There is a sayingthat there are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old bold pilots.  Meaning that “bold” piloting was risky piloting and therefore precluded a bold pilot’s reaching  “old pilot” status.  The statement is not universally true, and these guys are living proof.  Calling themselves the Old Bold Pilots Association, or OBPA, they number around 330, and every week at the Denny’s in Oceanside, California sixty or so of them show up for breakfast and a bull session.  And I would imagine those bull sessions are EPIC.  Though truth be told, most of these guys were young bold military pilots during wartime and were lucky or skilled enough to live through it to old age.  Some of their stories are shared in this Air & Space Magazine article  entitled Tales of the Old Bold Pilots.  It started out with a few retired military pilots just getting together to shoot the bull with other guys who had stories to share and it took off from there.

some of the OBPA in front of the Oceanside Denny’s

I’ve know some old military pilots, war veterans – my father was one.  The stereotype that these guys are always sitting around reliving their escapades it total fiction.  They almost never talk about it…to people who havent experienced it themselves and can’t relate to it, that is.  My father never told his stories unless his friends came to visit, then the adults would retire to one room and we kids would overhear snippetts if we were even interested enough to eavesdrop.  Once I was old enough to care, I had to read the stories in old newspaper clippings or hear about them from others who were there.

So whenever these guys get together, their stories can be told and I’m glad for that.  Click over to the article to read a few, or click here or here to read a couple good ones at Men Out of Work Blog.