Riding High in 'Six-Shooter'

Today I flew in a P-51 Mustang!! It was a great ride.


I took the new 'Six Shooter' prints with me on the plane, in a crate stored in the port wing machine gun bay. So, now the prints have flown in the aircraft they depict (see post for 'Six-Shooter').


Some of the photos of the ride are seen in this slide show. A 90 year old WASP was on the flight before me and the prints were in the plane for that flight. In fact, the crates went on both rides, so they did a total of 8 barrel rolls!


As you will see in the pictures, we flew on the deck very fast, just like he did at the Reno air races. Amazing stuff.

- John Doughty, Jr.

Major Ted Skowronek

Major Ted Skowronek arrived in England as a freshly trained pilot, and on July 4, 1944, he was flown across the English Channel to the portable airfield designated as A2 near St. Lo, France, to begin his career as a new fighter pilot in the 354th Fighter Group. On the day he arrived, the 354th Fighter Group had been selected to fly General Dwight Eisenhower on a secret mission over enemy territory, and Ted Skowronek stood only 10 feet away from the General, an impressive way to start his tour with the 354th Fighter Group. Ted was assigned to the 355th Fighter Squadron, know as the “Pugnacious Pups”, and their mission was to support the advancement of Patton’s 3rd Army by following the ground troops as the battlefront advance, or to provide fighter escort for the Allied bombers.



On August 25, 1944, Ted was flying his 22nd mission, which was a massive fighter sweep, when he downed a Luftwaffe FW 190. After he shot down the FW190 and pulled out of the dive close to the ground, there was a loud explosion, which opened a large hole in the left wing of his P-51B Mustang, GQ-Q (42-106445). Either the shrapnel of the exploding FW 190 hitting the ground below him or enemy anti-aircraft fire cause the damage to his plane. With his Mustang badly damaged and his engine overheating, Ted spotted an opening among the forest and belly-landed his Mustang into a plowed field. After setting on fire and destroying the damaged Mustang so that the Luftwaffe could not use it, he quickly headed for the woods, and was eventually found by the French Underground. He hid in the home of Francois Dumarquez, who had two daughters, Jacquelyn, age 20, and Jeannette, age 18. Their home was located near Fere Faiallel, France, about 90 km northeast of Paris. While Ted hid in the second story of their home, two German solders were billeted on the first floor, never knowing an Allied Fighter pilot was hiding above them. Two weeks later, he was liberated by Patton’s 3rd Army.



Ted returned to the 354th Fighter Group and flew the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51D Mustang, which he named “Diana-Mite” after his little sister. He flew 121 combat missions and 219.35 combat hours with the 355th Fighter Squadron, and had 3.5 confirmed air-to-air victories, two Bf 109s and 1.5 FW 190s. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 13 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, and 7 other service ribbons.

The 354th Fighter Group was officially credited with 637 air-o-air victories, with 234 aircraft destroyed on the ground, and produced 44 aces. The 353rd Fighter Squadron was the top scoring fighter squadron with more aerial victories than any other Army Air Force fighter squadron in any theatre during the war. It also had the only fighter pilot to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in Northern Europe, that being James Howard. The 354th also destroyed thousands of locomotives, trains, tanks, and armoured vehicles.



After World War II, he was assigned to the new Test Pilot School at Wright Field, Ohio and flew 23 different aircraft, including the P-51 Mustang, the P-47 Thunderbolt, B-29 Superfortress, F-82 Twin Mustang, P-38 Lightning, P-61 Black Widow, and the P-80 Shooting Star. He flew with many other test pilots, including Don Gentile, Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager, and Steve Pisanos. His pilot skills were used to develop Low Visibility Onboard Aircraft Approach equipment, Ejection Seat development for jet aircraft, Bomb Delivery systems, Propeller development, Landing Gear development, and Air Density Altitude Envelopment development.

A special “thank you” to Major Ted Skowronek, Paul Cornell, and Chuck Lawsen for their assistance on this project.

Chief Warrant Officer - Mr. Chuck Hall

In 1950, Chuck Hall graduated from the College of Aeronautics at the University of Southern California’s Santa Maria Campus, with a commercial, instrument, and multi-engine rating at the young age of 19. A short time later, he took a job with Wien Airlines in Alaska. After working for Wien Airlines a few months, he took a new job with Alaska Airlines as a 19-year-old co-pilot, transporting Korean bound troops for the US military in C-54 aircraft. After the Korean War was over, Chuck Hall was drafted into the Army and flew different helicopters for four years.

He returned to Alaska Airlines after he left the Army, and worked for the airline for a total of 16 years, and rose to Vice President, Operations and Chief Pilot.

He helped form a partnership that purchased Standard Airways in Seattle, and after that proved to be unsuccessful, he went to work for Lockheed Aircraft Company as a production test pilot for the L-1011 TriStar, and as chief pilot for flight crew training for four years. After he left Lockheed, he flew the Japan Airlines Boeing B-747 for 17 years, mainly on the Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro route. He retired from JAL on September 27, 1990 at the age of 60.



Along with his commercial aviation career, Mr. Hall has also distinguished himself by flying warbirds at air-races and at air shows. In 1964, he purchased a P-51 Mustang, which he called “Miss R.J.” for $9,000, and began racing the Mustang in 1966. He flew “Miss R.J.” and another famous P-51 Mustang, “Miss America”, at the Reno Air Races, winning many event races. He sold his P-51 Mustang “Miss R.J.”, which was later modified and became known as “The Red Baron”, and purchased a Vought F-4U-4 Corsair. After selling the F-4U Corsair, he purchased the P-51D Mustang “Six- Shooter”, which he still owns today.



“Six-Shooter” was rebuilt after World War II by the US military and was sent to the Bolivian Air Force as a counterinsurgency aircraft. The aircraft was returned to the United States, and Chuck Hall purchased the P-51 in 1995. For 10 years, Chuck Hall has flown his P-51 Mustang “Six-Shooter” as part of the United States Air Force Heritage Flight Demonstration Team, averaging 18 air shows per season. As part of the team, he has flown in formation with the P-40 Warhawk, A-1 Skyraider, F-86 Super Sabre, A-10 Warthog, F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, and the F-22 Raptor.



He is one of only a few civilian pilots in the United States of America qualified to fly propeller driven fighters in formation with USAF jet fighters. He has flown in formation with other famous pilots such as C.E. “Bud” Anderson and Chuck Yeager. He retired from the USAF Heritage Flight Program in 2008.

Chuck Hall is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, with over 30,000 flight hours in commercial and military aircraft, and 2,000 hours in warbirds. He has flown the Douglas DC-4, DC-6, DC-8, DC-9, Lockheed L-1011, C-130, Constellation, F-104, Boeing B-707, B-720, B-727, B-747, Convair 880, Curtiss C-46. While he was in the US Army, he flew the Bell H-13, and the Sikorsky H-19 and H-34 helicopters. He has also flown the following warbirds: the Grumman F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Vought F-4U Corsair, Douglas A-1 Skyraider, and the P-51 Mustang. He has flown in the USAF F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, and the US Navy F-18 Hornet at Top Gun.



He owns and operates Chuck Hall Aviation with his wife, Evelyn, based at the Ramona, California airport, and continues to fly his P-51D Mustang “Six-Shooter” at air shows around the western United States.