Tonight, I found that Robert L. Scott, the author of God Is My
Copilot, just died. He was one of my heros that I got to meet, even
if only for a few minutes. The following is a story about meeting
him that I wrote a couple of years ago.
Chuck Anderson
When I was in elementary school, I read two books that had a
significant influence on my life. The first was I Wanted Wings by
Bernie Ley and the other was God Is my Copilot by Colonel Robert L.
Scott. God Is My Copilot was made into a very poor movie with some
good flying scenes that I enjoyed in spite of the stupid
script. Col. Scott built and flew model airplanes during WW I and
even built a hang glider that he promptly crashed into a thorn
bush. I tried to emulate his model flying but skipped the glider part.
Robert L Scott graduated from West Point the year I was born but,
strange as it seems, our Air Force careers overlapped. General Scott
retired from the Air Force in October 1957 while I completed my tour
of active duty in January 1958.
I have owned a paper back copy of God Is My Copilot since the early
50s and read it many times. In 1990, I found a 1943 first edition of
God Is My Copilot in a used bookstore in San Angelo, Texas. I had
heard that General Scott had retired to his hometown of Macon, GA and
spent a lot of time in the Aviation Museum at Robins AFB. I always
stop at every aviation museum I pass but never managed to get to the
one at Robins AFB until November 2002. I stopped in for a couple of
hours and was surprised at the number of airplanes on display. They
even had one of every plane I flew in my 26 years in the Air Force,
Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard.
When I arrived, I ask about General Scott and was told that he was in
that day but had gone to lunch. He was over 90 years old and I was
surprised to find he was still active in the museum. I waited around
until General Scott returned. A tall slender gray-haired man entered
and I finally got to meet a hero that had such a great influence in
my life. He retired as a General but to me, he will always be
Colonel Robert L. Scott of the Flying Tigers.
Now my 1943 original edition of God is my Copilot is autographed by the author.
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