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Father’s
wings took Andy into orbit
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(Above)
World War II veteran Adrian Thomas displays the new wings
presented to him by Air Commodore Philip Byrne in the presence
of his astronaut son, Andy, whose last mission was in the
space shuttle Discovery (below).
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Astronaut
Dr Andy Thomas might never have gone into space had he not built
World War II model aircraft and chatted about flying with his father,
Adrian, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot.
“My father certainly inspired me with his stories and our discussions
about aircraft,” said Dr Thomas, who first travelled to space
aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1996. “At one stage I did
consider following my father and joining the Air Force as a pilot
but I got caught up in engineering.”
While it is usually Dr Thomas who is in the spotlight for the outstanding
work he has performed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) during the past 10 years, it was his 78-year-old father who
was the guest of honour at RAAF Base Edinburgh on November 25.
Mr Thomas, who was a pilot in World War II, visited the base to
be presented with new Royal Australian Air Force wings.
It was quite appropriate that Dr Thomas attended the ceremony considering
the wings will replace his father’s original cloth brevet,
which he gave to Andy to take on his first space mission. The cloth
brevet, now safely back on earth, has done more than four million
miles in space – plus “quite a lot” in Lancasters,
according to Mr Thomas.
Mr Thomas wrote to Edinburgh’s Base Commander, Wing Commander
Rick Subotkiewicz, asking to purchase a new brevet after a friend
and fellow World War II pilot sent him a photograph of himself wearing
modern metal wings above his medals on Anzac Day.
After confirming Mr Thomas’ service history, WGCDR Subotkiewicz
decided it might be appropriate to issue a “replacement”
set of wings.
Adelaide’s own astronaut proudly watched when Commander Maritime
Patrol Group Air Commodore Philip Byrne presented the new wings
to his father. Dr Thomas said having the old cloth brevet with him
during his first space mission made him feel closer to his father.
“I kept thinking, ‘I bet when he sewed these on (to his
battle dress), he would never have imagined where they would end
up’,” said the astronaut, who is NASA’s Deputy Chief
of the Astronaut Office.
Dr Thomas, 50, said it was pleasing to see his father given recognition
for his contribution to the Air Force. He has offered to take a
piece of Maritime Patrol Group memorabilia to space if he is selected
for another mission.
Mr Thomas joined the Air Force on October 15, 1942, and served until
December 18, 1945. He flew several aircraft types including Tiger
Moths, Airspeed Oxfords, Wellingtons and Lancasters and was posted
to No. 630 Squadron for operational duty but the war ended several
weeks later.
The visit to the air base prompted Mr Thomas to reveal an experience
he had never told anybody.
“In March last year, my wife Gillian and I went to the United
States to see my son’s launch [aboard Space Shuttle Discovery].
It was truly one of life’s great experiences … you see
the actual blast off and it’s like a silent movie at first
and then the sound hits you like all the barrages on the Western
Front,” he said.
“I am not normally sentimental but I was that day because once
the space shuttle was out of sight, I was handed a letter from Andy.
It said only a few words, ‘Well Dad, what did you think of
that? I bet you never thought your flying career would have brought
me to this’. And I tell you that broke me up. I was the proudest
father in the world.”
Before the ceremony, the Thomas family chatted with Maritime Patrol
Group aircrew in the No. 10 Squadron crew room, and Mr Thomas, in
particular, looked right at home.
Afterwards, they inspected the upgraded AP-3C Orion and said they
were impressed by the sophisticated technology and the roles performed
by the platform.
“It’s very different to what I used to fly, but I think
I could still make a fist of flying it,” said the affable former
pilot, who didn’t learn to drive a car until returning to Australia
after the war. And considering Mr Thomas was given the all clear
to go operational in Lancasters after only 1.5 hours conversion
training, it wouldn’t be surprising if he could jump right
into the cockpit and take to the sky.
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