Getting to Know … Richard “Bud” Davies

Over the past month I have had a chance to spend several hours with our Young Eagle co-coordinator, Bud Davies. Bud is a born and bred Washingtonian who grew up in Ephrata, Eastern Washington with a rich aviation history. Most of Bud’s rich aviation history was his fathers as Bud had only taken up flying in and around 2013 and became certificated in 2017. Bud enjoyed a successful career as a dentist in the Air Force and in communities in the state of Washington. We even have a strange “6 degrees of separation” story between Bud and me. Bud is a son, a brother to four sisters and one brother, a husband, a father of two, and grandfather of four.

Bud was born to Richard K. Davies of Ohio and Eunice Mary Macintosh Davies in 1950. Grew up in Ephrata where there was an airport, he would pedal his bike to as a kid to check out the planes in the hangar. He would watch the West Coast Airways DC-3’s fly in and out (later bought by Hughes Airwest). Bud’s dad would also load the kids in the car to watch the planes come in and out. The war (WWII) did not completely take the passion of aviation out of Bud’s father’s heart.

Richard K. Davies enlisted in the Army Air Corps and sent to Pensacola, Florida for training. Bud and I went through his father’s logbook, started out with a Stearman on to the Volti Vibrator, AT-6 and worked his way up the P47 models to the 2,000HP, P-47G. Soon after, Bud’s father shipped out to New Guinea via an underwhelming stay in San Francisco.

(Bud Davies cont…) January 1st, 1944, Bud’s father was transported to the largest town in New Guinea where he knew they had entered a combat theatre. They had their P47’s but soon after, shifted to the P-38 Lightning. The transition flights were interesting, they removed the radios so the incoming pilots could get their intro flight hunched down where the radios were removed. Where months were involved in early training up to the P-47, they were offered very little in the way of transition to the P-38’s. “We were told, ‘just remember, fellas, there are two of everything 2 throttles, 2 rock pitch controls, 2 manifold pressure controls, 2 feathering buttons, and two of every instrument on the panel and we would have to learn.’ To fly with the wheel instead of a stick. One flight took care of the transition, although I had trouble getting off the ground on my first flight. I had taxied with my window open, and it was enough to disrupt the airflow on the horizontal stabilizer and I couldn’t get altitude. I was heading towards the hill at the end of the runway after rolling up the window, the plane lifted enough to miss the hill.”

6: The Balikpapen mob. Standing lt. rt.: 5 FC officer Baker, 49ers Co Walker, Hamburger, gunnery instructor Bong, Howes, Haislip, Wood, Curton, Hufford and Estes. Sitting lt.-rt.; Ogelsby, 9 FS CO Jordan, McElroy, Williams and Davies 7: 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group The First A.A.F. Pilots to land and operate in the liberation of the Philippines Landed on Leyte, 26 October 1944 (Bud Davies cont…) Bud’s father also got to rub elbows with Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh devised a new strategy to extend the range of the P-38’s, teaching the pilots to fly over square, low RPM, high manifold pressure. Over the next few weeks, Lindbergh flew with their squadron and at one point, Bud’s father’s wing while checking him out on the new fuel saving strategy. The squadron was also responsible for providing escort for MacArthur’s return to the Philippines.

Bud’s father became ill and was sent home. During the journey home, Bud’s father healed and when they docked back at San Francisco, he returned to USC to finish his Optometry degree and met Bud’s mother.

(Bud Davies cont…) Bud’s father remembered as a young boy, his uncle took him traveling the United States, west coast and he recalled how beautiful Seattle was. Ephrata was reported to being the possible next boom town due to the opening of the Grand Coulee dam, so that is where they landed for a new home.

Fast forward some years, Bud goes off to Bethel College in St. Paul, Mn, transfers the University of Washington then wraps up dentistry school. Right out of school, Bud decides to join the Air Force for a couple of years, picks Germany, Colorado, and Louisiana during sign up… they send Bud to San Antonio. Bud mentions San Antonio is no Sequim.

Bud wraps up Air Force and returns to Washington to start practicing dentistry back up here. Bud and his now wife, Laurie, meet around 1979, 1980, marry in 1982. A friend of Buds recommends Sequim, practices here a while and then has an opportunity in eastern Washington, the Tri-Cities. Comes back to Sequim in 1991. Life and family continue to happen.

Sometime in 2013, Bud gets an idea he wants to go flying, Bill Benedict takes Bud flying. I mean REALLY flying, in an RV6. During the flight Bill turned it all kinds of direction and impressed with Bud’s ability to keep lunch down, asked Bud if he wanted to take the stick and try some maneuvers.

Both Bud and Bill are Rotary members and a month or so later, at a Rotary function, Bill is talking to Laurie and said Bud should get his private pilot [sic]. Bud thinks that conversation could have gone a whole different direction if it were not Bill making that statement. If you do not know Bill Benedict’s credentials, he was a former Navy pilot and retired Clallam County Sherrif. So, Bud then gets hooked up with John Meyer from the local EAA chapter to get Bud started. The medical process was not fun for Bud as to benefit his patients, Bud experimented with a CPAP while not needing it, well, those things have a paper trail associated with them that created a cascading challenge to Bud’s first medical to where it spanned past the first written exam expiration so Bud needed to take a second exam before his check ride. Around this time, John Meyer was the Young Eagle coordinator and needed to spend more time at home. John passed Bud to Lee Runion as a student and Lee also started handling Young Eagle Duties.

Bud passed his check-ride and shortly after, Lee tragically passed. Bud stepped in to help with Young Eagles.

Today, you can find Bud participating in the local Rotary, spinning vinyl on KSQM, learning to turn wrench on aircraft, working on his instrument rating, flying kids, or acting at the Olympic Theatre Arts.

If you want to hear more, we are about to release our first EAA Chapter 430 podcast where you can hear Bud regaling us with his story telling skills.