Rising Higher - Richard Biffle's Aviation Legacy
by
Andrew Wells

JANUARY 2001

Sometimes we pass real heroes on the street, and we're never the wiser that we were in the presence of true dignity. Lt. Col. Richard L. Biffle Jr. wouldn't have had it any other way.

"My dad was a very quiet, very humble kind of individual," says son Dr. Richard L. Biffle III of his father, a man whose career in the Air Force spanned 27 years and whose life was founded on a love of flying.

Born Oct. 11, 1920 in Pueblo, Colorado, Richard Biffle's aviation aspirations began early. It was in 1928, at eight years of age, when he saw an advertisement for a 15-minute flight in a Ford Tri-Motor aircraft. The cost was one dollar. Unbeknownst to his parents, Richard pulled the money from his piggy bank, journeyed across Pueblo to the airport and got his ride. While getting out of the plane, a photographer snapped his picture, which would appear in the paper that evening. It would become a defining moment for Richard.

While attending Centennial High School in Pueblo, Biffle met his future wife, Louise Hill, who went to Central High School.

"They were high school sweethearts," said Dr. Biffle.

While Biffle applied to the Army-Air Corps, the racial prejudice of the nation at the time would not allow an African-American to become a military pilot. Instead, he applied for and nearly completed civilian pilot training at Pueblo Junior College only to be dropped because there was no place in active duty for black pilots. However, by this time the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama began training black pilots for fighter aircraft. As a member of Tuskegee Airman Primary Class 45A, Biffle completed single engine and later multi-engine bombardment training.

"He was part of a replacement squadron that was getting ready to go to Europe when the war ended," said Dr. Biffle. "The problem that happened with many Tuskegee aviation cadet classes is that they would be held up because of segregated policies."

It was during the war, on March 11, 1943, when Richard Biffle and Louise Hill were married.

After the war, Biffle and several other Tuskegee airmen tried to join the Air National guard. "Unusual" recruitment policies remained firmly in place. Despite these setbacks, Biffle and other area pilots formed the Swoop Flying Club to get young people interested in flying.

After President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, integrating the military, Biffle returned to the service. During the Korean conflict, there was a shortage of experienced fighter pilots and Biffle's expertise proved valuable as a teacher. He would fly under Gen. Chuck Yeager twice, first flying the F-100. Biffle's subsequent transfer back to Yeager's command was the general's request. Biffle helped lead High-Flight, a Department of Defense program that rapidly deployed fighter squadrons to Europe in the event of war. In a career spanning nearly three decades, Biffle would fly over 80 combat missions over North Vietnam and serve in both the Strategic Air Command bomber wings and Tactical Air Command.

After retiring from the Air Force, Biffle became the first African American pilot for the Customs Department, flying drug interdiction missions along the US-Mexico border.

Many of Biffle's pastimes were an extension of his love of flying. He was highly skilled in the field of electrical engineering, avionics and HAM radio operation.

"He was a master mechanic with automobiles," recalled Dr. Biffle. "He'd take a half-inch wooden dowel and put it right on the engine casing and tune the car by listening to the dowel."

While assignments such as SAC were notorious for the long periods of time that they took from pilots and their families, Biffle made provisions.

"He was always home for Christmas. He somehow finagled a way to get back," said Louise Biffle, who worked as a secretary and schoolteacher over the years. "I always wanted to travel. We got to visit Osaka, Japan, and so many other places. I wouldn't have been able to travel if he hadn't sent for me."

"I never knew what he was thinking about, except his planes. He and his crew were always planning their next trip," said Mrs. Biffle, speaking of a quiet, reserved man who never lost his passion for flight.

Biffle "stepped off" on December 7, 2000 at the age of 80.

"He was a quiet pioneer in aviation history," said his daughter Marilyn Hosea, "and truly fit the profile of a 'Lone Eagle'".

SEE ALSO
The Tuskegee Airmen - Victorious in Many Battles

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