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A SURPRISE VISIT FROM ROBIN OLDS It was 1946, I was flying WWII surplus P-38s for the Kargl Aerial Survey Company, Midland, Texas. In May 1946, I voluntarily left the 39th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, March Field, California with 36 pilot hours in the new Lockheed P-80 Jet, Shooting Star. Major Robin Olds was flying with the 39th Squadron primarily because of Captain Edward Burdette his West Point classmate. Olds was assigned to the 412th Fighter Group Headquarters commanded by Colonel Tex Hill. The 412th was composed of three fighter squadrons and one photo reconnaissance squadron. Ed Burdette was a good friend and I got to know Robin Olds fairly well between his frequent trips to Hollywood. Kargl Aerial Survey owned three surplus P-38s (F-5Ls), two surplus AT-21s and one surplus BT-13. I was the only P-38 pilot at the time and the BT-13 pilot was on assignment to a project in Florida. I was flying and taking aerial photography every suitable day trying to complete a backlog of contracts with the oil companies and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). My desk was located near the front door in the lobby along with our company secretary. It was about 4:00 pm and I was drawing flight lines for the next day's missions. The front door opened and in came Major Robin Olds, Captain Ed Burdette and First Lieutenant Chuck Boyd (a longtime friend) all in their flight suits. I was stunned by the sudden appearance of these three pilots. "What in the world are you guys doing here," I asked. Robin replied, "We came to see you." I thought, oh yea you came all the way to Midland, Texas to see me. As it turned out Olds was leading a flight of four P-80s enroot to March Field and selected the Midland-Odessa Airport and Midland to RON. I think the three P-38s parked on the ramp at the Midland Air Park had something to do with it because they were all P-38 pilots. The fourth pilot was at the Scarborough Hotel getting rooms for the group. Their appearance created a stir in the company and the owner, Robert Muldrow III, came out of his office and I introduced him to the group. When he found out they were staying overnight he invited all of us to dinner at our only acceptable restaurant and nightclub on the edge of town. In 1946 Midland was a small town of about 15,000 population and only one tall building, the Petroleum Building. We had a very nice dinner and talked flying all evening. Muldrow asked Robin a lot of questions about his WWII combat tour and Robin asked Muldrow why he purchased the surplus P-38s for aerial photography. He did so because an Army Air Corps friend recommended the airplane for aerial surveys. I got caught up on the situation in the 39th Photo Recon Squadron and the expected delivery of the RF-80s. All four pilots wanted to see the P-38s so we agreed they should come to the company at 9:00 am and I would transport them to the Air Park. At about 8:00 am the next morning, Robin Olds shows up alone. He told me that he was going to skip the P-38s and go to the Midland-Odessa Airport to check on his four P-80 airplanes. However, he asked me more questions about the aerial survey business and to show him around our company facilities. I spent about 30-40 minutes showing him how we copied documents, how the girls (all going goo goo over Robin) made ownership maps using huge light tables. He was really impressed, and so was I, by a huge precision camera (one of a kind) that could copy and print transparencies as large as four by eight feet. I explained to him how we manually dried our aerial film to avoid any distortions caused by the high temperatures of machine dryers. He met some of our technical experts, thanked Robert Muldrow for his hospitality and told me that the others would be over soon. When I took Ed Burdette, Chuck Boyd and the fourth pilot to see the P-38s, I
had on my flight gear ready to fly a mission. Our crew chiefs opened up the P-38
I would fly and the three of them climbed all over it. Each took turns sitting
in the cockpit, asking questions and kidding me about my small civilian
parachute. No question they all wanted to fly the bird. I said goodbye to the
three of them and they watched me start both engines, taxi to the runway and
takeoff on my photographic mission. I really wanted to go to the Midland-Odessa Airport and see the flight of four P-80s depart for March Field. Unfortunately, the weather was good and I had a job to do. When I came back on active duty in February 1948, I was re-assigned to the 39th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, now designated as the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. Major Robin Olds was Operations Officer, Captain Edward Burdette, Executive Officer and Captain Clyde East Intelligence Officer. Colonel Leon Gray greeted me warmly because he filled up the squadron with fighter pilots and needed pilots who knew how to take pictures. He made me Clyde East Assistant, so Clyde, me and a couple others took most of the photography for the squadron. Looking back it is hard to believe the number of outstanding Air Force Officers we had in the 12th Squadron. Triple Ace B/Gen Robin Olds; Double Ace Clyde East; F-105 Wing Commander Colonel Edward Burdette who was shot down in Vietnam and died in a POW Camp; Lt Gen John Flynn, F-100 Wing Commander in Vietnam, shot down and the ranking Air Force Officer in POW Camp; Double Ace Colonel Billy Hovde; M/Gen Kirkendall, Aide to Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay; Harry the horse Evans; Wes Brothers, a genius; Robert Bell; Gilbert; Borchart; Woltz; and others I can't recall This minor story about Robin Olds is just one of the thousands out there somewhere. He had such a brilliant career that he deserves as much recognition as possible. I treasure the memories I have of his early days and of the pilots in the same squadron that I admire tremendously. They are mostly gone now but hopefully they will not be forgotten. Cecil H. Rigsby |
