Carl Schlieder - N6DOM (SK)

I enlisted in the Army Air Force on Dec 8, 1942 while in my second year at the Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia (now known as Drexel University), and was called to active duty in April of 1943.  I applied for pilot training, but I guess there weren’t any openings at that time, so I took my second choice which was radio operator.  My selection for flight training did finally come thru in November of 1943.  HALLELUJAH!

I was assigned to class 44-I.  My training started out at Iowa State Teachers College for ground school and just a taste of stick time.  The next stop was Primary Flight School at Ryan Field in Arizona.  We started out in a Ryan PT-22, but eventually switched to the Stearman PT-17.  I recall that the Stearman was a lot of fun to fly and well-suited for aerobatics!  One of the exercises had us shooting landings, trying to hit a circle on the dirt flying strip.  I hit it every time, having figured out how to do a forward slip!  (My instructor was not amused - in fact, he chewed my out!)  Another time on a cross-country flight I decided to climb through the clouds as far as she would go.  When I reached the top, I rolled the plane over and came down in a spin.  When I got clear, I thought I was never going to unwind!  At the conclusion of this phase of training, I was selected for flying honors and awarded a medal.

The next phase of my training was called Basic Flight School.  We flew the Vultee BT-13.  What I remember most was the flying competition at the end of class, during which the best pilot was selected from each squadron.  We were required to do a number of basic maneuvers, plus one that we picked ourselves.  I chose to do the Immelmann.  It was a difficult maneuver, and it seemed I could not come out of it on the right 180-degree heading no matter how hard I tried!  I ended up with a silver trophy for second place.

I finally moved on to the last phase of training.  I had opted for twin engine Advanced training because I had visions of flying the P-38 Lightning!  BIG MISTAKE!  I wound up in the right seat of a B-17.  I completed training, got my wings and was commissioned a 2nd Lt on November 20, 1944.  Then I was off to OTU in Alexandria, Louisiana where our crew was assembled.  We flew numerous day and night training flights.

Had a nice (ha ha!) boat trip to Italy in March of 1945 and wound up at an air base in the town of Foggia. We were still doing training and familiarization flights when the war ended.  A number of us were kept on as part of the occupation forces, and then finally another boat trip back to the states. I was honorably discharged on June 26, 1946.  I stayed in the Reserves until April 1958.

My only claim to fame was winning the flying competition awards in both Primary and Basic Training – and for me, that was the end of the enjoyment of flying!

73 - Carl Schlieder, N6DOM, AFFC #506

Sadly, Carl, our Ancient Mariner,  passed away on February 2, 2020.  May he rest in peace.