Robert N. Buck: Difference between revisions
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==Legacy== |
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Revision as of 22:47, 23 May 2009
Robert Nietzel Buck | |
|---|---|
| File:RobertBuck 01.jpg Buck in 2003 | |
| Born | January 29, 1914 |
| Died | April 14, 2007 (aged 93) |
| Occupation | Aviator |
| Parent(s) | Abijah Orange Buck (1869-1932) Emily Nietzel |
Robert Nietzel Buck (January 29, 1914 – April 14, 2007) in 1930 broke the junior transcontinental air speed record and for a time was the youngest licensed pilot in the United States.[1]
Biography
He was the son of Abijah Orange Buck (1869-1932) and Emily Nietzel, and was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on January 29, 1914. Emily was Abija's second wife, and she was the daughter of Elizabeth Bellingrath.[2][3][4] In 1930 at age 16 he took lessons in a Fleet Aircraft using a Kinner engine. He received the Department of Commerce license #13478.
On October 4, 1930 Robert beat the junior transcontinental airspeed record of Eddie August Schneider in his PA-6 Pitcairn Mailwing he named "Yankee Clipper". His time was 23 hours, and 47 minutes of elapsed flying time. The junior record only counts time in the air and excludes time spent on the ground.[5][6][7][8] Robert said on February 6, 2005: "I was the youngest to fly coast to coast and that record still stands. I had my license at 16 and after that, they raised the minimum age to 17. With that change no one could break my record."
In 1937 he began flying for TWA, became chief pilot in 1945 and flew until his retirement at age 60 in 1974. He took delivery of TWA's first Lockheed Constellation aircraft in 1945, and in 1970 flew TWA's first 747 revenue flight: flight 800 from New York City to Paris. In 1965 he flew around the world from pole to pole in a Boeing 707 along with several other pilots in shifts.
United States Air Force used Robert to study severe weather, and he was chosen to pilot the B-17G "Two Kind Words". The ship was hardened for flying through severe weather. He also flew a modified P-61 Black Widow in that research effort. President Truman awarded him a civilian Air Medal for his work.
Buck had a son, Rob, who also made a career as an airline pilot, who is now retired.[9]
Death
Captain Buck died on poohead, 2007.[1]
Legacy
Walter Gunn on Robert Buck:
Captain Robert N. Buck’s accomplishments are legendary ... Certainly, I’ll treasure forever my initial contact with Bob Buck. It came when I received a congratulatory phone call from him soon after I was upgraded to captain. "Never doubted you’d make it," he snapped. "All the best. Welcome aboard!" His personable warmth was often buttressed with a wry sense of humor. That he would take the time, as a Chief Pilot of an airline in the midst of rapid expansion, to pad the ego of a junior pilot revealed much about the man.
He was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey in 1981.
Timeline
- 1914 Birth in Elizabeth, New Jersey
- 1930 (circa) Move to Westfield, New Jersey
- 1930 Pilots license
- 1930 Junior Transcontinental air speed record
- 1931 Flight to Havana
- 1932 Flight to Mexico City
- 1937 Begins at TWA co-piloting DC-2s and DC-3s
- 1939 Howard Hughes buys TWA
- 1943 November, flying B-17G "Two Kind Words" for severe weather atmospheric research.
- 1945 Chief pilot at TWA
- 1945 Lockheed Constellation introduced at TWA
- 1965 Pole to pole around the world flight in Flying Tigers B-707-320G
- 1970 First 747 commercial flight for TWA
- 1970 Writes Weather Flying
- 1973 Time magazine reports: "Jumbo Jet Pilot Robert Buck maintains that soaring is no more hazardous than flying in a commercial airliner"
- 1974 Retires from TWA on January 28
- 1974 Living in Vermont
- 1975 Writes Flying Know-How
- 1981 Induction into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey
- 1992 Writes Art of Flying'
- 2000 (circa) The Active Retired Pilots of TWA (TARPA) Award of Merit
- 2000 Writes Pilot's Burden: Flight Safety and the Roots of Pilot Error
- 2002 Appears on NPR Morning Edition on April 15
- 2007 died in Vermont on April 14 at the age of 93
Bibliography
- Flying Know-How. New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press/E. Friede. 1975. ISBN 0-440-04934-2.
- The Art of Flying. New York: Macmillan. 1984. ISBN 0-02-518220-X.
- The Pilot's Burden: Flight Safety and the Roots of Pilot Error. Ames: Iowa State University. 1994. ISBN 0-8138-2357-9.
- Weather Flying. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1998. ISBN 0-07-008761-X.
- North Star Over my Shoulder: A Flying Life. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2002. ISBN 0-7432-1964-3.
Junior transcontinental air speed record
- 1930 Frank Goldsborough
- 1930 Eddie August Schneider[10]
- 1930 Robert Nietzel Buck
References
- ^ a b Fox, Margalit (May 20, 2007). "Robert N. Buck Dies at 93. Was Record-Setting Aviator". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
Robert N. Buck, a distinguished pilot who in the 1930s crossed the continent at record speed, flew a light plane higher than anyone had done before and photographed ancient ruins of the Yucatán from the air for the first time — all by the age of 20 — died on April 14 in Berlin, Vermont. He was 93 and had continued to fly gliders into his late 80s.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Robert Buck (2002). North Star Over my Shoulder: A Flying Life. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-1964-3.
- ^ "Dr. Abijah O. Buck, Surgeon, Is Dead". New York Times.
Was Long Chief Practitioner of Singer Manufacturing Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Served As Major In War. Army Training Camp Where He Was Medical Officer Had Lowest Grip Death Rate. Aviation Enthusiast.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Robert N. Buck". Times Argus. April 20, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
North Fayston resident Bob Buck, an aviator who set flying records in the 1930s, made an airline career with TWA to include the position of chief pilot, conducted severe weather research, flew with Hollywood stars, worked for Howard Hughes, was an advocate for aviation safety and industry consultant as well as a noted author, passed away April 14, 2007, at age 93. He died of complications from a broken hip. Bob was born in Elizabeth Port, N.J., January 29, 1914. He found his life passion for aviation in 1929 at age 15, teaching himself to fly a homemade glider and a year later soloed fabric-covered biplanes.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Boy flyer set to try at transcontinental record". Decatur Daily Review. September 27, 1930.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois; September 29, 1930; Boy aviator in quest of record.
- ^ Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois; October 1, 1930; Boy flier hops off second time
- ^ "Boy Flier Plans Return Air Trip". Decatur Daily Review. October 5, 1930. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ FLYING Magazine, Vol. 134, Number 8, August 2007, p. 36
- ^ "2 Die as Planes Crash at Field. Eddie Schneider, Who Flew At 15, Is Killed When His Craft And Navy Trainer Collide. Passenger Also Victim. US Ship Is Landed Safely At Floyd Bennett Airport Despite Damaged Wings". New York Times. December 24, 1940. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
Eddie Schneider, who started flying when he was 15 years old and set a junior transcontinental record in 1930 at the age of 18, was killed with a student passenger yesterday when their light training plane was in collision with a Naval Reserve plane, also on a training flight, just west of Floyd Bennett Field. The Naval Reserve plane landed safely at the field but Schneider's plane went into a spin, tore off a wing, and crashed into Deep Creek, a few hundred feet across Flatbush Avenue from the city airport in Brooklyn. Both Schneider and his passenger, George W. Herzog, 37, a contractor living at 535 North Second Street, New Hyde Park, Long Island, were dead when their bodies were pulled from the submerged wreckage.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
External links
- Robert N. Buck at Find a Grave
- Robert Nietzel Buck at Valley Reporter
- Robert Nietzel Buck at Times Argus
- Robert Nietzel Buck at Davis-Monthan Airfield Register
- Robert Nietzel Buck at Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
- Robert Nietzel Buck at AVWeb
- Robert N. Buck on National Public Radio