Board Member
Born in 1924, the eighth child to a family in Illinois, Obbie grew up on the farm, took flying lessons, and soloed at 17. He joined the Illinois Air National Guard at 17 and entered the Army Aviation Cadet program at 18. Upon graduation as a pilot in the Army Air Corps, he became an instructor pilot at Randolph Field, Texas, starting with cadets, and later instructed in B-17's and B-29's to advanced pilots. Later he was on his way to the Pacific in a B-29 when the atomic bomb was dropped, ending WW-II.
Continuing service during the ensuing "Cold War", he served as the "Standardization Board Instuctor Pilot" with the 97th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force, under General LeMay. The 97th patrolled the Russian perimeter with two B-29s at striking distance, 24 hours a day, with an "A" bomb at the ready. One of the operational bases was in Alaska and occasionally Obbie's mission took him directly over the North Pole.
Obbie returned to civilian life in 1949 and with his wife Doris, raised a family of four children and established a successful career in the automobile business. He operated several dealerships over a period of time, including vehicles from Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, and British Motor Company. During this period, he also operated a rental and wholesale business until he retired in1985.
Obbie Atkinson always
continued to fly his personal airplanes coast to coast and to the Bahamas on business and pleasure. He was active in his community serving positions with the Kiwanis, the Airport Authority, and as the areas' first Civil Air Patrol Commander.
Later, after he and Doris moved to Paso Robles, CA., he became an active member of the newly created Estrella Warbird Museum, and until recently served as the Membership Chairman. Presently, he serves as chairman of the newly activated "Freedom Flight Veterans Memorial .
Obbie has continued to be active as a pilot now for 65 consecutive years. In 1996 at the age of 71, he flew a restored 65hp, 1941 Army L-2 Taylorcraft, coast to coast, delivering it from the Paso Robles museum to the Hendersonville N.C. museum. The trip was successfully completed on the morning of the fifth day with 30 hours and 11 minutes flying time recorded. His present privately owned plane is an WW-II Army L-3 Grasshopper on exhibit at the Estrella Warbird Museum. By coincidence, Obbie and this particular airplane entered our country's Army the same month in 1943. They never met until 2005. You will continue to see Obbie and the Grasshopper in the air, leading the Estrella Warbird Museum Freedom Flight formation over events honoring our Veterans on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
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