Chasing George W. Bush and the F-102

A piece that got this started.

What he's like in real life.
by Paul Burka

"Well, am I running?" George W. Bush demanded to know.

I happened to be sitting in my Suburban near the south door of the state capitol, discharging a passenger, just as the governor's silver-gray Lincoln Continental was doing the same. It was early February, well before he would announce the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, and a smidgen of suspense still lingered. I had waved at Bush as he went past, and he had swerved over to deliver the opening gambit in one of his favorite games: conversational one-upmanship. Having played it before, I knew I didn't have a chance.

"Sure," I said. "You'd be the wuss of all time if you didn't."

"But what about the rumors?" he shot back. Then, to my utter stupefaction, he proceeded to tick off everything the national press was investigating about his past: five or six of the most salacious things that could be said about anyone—including, in his own words, "I bought cocaine at my dad's inauguration"—plus intimate gossip about his family.

As he well knew, I had already heard all of it through the media grapevine. "You missed one," I said. "You crashed a jet while you were in the National Guard because you were drunk."

He spread his hands. "That's easy," he said. "Where's the plane?" Game over. He spun around and headed off.

George W. Bush: A Short flying history

Training at Moody.

In September 1963, the Northrop T-38 "Talon," a two-seat, twin-engine (turbojet) training aircraft arrived at Moody to replace the T-33. In 1965, the T-41A Cessna, a four-seat, single-engine, propeller-driven training aircraft arrived at Moody and replaced the T-28. These small "prop-jobs" were used in the initial phases of student training. Students received about 30 hours of flight training in the T-41 before advancing to the T-37 primary jet trainer. The T-41 also was used at Valdosta Municipal Airport until June 1973. At that time, all T-41 training was consolidated at Hondo Municipal Airport, Hondo, Texas.

The T-41 trainer is a standard Cessna Model 172 light general aviation aircraft purchased "off-the-shelf" by the Air Force for preliminary flight screening of USAF pilot candidates. The first 170 T-41As were ordered in 1964, and an additional 34 were ordered in 1967. Most went into service at various civilian contract flight schools, each located near one of Air Training Command's Undergradute Pilot Training (UPT) bases. In 1968 and 1969 the USAF Academy acquired 52 T-41Cs, with more powerful engines, for cadet flight training.

From 1961 to 1975 there were no changes in the mission or responsibilities at Moody. The 3550th, under the Consolidated Pilot Training Program, trained Air Force officers as aircrew members with the Cessna T-37 and T-38. During this 14 years, 4,432 pilots were trained and received their wings. Base personnel strength varied during the period from 2,000 to 3,000 military personnel. On 1 December 1973, the 3550th Pilot Training Wing inactivated and the 38th Flying Training Wing activated in its place; however, no changes in personnel, mission, or aircraft ensued.

By all accounts Bush trained at Moody in the T-41A and the T-38.

Then he moved to Ellington AFB and the 147^th FIG/ 111^th FIS.

Whrere he trained in a T-33A before transtioning to the F-102A

A short history of his Group/Squadron

147th Fighter Interceptor Group (FIG) History

On May 16, 1958 the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group (FIG), with its five new squadrons, was formed to support the 111 Fighter Interceptor Squadron. In August 1960 the unit was one of the first to transition to the F-102A all-weather fighter-interceptor and began a 24-hour runway alert commitment as part of the North American air defense network.

The photo http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/fighter/f102-6.jpg shows S/N 56-1067 and 56-1018 of the 111 Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Texas Air National Guard.]

The 147th earned its first Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1966 when it was proclaimed, "The most combat ready of all Air Guard units."

From 1968 through 1970, pilots from the 147th participated in "Palace Alert" and served in Southeast Asia during the height of the Vietnam War.

With the continued draw-down of air defense units in the United States, the 147th FIG came off runway alert on Jan. 1, 1970 to start a new mission: training all F-102 pilots in the United States for the Air National Guard.

The F-102A at Ellington: 56-1252 An aircraft Bush flew?

Squadron service of F-102A

111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Texas ANG, Ellington ANGS, 1960 to 1975. Transitioned to F-101B 1975.

Bush in the Cockpit of an F-102A

Bush Service Time Line

May 28, 1968: Bush enlists as an Airman Basic in the 147th Fighter-Interceptor Group, Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, and is selected to attend pilot training.

July 12, 1968: A three-member board of officers decides that Bush should get a direct commission as a second lieutenant after competing airman's basic training.

July 14 to Aug. 25, 1968: Bush attends six weeks of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

Sept. 4, 1968: Bush is commissioned a second lieutenant and takes an 8-week leave to work on a Senate campaign in Florida.

Nov. 25, 1968 to Nov. 28, 1969: Bush attends and graduates from flight school at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. (UTP Course #P-V4A-A Moody AFB, Ga. 53 weeks November 1969)

January 1,1970 147th changes from doing Alerts to training F-102 pilots.

December 1969 to June 27, 1970: Bush trains full-time to be an F-102 pilot at Ellington Air Force Base.

Febuary 1970 Bush attends Preint Pilot Training (T-33 ANG112501 5 weeks )

June 1970 his records are not clear his computer records show RGRAD NAV TNG but his Discharge shows F102 Intcp Pilot Training (F102 ANG1125D 16 weeks). His Military Biography shows: Professional Military Education: Basic Military Training, Undergraduate Pilot Training and nothing else.

Here is his total Service

July 1970 to April 16, 1972: Bush, as a certified fighter pilot, attends frequent drills and alerts at Ellington.

Computer records show last Physical as May 1971. Which also shows him as CR MEM ON FS (crew member on flight service) not PILOT.

During his fifth year as a guardsman, Bush's records show no sign he appeared for duty.

May 24, 1972: Bush, who has moved to Alabama to work on a US Senate race, gets permission to serve with a reserve unit in Alabama. But headquarters decided Bush must serve with a more active unit.

Sept. 5, 1972: Bush is granted permission to do his Guard duty at the 187th Tactical Recon Group in Montgomery. But Bush's record shows no evidence he did the duty, and the unit commander says he never showed up.

November 1972 to April 30, 1973: Bush returns to Houston, but apparently not to his Air Force unit.

May 2, 1973: The two lieutenant colonels in charge of Bush's unit in Houston cannot rate him for the prior 12 months, saying he has not been at the unit in that period.

May to July 1973: Bush, after special orders are issued for him to report for duty, logs 36 days of duty.

July 30, 1973: His last day in uniform, according to his records.

Oct. 1, 1973: A month after Bush starts at Harvard Business School, he is formally discharged from the Texas Air National Guard -- eight months before his six-year term expires.

4-Performance Grades are missing

There is much in Bush's records to think about.

The main thing that gets me is; as a pilot he could have been anywhere in the US and been able to get a ride back to Houston for his weekend duty. Even non- pilots could do it by flying standby on MATS. But W didn't do it. He had to get a transfer to a unit in Alabama. Missing his physical took him to a non-flying status, but even that wouldn't have stopped him from riding a back seat in a T-33 going home for duty.

He missed all his physicals after May 1971, so he couldn't have kept his "pilot" rating, but that is the MOS on his discharge. What did he do as a non-pilot in the Guard? If he didn't miss the physicals, then they should be in his record. They aren't.

That is the crux of his duty in the Air Guard.

Bush on Bush:

C-SPAN: How long did you spend in the service?

GOV. BUSH: Six years total. Active duty as a-I flew F-102 fighters out of Ellington Air Force Base. I was in the Texas Air National Guard. The 102 is a Delta wing air-to-air interceptor. And I went to basic flight school at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, came back, spent another six months or so on active duty learning how to fly the 102, transitioning from what was then-the last plane I flew was the T-38.

C-SPAN: What years?

GOV. BUSH: Nineteen sixty-eight, when I got out of college. I started pilot training in November of '68 and got out in November of '69.

C-SPAN: Why didn't you go on full active duty?

GOV. BUSH: Because I was interested in becoming a pilot, and it became the first slot open and I took it.

C-SPAN: Did you ever become a pilot?

GOV. BUSH: Yeah.

C-SPAN: I mean, a commercial pilot, beyond-

GOV. BUSH: Oh, no, no, no, not at all. Just an old jet jockey.

C-SPAN: What'd you learn about anything from the service?

GOV. BUSH: I learned that there's a way to train a person who knew nothing about flying into being a good pilot. The service did a wonderful job of training. And I'm most impressed about how they drew a rote exercise into one's daily schedule until you got it right. And that's particularly important when you fly.

I'll never forget getting in the airplane and the guy said, "Okay, now do a 30-degree bank and do the turn at 60 degrees." And I did a 28-degree bank and turned 50 degrees, and he bangs his hand on the dashboard there and says, "I said a 30-degree bank at 60 degrees, and that's exactly what we mean." And from that point forward, I got my banks right and the degrees right. And it came in handy in the long run, because there's not much margin for error when you're flying jets.

Bush Flying in 1972?:

"David Anderson was another PULL employee, two years older than Bush, and he especially liked the fact that Bush had made arrangements to take some of the PULL kids such as Jimmy up for their first airplane ride.

The day of the ride, Bush asked his sixteen-year-old brother, Marvin, to come along. One of the PULL kids started popping off, making noise, once they were up in the air. Bush stalled the engine for a second, and the passengers, scared to death, grew quiet." Minutaglio, Bill. First Son, George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty, Random House, NY, 1999 Pg. 151,

Bush really flying in a Cessna 172 in 1976:

NOT LONG AFTER Reisner's delicate trip to Midland[summer 1976], Bush banged on the door of Susie and Don Evans on an otherwise placid Sunday afternoon and suggested to Don that they head out to the airport and spend a few bucks for a spin over the desiccated Permian Basin in a single-engine Cessna. Susie Evans, who had gone to elementary school with Bush, was a longtime Midland presence, and when she had been dating her future husband in Houston, she had frequently stayed at the Bush house. She had moved back to Midland, and after she had heard that Bush was back in town, she and her husband had frequently invited him over.

Her husband Don Evans... Willard... was a short, fastidious, narrow-faced oilman in his early thirties who was poised to assume control of the Tom Brown Company, one of the legendary older names in the West Texas patch. Bush had begun spending more time at the Evanses' apartment in the Windsor Courts, drinking cocktails with them and leaving his laundry for Susie to do. Bush liked Evans's politics, he liked that they were about the same age and that both of them had recent MBAs. He liked the fact that Evans's old man had landed on the beach at Normandy during World War II.

Evans said he'd love to go flying. At the airport he watched Bush stare at the controls, at the panel, and he realized that Bush-though not admitting it-had no idea how to fly the thing properly. After finally figuring out how to launch the plane, Bush pushed the Cessna hard down the runway. Evans screamed, "Give it some gas!" The Cessna's warning system was blinking and crackling. Bush tried to lift his craft fast, almost as if he were piloting a jet back in the Texas Air National Guard. The plane wobbled into the air, and the unsubtle maneuvering threatened to shove it into a stall. Now the rented plane was rattling in the sky over Midland

The endless petrochemical complexes, all the aluminum and steel and smoke stacks that pockmark the Permian Basin, were spiking up just below the aircraft. Bush nervously turned to Evans, put his hand on his knee and blurted in his self-mocking West Texas way, "Okay, Evvie, I’ve got it under control."

After more seemingly endless moments, he somehow got control of the plane again. He aimed the aircraft down, and the landing was as shaky and brutal as the takeoff. The plane careened off the runway and onto the desert. Evans sighed in relief. Then an unbelieving Evans braced himself as Bush suddenly and unexpectedly spun the plane and bounced back along the runway. Evans stared at Bush. He could see the fear and panic flooding his face. Bush pressed on. Evans had no idea why Bush wanted to go again. The plane wobbled uncertainly back into the West Texas skies, and Bush turned to Evans. "Hey," said Bush airily, as if he had just had an original, amusing idea, "let's fly around Midland."

The men began cracking up. Bush brought the Cessna back to the airport. It was the last time he flew a plane. Evans would be one of the three people at Bush's side in almost every public venture for the twenty-three years.

Minutaglio pg 175&176

Here is another version:

Donnie Evans remembered a similar story involving an airplane. He told David Maraniss that less than a year after George W. first got back to Midland he came over to Donnie's house and told him he wanted to take a single-engine Cessna for a little joyride. They drove over to the airfield and got in the plane. Then George W. realized he didn't have a clue how to fly a Cessna.

"The guy didn't even know how to start the thing," Evans reportedly said. "That was a bad omen. Finally we get it started and roll down the runway, and he tries to take it straight up like a jet! We go into a stall, buzzcrs are going off. I say, 'Give it some gas!' We finally get it airborne, and he decides he better turn around and go back. I can tell he's nervous, but he says, 'Okay, Evvie, got it under control.' We come down and he lands half on the runway and half on the grass. And then he pats my leg and says don't worry, and he takes it up again. This time he's so scared he says, 'Hey, let's fly around Midland.' He had to get his confidence up. Somehow we got back safely. He's never flown again.

W:REVENGE OF THE BUSH DYNASTY Page 152

If he flew the T-41A at Moody, should have been his Primary Trainer in '68, he should have been able to fly the Cessna 172 in '76. Even if it was 12 years later, he should have been rechecked on it before the rental. Was he just screwing around? Hard to say. Does it sound like a real pilot? No.

Here is something that says he still has a license.

Does George "W" use  Zero-Eight-Foxtrot? According to Jerry Daniels, Executive Director of the Texas State Aircraft Pooling Board, "He used to fly on that airplane all the time. He stopped when he became a Presidential candidate because the State won't let you fly its aircraft for political purposes." But FTW learned that if and when Dubyah is back in the state and on state business, he probably will because Dubyah is a licensed pilot and Zero-Eight-Foxtrot is one of his favorites though he doesn't get to pilot much any more.

A few books on George W. Bush

Make up your own mind

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