Past Commander, Connecticut Wing Col Fred Herbert (1997 - 1999)
Preston - On a recent frigid morning, Frederick G. Herbert pulled back the protective covering on a 1973 Cessna Cardinal parked at the Groton-New London Airport.
He removed the protective blocks that keep birds from nesting near the propeller and then proceeded to tell guests about the width of the two doors, which are nearly the size of an automobile's to make entering and exiting the plane easier.
"It is a nice airplane, but it wasn't popular," he said looking at the flying machine. "It may be an old airplane, but it gets its annual inspections and is in pretty good shape."
The same could be same for its pilot.
Herbert, 80, has been flying for 49 years. An accomplished pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 flight hours and is proud of his continued membership in the Thames River Composite Squadron, a unit of the Connecticut Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
"He's been around for a long time. He was there in the old days when the squadron was doing (submarine) patrols. He's a living history book for the CAP and a wonderful person to have around," Squadron Lt. Col. and Commander Lawrence Kinch said recently.
As Herbert tells it, he's been flying so long he started with wooden propellers and 55-horsepower planes. He first took flight in 1947 at 18 years old, right around the time he joined the Maryland Air National Guard.
"All that time when I flew I expected that if I went down or if I was overdue the CAP would come search for me," Herbert said with great sincerity. "In the 1980s I thought, 'Gee, maybe I ought to do something for the CAP because of all those years I thought they could be looking for me.'"
Herbert joined the Thames River Squadron in 1981.
During his tenure he served as the commander of the Connecticut Wing, overseeing 13 squadrons throughout the state, and is now the northeast region's CAP historian. He has earned the rank of colonel within the CAP.
In October 2008, Herbert was honored for his service to the patrol and as the northeast region's historian. Specifically, he was recognized for a record-breaking flight from Hartford to York, Penn., which he did in two hours and three minutes, averaging slightly more than 202 kilometers per hour. He flew a Cessna 177B and the flight record represents the fastest speed of any piston engine landplane weighing between 1,102 pounds and 2,205 pounds, according to a news release from the National Aeronautic Association distributed at that time.
The primary reason for the flight was not to break a record. It was to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the death of a 2nd Lt. Andre E. Maye, also of Connecticut. Maye was a CAP pilot out of the Courier Service stationed at Bradley Airport, a service that transported personal and priority cargo on the onset of World War II.
According to Sept. 15, 1943, edition of The Gardner News, of Gardner, Mass., Maye and mechanic George M. Menzel died when their plane crashed in East Templeton. The two were en route to the Grenier Airport in New Hampshire.
In addition to the record in honor of Maye, Herbert also holds a second record for "speed over a recognized course" from Fisher's Island, N.Y., to Portland, Me., set in 1997.
Currently, Herbert uses the Cessna Cardinal, which he has co-owned with other pilots since 2002, and has taken many trips throughout the northeast region, mostly casual flights, such as transport to weddings or to visit friends.
Herbert said he expects to continue serving and flying for many more years, so long as he passes his annual pilot's physical.
"I've passed every year so far," he said with a sheepish grin as he proudly showed his pilot's license to prove what he said was true; he passed his physical on Nov. 30.
"It's a good hobby," Herbert said recently. "Now some people are very uncomfortable flying in light aircraft, almost terrified, and others feel it's wonderful, miraculous. I have always felt that way ... I marvel at it more than the average person."
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