My FIL was in the Air Force in the early 50's.... A couple pics
William81
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We have been going through some old slides from the early 50's when my Father in Law was serving in the USAF. He had graduated from college and had been in ROTC during those years. He was commissioned as a officer and went to flight school. The first pic was of a trainer he flew in the initial stages of his training. The 2nd pic was of the USAF Thunderbirds in 1954. They were visiting the base where he was stationed. At the time the Thunderbirds were using the F84G Thunderjets..
He went on to fly the F-86 Sabre and F84 Thunderstreak during his years in service. When his time in the service ended he went on to work as an engineer at Caterpillar until retirement... He passed away 12 years ago today. He was one of the finest men I ever met and I miss him..
I am hoping to find other slides in the old family photos of his time in the Airforce. Enjoy these for a start....
Comments
Thanks for sharing
And thanks to him for his service sounds like a great man and a loss to many not just the family
RIP sir .
I know two of my wife's uncles were in the air force I will guess late 50's early 60's
I never got to talk too much to them about their time
they did tell me they decided on Air Force it was a better choice and better food and life style than the army
There are many jokes about the Air Force Country Club lifestyle - most of them funny even to a career AF guy like me. Including during combat, we did live better, though.
Great pictures. The second are T-33s, the two-seat version of the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.
My Dad was stationed up at Glasgow AFB here in Montana in 1962-63 working on F-101 Voodoos. I still have his "Voodoo Medicine Man" patch.
The closest jet is a T-33, the rest are 84s. The T was probably the one the announcer/advance guy flew. He generally flew in a day or so ahead of the T-Bird formation to get things set up and ready.
Personal note: I have about 65 hours in the AT-33, which was the ground attack trainer version. Think of it as a two-seat F-80. Not only that, but a few years later, I was considered for the T-Bird announcer position. I turned it down. So I have a two-way connection to that photo.
Thanks all....
I just noticed the old WWII B-25 in 2nd pic....