They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember! Born with wings, some say -- no arms. A B pilot at 17, now turned 91 and still airborne going on 73 years. Join Jack in the co-pilot's seat and learn what it took -- and takes -- to stay aloft a lifetime. Jack was 18 when flying a B over Nazi Germany. He was just an 88 year old kid when Tony Welch first told his story 3 years ago. Click the title below. Quotes from Tony Welch. For the record, Jack Wendling became a commissioned officer and a B co-pilot at age Now 88, he still carries a current pilot's license tucked in his wallet.
Flying is not inherently dangerous. All it requires is your undivided attention. Let's join our fledgling aviator, as he spreads his wings for the first time. The largest aeronautical school at that time. My dad took me for a spin in a twin-engine Curtis-Condor when I was five years old.
From then on I was into it, building model airplanes and learning all I could about aviation. On a Sunday evening I happened to hear a radio newscast that said year-olds could apply as aviation cadets. So I took the exam at Fort Snelling with a group of others, passing with the highest test score. I was then sworn in to the Enlisted Reserve Corps.
I only got half way through the second quarter in college when they called me up in early April of forty-three.
Then more physical tests at Nashville, Tennessee. Mostly eye-hand coordination to determine my reaction time. Walking wasn't allowed. Everything was double-time from the moment your feet hit the barracks floor at five-am. Or Stearman trainer, as they called it. With two open cockpits - the instructor sat up front, and the cadet behind. Dual controls. All the flight instructors were civilians. It was my good fortune that my primary instructor, "Smokey" Olson, was the best at his trade.
