At the Sunday, January 29, meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club, member Dave Anderson shared his flying experiences during his career with the US Air Force and United Airlines afterward. Dave has been a member of the club for over 10 years. He and his wife, Siriwan, divide their time between Pattaya and Leesburg, Virginia.
Showing many pictures, Dave began by describing his background growing up in Hillsboro, North Dakota; a farming community surrounded by flat land. He caught everyone’s attention when he said he spent 4 years there at the local jail; but then explained it was where he and his parents lived. His father, who passed away when he was 6, was the local sheriff. When his father passed away, his mother, a school teacher, was asked to continue as sheriff to complete his father’s term.
Al Serrato offers folks a chance to air concerns during the meeting’s Open Forum.
After graduating from college, Dave’s plans were to attend USAF Officer Training School (OTS) as his ambition was to fly. However, as soon as he graduated, he was placed at the top of the draft list by his local draft board; this was during the Vietnam War. Dave had applied for OTS, but there was a 6 month wait. Rather than be drafted into the Army, he enlisted in the Air Force. Subsequently, he did go to OTS. Although he wanted to be a pilot, his eyesight wasn’t good enough, so he was selected for navigator school. Dave then described his career as a navigator during the Vietnam War flying for two different squadrons; the 556 Recon Squadron and the 15 Special Operations Squadron.
Dave described some of his adventures, which included flying close to the North Vietnam border – a dangerous area. One such adventure was when his C-130 had an engine failure that should have forced a return to base, but it turned out that had to be delayed. There were two American pilots that had been shot down in the vicinity with enemy forces closing in. Since there were no other aircraft in the area, they remained to coordinate air support and rescue efforts until a command and control aircraft could take over.
Member Dave Anderson captures everyone’s attention with stories about his high flying career.
Another interesting tidbit was Dave’s description while showing training pictures about the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system. Dave mentioned that many may recall the John Wayne movie, Green Berets, where they placed a North Vietnamese general into a harness, a balloon inflated, and a C-130 aircraft flies overhead, snatches the line attached to the balloon and reels the general from the ground into the C-130. Dave said he never used the system in combat, but did make two live pickups when demonstrating the system at Jungle Survival School at Clark AB Philippines.
Because of the need for pilots, the USAF relaxed some of their physical requirements, and Dave ultimately achieved his goal to be a pilot. He then showed pictures of the aircraft he was trained in. He began with the T-41, a single engine propeller aircraft. He then progressed to the T-37 jet trainer then the T-38 high performance jet. He described the function of the pressure suit and some of the maneuvers that were performed as part of his training.
After completion of pilot training, he was assigned to Germany where he flew C-118 aircraft; the military version of the DC 6 four engine propeller aircraft. Their primary purpose was to ferry VIPs including the president of Germany. They also flew the US Ambassador into Moscow. Dave, a Captain at the time, said he found it interesting that captains always flew into Moscow during the cold winter, but during the warm summer, it was the colonels that did the flying.
Dave showed several pictures of his time in Germany and of his visits to Moscow. Dave completed his Air Force career as a Major flying the C-5 Galaxy, which at the time it was introduced was the largest airplane flying. He showed several pictures of this aircraft which could carry two main battle tanks and supporting equipment and personnel.
Chris Parsons tells about the Pattaya Player’s upcoming production of “Dead to the Last Drop.”
Dave concluded his presentation by briefly summing up his career as a pilot for United Airlines. He flew Boeing 727s, 737s, 757s, 767s, and the 777 until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60.
Dave then answered several questions from the audience.
Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg called on Al Serrato to conduct the always informative and sometimes humorous Open Forum, where questions about living in Thailand and Pattaya in particular are asked and answered.
The Pattaya City Expats Club meets every Sunday at the Amari Orchid’s Tavern by the Sea Restaurant. Read more about the Club’s activities on their website at www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com.
C-5 Galaxy, taking President Reagan’s Limos and security staff to Ireland.
