'Bobby Gibbes: Wing Leader' was the title of the piece in the March issue of Aeroplane, but I can confirm that he was also a great humourist. During the summer of 1985, at the US Air Force's Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the annual tribute to 'Great Moments in Aviation History' was being prepared. As usual, the main mover in this occasion was Lt Col Dave McFarland, chief of warfare studies on the college's academic faculty and a considerable aviator himself - 140 missions over Vietnam, both North and South, in tactical recce RF-4C Phantom lis. He had done his customary deep research and located 24 of aviation's highest achievers, and they would be brought together at Maxwell for a week's 'Gathering of Eagles'.
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