Third in a series, we at Zeta Lambda give a big salute to:
Capt. John Richard Bostick (Mu ’65)
As we get to know John (Bosco) Bostick… Many of our younger Brothers may not have heard of “Bosco” but he is truly a high flyer like no other Brother ever to come out of Zeta Lambda. John has literally soared above us all. And in stunning fashion.
You see, Bosco was the lead solo pilot in the famed Air Force Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds squadron is an Air Combat Command unit of the United States Air Force composed of eight pilots (including six demonstration pilots), four support officers, three civilians and more than 130 enlisted personnel performing in 25 career fields. Thunderbirds air demonstrations are an exciting mix of formation flying and solo routines. Created 69 years ago in 1953, the USAF Thunderbirds are the third-oldest formal flying aerobatic team the world.
The pilots perform approximately 30 breathtaking flight maneuvers in demonstration airshows throughout the Summer and Fall each year.
The Thunderbirds perform precision aerial maneuvers demonstrating the capabilities of Air Force high performance aircraft to people throughout the world. The squadron exhibits the professional qualities the Air Force develops in the people who fly, maintain and support these aircraft.
In 1986, the Thunderbirds participated in the rededication flyby of the Statue of Liberty and in September, another milestone was attained when the team went over the 200 million mark for total attendance. In July 1996, the team participated in opening ceremonies of the Centennial Olympics held in Atlanta which were viewed by an estimated 3.5 billion people around the world. The aerial displays are not specifically created as crowd pleasers; the maneuvers are actually successful combat tactics taught to every USAF pilot.
John was born December 22, 1945, in Fulton, KY, and grew up as a farm boy in Hickman County, in Water Valley, a small farming community 35 miles west of Murray. It was on the family farm at about age 5 when he saw an airplane fly over and noticed that people stopped what they were doing and went outside to watch it. From that moment on being a pilot and flying airplanes was his life goal.
Perhaps that explains why John always marched to the beat of a different drummer… in a good way. He’s had a case of flying fever since that first day on the farm seeing his first plane fly over.
I’ve liked John from when he was a kid. He’s like family. We stay in close touch.
Dwain Taylor (Charter ’59)
“I graduated from Hickman County High School in 1964 and enrolled at Murray State University,” John muses. He intended to major in agriculture.
“In the beginning it was beer, airplanes, girls or it was girls, beer, airplanes and then ATO. Either way or whatever order you put them in, grades were not part of the equation. Shortly thereafter in the fall of 1965 I received a letter from MSU stating that my attendance at our esteemed institution of higher education was no longer desired. I was getting an education but just in the wrong subject matters.” he laughed wryly.
Bill Beasley, John’s Big Brother (Lambda ’64) confides that Bosco maybe passed only Freshman Orientation. He didn’t go to them…someone sat in his assigned seat all semester. He made an A, 100% perfect attendance. Smart. But he’d flunked out. And now he was about to be drafted.
“Good Deal Bostick”
Going to his last ATO meeting as a student that fateful last semester, John stood up in the Good of the Order and proudly announced, “Guys, I’m leaving school. I’ve joined the Navy. I got a good deal.” Many of that era still call Bosco “Good Deal Bostick.”
Ladies, like Shannon Beasley (our first Sweetheart, Bill’s sister), Charlene Beasley (her sister-in-law, Bill’s wife),and others, referred to him simply as “The best looking ATO on campus.” The girls and Brothers loved him. [per Bill Beasley (Lambda ’64)]
The military draft at the time was beginning to heat up to bring the controversial Vietnam War to the American home front. During the height of the Vietnam War era, between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted 2.2 million American men out of an eligible pool of 27 million. John wanted to be in more control of his destiny so he elected to enlist in the Navy, like his dad, Bernard, did during WWII.
Bosco became a submarine man, about as far from the skies as possible. He wasn’t accepted into the Navy pilot school because he’d failed miserably in college and even the Navy wasn’t too keen on flunkies. It was simple: No degree, no pilot training. Discharged in 1970, he returned to Murray and graduated in 1972 as a business economics major. This time around he made the Dean’s List six straight semesters and graduated with honors. Now he had the degree and just barely made it into pilot training in the USAF under the age limit. He enlisted from a recruitment table set up in the lobby of the Student Union Building. Mickey Johnson was the first to know. He was there.
John is the best friend I ever had.
Mickey Johnson (Upsilon ’69)
Bosco was commissioned in the Air Force in 1973 and earned his pilot’s wings in June of 1974. He was an honor graduate from pilot training and was one of only two graduates in the class of 63 who was awarded an F-4 Phantom as a flying assignment. The Phantom is a large supersonic fighter jet utilized as an interceptor/fighter-bomber that includes air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground-missiles, various bombs, and a rotating cannon. In all that’s 18,000 pounds of weapons. John flew the F-4 for seven years in Europe, Asia and in various assignments stateside.
A Tau Top Gun…John is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School (Air Force version of the Navy’s Top Gun). The U.S. Air Force Weapons School trains tactical experts and leaders to control and exploit air, space and cyber on behalf of the joint force. Weapons Officers are the instructors of the Air Force’s instructors and serve as advisors to military leaders at all levels, both those in uniform or civilian elected or appointed government positions.
Known as a “Patch” or “Patch wearer,” a weapons officer not only bears a heavy responsibility but possesses the uncanny ability to rise to the top of the heap, despite any adversity standing in his path. That describes Bosco to a T.
John was an instructor in the German Luftwaffe Fighter Weapons School. He was one of six pilots selected USAF-wide to participate in the Camp David Peace Accords September 1978 and instructed Egyptian pilots how to fly the Phantom and flew an F-4 to Egypt and delivered it to the Egyptian air force.
“ATO was an inspiration to me and helped me prepare for many of the things I’ve accomplished,” says the retired Capt. “Being successful requires hard work, and hard work follows inspiration, and role models,” noting ATO’s provision of encouragement by Brothers, whose friendships last a lifetime. I was always thinking about our brotherhood and striving to do better and make the Brothers proud. “
John’s pledge class, Mu ( ’65), was 25 strong with one social affiliate and a noteworthy transfer. The Worthy Master was John Burrus (Theta ’63).
“The most inspirational Brother for me is Dwain Tayor (Charter ’59) whom I’ve known for close to 60 years and who rushed me hard to join ATO when he lived in Fulton and I was merely a local farm boy living just out of town. My best friend in Zeta Lambda is Mickey Johnson (Upsilon ’69) who was always by my side no matter what the endeavor. He even participated in an F-15 simulator session at Luke AFB, AZ when I was just learning how to fly the Eagle. Billie Joe Rayburn (Zeta ’62) took me under his wing and guided my rush efforts to become a Brother and pulled for me to make whatever the minimum GPA required to make the cut. I barely made it. Robbie Rudolph (Alpha Epsilon ’73) is highly respected and keeps me in the loop on current events. My favorite pledge class besides my own is Chi (Spring 1970) and the NOLA Walkout (to New Orleans, LA) has rekindled my spirit of brotherhood and is one of my favorite trips for the past 10 years.”
“Being in Alpha Tau Omega is truly a lifetime membership experience I cherish,” Bostick confides.
John represents the values of Alpha Tau Omega we were taught while pledging. A true American Patriot. To this day, John is flying for projects, and himself, as well as farming. Not afraid of work. I am proud to call him my Brother.
Robbie Rudolph (Alpha Epsilon ’73)
This patch was sewn on our (well-worn) blue blazer pockets sported to all major events back in the day. The blazer was probably the only “formal attire” most of us had. We were proud to have earned it. Bosco had one…his first “dress blues.”
His distinguished accomplishments led John to being selected to rebuild the USAF Aerial Demonstration Team Thunderbirds after a tragic accident in 1982 that killed all four members of the diamond four ship formation. Within 18 months the Thunderbirds were again practicing for a public airshow.
Bosco is one of a kind. From the day I escorted him to the first Rush Party he was something special. But very green. He’s earned every accolade and deserves our respect for his many aviation accomplishments.
Billie Joe Rayburn (Zeta ’62)
Bosco was picked to join the elite Thunderbirds team flying the new F-16 Fighting Falcon in June 1982. It is a Mach two fighter that travels at twice the speed of sound when needed in combat scenarios. Competition to be a Thunderbird officer was stiff. At the time the Air Force had 22,000 pilots. Only 6 fly on the Thunderbirds.
“It was a tremendous amount of work. Not only did we have to learn to be Thunderbirds and fly the maneuvers, we had to design a whole new airshow routine around the new airplane and its much improved performance capability over previous aircraft,” he reflects.
Bosco epitomizes the training, natural talent, and desire to excel that characterizes Thunderbirds team-members. But…
Bostick crashes
On one of his early airshow events in 1983 in Cleveland, OH Bosco decided to try a test flight in a Hawk ultra-light aircraft owned by a local firm because he was interested in flying one for fun. The owner hoped to impress him and get a backdoor Thunderbird endorsement. The small two-passenger plane is not classified as an aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and an operator does not have to be licensed to fly it. Made mostly of poly-fiber because it is lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to shape, the aircraft’s top speed is about 50 mph and it is powered by a 30 horsepower engine that drives a single rear propeller. It only weighs slightly over 250 pounds. It starts like a lawnmower engine does.
Bostick received little instruction on how to operate the aircraft because of his extensive flying experience. Before a person is allowed to fly the plane they are usually given more detailed instructions than Bostick received. He took off from Burke Lakefront Airport at about 11 a.m. The Thunderbirds were scheduled to fly at 4 p.m. that Sunday afternoon in October.
The plane’s engine stopped about 400 feet off the ground and Bostick was forced to attempt a gliding landing after cranking the starter cord frantically. He ditched the plane in Lake Erie about 160 feet away from the shore instead of crashing into the rocky abutment that supports the land fill the airport is on. Bosco was quickly rescued uninjured by the Coast Guard. The craft was pulled from 28 feet of water and after some extensive cleaning of the fuel and oil systems flew again later that day in the airshow. Turned out to be a broken spark plug.
“The Patch” made the 4 p.m. airshow with flying colors. The Hawk owner showed up with egg on his face. “I wouldn’t fly that piece of crap if it were given to me,” John declared emphatically.
After the Thunderbirds, he was an F-15 Eagle test pilot at Eglin AFB in Florida where he retired from the USAF and now lives in Fort Walton Beach near the base. He flew a multitude of test missions in the F-15 developing new radar technologies, new weapon system capabilities, and worked closely with Hughes Aircraft Corp, McDonnel Aircraft Corp, and Raytheon Weapons Systems to keep the USAF on the leading edge of warfighting capability.
After retiring from the USAF, Bosco joined Northwest Airlines (now Delta Airlines) and flew the Boeing 747 across the Pacific and around the world. He was selected to be an instructor pilot for the 747 by Northwest and the FAA selected him to be an onsite check airman to give pilot evaluations and approve pilots to fly the 747 for commercial passengers. Northwest was the world’s sixth largest airline in terms of domestic and international scheduled passenger miles flown and the U.S.’s sixth largest airline in terms of domestic passenger miles flown. When absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger, it made Delta the largest airline in the world.
After a full career with the airlines, Bosco retired and went to work for Jacobs Engineering as a Flight Test Engineer and flew the CV-22 Osprey at Hurlburt AB writing test plans and evaluating the autopilot flight control interface software as a test engineer. After nine years of test flying with the USAF on the CV-22, he retired once again and this time went to work for Sunshine Aero Industries (SAI) Flight Test. He is currently a contract test pilot with SAI testing new weapon system technologies for Raytheon and Lockheed Martin under USAF and Navy contracts. Highly classified stuff.
“I’m one of the lucky ones. I have spent my entire life enjoying my hobby and lifelong love: Flying. I’ve been a professional pilot for almost 50 years and have never had to go to work. I just found another airplane to fly.” – John Bostick
John continues to fly. In addition to his test pilot duties with SAI, he owns a Cessna 182 (left) which he uses to fly home. It is a 4-seater with a wide fuselage, swept tailfin with rear “omni-vision” window, and large baggage compartment that allows higher gross weights.
John is currently building his second airplane, an RV-8 (right). A popular kitplane, it provides the fighter-like feel of center-line seating, with a wide fuselage and cockpit that accommodates two large people in comfort.
Bosco has flown over 50 different types of aircraft including WWII bombers and fighters: F-4U Corsair, Boeing PT-17 Stearman, North American T-6, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator and the B-25 Mitchell bomber that took part in the Doolittle Raids in April of 1942. He had the great occasion to fly one of the Raider crew members, Ed Horton, in a B-25 in 2007. In 2009 he flew Buzz Aldrin in his Stearman from Bosco’s homeowner-owned personal airport in Baker, FL.
John also farms with his cousin approximately 3,000 acres in west Kentucky and he often flies from his private Skypark Airport in the western panhandle of Florida to Union City, TN to help out with farm related duties. It is a little over 400 miles by air. To drive it takes over 8 hours. Roots and wings keeps John busy.
He usually hits The Keg in Fulton to see his good buddy Pat Gossum (Alpha Epsilon ’73) and drops in to Murray to see old friends or attend the local luncheons. Many of you may recall Bosco skywriting on a windy day in 2009 to help celebrate Zeta Lambda’s 50th Anniversary.
John now calls Fort Walton Beach, FL his home along with wife Lark. He is proud of his daughters Amanda and Emily who are huge fans of their dad, too. His mom, Helen, a well-loved feisty lady, who turned 100 this year and passing away just 10 days after her birthday, was proud of her son as well.
Bosco’s roots still remain in Kentucky but his home is in the sky and his wings take him anywhere he wants to go. Solo. His greatest joy.
Special thanks to Brother Steve Farmer (Xi) for his third installment, “Get to Know John (Bosco) Bostick”, of the Get to Know series!!