Does anyone have any info on Ye Ancient & Secret Order Of The Quiet Birdmen?

My Father is a QB He was a LT. Commander in the Navy in WWII 86 yr old. He told me very little as it is secret. I respect that. Here is the info he gave me.
* you must be pilot in command for a min of 500 hours before they even look at you
* You must be invited (sponsored)- a guest first (he a guest for 7 years before membership) then a member
* If you disobey the strict rules you will be kicked out -NO DISCUSSION
* There is a finite number of members, when quota is met no more allowed. You would
have to wait for a death among them to fill that spot.
* no dues
* the food is great (he belongs to the Phila. hanger)
* many well known high ranking men are members but once a member all are considered equal even those that are not known to many
* Eddie Rickenbacher founded the QB in 1921 in NY city

My husband was a WWII vet...God Bless Him..and he told the story about in the 1950's (?) 60's)...going to a dinner and cocktail party for the QB's...and that is where I first heard about them...all WWI pilots and God Love them...Wild Men yet. OK...they had waitresses who were nude above the waist..and they kissed them on their (you know what's.)..my husband thought they were great and randy and still have that WWI comraderie about them...(party was near or in New York City). My husband died at 85 last year (2007)...He and his Sgt Pilots were also great men...and I miss him a lot. The Sgt Pilots were guys who were smart enough to pass pilots exams but ddn't get to go to college..he was flying troop transports in New Guinea in 1942 when there were no fields or landing strips...it was another world. God Bless Them All.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


Bless you Dear,

I have known other great QB's and respect your choice of mates! The real tell of qb's is doing, not displaying! Respect is earned, not demanded.

Honorary (not inducted) qb,

M.

My Grandfather was a member of the Quiet Birdman Society and i've always wanted to know more about it.. He was in WWI and flew planes not in the war but in the 1920's and even walked on the wings of planes

When he died in 1979 his memory was honored by fellow Birdmen with a signed plack by living members who outlived him.. His last name was Siefferman, but I haven't found much on the Internet about this ...

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


As a long time QB I appreciate your motives in returning the code book. If you ever have any aspirations of being invited to become a member, you have just taken the correct first step.

Yes, we are private, exclusive and secret all at the same time. If you are not a member then our activities should be of no concern to you.

As one writer put it, "what part of secret" don't you understand? It is no more your business what goes on in your neighbors house as it is in our organization.

If we feel it is in your best interest, we will find you!

Well, there has to be something to this, as the last 'how many' replies are by anonymous...

These guys obviously (in my mind) belong to a secret society, as they don't want to unveil their identities...

Wonder if John Lear could comment on this? He, of all people, should know something. If he is part of it, I respectfully don't consider that he tell us. But, it would be nice if he could confirm the existence.

Come on John, let us know

Im a QB.....we drink, we tell lies and we are SECRET......Most of all, we provide some of the families of fallen pro aviators with financial aid...thats about it, you dont fill out an application, you are INVITED to join, no other way to get in....Keep your nose clean, be a good guy, if you eat drink, breathe aviation, and have distinguished yourself and honored this profession in a favorable way, then you might be contacted.

Cheers

Thank you! People are way to nosy and need to just relax. These are the greatest men around with a ton of history and experience. And you want to just up and join for no good reason. These are some of the best men I have ever met and your attitude will never get you in there. They will smell you coming a mile away.

My son just found a leather bound face book of all the Quiet Birdmen. It has all of their names, photos and many signatures. It belonged to Clyde E. Pengborn and was engraved to him and signed to him. Any interest?

It is a secret organization of male pilots founded by WWI pilots in New York in Jan 1921. I can reveal nothing more because as a QB, I am honor bound to reveal nothing more than the above.ira

reply to post by The flying fool


Dear Flying Fool,

It is my wish to inform you that one of your fellow Quiet Birdmen is no longer with us. My father-in-law passed away in July of 2007. While going through his papers, we found his QB certificate. It states he is QB No. 28,855. Being respectful for the secrecy of your organization, I am not requesting any information. If any QB would like any other information about him, please feel free to reply.

Respectfully,
TLM

I am proud to be a member of an organization where the members are so bound by the oaths of membership. As a member I have had the opportunity to meet and sup with famous aviators as an equal. I am proud of this organization and our members. If only the members of our great country would be so honor bound.

Well this philanthropic and tea toddling atmosphere seems most congenial and what being a stand up guy in a guy's world is supposed to be all about.

If the secret is only about membership, and drinking and kissing waitresses' you know what's, then it certainly isn't such a big deal. But more likely the Quiet Birdmen are just that, quiet when it comes to revealing what they're flying. How many of them use this occasion to vent the experimental test planes they've spun around in reckless maneuvers... such as taking off? And wouldn't they share UFO stories, either sightings from the cockpit or even some of them holding the stick?

I'll bet, now that I've said this, we'll see all the friendly anonymous QB posters vanish into thin air like so many cloaked stealth aircraft pilots.

well, that's not it at all.
not to say a few folks haven't seen things they couldn't explain - haven't we all? but certainly not the thread that binds.
anyone still alive that knew my great-uncle c.s. "casey" jones, i would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
if you have a relative that is/was an early QB, and/or served in France ca. 1918, flew in the air races, went to the casey jones school of aeronautics, etc: please ask them! i am very interested in filling out my family history, of which casey was an eccentric figure.
my email is:
dlj [at] foetus [dot] org
secrecy is admirable, but with each passing comes the loss of history, unless it is retold.

reply to post by ShatteredSkies


The truth behind the quiet birdmen if you want to know, is a organization for "Dinosuar Pilots," who really dont have a place in the incoming aviation scene, so they form a secret hangout in a t-hangar and drink and share the same war stories they told you last weekend and, most of the birdmen rallies i walked into have strippers doing shows in the hangars...i know fellow pilots who have been approached by the "QB's" and have been ask to fly strippers to there next even at another airfield. "So my understanding they are geriatrics who like to drink and are into stripper logistics in a desperate atemp to capture a few moments of there youth" they also have hazzing serimonies before you can become a member... the jellow of the month club would be a funner organization to be apart of if you ask me!

I worked in the QB Exec. offices for half a year as the organization started the process of beoming computerized.... back in 1995. It was a good group of Officers and a privilege to work with them. Talking to representatives from the hangars all over the country was also a great experience and on the whole, the members I interacted with were truly good fellows.

We worked to make sure that the group's desire to be secret society even keeping the phone number remained unpublished to honor their wishes. Returning the "plaque" (ID) and code book to the Hangar will be appreciated.

reply to post by Enigmatic Debris
My father was a QB. He died in 1989. I remember he used to go to QB meetings at least once a year until he was well into his sixties. My Mother just gave me a letter sent just after his death by Dudley Hill who was Secretary of the Executive Committee of the QB. The return address of the Executive Committee was: 44 Orchard Road, Lancaster, PA 17601. My father stopped going to some of the meetings because he feared some of the strippers might mock his lack of ability.

I am a QB and I am honor bound not to reveal what occurs at our meetings. I can, however, say that QBs is a group of male aviators (not all of which are “old”) who are invited to join an “order”, but the group is not necessarily a drinking fraternity. You have to be invited to join the QBs and then you must be accepted by the members of your local hangar as a goodfellow and as an experienced aviator. Not all pilots are invited and not all invited pilots are accepted into membership. To learn more about the group you must become a member. There is nothing nefarious or sinister about our desire for secrecy and privacy – it is what we are about and how we wish it to remain. If you are an experienced aviator and a goodfellow, you may get contacted by a member someday, but the best way not to be considered as a potential member is to request membership or try to pry into a group the prefers to remain secret and private about its affairs.