Lt. Col. David F. McCallister (1920-1961), was a veteran combat pilot in WW II, and a civilian test pilot with more than 4000 flying hours, a proponent of aerial progress and safety, a holder of a cross country speed record, winner of a national jet air race, hurricane chaser for the U.S. Weather Service, inventor of an ingenious flight plotter which had military and civilian success and a leader who rebuilt the Delaware Air National Guard after the Korean War.
McCallister began his aviation career as a Sergeant pilot during WW II and later was commissioned and trained as a P-51 fighter pilot. He served in the famous Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom and flew 131 combat missions. He flew fighter escort on the very first USAF daylight bomber raid on Berlin. While based in the UK, he talked his way into test-flying the Allies’ only operational jet fighter, the British Gloster Meteor. In England he met and befriended the cartoonist Milton Caniff, who later based the character “Hotshot Charlie” on McCallister.
McCallister joined the Delaware Air National Guard in 1948 where he flew a variety of aircraft. When the unit returned from the Korean War in 1952, then Major McCallister was appointed commander of the 142nd fighter Squadron which he reconstructed and revitalized into one of the top-ranked fighter units in the country. Because his family marketed a popular turtle soup, McCallister took on the knick name “Snapper”.
He became Chief, Engineering Flight Test for All American Engineering at DuPont Airport which pioneered crash barriers and arresting gear for land-based military aircraft. He authored “The All American Word”, a publication that featured the various development projects of the company, and wrote numerous articles for “Flying” magazine and other aviation periodicals.
At age 41, he was killed while piloting a stricken jet into an unpopulated area and crashed.
