submitted by David Cunningham, Redtail 49
(10/23/03)
David
Cunningham recently achieved what many others have done in the past. He has
completed his life-long goal of becoming a licensed pilot. What makes his story
different from others is that David is the son of an original Tuskegee Airman
and has traveled from California to Tuskegee, Alabama to accomplish this goal.
David’s father, Major John O. Cunningham, was one of 30 Liaison/Forward Observation pilots trained at Tuskegee for the segregated Army artillery units in WWII. He began his service as an enlisted man and was ordered to Officer Candidate School (OCS) and then to Tuskegee for basic flight training. Advanced training was completed at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for the then Lt. Cunningham. He joined his artillery outfit and departed for the South Pacific Islands where he joined the fight against the Japanese. In all, he twice ‘Mustanged’ from enlisted to officer, fought in two wars (he also fought in the Korean War), and retired a Major with 21 years of service. David, himself, served in the Viet Nam War aboard a Navy aircraft carrier.
David set
out on Saturday, October 18, 2003 for the east coast. Accompanied by his long
time friend, Oscar Gray, the two arrived in Atlanta on Sunday and drove the
distance to Tuskegee. God provided great weather. The weather in Tuskegee was
perfect for flying. Warm, calm and clear was the expected weather for the week
in Alabama. The airplane was ready and waiting. Antonio Smith, the Tuskegee
flight instructor was also ready to give David some additional training.
Point
of information: the airplane, a 1979 Cessna 172, was the last airplane that the
late Charles Alfred “Chief” Anderson had owned. “Chief” as the Tuskegee
Airmen fondly called him, was a self-taught pilot. He was the chief flight
instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen and had personally trained many of the
Airmen. It was “Chief” Anderson who actually took Eleanor Roosevelt for a 40
minute flight around Tuskegee which began the cadet flight program.
Moton
Field is the airport at Tuskegee. This is the same airport where all primary
flight training was done for the Tuskegee pilots during the 1940’s. Moton
Field is now run by the airport FBO, Col. Roosevelt Lewis, (Ret.). Col. Lewis is
the gentleman who commissioned David’s daughter into the Navy where she is now
a Naval Flight Officer, navigating P-3 Orion’s in Hawaii. Col. Lewis was also
one of “Chief” Anderson’s closest friends. In addition, it was Col. Lewis
who made all of the preparations for David at Tuskegee. All David had to do was
to show up.
Thursday,
October 23, was the date of the check ride. When FAA examiner, Steve Carter,
arrived at 1:00pm, he tried to calm David’s nervousness with some success. Even
with the calming atmosphere, there were problems. The oral part of the exam went
long. And while the oral was going on, a bug went into the pitot tube of the
airplane. This did not show up until the flying part of the exam.
After the airplane preflight, startup, taxi and run-up, there was no indication of any problem. The problem showed up on David’s first take-off. As the plane began the take-off roll, the airspeed indicator stopped working. Minus the airspeed indicator, David took off but stayed in the pattern. The in-flight troubleshooting indicated the pitot tube was blocked. David had to land the airplane and abort the flight until the pitot tube could be fixed. After necessary repairs were completed, the flight was resumed. With the required maneuvers, landings and take-offs, David and Steve, the examiner, returned to the ground just as the sun was going down.
One of the highlights of the exam was to execute an "emergency landing" at the airport where the Airmen did their advanced training. Successfully approaching the only remaining runway, David neatly touched down on that runway. Never in his life had he wanted to hear the chirp of the wheels touching terra ferma as at that time. Alas, the examiner asked to execute a go-around. So, the chirp did not happen at that place. Maybe there will be another time.
PASSED
was the word of the day. The check ride was complete. Time to celebrate.
David’s wife and son would be in the next day to help celebrate. The
celebration could not begin until thanks were given. The glory and praise went
out to God. Much thanks went to David Swan, David’s California instructor;
Antonio Smith, David’s Tuskegee instructor; Colonel Lewis, who set all of this
up; Steve Carter, the FAA flight examiner; the Tuskegee Airmen, including
“Chief” Anderson and all of the Tuskegee flight instructors, who gave
inspiration for David to do this project; Oscar Gray, David’s traveling
companion and moral support for this trip; David’s family, who gave
encouragement to him from afar; and, David gives thanks to his parents, his late
father and his mother.
The
pride of being the son of one of America’s WWII heroes was apparent. David was
honored to be flying at the same field that trained the famed WWII pilots sixty
years ago. And what a thrill to fly “Chief “ Anderson’s last airplane, the
man who was a hero to heroes! David Cunningham was in heaven. To his surprise,
David discovered through his dad’s military records that his dad had
completed his primary flight training at that same airport in the month of
October, in 1943, some 60 years ago.
Before
he died in 1996, “Chief” told Col. Lewis to, ‘KEEP THEM FLYING’. Now
David feels honored and pleased to carry on that order from the air as well as
from his FAA job at the Oakland Center.
With a Wing and a Prayer…
David Cunningham