How To Go
What: National Aviation Hall of Fame Pilot Clarence E. Anderson will discuss his experience as a World War II P-51 Pilot
When: April 18. A social event begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 7.
Where: Champaign Aviation Museum, 1652 N. Main St., Urbana.
Cost: $125 per person.
For more information: Seating is limited. Residents can RSVP by mail to the Champaign Aviation Museum, 1652 N. Main St., Urbana, Ohio, 43078 or online at www.champaignaviationmuseum.org. For $1,500, donors can receive a table for eight, their name listed in the event's program and a tour inside a B-25 bomber. Residents can also call 937-652-4710.
A World War II ace and a member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame will visit Urbana and discuss his career in a speech at the Champaign Aviation Museum later this month.
After serving in World War II and briefly in Vietnam, Clarence “Bud” Anderson also spent time at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he took part in some of the first flights to test whether planes could be refueled in mid-air. Anderson, who destroyed at least 16 enemy aircraft in World War II, said flying planes was all he was interested in for as long as he could remember.
“Growing up that was the only thing I wanted to do,” Anderson said.
He learned to fly at age 19 and worked as an airplane mechanic in California, but enlisted in the military on his 20th birthday after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Despite the danger, the P-51 Mustangs he flew gave him a sense of freedom to control his own fate compared to the infantry or other possible combat roles, he said.
“I was thinking if I was in a fighter all by myself, I would have more control of my well being,” Anderson said. “I would be the pilot, the navigator, the gunner and I would be responsible for myself. And fighters seemed to be a little cooler than bombers.”
Throughout the war, he flew 116 combat missions, mostly escorting heavy bombers over Europe with the 357th Fighter Group, 363rd Fighter Squadron, in the 8th Air Force. Anderson was credited with destroying 16 enemy aircraft, plus one on the ground. Shooting down five enemy aircraft qualifies a pilot as an ace, so Anderson’s 16 qualifies him as a triple ace.
One of his dogfights was featured in a program on the History Channel. He also flew an F-105 Thunderchief in bombing raids during Vietnam.
“It was scary but with a little bit of experience it wasn’t so bad and you survived,” Anderson said. “When you were successful, it gave you a little more confidence, but it was dangerous.”
After his military career ended, he worked as a test pilot in Alaska, Texas and Ohio, the latter at what is now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. One of his missions while stationed in Ohio was an experiment to determine whether aircraft could be joined at the wingtips in midair for refueling.
He retired from the Air Force in 1972, then worked as a manager of the test flight facility at the McDonnell Aircraft Company. Anderson was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008.
Despite living in Ohio for several years, Anderson said this will be his first trip to Urbana. He said he will mostly discuss his World War II experiences at the event. He now lives in California and still speaks to aviation enthusiasts around the U.S. each year.
“You’re talking to a guy who lived his dreams,” Anderson said.
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