Need help finding a "Courageous" Pilot

Aaron Trueblood

Aaron Trueblood

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Hi all I need to do a english assignment on someone that I find courageous, I would like to do a pilot. Any suggestions?

Chuck Yeager?
Sully?
Neil Armstrong?

I would love any small stories. Thanks
 
I know it sounds smart-a$$ed, but how would we know who you find courageous?

I find Jimmy Doolittle courageous, and his book "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again" is a great read.
 
you could always interview that one guy that landed at Gaston's when it was pitch black.
 
CarlH said:
I find Jimmy Doolittle courageous, ...
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Absolutely! And any of the Doolittle Raiders, for that matter. Ted Lawson would make a great choice, as there's so much in his book 30 Seconds Over Tokyo that could be used for source material.
 
Aaron Trueblood said:
Hi all I need to do a english assignment on someone that I find courageous, I would like to do a pilot. Any suggestions?

Chuck Yeager?
Sully?
Neil Armstrong?

I would love any small stories. Thanks
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I would not characterize them as courageous, but as someone with great drive, persistence and passion for their pursuit.

The entire Apollo team fits that description, not just the guy who stepped off the ladder first.

Sully embodies what experience, training and remaining calm in a dire situation can accomplish.

If you are looking for stories to inspire the younger generation, I would focus on perseverance more than courage. I find that is the aspect that is declining.
 
The definition of courage really is, being scared and doing it anyway. I would look for someone that fits that bill.
If you want stories of courageous pilots, I would look to the rescue pilots. These are the guys that go out no matter what the conditions and rescue people. Especially in Alaska.
To me, these are some of the most courageous pilots out there.


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Read Yeager and Sully’s books. Guess they’re as courageous as any to do a report on. Some other ones that I enjoyed a bit more reading about:

Bud Day- American Patriot
Robert Mason- Chickenhawk
Hugh Mills- Low Level Hell
Jack Broughton- Red Rupert Two
Bob Hoover- Forever Flying
Louis Zamperini (navigator)- Unbroken
Mike Novosel- DUSTOFF
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Half Fast said:
Franz Stigler.

He would have faced a court martial, and probably execution, for giving aid to an enemy, had he been found out.
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I consider myself a bit of a World War II buff and had never heard about Stigler until seeing your post and searching his name. Great pilot, honorable man.
 
EdFred said:
you could always interview that one guy that landed at Gaston's when it was pitch black.
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That ain't nothin'! How about those brave men who land Mooneys on grass?

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Al Schwimmer
A Wing and a Prayer "Documentary"

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Actually, how about that guy who ran out of gas shooting multiple approaches and going missed on all of them. Lived to tale about it.... true story....
 
John Denver.

It takes real courage to fly a plane that's low on fuel when you know you can't reach the fuel select lever, especially when you've lost your FAA medical due to alcohol abuse.

Or maybe you just have to be stoned.....
 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Novosel

He served his first tour in Vietnam flying medevac helicopters (Dustoff) with the 283rd Medical Detachment. His second tour in Vietnam was with the 82nd Medical Detachment. During that war, Novosel flew 2,543 missions and extracted 5,589 wounded personnel, among them his own son Michael J. Novosel Jr. The following week, Michael Jr. returned the favor by extracting his father after he was shot down.[2]
 
Think outside the box! What does Courage mean to you? All military pilots are by definition. Al Haynes was! So was the Airbus Pilot in the Hudson but they didn’t go to work being courageous. They ended up that way. Find an Angle Flight Pilot. Interview them. Courage means a lot of different things. Be different.

Dewey


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The bravest of them all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson_Jr.

Scorned, vilified, and finally vindicated. Taught ethics at West Point. I have known many brave pilots, to whom daily work required it. Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson took bravery and put it on a high pedestal which few mortals will ever reach. God bless the man.
 
mwagg737 said:
The definition of courage really is, being scared and doing it anyway. I would look for someone that fits that bill.
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Wouldn't that classify just about every married man as "courageous"?
 
Piperonca said:
The bravest of them all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson_Jr.

Scorned, vilified, and finally vindicated. Taught ethics at West Point. I have known many brave pilots, to whom daily work required it. Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson took bravery and put it on a high pedestal which few mortals will ever reach. God bless the man.
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Forgot all about Hugh. Probably took more courage to do what he did that day than any of his other flights in Nam.
 
When LTG Peers came to the Americal Division in 1970 to investigate My Lai, I was assigned to be his personal pilot. So I got to stand at the wall for some of the briefings. One day I noticed a young man at the table in jungle fatigues with no markings of rank or unit, just "Thompson", "US ARMY". He had been sent back to Vietnam to support the investigation. Skip forward a few decades and I met him formally at the Quad A convention in Nashville, a few years before his death. My great fortune was to be able to tell him how much his act of conscience had meant to so many. It is a lesson for the ages.
 
I'd put out some feelers in your local community, find a military aviator who has seen some action and see if that person would be willing to talk to you about it. Try calling veteran's services in your town, you might have a neighbor with some cool stories.
 
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