THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9409300256
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 157 lines
WHERE ARE THE GUNS? Where are the bombs? What did you do during the war?
Those are the questions youngsters ask most often when they gape at World War II airplanes.
``Kids today have no conception of what took place 50 years ago,'' says 51-year-old George McClellan of Virginia Beach. ``To see one of these planes run, listen to it, see it fly - that changes their perspective.
``The older people are more interested in how the craft performs, and how we can maintain it to fly safely.''
They are maintained by the Old Dominion Squadron of the Confederate Air Force, a non-profit organization determined not to let World War II aircraft rust or be forgotten.
Headquartered at Hampton Roads Airport, just off U.S. 58 on the edge of Chesapeake that borders Suffolk, the CAF volunteers work on a 1942 Lockheed C-60 transport, a light plane called the L-5 and a Wildcat fighter. They help with a B-25 bomber owned by Ed Bankston of Virginia Beach.
``He owns it. We crew it for him,'' McClellan says. ``I'm one of the pilots.''
The CAF is the operating arm of the American Airpower Heritage Foundation. Both are in Midland, Texas.
``We request specific planes and then must raise the funds, restore the plane, find and train the crew,'' says Steve McClellan, George's brother, also of Virginia Beach. ``The CAF has 135 flying and more in restoration or storage.''
The Old Dominion squadron's C-60 was originally delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps in November 1942 to be used as a paratroop airplane and glider tug.
The Wildcat, used primarily in the Pacific, was home-based on aircraft carriers. The L-5 was used for liaison and spotting.
The B-25 was a medium bomber used in the Pacific to make the initial raids on Tokyo.
``The one we have was used as a trainer,'' says George McClellan, who is president of LandAir Communications of Virginia Beach.
He has not been home much lately.
We've been on the road every weekend since June,'' he said, ticking off such locales as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and northern Virginia. They put on a show at home base, the Hampton Roads Airport, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 5.
McClellan has been making such rounds since formation of the Old Dominion chapter in 1982. There were 12 members then. Now there are 35 volunteers and more are being sought.
``My brother, Steve, was an organizer, and he wanted me to be his operations officer,'' George McClellan said.
Bill Salmon, a 70-year-old Virginia Beach resident, was a World War II B-17 pilot, then a reservist, then a maintenance officer stationed in New York during the Korean War.
``We flew World War II craft in Korea,'' he said. ``That's all we had in those days.''
Salmon has been with the CAF seven years, getting involved because of his penchant for cleanliness.
``I owned Aqua Force in Virginia Beach until I retired five years ago. The CAF was in a Norfolk airport. I ran into an old friend of mine there, Steve McClellan,'' he said. ``I saw this filthy dirty B-29 and asked if we could wash it. I came over with my son and crew and did the job.
``I've been active with the CAF ever since. Recently I decided - hell, I'm 70, so I'm drifting out of flying, helping out on the ground, helping put on the shows,'' said Salmon, whose wife, Mike, works the canteen.
``I like to be out there. It appeals to me, the fact that they're doing things, they're having fun, and they're living,'' the retired real estate broker said. ``They're not couch potatoes. That's what makes you get old.''
Young or old, the CAF welcomes you. Experience - military or civilian, as a pilot or mechanic - is not a prerequisite for joining.
``You don't even have to join to help us. Just have an interest,'' Steve McClellan said.
``During World War II, I ran around in three-quarter pants. I didn't get involved with flying until 1985. I began as a co-pilot for the B-29,'' said George McClellan, who now pilots most of the major bombers.
The CAF is looking for a few more good men, and women, ``who have a desire to see that these planes continue to fly. Support them however your capabilities allow,'' said McClellan, who is particularly anxious to find an interested accountant.
The money the CAF pulls in from its shows and post-exchange sales, its dues and donations are used for, among other things, hefty aircraft maintenance and heftier insurance costs.
``We have to send $500 an hour to headquarters each time one of our craft hits the air,'' McClellan said.
Headquarters is Texas, where it all began in the late 1950s.
The initiators were several cropduster pilots, with military experience, who saw the opportunity to buy surplus military aircraft.
``They paid from $500 to a couple thousand for fighter aircraft that had high performance compared to their cropdusters,'' McClellan said. ``It was craft they had military experience in as pilots.
``They were invited to do mock combat at military air shows, then civilian air shows,'' he said. ``As they continued, they gathered more people who had the same desires and abilities.
``The group started to grow, and one day they decided to paint all the planes the same color - white and red. Someone went out with a spray can and sprayed Confederate Air Force on one of the planes,'' McClellan said. ``Then, good naturedly, they nominated themselves as colonels in the CAF.''
As a result, it is an all-colonel organization, headed by a fictitious commander-in-chief with what seems an honored Southern name, Jethro Culpepper.
``It became a large flying club. The more shows they did the more interest people had, the more organized it became,'' McClellan said. ``In the mid- to late-'60s they added bombers to their collection. More personnel was required. Wings were formed as well as squadrons, whose jobs were to care for the aircraft assigned them.''
The planes needed to be kept away from the elements of Mother Nature. That meant money was needed for hangars and maintenance facilities and, of course, funds are always needed to put on shows.
``We can always use donations of cash, parts, equipment, time, contacts, suggestions - anything,'' Steve McClellan said.
``We have several good supporters in the area, and we need more people to help us,'' his brother added.
The Confederate Air Force is international in scope, with chapters in such countries as England and Australia.
``We meet some very interesting people like the Tuskegee Airmen, the first blacks to fly,'' McClellan said. ``They flew at a time when it was socially hard for them to be accepted. Their record was spectacular.''
The CAF record could be described that way. It offers living history to some, memories to others.
``There is nothing,'' Salmon said, ``to equal the adventure associated with World War II.'' MEMO: The Old Dominion Squadron of the Confederate Air Force meets the second
Saturday of every month unless it is doing an out-of-town show. The
squadron meets at 10 a.m. in the former restaurant building, now Rice
Aviation headquarters, at Hampton Roads Airport, off U.S. 58,
Chesapeake. For information, call 481-6112. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
The Old Dominion Squadron of The Confederate Air Force has guys like
Bill Salmon...
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
During the recent vintage aircraft show at Hampton Roads Airport, a
German Heinkel bomber takes off . . . .
. . . then lands to unload its passenger, airport manager Brenda
Mauldin, a former resident of Suffolk.
As authentic as the World War II airplanes is Lindsay Boone's
helmet, complete with a pack of Lucky Strikes tucked in it.
George McClellan, above, is president of LandAir Communications of
Virginia Beach, but a lot of his time lately has been spent touring
with the aircraft show. He also is one of the pilots of a B-25
bomber, whose bomb bay fascinated the children at the show, below.
Spectators at the aircraft show get a close look at the C-60A
Loadstar used to tow gliders in World War II.
The Billy Mitchell bomber attracted a lot of attention.
by CNB