Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '[[File:Quiet Birdmen card of D. I. Lamb.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|[[Dean Ivan Lamb]]'s membership card]]
The '''Quiet Birdmen''' is a secretive club in the United States for male [[aviator]]s. Founded in 1921 by [[World War I]] pilots, the organization meets in various locations, never announced to the public. Members, called QBs, must be invited to join, and they join for life. Today, the club's membership, organized into regional "hangars", is made up primarily of retired airline and military pilots, as well as a few astronauts.<ref name=FlyingDutchman/> It is also known as '''ye Anciente and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen'''.<ref name=Lamb/>
==History==
In France in November 1919, a group of [[World War I]] aviators started a drinking club called "The American Flying Club", and re-convened in New York City only to be barred from their clubhouse by the bailiff. In January 1921, a subset of that group, some ten to twenty aviators, began meeting fairly regularly on Monday nights in New York City at Marta, an Italian restaurant located at 75 Washington Place in the [[Greenwich Village]] neighborhood. Harold Hersey, the editor of ''Aces High'' magazine, ironically called the group the Quiet Birdmen because they were so boisterous.<ref name=FlyingDutchman/> At one meeting, reporter Steve Hannigan noticed the jocular group, and visited again the next week, bringing a sketch artist. Hannigan wrote up a feature story about the group, accompanied by a sketch—the first public information about the group. The attendees that night were [[Harry Bruno]], S. H. MacKeon, Wallace James, Richard R. "Dick" Blythe, Earle D. Osborn, Charles S. "Casey" Jones, Harold T. "Slim" Lewis, Ernest Loftquis, Paul G. Zimmerman, Donald Mcllhenny, Ladislas d'Orcy, Richard H. DePew Jr, George Hubbard, R. B. C. Noorduyn, and J. E. Whitbeck.<ref name=Bruno>{{cite web |url=http://earlyaviators.com/ebruno.htm |title=Harry Augustine Bruno |publisher=Early Aviators |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref> Because the group grew too large,<ref name=Jardur>{{cite web |url=http://jardur.com/secret-order-of-the-quiet-birdmen/ |title=Quiet Birdmen |publisher=Jardur Watches |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref> or because of the noise bothering other patrons, the management at Marta stopped them from meeting there.<ref name=FlyingDutchman>{{cite web |url=http://www.buehlfield.info/clubs-honors-recognition/qb-ox5-clubs |title=QB & OX5 Clubs |publisher=Flying Dutchman |accessdate=July 3, 2011}}</ref> Subsequent meetings were held in a different location each time, often a restaurant. Membership in the 1920s cost one dollar and lasted until death.<ref name=NYC1928>{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1928/01/07/1928_01_07_009_TNY_CARDS_000176319 |last=Thurber |first=James |authorlink=James Thurber |work=The New Yorker |title=The Talk Of The Town: 'Beyond Keewee and Modock' |date=January 7, 1921 |accessdate=July 3, 2011}}</ref> In the 1920s the emblem of the club was created: a blue shield with the letters QB in silver, the shield flanked by silver wings. In 1938, the club's meetings settled into the building owned by the [[Architectural League of New York]].<ref name=Jardur/><ref name=Lindsay/>
Harvey Mummert, vice president and chief engineer of Mercury Aircraft, has been credited as co-founder of the club.<ref name=Henderson/> Early members Bruno and Blythe started a public relations firm in 1923 and in 1927 they became known for promoting [[Charles Lindbergh]]'s solo trans-Atlantic flight.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=2r2YAex_-0EC&pg=PA132 |page=132 |last=Cohen |first=Charles D. |title=The Seuss, the whole Seuss, and nothing but the Seuss: a visual biography of Theodor Seuss Geisel |publisher=Random House Digital |year=2004 |isbn=0-375-82248-8}}</ref> Lindbergh was made a member of the Quiet Birdmen.<ref name=FlyingDutchman/> Unusually, a former combat foe was invited to join the club: [[Ernst Udet]], the highest-scoring German [[flying ace]] to survive WWI. Known as a fun-loving playboy, Udet performed aerobatics at the [[National Air Races]] in Cleveland in 1931 and '32, Los Angeles in '33, and again in Cleveland in '38. While visiting the U.S., Udet befriended Lindbergh,<ref>{{cite journal |title= |last=Gurney |first=Harlan "Bud" |work=Air Line Pilot |publisher=Air Line Pilots Association |year=1977 |volume=46 }}</ref> [[Eddie Rickenbacker]],<ref>{{cite journal |title= |last=Haymes |first=Edward R. |work=Theatrum mundi: essays on German drama and German literature dedicated to Harold Lenz on his seventieth birthday, September 11, 1978 |year=1980 |publisher=W. Fink |page=176 |volume=2 |series=Houston German studies}}</ref> [[Jimmy Doolittle]], [[Wiley Post]], [[Roscoe Turner]] and other American QBs.<ref>{{cite book |title=The fall of an eagle:
the life of fighter ace Ernst Udet |last=Van Ishoven |first=Armand |publisher=W. Kimber |year=1979 |isbn=0-7183-0067-X}}</ref>
Outside of New York, other Quiet Birdmen regional groups, or hangars, were formed. Before 1938, the club had a strict agreement against having a constitution, by-laws, dues, assessments, or club officers. No business was to be conducted, and no sales. Only male aviators were allowed to join, not female aviators or "Keewees" (non-flyers).<ref name=Jardur/> At the Cleveland Air Races in 1938, the QBs adopted a slightly more formal arrangement: a Board of Governors would be composed of one member from each hangar, and this board would choose an Executive Committee. Each regional hangar was to select a Key Man to handle club business. A year later, the group settled upon a QB Code of Procedure which described the structure of the club.<ref name=Jardur/> During [[World War II]] in London, England, a temporary hangar was formed in 1943 for club members posted to the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fitzmaurice.info/jmcf.html |title=Col. James M. Christopher Fitzmaurice |publisher=Origins of the Fitzmaurice Families |last=Fitzmaurice |first=John A. |accessdate=July 5, 2011}}</ref> The club's national Code of Procedure was modified again in 1953.<ref name=Jardur/>
In addition to the New York City hangar, regional groups have been formed in [[Washington DC]], [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], [[Wayne, New Jersey|Wayne]], [[San Francisco Bay Area]], [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], Palomar in [[San Diego County, California|San Diego County]], [[Oxnard, California|Oxnard]]/[[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], [[Fresno, California|Fresno]], [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]], [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]], [[Palm Desert, California|Palm Desert]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Rhode Island]], [[Ocala, Florida|Ocala]], [[Seattle]], North Cascade in northern [[Washington (state)|Washington state]], [[Milwaukee]], [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]], [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]] in [[South Carolina]], [[Daytona Beach, Florida|Daytona Beach]], [[Honolulu]], [[Lansing, Michigan|Lansing]], [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]], [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]], [[Akron, Ohio|Akron]], [[Indiana]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], [[Cincinnati]], [[Tampa Bay]], [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], [[Melbourne, Florida|Melbourne]], [[Venice, Florida|Venice]], [[Stuart, Florida|Stuart]], [[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]], [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]], [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]], [[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]], [[New Orleans]], [[Cape Cod]], [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Binghamton, New York|Binghamton]], [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]], [[Chicago]], [[Jackson Hole, Wyoming|Jackson Hole]], [[Boston]], [[Somerville, New Jersey|Somerville]], [[Hilton Head]], [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]], [[Hagerstown, Maryland|Hagerstown]], [[Denver]], [[Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania|Lehigh Valley]], [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Waterloo, Iowa|Waterloo]], and [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]], [[Shreveport]], [[Colorado Springs]] and many major cities in the US with large airports.
==Activities==
QB's regular activities reflect its mostly-elderly, predominantly conservative, white male membership. Typical QB get-togethers start with a toast to deceased members, glasses raised to the west in keeping with an old pilot's expression euphemistically referring to death as "going west." Food and drink are served, and perhaps a talk is given. Off-color jokes are plentiful. Nude or semi-nude female entertainment has been seen at some of the meetings, especially the Wing Dings which are larger parties held in late spring or summer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flyingmag.com/quiet-birdmen/unusual-attitudes-name-i-wont-utter |last=Lunken |first=Martha |title=Unusual Attitudes: A Name I Won't Utter |work=[[Flying (magazine)|Flying]] |date=March 11, 2010 |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref>
The Quiet Birdmen print a periodical called ''BEAM'' which features stories, jokes, and news of hangar get-togethers. No photos of QB parties are allowed in the journal. From time to time, various hangars have published commemorative membership books consisting of a brief recounting of the club's history, and photograph portraits of individual members. One such book was owned by club member K. S. "Slim" Lindsay, printed in May 1936. After Lindsay's death, it was donated in 2007 by his daughter to [[Wright State University]]. The leather-bound book has 160 pages and 640 photographs of Quiet Birdmen including portraits of Jimmy Doolittle, Wiley Post, Roscoe Turner, Walter R. Brookins and Ephraim Watkins "Pop" Cleveland.<ref name=Lindsay>{{cite web |url=http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/collection_guides/guide_files/ms359.pdf |title=MS-359: K.S. "Slim" Lindsay – "Quiet Birdmen" Book |publisher=Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University Libraries |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref> Another QB book was donated to the [[National Air and Space Museum]] by [[Arthur Raymond Brooks]]; it contains photographs of the members of the New York hangar and a description of the history and by-laws of the club.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19890646000 |title=Booklet, Quiet Birdmen |publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref>
Astronaut [[Edward Givens]] died in a car crash following a QB meeting. On a rainy Monday night, June 5, 1966, the Houston hangar of Quiet Birdmen met at the Skylane Motel on Telephone Road in [[Pearland, Texas]]. Fellow astronaut [[Gordon Cooper]] was there, and so were two U.S. Air Force reservists who had just been invited to their first QB meeting: Major William "Bill" Hall and Lieutenant Colonel Francis "Fran" Dellorto. Hall and Dellorto were told that they would become full members after attending twelve meetings. Givens was not drinking alcoholic beverages at the party as he was required at an important meeting the following morning. Between 11:30 pm and midnight, Givens offered Hall and Dellorto a ride back to their quarters at [[Ellington Airport (Texas)|Ellington Air Force Base]] in Houston, and the three left the motel in Givens' [[Volkswagen Beetle]].<ref name=FallenAstronauts>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iJ8WwRBNgk0C&pg=PA190 |pages=190–193 |title=Fallen astronauts: heroes who died reaching for the moon |last1=Burgess |first1=Colin |last2=Doolan |first2=Kate |last3=Vis |first3=Bert |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-8032-6212-4}}</ref> Givens drove north toward the main east–west highway, but mistakenly turned east onto parallel Knapp Road. He missed a sharp turn in the road and the car crashed into an irrigation ditch. Though he was wearing his lap belt, Givens' chest was crushed against the steering wheel. In the front passenger seat, Dellorto was seriously injured, while in the back seat, Hall was in fair condition. Givens, 37 years old, died on the way to the hospital early on June 6, pronounced dead on arrival at 12:40 am.<ref name=Jean1986>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1986-03-18/news/0210010230_1_gemini-9-bassett-astronauts/2 |title=Memorial Will Honor All Who Died |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=March 18, 1986 |last=Jean |first=Charlie |page=2 |accessdate=July 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautmemorial.net/givens.htm |title=Major Edward Galen Givens, Jr. (USAF) |work=In Memoriam: The Astronaut/Cosmonaut Memorial Web Site |accessdate=July 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:KE-XBifY91gJ:www.docstoc.com/docs/14737923/Auto-Accident-Kills-MSC-Pilot-Givens+edward+givens+vw&cd=22&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com |title=Auto Accident Kills MSC Pilot Givens |work=Roundup |publisher=NASA Manned Space Center |location=Houston, Texas |date=June 9, 1967 |volume=6 |number=17 |accessdate=July 5, 2011}}</ref>
In [[Ventura, California]], on a Monday night in October 1974, [[Ben Rich]] gave a talk to the Oxnard and Santa Barbara hangar of Quiet Birdmen about the [[Skunk Works]] program at [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]]. Rich spoke of the [[Lockheed U-2]] and [[Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird|SR-71 Blackbird]] programs which had recently been declassified, and identified QB member and attendee R. Scott Beat as a former U-2 pilot. Beat wrote in his book ''So Many Ways to Die: Surviving As a Spy in the Sky'' that this was the first time any of his friends or family had heard of that part of his past—he had faithfully kept the government's secrets to himself.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ewErTmZpDFAC&pg=PA160 |pages=160–161 |title=So Many Ways to Die: Surviving As a Spy in the Sky |last=Beat |first=R. Scott |publisher=Dog Ear Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=1-59858-277-1}}</ref>
Beginning in 1971, rancher and aviator [[John Spoor Broome|John S. "Jack" Broome]], a founding member of the Oxnard hangar, held an annual private airshow and barbecue for the Quiet Birdmen at his ranch in [[Camarillo, California]]. Members of the [[Commemorative Air Force]] and [[Planes of Fame]] often piloted several of their [[warbird]]s at the events.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.air-and-space.com/20060612%20Camarillo.htm |title=Quiet Birdmen Airshow operations at Camarillo, June 12, 2006 |publisher=Air-and-Space.com |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref> After Broome died in April 2009, the 39th annual airshow was held in his memory in June 2009.<ref name=VanGilder>{{cite web |url=http://www.vg-photo.com/airshow/qb39/qb39.html |title=QB-39 Staging, Camarillo Airport |last=Van Gilder |first=Eric |publisher=Van Gilder Aviation Photography |date=June 9, 2009 |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref> The Broome family hosted one final private airshow for the Quiet Birdmen on June 14, 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vg-photo.com/airshow/qb40/qb40-1.html |title=QB-40 |last=Van Gilder |first=Eric |publisher=Van Gilder Aviation Photography |date=June 14, 2010 |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref>
==Notable members==
{{colbegin|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Forrest Bird]]<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://itd.idaho.gov/aero/Rudder%20Flutter/2008/March%20FINAL.pdf |title=Dr. Forrest M. Bird: Physician, Inventor, Aviator |work=Rudder Flutter |publisher=Idaho Transportation Department, Division of Aeronautics |month=March |year=2008 |volume=54 |number=1 |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref>
* [[Arthur Raymond Brooks]]
* [[John Spoor Broome|Jack Broome]]<ref name=VanGilder/>
* [[Gordon Cooper]]<ref name=FallenAstronauts/>
* [[Eugene Peyton Deatrick]]
* [[Jimmy Doolittle]]<ref name=Lindsay/>
* [[Robert G. Fowler]]<ref name=Jardur/>
* [[Edward Givens]]<ref name=Jean1986/>
* [[Chalmers Goodlin]]
* [[Caleb V. Haynes]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cagenweb.com/montereybbs/viewtopic.php?p=3028&sid=a4d8d931edd13ba28ef63f20be708647 |title=Haynes, Caleb V. 1895–1966 |last=Taylor |first=Mary S. |date=April 18, 2008 |work=Monterey County Genealogy and History |publisher=CAGenWeb Project |accessdate=July 4, 2011 |location=Fresno, California}}</ref>
* [[Cliff Henderson]]<ref name=Henderson>{{cite book |title=QB Membership |publisher=Quiet Birdmen |year=1936}} Engraved on the leather cover is the name of club member [[Cliff Henderson|C. W. "Cliff" Henderson]].</ref>
* [[Dean Ivan Lamb]]<ref name=Lamb>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A20010304000 |title=Card, Membership, Quiet Birdmen |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |accessdate=July 4, 2011}}</ref>
* [[Walter E. Lees]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.earthlink.net/~ralphcooper/pimagj50.htm |title=Service in the Philippines, WWII, 1944–1945 |work=BEAM |publisher=Quiet Birdmen |last=Fraser |first=Art |accessdate=July 4, 2011}} From Ralph Cooper's website "Pioneer Pilot: Walter E. Lees, 1887–1957"</ref>
* [[Charles Lindbergh]]<ref name=FlyingDutchman/><ref name=Lindsay/>
* [[John H. Livingston]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livingstonaviation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=76 |last=Leighty |first=H. D. "Ike" |title=Our History |publisher=Livingston Aviation |accessdate=July 5, 2011}}</ref>
* [[Zack Mosley]]
* [[Clyde Edward Pangborn]]<ref name=Henderson/>
* [[Wiley Post]]<ref name=Lindsay/>
* [[Eddie Rickenbacker]]<ref name=FlyingDutchman/><ref name=Lindsay/>
* [[Charles E. Rosendahl]]
* [[Moye W. Stephens]]
* [[Roscoe Turner]]<ref name=Jardur/><ref name=Lindsay/>
* [[Ernst Udet]]<ref name=Henderson/>
* [[Jerry Vasconcells]]
{{colend}}
==See also==
* [[Order of Daedalians]]
==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiet Birdmen}}
[[Category:Aero clubs]]
[[Category:Clubs and societies in the United States]]
[[Category:Men's organizations]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1921]]
[[Category:Private clubs]]' |
