116 - P-51 Mustang

[@spacebear49]

What a privilege to hear these stories from a literal living legend. The magnitude of what we owe these guys cannot be overstated.

[@amitnachman3840]

99 years old?!I'm 3 minutes in and I can tell he is sharp as a knife.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Yes sir, he is!

[@theyzforme]

Great show! Bud is a genuine class act. My 16 year old daighter is a huge aviation fan, WW2 especially. (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree) In 2019 she had the privilege of meeting Bud at Oshkosh. Since then she has gotten to know him through exchanging letters and several zoom calls with a small group of about 10 kids who he calls his "super fans". A man like him could easily ignore the questions and attention of a few kids, but Bud is so gracious. He responds to every letter, sometimes with rather long hand written replies, and knows all of his "super fans" by name. Some would even go hang out with him at his house on a few occasions (before covid) and hear him tell stories. In talking with him, reaching out to kids is something he truly enjoys. Bud is a true gentleman at all times. He is the definition of a hero in every sense of the word. A living legend if there ever was one.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

He absolutely is everything you said, Mike. Such an honor to have worked with him, and so thankful to have been able to capture it on the record to preserve the history!

[@Orlok1970]

Maybe the greatest fighter plane of all time. And a beautiful, elegant, machine as well.

[@theccpisaparasite8813]

Certainly had the right balance of traits for the era, cheap, flying fuel tank, solid maneuverability, great speed, easy to fly, what's not to like?

[@benjaminperez7328]

The Mustang and the Tomcat. The two sexiest aircraft Uncle Sam ever had! Prayers for Jell-O and the Aiello Family. 🙏🏼 Salute to Colonel Anderson!

[@theccpisaparasite8813]

O hell no ... sexy. Jeez, f-104 ... the B-58 looks like it's doing Mach 2 just sitting on the ground and the SR-71 would be as well ... except that it looks too badass to be sexy ...

[@benjaminperez7328]

@@theccpisaparasite8813 Opinions are like a**holes! Good day!

[@theccpisaparasite8813]

@@benjaminperez7328 did I upset you Benji?

[@mobiuszero1018]

Oh hell yeah! (And again,many condolences to you and your family over the the loss of your brother.)

[@Mark_Ocain]

That was just AWESOME!!!... How sharp is this guy??? Thanks for sharing your stories and insights, Bud!! Jello, if you're reading this, Please accept my heartfelt condolences over the passing of your brother, Rocky - prayin' for you and the family.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thank you for the thoughts, Mark.

[@BullittGT40]

Great interview with a genuine living legend.

[@Diesel0012002]

Damn near spit coffee all over my dashboard when I heard who you interviewed. What an honor. You guys are doing good work. Thanks.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

🤩

[@ja37d-34]

Amazing that you got Bud Anderson there, thanks! :D

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

He’s an amazing legend!

[@paralleler]

Another story I believe I heard about the naming of the Old Crow - Many pilots named their aircraft after their sweetie, the crow was the smartest bird on the farm, and it was a pretty good Kentucky bourbon -- so take your pick! FANTASTIC, thank you to all involved!

[@sn0w181]

A legendary episode with an actual living legend. I'm so glad to find this episode as I tour your back catalog

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Us too 👍

[@garypashley3636]

About time the coolest fighter ever got some love, also Jel-0 I saw the F/B post about losing your brother my condolences to the whole Aiello family... Lost a family member myself yesterday so I feel your pain right now Brother...

[@kkpriest5880]

My condolences for Aiello family and you Gary and your family as well. . We lost family member 6 weeks ago. I’m glad that we have such a fantastic podcast to focus our thoughts on.

[@garypashley3636]

@@kkpriest5880 most appreciated,Thank you. May I pass on my condolences to you too,losing someone close never gets easy

[@albaviator]

Respect for the legendary pilot Bud Anderson

[@Orlok1970]

Two legendary warriors, the P 51 Mustang and Bud Anderson! Great show, thank you. About the Spitfire, the Mk 9 was developed to counter the Fw 190, and was by reputation a formidable plane. But the great British pilot Eric Brown rated the Mk 16 as the best model of the Spitfire...he has passed now but Eric had an incredible career and would have been a terrific subject for this show. I'll post a link for those who are interested.

[@Orlok1970]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3iYZ4Bpjqp6q9E

[@pushing2throttles]

Colonel Anderson I'm a civilian and the one thing I feel compelled to do is salute you, and I don't mean virtually... I'm standing here literally saluting you and your life achievements. Wow, standing on the shoulders of giants is an understatement. Thank you for your service.

[@dutchbrotherfan1284]

He was at the California Capital Airshow this weekend and I purchased his book had him autograph it and he also drew a P-51 under it. I treasure meeting him

[@paladin0654]

Awesome! Sounds like we could have used Jimmy Doolittle in Vietnam. Thank you Bud for doing so much.

[@sh0-nuff547]

HOLY JEBUS!! You got Bud Anderson for the interview!!! Amazing!!

[@jessejames7189]

Wow this man is incredible! 99 years old and he’s more articulate than people half his age! Absolutely unbelievable interview. My Great Uncle flew in B-17’s over Germany in WW2 and made it home. It wouldn’t surprise me if this man had something to do with it! Unbelievable!

[@abledog9462]

Little late to the podcast so I'm binging my way through the aircraft series, and I was especially interested to see who you got for the Mustang and holy cow you couldn't have got a better guest. If you do a follow up episode in the future, I recommend Lee Lauderback from Stallion 51. He is the highest time Mustang pilot in history and has a long history doing checkouts, air shows, and the Air Force Heritage Flight

[@Mike41919]

great show....and I'm truly sorry to hear about your brother.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thank you, Mike.

[@Mike41919]

@@FighterPilotPodcast your welcome sir. your in my prayers. you are doing amazing work with this podcast

[@couchfighter]

LEGEND...MIC DROP!

[@johnb7490]

What a great interview!!!! Amazing topic and pilot.

[@caseyholland7860]

Possibly the finest fighter ever made, made so not by tech, but by men like Bud Anderson

[@headiii_plays]

Thanks Boat and Rain! Am hyped for the upcoming campaign!

[@shrabaniadhikary863]

Great work sir.

[@tylergarrett4498]

Had the pleasure of having one of these diving on our rail gang on the Palouse byway last Sunday

[@hunter35474]

Ever since I read his book, I've been hoping that Col. Anderson would make an appearance on the show!

[@Anuj-2]

My favorite fighter from WW2

[@couchfighter]

Mhy Uncle "soup" Campbell gave me a copy of Yeager as a kid! What an honor to hear his voice in 2021! "bud was chucks best friend"

[@danb1059]

Great interview!

[@heazheaz6105]

Rain, didn't realize you were a Yellow Jacket. Nice to see fellow alumni representing in the broader media world. THWG!

[@crownlands7246]

amazing, how the P51D still lure the imagination of so many. Kills to production numbers were 2.6 compared to the Spit, a testimony to a fortunate marriage of the ving design and the Merlin tech. Spits kill/loss ratio was 2.3 and the Mustang's 1.96, i.e. suggesting a slightly higher survivability of 16 per cent for Spit pilots, albeit reasons for this probably are so diverse, it would likely be a gigantic undertaking to point towards possible reasons, if any

[@tabascoindy5005]

The Cadillac of skies

[@gregory.chalenko]

I wish it was a video interview!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

There is an hour long video supplement on our Patreon page.

[@antr7493]

Did he say The Afterburn Podcast will have a show with Bud on it?

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

No, just letting those that weren’t aware, know it’s out there! Rain has some good guests on a variety of subjects, so wanted to get him some air time!

[@fazole]

Bud wrote they gave them a shot of whiskey with their eggs and off they went!

[@DonaldRussell-g9t]

If I was in WW two i would have liked to have is the F 4 U are the P 51 .

[@billdewahl7007]

Yes, anything that was moving...

[@wtscl]

Too many AF guys on a Navy Fighter Pilots podcast! JK! I'm prior Navy AND Air National Guard. Keep up the good work!!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You had me going, Rich, was about to stand our ground. Good one!

[@YardenJZ]

Every single person alive today, at the very least in Israel (my native land) as well as everywhere from Germany to the UK owes a debt we can never repay to that generation.

[@summerisbettter6655]

First