HE LOVED TO FLY

“THERE ARE PATHS THAT A MAN MAY FOLLOW WHEN THE YEARS OF HIS BOYHOOD WANE…BUT I’LL BE CONTENT TO FOLLOW ON THE WINGS OF MY AEROPLANE”.
Patricia and Michael speak fondly of a devoted family man, diligent steward to the Lord and a Professional Patriot. This great man cared for his family and friends, bowed his head to Jesus as he served his church, and stood strongly for Uncle Sam. Service before self quickly comes to mind as we remember our Father, Mentor, and Wonderful Friend…Philip Nelmes French.
Phil has “Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth” and now knows the great secret of what precisely happens after this mortal life. Phil’s life and times are a story worth telling and sharing with others and this writing may help preserve memories that must not be “Gone with the Wind”.
Fortunately, Patricia has many pictures of Phil in different stages of his adventurous, exciting, and happy life. In our opinion there has never been a finer person to wear the cloth of a Lay Eucharistic Minister at church, the Air Force Uniform of a sharp and squared away Military Officer and the Flight Suit of an Engineering Flight Test Aviator with the Right Stuff flying 31 combat missions over Japan in a B-29 bomber (Punch and Judy) or at twice the speed of sound in the B-58 experimental advanced jet airplane. Movie stars would be envious!
Phil dressed professionally during his 33 year second career as a technical document evaluator for NASA and 27 year as a volunteer tour guide, a “Decent Docent”, for the Paul Garber aviation restoration facility of the Smithsonian Museum at Silver Hill, Maryland. Phil could be just as comfortable in overalls when helping Lahoma with lawn and garden projects, checking on blue bird nesting boxes at Andrews Air Force Base, or watching wrestling and aviation documentaries in his basement kingdom.
Patricia and Michael always found “Delta Lane” to be a happy and safe haven and thoroughly enjoyed visits and projects through the years with the folks. Heavenly Days!

There is a lot more:

Earliest Age:
Phil was born 18 May 1920 in Massachusetts to Alice Nelmes and Leon Herman French. Phil’s mother and Lahoma’s mother were friends in New England and would wheel them side by side in baby carriages. Few couples can make this claim.
Grandfather French (Leon) was a Navy Man who retired in 1946. Alice was happy and quick to laugh while seeing to the proper behavior of Phil, brother Stu, and sister Ruth (Poppy). Phil, Stu, Poppy, and Alice remained very close throughout their lives.
Teen Age Years:
Phil always had an avid interest in aviation and engineering sciences.

Phil built many flyable model airplanes. The young man in the picture bears a very close resemblance to Phil at similar age.

Phil’s earliest scratch built models were constructed of balsa wood, rubber band powered, and were hand launched.

When model airplane engines became available, Phil was quick to use them in more advanced free-flight models.

Phil built and flew model planes for many years and always attracted a crowd of kids when he flew control-line planes at the local school yard.

Phil and Michael enjoyed the Boy Scouts and earned Eagle Scout badges.

Phil advanced through the Boy Scouts, earned the rank of Eagle Scout prior to age 17, and attended a National Jamboree in Washington D.C. in 1936. Phil was very proactive with Michael’s scouting endeavors and served as a Senior Advisor with the Boy Scout Leadership Council. When Scout Headquarters was slow to process the paperwork for Merit Badges for the Troop 1275 Scouts, Colonel French made a personal visit to the downtown Washington D.C. office and the problem was quickly corrected.

Phil was well versed in the rigorous “New England” style of Cribbage and taught Patricia and Michael how to play. Alice was also an avid Cribbage player and Phil constructed a very large wood board with oversize pegs so Alice could keep track of the action. Phil counted card combinations faster and evaluated hand and crib totals more accurately than any of his friends at work. The friends admitted that the only to win against Phil was to try to cheat and all enjoyed calling “Muggins” when improper play was detected.

Phil was musically inclined and played a silver Farney model trumpet in high school and college music programs. Because New England weather was so cold, Phil had several plastic mouth pieces for the trumpet. Phil and Lahoma were always supportive of music lessons for Patricia and Michael.
Phil found later in life that Saxophone and Clarinet were easier to play with dentures than trumpet and learned to play these instruments for enjoyment. Phil loved the bag pipes and had several recordings. Phil also enjoyed Sea Chanteys and this sparked his interest in playing the Concertina.

Phil grew up with “Scotties” and later helped to raise French family canines. Phil liked the cats that we rescued such as “Big Tom” and “Sir Henry Hudson” plus select others. Phil enjoyed wildlife and other critters while feeding 1,000s of wild birds and lots of squirrels. Some squirrels became quite tame and Phil would feed them by hand. Phil would also take fruit and vegetable table scraps for bunnies that lived near his office. Blue Bird care and statistics with Lahoma and the Blue Bird Society on Andrews Air Force Base became an enjoyable activity in the 1990s-2000s.
1940s to 1960s: About the Wild Blue Yonder and the Days when Men were Strong.

The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was a flight training program (1938–1944) sponsored by the United States government with the stated purpose of increasing the number of civilian pilots with emphasis on helping with military preparedness. Phil completed the Civilian Flying Pilot program and soloed at 19 or 20 years of age.
Unfortunately, corrected vision kept Phil from the pilot seat on military airplanes. However, Phil joined the Army Air Corps and excelled as a Flight Engineer and later as a Navigator on heavy bombers and experimental flight test airplanes.

Phil helped to write Army Air Corps history as a Flight Engineer on the B-29 Bomber and was stationed in Saipan. Phil flew 31 combat missions over Japan aboard “Punch and Judy” and other B-29s along with many flight crews.

The B-29 was the first military aircraft with a special position dedicated to the function of a flight engineer. With the B-29's incredible complexity, someone to full-time manage the care and feeding of the flight systems was essential.
During the long round-trips between Saipan and Japan the B-29 bomber crews experienced a host of in –flight emergencies such as failed engines, run-away propellers, enemy flack disabling flight controls and causing cabin de-compression and electrical problems. Phil’s competence at the Flight Engineer’s panel enabled crippled planes and exhausted flight crews to return home and fly another day.
While aboard the “Punch and Judy” after a daytime mission over Tokyo on 19 February 1945 a Japanese plane rammed the B-29. This disabled the #3 engine and broke out plexiglass windows in the bomber. Phil reported that the crew handled the emergency in “No Sweat” fashion and returned safely to Saipan.

Post War - “Peace is Our Profession” = The Strategic Air Command Motto

In 1947 the Army Air Corps became the United States Air Force and Phil made the transition and became a Regular Officer. Phil was assigned to the Flight Test Division at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Fairborn Ohio and selected to serve as Flight Engineer on the experimental B-49 “Flying Wing” bomber (above) at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Phil knew that this was a high risk assignment because another Flying Wing Bomber had crashed at Edwards AFB, killing the flight crew and creating the Flight Engineer vacancy. Phil flew several successful test missions and later suffered a broken wrist during a landing gear malfunction during a high speed taxi test. Phil and crew members escaped from the airplane before it burned and disintegrated on the runway. The B-49 bomber program was cancelled and now Major French was selected to attend school for training as a Navigator.

After completion of Navigator training in Mather Air Force Base, California and advanced systems training at Keesler, AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi Phil was hand-selected as an elite crew member for the B-58 Bomber (similar to above) flight test program at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. Phil flew in the third station as a Weapon System Operator and completed many missions at Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound. Phil was inducted into the “Mach Crow” Association and a big send-off was held for Phil and family before departure to his next assignment in Maryland.

Right Stuff….No Sweat, Been There, Done That !!!!

Phil the Family Man -

In 1948 Phil married his childhood sweetheart, Lahoma Leith, who was the most beautiful Nurse to ever wear the Army uniform. The years 1952 and 1955 saw the additions of Michael and Patricia and Phil balanced his Air Force career and family with much help from Lahoma and Grandmother Leith. Lahoma enjoyed the PX and Commissary as much as Phil disliked shopping so the deal worked out real well.
1960-1969 at Andrews Air Force Base and the Pentagon:
Even Chuck Yeager was assigned a few staff assignments and the Air Force had “such a deal” for Phil as assignment to Air Force Systems Command in Camp Springs, Maryland followed by a tour at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. Fortunately, then Lieutenant Colonel French was able to take advantage of weekly training flights, often to Bermuda, were he served aboard T-29 air planes as an Navigation Instructor.

During a training flight returning from Bermuda, the T-29 plane Phil was flying on lost power on one engine and lost altitude before the good engine could be adjusted to fly the rest of the way back to Andrews. To lighten the load, loose equipment, seats and other non-essential items were dropped into the ocean from a lower cargo hatch. Phil did his share by tossing overboard some of his valuable personal navigation equipment.

LTC Phil French did his share to help America win the Cold War with lots of early to late hours at Air Force Systems Command Headquarters and the Pentagon. Phil’s principle was that, “The mission always comes first”.
Fortunately, Phil was not sent on a lot of military business trips (TDYs) or any overseas assignments (such as Vietnam) and was always there for the family.
The mid to late 1960s saw Michael in the Boy Scouts, with music lessons, some High School sports and lawnmower engine repair. Patricia was busy with music lessons and school extra-curricular activities at the time.
On weekends and extended stays in the summer we would travel to Helen’s Doll House (the Beach Shack) at Scotland Beach in Southern Maryland. Phil enjoyed the stops at Shakey’s Pizza parlor in Lexington Park. Phil built a Kayak that he paddled at the beach and rode in a canoe and row boat with Patricia and Michael.
Phil, Lahoma, and Grandmother Leith provided a great family atmosphere and put up with the raucous noise of Michael teasing Patricia. Phil was able to escape to his basement palace and enjoyed a variety of nature shows, history & technical features and especially wrestling.
Phil gave Michael his first driving lessons in the 1948 Chevrolet and 1956 Ford Station Wagon. Phil was fully supportive of lawnmower repair activities.
The sizzling Seventies and beyond:
Phil “retired” from the Air Force in 1969 following his 1966-69 Pentagon assignment but didn’t rest for an instant. In retrospect, the Pentagon wasn’t an easy or very enjoyable assignment but Phil made the best of this situation and always insulated the family from the confusion at the “Five Sided Puzzle Palace” by never bringing the office home with him.
This mandatory imposed military retirement was well deserved for an Aviation Warrior and in retrospect a blessing that allowed Phil to embark on a 34 year “Dream Second Career” as a technical document evaluator for NASA. There was hardly a break between Phil’s Air Force career and the NASA position.
Phil quickly became the go-to player to evaluate the Aviation and German reports and during his career entered (surely a million) interesting reports on a wide variety of interesting topics into the NASA Data base with machine gun accuracy. At age 82, Phil voluntarily relinquished his NASA computer key board.

Fort Belvoir and the Andrews Flying Club:
Michael graduated from the University of Maryland in 1975 and said hello to Government Civil Service at Fort Belvoir. An income and relief from school books allowed for flying lessons at the Andrews Aero Club after the first paycheck was cashed. A week after 4th of July 1976, Phil became Michael’s first passenger as a Private Pilot in a Cessna 150. The memorable ride was from Andrews Air Force Base to Tangier Island for lunch and return to Andrews by way of Southern Maryland and an aerial view of the Beach Shack in Scotland Beach, Maryland. Phil and Michael flew in all of the aero club planes and most enjoyed travel to Kitty Hawk First Flight, Flying Circus Bealton, and of course Tangier Island. Phil was a natural “good stick” and Michael helped out with the landings.
A most Decent Docent !
When the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was opened in 1976 in Wash D.C., opportunities for experienced tour guides, or Docents, became available at the Paul Garber restoration facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. Phil easily qualified as a Docent with his extensive military experience and aviation history expertise.
Phil enjoyed using his Dale Carnegie training as he conducted weekend tours for 27 years at the Paul Garber Facility. During this time he discussed the completion of dozens of beautiful aircraft restorations during 100s of customized tours that he conducted for 1000s of aviation enthusiasts. Phil captivated aviation professionals, Veterans, Boy Scout Troops, (and many others) and held experienced test pilots in awe of his subject mastery. Phil was truly an aviation technical powerhouse and was officially recognized by the Smithsonian as a loyal and truly outstanding volunteer Docent when the Garber Facility closed and the work transitioned to Dulles Airport in 2003.
One of Michael’s proudest moments was touring the New Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at the Dulles Airport with Phil and an Air Force dentist friend, Dr. Bill Spangle in March 2004. The Museum opened on the Wright Brother’s 100th anniversary (December 2003) and we waited until crowds diminished. This allowed Phil the opportunity to see “his” tour guide airplanes in final display settings.
The Beat Goes On:
Phil and Bubba spent a lot more quality time together after completion of Phil’s NASA and Paul Garber careers. Trips by Michael and Mary to visit Delta lane were easily done and Patricia and entourage would visit whenever possible.
Phil didn’t totally share Bubba’s avid interest in gardening and resented missing his favorite shows until the advent of the VCR. Phil quickly had wrestling, nature shows, aviation episodes and educational documentaries all programmed and recorded for later convenient viewing and outdoor chores became much more bearable.
Phil loved pets and nature. The kitties always had a fondness for Phil and he enjoyed the transition from canines to felines. Phil would buy large amounts of raw peanuts and bird seed at the commissary for his feathered and furry outdoor friends.
Michael was proud to follow in Phil’s path as an Episcopal Church Lay Reader. Phil and Michael attended Saint John’s and the Clinton Parish Churches together on several occasions.
Phil read volumes of books from libraries, enjoyed his computer and the Internet (age 65 onward), cranked out crosswords & cryptograms, and was a world class Cribbage Player.
Phil and Bubba enjoyed very good health throughout their 87th and 90th years respectively.
Best friends that Michael, Patricia, Aunt Pat will have in this lifetime!

Thanks be to God!
Patricia and Michael