Cornelia Fort was born into Nashville Society in 1919. She was always bigger, and considered generally smarter, than most of the children her age. She was not generally inclined to the trappings of the Nashville society definition of what a young Lady from an upstanding family should be. As a young girl, she was more … Read more
Roy Vitousek, and his teenage son Martin were flying an Aeronca TC-65 Defender toward Pearl Harbor that fateful Sunday morning. According to Martin, they stayed in the air during part of the attack, circling at 2,000 feet to avoid the Japanese planes. Upon taking fire from enemy aircraft, they immediately returned to John Rodgers Field … Read more
Marguerite Gambo (later Wood) began to fly occasionally in 1932 with Edward Peacock, and then under the instruction of Bob Tyce, first soloed in 1937. It wasn’t long before she became rated as a commercial pilot. In 1939 she founded Gambo Flying Service, and built the first private hangar in Hawaii. Her business helped meet … Read more
A student pilot who was on a solo flight through K-T Flying Service, piloting a Piper Cub J-3. Attacking planes shot down his Cub. He parachuted to safety from an altitude of 4000 feet. Poston identified his attackers as German Messerschmitt 109’s with Japanese “Red Suns” on the wing tips. He landed and was taken … Read more
26 year old Guy Nathan “Tommy” Tomberlin was a part-time flight instructor for both K-T Flying Service and the Hui Lele Flying Club. He learned to fly from Bob Tyce in 1938, and after being discharged from the Navy, was hired by Tyce. On the morning of December 7, 1941, he was giving a lesson … Read more
Following the same route that Sgt. Henry Blackwell took, Cpl. Clyde Brown learned to fly in his spare time under the instruction of Bob Tyce, through the Civilian Pilot Training Program. On December 7, 1941, he and Sgt. Blackwell rented a pair of Piper Cub J-3’s to fly some friends around on their day off. … Read more
Taking advantage of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, Sergeant Henry C. Blackwell became a licensed pilot at age 20, being taught in his off hours by Bob Tyce. On December 7, 1941, Sgt. Blackwell, and his friend Corporal Clyde C. Brown, rented a pair of Piper Cub J-3’s to take some friends out sightseeing. Blackwell, … Read more
Robert Tyce was one of several well-known flight instructors in Hawaii at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the own of K-T Flying Service, which taught the basics to flying students involved in the Civilian Flight Training Program. Tyce was killed on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked, strafing the … Read more