Geriatric Pilots on a mission for members

Left, Arnie Eckert,82, of Irondequoit together with others, listens to Jon Van Derhoof (CQ),73, of Dansville talk about landing experiences at a Geriatric Pilots Association luncheon at the Holiday Inn across from the airport in Rochester, N.Y. on Thursday March 15 2012. Eckert is a former civilian pilot and Derhoof a former civilian pilot and flight instructor, who says "No accidents, no incidents" about his experience in aviation. Many of the members had experience in WWII as pilots or other flight related jobs. The organization has been around for 20 years and members meet once a month.

 CARLOS ORTIZ/staff photographer 

WWII B-17 tail gunner Charlie Corea,90, of East Rochester talks about his experiences in Germany at a Geriatric Pilots Association luncheon at the Holiday Inn across from the airport in Rochester, N.Y. on Thursday March 15 2012. Many of the members had experience in WWII as pilots or other flight related jobs. The organization has been around for 20 years and members meet once a month.

CARLOS ORTIZ/staff photographer

It all began when a couple of World War II-era pilots went out for breakfast sometime in 1986 or ’87.

The exact date is unknown; at the time, it seemed like nothing more than an inconsequential cup of coffee a way for two pilots to swap stories.

But the informal gathering sparked interest within the Rochester aviation community. Before long, a group of both military and civilian pilots were meeting regularly and calling themselves the Geriatric Pilots Association (and yes, they have a sense of humor about their name, says longtime member Elmer Pancratz).

At its peak about 10 years ago, the Geriatric Pilots Association boasted more than 175 members. Monthly meetings drew 40 or 50 people. As members aged into their 80s and 90s, though, health problems emerged, and some members passed away. The group began to falter.

The crisis point came last year, when attendance at meetings was at an all-time low. There was talk of disbanding.

“There were some of us who said, we just can’t do that,” said Pancratz, 89, a retired major in the Air Force Reserves. “We’ve been too active and we’ve cherished each other’s company for too long . . . There’s a camaraderie in the military that just is there, and usually doesn’t go away. Even if you did totally different jobs, if you’ve been in the same conflict, there’s a bond there. We said, we can’t just walk away from that unless we’re sure.”

So the Geriatric Pilots are on a mission to improve membership numbers and keep the group going. They’re reaching out to veterans of other wars, civilian pilots, and anybody else interested in aviation. Pancratz said he would like to see the group continue its social function of bringing together people who love flying.

 

Storytelling

The Geriatric Pilots Association has always been about exchanging stories.

Paul Roxin, 95, has been a member of the group since its inception. He was a flight instructor before WWII, and in 1938, he went to work for the Civil Aeronautics Administration (the precursor to the Federal Aviation Administration) in airway traffic control and communications. Although he tried to join the military on several occasions, the government said he was too valuable to the CAA. He remained a civilian. In November 1941, Roxin was transferred to Rochester and worked at the airport here in his capacity as a CAA employee.

 For about a year and a half during the war, Roxin worked as an adjunct instructor in the U.S. Army Air Corps. The war had an impact on his non-military work as well: He still recalls the busiest day he ever had, in the summer of 1944, when he and a colleague cleared 160 B-17s and B-24s as they made their way through Rochester en route to Bangor, Maine and then over to Europe for a mission.

Roxin has formed many friendships through the Geriatric Pilots Association over the years. There’s something intangible about the experience of being a pilot that makes it easy for pilots to relate to each other, he said — something about understanding both the romance and the risks of flying a plane.

“You can get away with some stupid things,” Roxin said. “But if you go too far, it can be fatal.”

Longtime member and retired Air Force Capt. David Cole, 89, tells the story of when he and some comrades got separated from their group during a mission in 1945. Bad weather was to blame. Cole’s crew finished the mission with another squadron and returned to their barracks, only to find their fellow servicemen packing up their belongings.

“They just assumed that we had been shot down or lost,” Cole said.

The next morning at church, the chaplain asked everyone to pray for the gunners who were missing in action, not having heard the news that they’d already arrived back safely. At the end of the service, Cole and the others approached the chaplain and told him they were the ones he’d asked everyone to pray for.

“He was happy, and we were too!” Cole said.

 

A new mission

Cole would like to see the Geriatric Pilots Association get some younger members — despite the group’s name — as World War II veterans and their contemporaries won’t be around forever.

Or as Pancratz puts it, “Us old guys are disappearing at a rapid clip.”

For his part, Pancratz plans to stay involved with the group as long as he can. He especially enjoys speaking to students at Brighton High School, something that members of the group have done for many years.

“As long as I can be ‘vertical,’ I will do it,” Pancratz said. “There are so many (WWII) stories that won’t be told, because there are so many vets who either can’t or won’t tell their stories.”

He tells students of his own experience in tactical reconnaissance; he flew planes over Germany and took pictures. He flew 43 missions and was “shot at plenty of times,” providing plenty of excitement, but not too much, as he likes to say.

Pancratz hopes that the pilots group will continue long after he and his friends have passed on. In the meantime, he will do what he can to educate others about WWII.

“We are living history. Disappearing history, but still living history,” Pancratz said. “As I tell the kids, if you have any questions, ask them now! We just may not be around next year to answer them.”

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