"Snake Pilots"? Snake "S" wing

[rathbonemuseum.com]

So i was reading "Through Hell's Gate to Shanghai" by John G. Martin regarding the service of the 10th Combat Cargo Squadron in Burma. In it he describes pilots flying small nimble planes up and down the Burma valleys who wore "S" wings. Because of their nimbleness, they were called "Snake Pilots," according to Martin. I then googled the phrase and found this errata in a 1957 newspaper saying pretty much the same thing. Experienced commercial pilots were militarized as Service pilots and were called "Snake Pilots." This is a first for me. Not heard this term. I am used to the convention that guys flying small nimble planes were Liaison pilots but hey, this may not always be the case. And I have never heard of "Snake Pilots." It brings me back to an AE Co pilot wing i have in the collection that is ground down and has a stylized "S" in the shape of a snake! A mystery!

[pfrost]

Interesting.  I talked to a Service pilot a number of years ago who was flying fuel over the hump in a converted B24.  He told me that he hated the service pilot wing, and actually petitioned the USAAF to be allowed to wear his pilot wings.

 

He had an interesting history.  During the depression, he set off with a buddy in a car that they bought and drove around the country until it broke down.  At some point, he learned how to fly and then when the car broke down in Florida, he got a job working for Emery with the BFTS program training the British cadets how to fly.    Then when the war started he stayed on as a civilian instructor training American cadets.  During this time, he tried multiple times to get into the USAAF, but he was a little too old for combat flight and they wouldn't take him.  Eventually, he got a commission as a service pilot and went to the CBI and flew fuel over the hump.  Told me that was a lot of fun... flying a converted B24 full of aviation fuel from India into China... not.  The thing he was most proud of was the little hootch that he and his copilot built in the jungle.  Had pictures of that and even made a little model of it.  Kept NONE of his WWII items though.  I did get a couple of photos that  he had in an album but nothing of him wearing wings.

 

He always felt that the service pilot rating was an insult so when they let him wear his regular pilot wings, he tossed the service pilot wings away.  I told him that as a collector, the Service pilot wings were more valuable (in general) than a pilot wing, and that totally bemused him.  He joked that the glider pilots were pretty brave, but didn't as much fly their aircraft and rode it down due to gravity.  He told me that the only Liaison pilot he knew was mostly involved in flying the group's senior officers their whisky and other contraband around to what ever new base they found themselves at.  He was a pretty salty fellow.

 

I suspect that someone was embellishing this article.  Still a neat wing.

 

 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

That's why i included two sources, not just one. Two unrelated that say the same thing. Does not prove anything yet but why would someone make an "S" snake wing...go figure.

[pfrost]

Belonged to Bob "Snake" Plissken--- or the 143rd Cobra Kai squadron

 

 

[pfrost]

My friend called his Service pilot wings something like "Second Rater's wings" or something like that.  I'm not saying they weren't called snake pilots, but like you, I don't think they were flying small nimble aircraft... They were ferrying aircraft and supplies.  Still, who knows?  Great wings.

[pfrost]

In any case, I have always thought that the snake, in this case, is an insignia for Southern Airways.  The "S" is just like the snake.  I suspect that these were a joke on Southern Snake Airways