleaning or maintenance the planes, or we were off to air shows, including Oshkosh. Whitey was not satisfied with just showing off the old planes. All members of Fantasy Flight wore authentic WWII uniforms everywhere we went. At big shows we showed off the planes, at small ones we sold rides. He insisted that everything that we took with us or wore be the real thing. He was rarely challenged because we all knew that he had a reputation for throwing things out of the window of the C-45, in-flight! We even had a couple of old Dodge Army Air Corps staff cars that we would drive to local events in. The pace that we kept that summer was incredible. Whitey's appetite for adventure seemed to wear out those of us who were half of his age. Whitey was the last true barnstormer.
I think Whitey discovered Warbirds in the spring of 1996. He soon turned several of the Fantasy Flight folks on to that flight sim and formed the Buccaneers. Just like in Fantasy Flight, we had to do things as authentically as possible. We would hold pre mission meetings at the Village Inn to go over flight assignments and plans. We have always tried to reenact specific WWII missions. Our missions always begin with a giant 7 to 12 person conference phone call (we each have a second phone line) and we hold strict radio com procedures (except for Wabbit
). We begin by taxiing off the runway and shutting down our engines. Each flight leader calls out the colored flares for us to start engines, taxi and roll. These kind of things, as small as they may seem, help create a higher level of immersion, apprehension and fun. Only because of Whitey, have we become the kind of squad that we are.
One of the things that have made the Buccaneers so special was the fact that 12 of us live in the Colorado Springs area. We are much more than just online friends. We typically have been eating dinner together about every other week for the past few years. We all know each others families, pets, work situations etc. Whitey has done an incredible job of pulling together a great bunch of great guys and turning us into.... well, my best friends.
<S> to my leader, and friend.
Thank you, Whitey.
