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Col. Clarence 'Bud' Anderson - Pilot / Triple Ace |
363rd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group |
A Distinguished Veteran |
| Col. Anderson is a WW II Triple Ace Fighter pilot and a veteran military experimental test pilot. During WW II, he served two combat tours escorting heavy bombers over Europe in the P-51 Mustang (specifications), from November, 1943, through January, 1945. He flew 116 combat missions (480 hours) and destroyed 16.25 enemy aircraft in aerial combat and another one on the ground. He has an extensive flight-testing background spanning a 25-year period. At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, he was a fighter test pilot and later became Chief of Fighter Operations. He flew many models of the early jet fighters and was involved in two very unusual flight test programs. He made the first flights on a bizarre experimental program to couple jet fighters to the wingtips of a large bomber aircraft for range extension. Later, he also conducted the initial development flights on the F-84 Parasite fighter modified to be launched and retrieved from the very large B-36 bomber. At the Air Force Test Flight Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, Col. Anderson was assigned as the Chief of Flight Test Operations and later Deputy Director of Flight Test. While there, he flew the Century series fighters and all the other types of aircraft in the Air Force inventory. He has flown over 130 different types of aircraft and has logged over 7,500 flying hours. |
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| Bud Anderson signing "Old Crow - Study #3" |
| Other assignments in his 30 years of continuous military service include duty as Commander of an F-86 Squadron in post war Korea, Commander of an F-105 Wing on Okinawa, and two assignments to the Pentagon as an advanced Research and Development Staff Planner, and as Director if Operational Requirements. Further, he served in Southeast Asia, where he was Commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing. Col. Anderson flew bombing strikes against enemy supply lines, and later was in charge of closing the first large air base in Thailand when his combat wing was deactivated. Col. Anderson was decorated 26 times. His awards include 2 Legion of Merits, 5 Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, 16 Air Medals, the French Legion of Honor, and the French Croix de Guerre, as well as many campaign and service ribbons. |
| He learned to fly at age 19, gaining his private pilot’s license in 1941 through the Civilian Pilot Training Program while attending college .In January, 1942, he entered the US Army Aviation Cadet Program, receiving his wings and commission in September, 1942. He received his test pilot training by completing the AMC Performance Course (1948) and the Stability and Control Course (1949) while at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. |
| Born in Oakland, California, he spent his early years on a rural farm near Newcastle, California. He attended Placer Union High School, Sacramento Jr. College, and the George Washington University. Military education includes the Air Command and Staff College and the Army War College. He is a life member of the American Fighter Aces Association, and holds the rank of Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He is married to the former Eleanor Cosby of Auburn, California. They have two children and four grandchildren. After retirement from the Air Force in March, 1972, he joined the McDonnell Aircraft Company, and served for 12 years at Edwards AFB as Manager of the Company Flight Test Facility. After full retirement in 1984, the Andersons moved from Lancaster and now reside in Auburn, California. In 1990, Col. Anderson wrote an autobiography with another author, which has been described by the Historian of the Air Force as “the finest pilot memories of WW II”. In this book titled To Fly And Fight, Gen. Chuck Yeager describes Col. Anderson as “a mongoose,…the best fighter pilot I’ve ever seen”. Col. Anderson remains an avid pilot, maintaining his Flight Instructor rating and flying P-51s. He lectures on his flying experiences, has consulted on computer flying games, participates in written and online interviews, and writes articles for aviation periodicals. |
| Air-to-Air Victories 03/08/1944 – one ME-109, northwest of Hanover 04/11/1944 – one BF-109, _ He-111, west of Hanover 04/30/1944 – one FW-190, southeast of Orleans, France 05/08/1944 – one FW-190, Soltau 05/12/1944 – one BF-109, northeast of Frankfurt (Ace) 05/27/1944 – two BF-109, northwest of Strasbourg 05/30/1944 – one BF-109, east of Schonebeck 06/29/1944 – three FW-190, southwest of Leipzig (Double Ace) 07/07/1944 – one BF-109, north of Lepzig 11/27/1944 – two FW-190, west, northwest of Noordhausen 12/05/1944 – two FW-190, west of Berlin (Triple Ace) |
| Here They Come (excerpt from Col. Anderson’s autobiography To Fly and Fight) |
“Four bogeys, five o’clock high!” My element leader, Eddie Simpson, has already seen them. Bogeys are unknowns and bandits are hostile. Quickly, the dots close and take shape. They’re hostile all right. They’re Messerschmitts. We turn hard to the right, pull up into a tight string formation, spoiling their angle, and we try to come around and go at them head on. The Me-109s change course, charge past, and continue on down, and we wheel and give chase. There are four of them, single-seat fighters, and they pull up, turn hard, and we begin turning with them. We are circling now, tighter and tighter, chasing each other’s tails, and I’m sitting there wondering what the hell’s happening. These guys want to hang around. Curious. I’m wondering why they aren’t after the bombers, why they’re messing with us, whether they’re simply creating some kind of diversion or what. I would fly 116 combat missions, engage the enemy perhaps 40 times, shoot down 16 fighters, share in the destruction of a bomber, destroy another on the ground, have a couple of aerial probables, and over that span it would be us bouncing them far more often than not. This is a switch. |
| We’re flying tighter circles, gaining a little each turn, our throttles wide open, 30,000 feet up. The Mustang is a wonderful airplane, 37 feet wingtip to wingtip, just a little faster than the smaller German fighters, and also just a little more nimble. Suddenly the 109s, sensing things are not going well, roll out and run, turning east, flying level. Then one lifts up his nose and climbs away from the rest. We roll out and go after them. They’re flying full power, the black smoke pouring out their exhaust stacks. I’m looking at the one who is climbing, wondering what he is up to, and I’m thinking that if we stay with the other three, this guy will wind up above us. I send Simpson up after him. He and his wingman break off. My wingman, John Skara, and I chase the other three fighters, throttles all the way forward, and I can see that we’re gaining. I close to within 250 yards of the nearest Messerschmitt, dead astern, 6 o’clock, no maneuvering, no nothing, and squeeze the trigger on the control stick between my knees gently. Bambambambambamb! The sound is loud in the cockpit in spite of the wind shriek and engine roar. And the vibration of the Mustang’s four .50-caliber machine guns, two in each wing, weighing 60-odd pounds apiece, is pronounced. In fact, you had to be careful in dogfights when you were turning hard, flying on the brink of a stall, because the buck of the guns was enough to peel off a few critical miles per hour and make the Mustang simply stop flying. That could prove downright embarrassing. |
| But I’m going like hell now, and I can see the bullets tearing at the Messerschmitt’s wing root and fuselage. The armor-piercing ammunition we used was also incendiary, and the hits were easily visible, making a bright flash and puff. Now the 109’s trailing smoke thickens, and it’s something more than exhaust smoke. He slows, and then suddenly rolls over. But the plane doesn’t fall. It continues on, upside down, straight and level! What the hell…? The pilot can’t be dead. It takes considerable effort to fly one of these fighter planes upside down. You have to push hard on the controls. Flying upside down isn’t easy. It isn’t something that happens all by itself, or that you do accidentally. So what in the world is he doing? Well. It’s an academic question, because I haven’t the time to wait and find out. I pour another burst into him, pieces start flying off, I see flame, and the 109 plummets and falls into a spin, belching smoke. My sixth kill. |
| 'Bud' Anderson is one of our Rogue's Gallery members. |
| (Thanks are due 'Bud' for providing photos and stories) |
Over the radio: “Here they come!” They’d worked over the bombers up ahead and now it was our turn. Things happen quickly. We got rid of our drop tanks, slam the power up, and make a sweeping turn to engage. My flight of four Mustangs is on the outside of the turn, a wingman close behind to my left, my element leader and his wingman behind to my right, all in finger formation. Open your right hand, tuck your thumb under, put the fingers together, and check the fingernails. That’s how we flew, and fought. Two shooters, and two men to cover their tails. The Luftwaffe flew that way, too. German ace Werner Molders is generally credited with inventing the tactic during the Spanish Civil War. Being on the outside of the turn, we were vulnerable to attack from the rear. I look over my right shoulder, and sure enough, I see four dots above us, way back, no threat at the moment, but coming hard down the chute. I start to call out, but…| home | aviation | railfan | commission | john | contact |
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