Colonel Bob Thacker, on the right, while stationed in England flying B-17s.
By: Norm Goyer
I have known and met many accomplished pilots, real heroes and entertainers, while writing for both full scale and model aircraft publications. For instance, I became friendly with Bob Hoover during a Sun ‘n Fun Air Show. We had adjacent booths in one of the display hangars and spent hours talking between lulls in spectators; one year we also had Patty Wagstaff as a neighbor. I had known Patty for years while writing for Sport Pilot. I found Jim Bede to be a super interesting person, a different drum, yes, but fascinating. Few people knew that the late Roy Orbison was a model builder and would often show up at contests, in fact I was in the process of writing a story about Roy when he passed on. I even heard how clumping-kitty-litter was discovered by its inventor, Don Thorsen, another very accomplished pilot and model builder. Of course Dick Rutan’s early model building has been well documented. And of course, my all time favorite personality, the Old Colonel, Bob Thacker. While I was editor of Scale R/C Modeler, Bob Thacker wrote many articles for our magazine, as well as some for Air Progress. One year Tina, my late wife, and I visited with Bob and Betty Jo in their home in San Clemente, tastefully furnished with mementos of the Colonels past postings, there was even a Japanese garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Twin Mustang “Betty Joe” replica with a misspelling of Betty Jo.
I would have to include Colonel Thacker and Bob Hoover as real heroes for their vast accomplishments during armed conflict. Both are graduates of the United States Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB. A few years ago, Bob Thacker was enrolled in the AMA (Academy of Model Aviation) Hall of Fame as a modeler who has contributed so much to our country and to our hobby. The Colonel once told me a story that I will never forget, his minute-by-minute recreation of landing his crippled B-17 at Pearl Harbor during the December 7, 1941 attack, after a long ferry flight from San Francisco. He did not have enough fuel to continue to an auxiliary field, so he had to land his aircraft with one gear stuck in the wells as a result of an attacking Zero’s bullets. Some military photographer on the ground at Pearl Harbor actually filmed the landing which I am sure you have probably seen many times.
Colonel Thacker is shown with one of his turbine powered models, a Lockheed XP-80, that he and Chuck Yeager test flew at Edwards AFB.
His most notable achievement came in 1947 with his test of the Betty Jo, a P-82 Twin Mustang, named after his wife. This was to be the first nonstop test of a fully loaded fighter between Honolulu, Hawaii and New York City, New York. The 14 hour, 32 minute test, which started at Hickam Air Force Base on February 27, and which ended at LaGuardia Airport was a success; Thacker even set the speed record at an average of 350 miles per hour. Both the aircraft and the flight jacket Thacker wore are on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. His co-pilot on the trip was Lt. John Ard. The trip remains the longest and fastest ever by a propeller-driven fighter. Another notable achievement came in 1972 as the test pilot of a solar-powered aircraft designed and built by Lockheed.
Colonel Bob Thacker is shown in front of his Betty Jo on display at the Wright Patterson Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
Colonel Thacker’s wartime record of flying two tours in a B-17 in World War II, a single tour in the Korean War flying a B-29 Superfortress, and classified (secret) high-altitude reconnaissance missions during the Vietnam War earned him two Silver Stars, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, ten air medals and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm Leaf. I am proud to have known Colonel Bob Thacker for many years, a true American Hero.
I have to leave you with one more pure Colonel Bob story. Thacker and his wife were taking a tour at the Air Museum and the narrator pointed to Bob’s F-82 and told the gathered spectators that this plane had been restored exactly as it was when flown to the world’s record. The Colonel held up his hand and told the curator that the name of the pilot was painted just beneath the cockpit and it was missing on this restoration. The narrator wanted to know how he knew that and the Colonel responded, ” Young man, I am Colonel Bob Thacker and this lovely lady right here is Betty Jo.”
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