When we were all learning to fly they told us that there
are “Old Pilots” and “Bold Pilots” … but … no old bold
pilots because the bold pilots soon were not around. About
five years ago, three WW II pilots were meeting in Palm
Springs. One of them mentioned that old admonition and they
decided that they were still alive and it would be nice to
get all the “Old Bold Pilots” together for breakfast once a
month. The first meetings had 15-20 pilots in
attendance.
But
the idea grew and grew. Today the Old Bold Pilots (OBP)
meet for a buffet breakfast on the last Thursday of every
month at the beautiful Desert Willows Golf Resort Center in
Palm Desert, Ca. It’s across from the Marriott Desert
Springs Resort on Country Club just west of Cook Street. We
have one rule in OBP and that is, “We have no rules.” There
are no dues and breakfast is just $10.00. In the winter
months as a many as 125 attend the OBP breakfast meetings.
In summer months we have about 60-70.
The
OBP are former military, civilian, and airline pilots. We
have lady pilots and even two guys who were on submarines,
but who like airplanes. Some members have distinguished
combat records and others held senior military Commissions
in all branches of the U.S Armed forces. It’s a fascinating
and accomplished group who share a lot of
memories,experiences and good laughs.
Our
thing is flying and aviation. We don’t just tell war
stories. It's just the opposite. Some of our previous guest
speakers have talked about the Lockheed "Skunk Works," the
new Lockheed-Grumman F-35 “Lightning” fighter, flying a
Catalina (PBY) around the world, the illustrious Poncho
Barnes, helicopter combat in Vietnam and the first Gulf War
in 1991, Forensic Aircraft Accident investigation and on
and on.
Breakfast
is available at 0730 and we start the program at 0800 with
Ken Marts, our flight lead and himself a WW2 Navy pilot,
introducing guests and telling a few aviation jokes. Then
the guest speaker, is introduced around 0805 and who
normally talks for 25-30 minutes with answer
questions.
We
normally try to adjourn around 0900.
The meeting dates for 2011 are: Jan. 27, Feb. 24, Mar. 31,
Apr. 28, May 26,
Jun. 30, Jul. 28, Aug. 25, Sep. 29, Oct. 27, Nov. 17, Dec.
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RSVP Blane Mack p38driver@aol.com (760) 346-2855