THE  Caterpillar Club's  Aviation History of Central New York State © 
by Mark S. Barbour 

SYRACUSE, N.Y., THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 23, 1955  How It Feels to Be Shot Out of a Jet 

How does it feel to be shot out of a mile high fast-moving plane by a 50 millimeter shell? "It was a terrific sensation. I tumbled around in space for about five seconds. I'm convinced this thing works," said smiling First Lt. Thomas E. Nott of Philadelphia, who was forced to bail out of his F-84 F Thunderstreak jet over Cicero Center last night after his right landing gear failed to come down..... 

..."Now he's a member of the CATERPILLAR CLUB," Maj. Alexander Lyon, commander of the squadron, stated. Every pilot who bails out safely is sent a miniature caterpillar emblem. 

In the mid 1940's - 1950's Hancock Field in Syracuse, New York was building its aviation history. Some airmen like Lt. Nott were fortunate and became members of the CATERPILLAR CLUB, others were not as fortunate. This book will try to describe how these brave men risked their lives for their country, and for you and me from Syracuse, New York. 

These stories would be extraordinary by themselves, the search for survivors, the near misses of being able to walk or swim away from a crash, if it were only limited to the skies of Syracuse. These stories were told, and retold a hundred times over, at every air base in the country. 

I was born in 1956, after most of these incidents took place. You might ask why I became interested in these stories. I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's. When I graduated high school the Vietnam War was over and the apparent threat of war. I learned that the cost of freedom was a very high one. As my children grow up in the 1990's and through the next century, that we can keep these stories close to our hearts, that we value our lives and freedom's that were won for us. 

This book is dedicated to my children Nicholas, now 14, Tony, now age 11, Dylan Thomas, age 8, and my beautiful wife Theresa who encourages my spirit of adventure.