Biography of Ernest Loane

 

     Ernest William “Buster, Bus, Buzz” Loane, Jr.,

was born in Presque Isle, Maine on March 11th, 1917.

In 1939 he graduated from Bowdoin College, Maine, and

in 1940 he was commissioned as an 2nd Lieutenant in

the Army Air Corps Reserves at Kelley Field, Texas. He

served as a flight instructor in Texas prior to

resigning his commission to join the American

Volunteer Group in 1941.

     In September of 1941, he left San Francisco

aboard the Dutch liner Zaandam bound for Rangoon,

Burma and finally Yunnan-yi, China as a flight

instructor for the Chinese Air Force.

     Loane fought with the AVG as a wingman for the

1st Pursuit Squadron known as the “Adam and Eves”

until the group disbanded on July 4th, 1942. He

volunteered for an additional 2 weeks duty as the

transition from the AVG to the 14th Air Force was

completed.

     At the end of July 1942, Loane joined the CNAC

and was checked out as a pilot on August 29, 1942. By

the end of the war, he had flown 226 ½ round trips

over the “Hump”. He piloted with CNAC until September

30th, 1947 having logged over 4000 hours in the C-46,

C-47, and DC-4 airplanes.

     Loane then became a pilot for CAT and continued

flying in China until the communist takeover.

     After returning to the States, Loane was hired by

the Flying Tiger Line and flew as a Captain until

retiring in 1977.

He passed on to “Hogitaw” in January 1978.

     He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross

posthumously in July 1991 for “extraordinary

achievement while participating in aerial flight in

the South China and Southeast Asia theater”.

 

 

 

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