My grandfather is a member of Ye Ancient & Secret Order Of Quiet Birdmen. He used to work out in Cheyanne, WY at a missile-testing facility. He was in the National Geographic magazine due to being the lone survivor of a plane crash in the North Pole. He had his fingers & toes amputated, but survived. My grandmother was the nurse that took care of him.

Anyway, I spent a few hours looking for information about this group on-line, and this is all I could find......

Question: Who and what are the Quiet Birdmen? Charles Lindbergh was a QB, however he was not a founder of the organization, as is often stated. The Quiet Birdmen was founded by seven World War I pilots who, beginning in 1919, regularly met at Marta's Restaurant in Manhattan to share war stories.
In the spring of 1920 the group, which had grown considerably, rented the roof garden restaurant on top of a Manhattan hotel populated principally by elderly residents. They kept the roof for the entire weekend during which they partied quite heartily. They created quite a ruckus on the roof and while going up and down the stairwells and the elevator. Due to the noise, the elderly residents dubbed the group "The Quiet Birdmen". The name stuck and "Ye Anciente and Secret order of Quiet Birdmen" was officially founded in January of 1921.

And I think that calling a meeting of the order of the Quiet Birdmen, a fraternal organization of air force pilots and former officers (which included some of the country's best aviators and astronauts) a "party" is an oversimplification.

Membership is by invitation, and by nature, QB is a drinking fraternity.

More eclectic are the Caterpillar Club, whose members must have saved their lives at one time or another by parachute jumps, and the Ancient & Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen about which those who know anything may tell nothing.

The drinking part could be true, as my grandfather does drink. I also know when QB die, the order send you a letter of rememberance as a member. I've also heard that every Astronaut & every test pilot for Skunkworks were Quiet Birdmen. I'm thinking this could be the beginning of uncovering how many pilots have died during secret test flights. Has anyone ever heard of them? Does anyone know where I could get a membersip list?

[edit on 20-5-2005 by Enigmatic Debris]

WOW! 89 people have looked at this thread and NO ONE can tell me anything about the Quiet Birdmen? There are so many of them, it would be impossible to not hear of them. No one's ever seen their logo, with a QB on a shield, between two wings? No one know about Lockheed-Martin test flights & QB? Every test pilot for Skunkworks was a member. Every major pilot since it's creator has been a member. Why is it so secretive? Did I hit the nail TOO much on the head? I've even got a photo-copy of his membership, stating that he is the help his fellow brothers if in need. I will post copies when I find it, as I'm in the middle of moving.

[edit on 21-5-2005 by Enigmatic Debris]

This is just pathetic, I quit. I guess they don't exist and I'm as dumb as a box of rocks.

Dear member,
You need to chill cause you certainly cannot make members respond to a topic, correct?

Which color 'chill pill' would you like?




seekerof

I know what you are going through with your grandfather. I take it he was in the air force? My grandmother worked with test pilots, and probably could have talked your ear off with tales of these guys. Unfortunately she died a few years back at the age of 89.

Why don't you e-mail the guys at www.aroundtheworldagain.com? They are both members of the order, and probably would be happy to talk to you about the order, flying, etd. If they are anything like the other people I've met in the industry, they'll talk your ears off too.

There are a lot of strange and secret orders in the military and the defense industry. I know of one that a lot of pilots and astronauts were members of, the "Turtles." This one was a joke, mainly, for drinks.

When a member of the order is asked "Are you a turtle?" They need to respond with the correct response...

which is "you bet your sweet a$$ I am."

I can't remember which astronaut it was anymore (Buzz A maybe?), but one of them was asked while in space in the late 60's early 70's the test question. Since he was on the air, he was unable to respond, and had to pay the forfit for not answering (a round of drinks) when he got back to earth.

I have information on the society of the quiet birdmen, one of my relatives is a current member, if you want specific information leave a question and i will be happy to answer it.

How do I join? How's that for specific!

Many years ago (when I had less than 500 hours flight time) I heard of these very distinguished gentleman through my instrument instructor. I heard very good things about a meeting he had attended and was told that I needed 500+ hours to be associated with these guys. By the time I passed that mark I/he were long gone apart and I lost my connection. QB sometimes have had a booth/tent for members at Oshkosh but I could not find it in recent attempts.

tj

I AM a member of 'Ye Ancient and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen'....... Just what about the word 'SECRET' don't you understand? Go out and learn to fly, gain some experience, and maybe, if you are a good fellow, your grandpa will invite you to join. Oterwise, butt out!

Originally posted by The flying fool
I AM a member of 'Ye Ancient and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen'....... Just what about the word 'SECRET' don't you understand? Go out and learn to fly, gain some experience, and maybe, if you are a good fellow, your grandpa will invite you to join. Oterwise, butt out!

Would a member of a secret pilot's club go on a conspiracy forum and actually state this?

Well I'm learning to fly as well and hope to gain a career in aviation, preferrably military if possible and maybe one day I'll come across and old instructor who feels as if I'm material enough to join.

Shattered OUT...

Originally posted by The flying fool
I AM a member of 'Ye Ancient and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen'....... Just what about the word 'SECRET' don't you understand? Go out and learn to fly, gain some experience, and maybe, if you are a good fellow, your grandpa will invite you to join. Oterwise, butt out!

You are absolutely right. My dad was a QB. I never knew much about it because he said it was secret and he kept it that way. I'm guessing they were really drinking buddies. Dad went to monthly -- if I recall correctly -- meetings, and he wasn't a 'meeting' sort of guy. When he died in a car accident in 1967, dad had 27,000 hours flying time. An almost impossible result to achieve these days.

According to family lore, my great-uncle (grandfather's brother / father's uncle), one Charles Sherman "Casey" Jones, was sitting at a table with other airmen circa 1921, at an Italian restaurant in New York, having quite a noisy fun time.
One of the airmen had brought along an outsider, who observed that when together they were quite rowdy, but when asked individually of their flying exploits they were just a bunch of "quiet birdmen." Supposedly, that was the start of the term, from which sprang an actual organization.
So they say...

EDIT: the earlier comment about it being a social / drinking club would certainly seem plausible, as all the Jones' in my family are / were quite fond of the sauce.

[edit on 4-2-2008 by pdx123]

It's a little similar to the Order of the Goldfish. The Order of the Goldfish is for pilots / crews who dunk in the drink and get rescued. Some of these clubs you can only join by performing manoeuvres you wouldn't want to perform!

I attended an estate sale today of a WWII pilot who later flew commercial airlines. He obviously was quite a guy. I bought his wings and medals and picked up a small book (for $1.00). It turned out to the "Code Book" for the Ancient and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen. It looks like everyone on this thread has pretty well got it. They are a secret pilots society from 1921 with the first meetings held at Marta's ( a "spaghetti place") in New York City. The sole purpose was to re-live the "old days" flying and to eat well, drink well, and have a good time. No Keewees (non-pilots) or women are allowed. The "meeting" starts with a silent toast to those who have "gone west" (passed on). You must be invited to join and are voted on by the members of the local "hanger". Well it all sounds like something out of a movie and lots of fun. I am now tracking down this officer's local "hanger" so I can let them know that he has "gone west" and to give them this "code book" which is for QB members only. I enjoyed reading all your entries.

My grandfather is a member and I have his plaque here. On the plaque, it states: The bearer is a member of ye Anciente and Secret Order of "Quiet Birdmen" founded January 1921, (Name) Member #17,997, and is a certified goodfellow mounted alone into the realms beyond the reach of Keewee and Modock and should be accorded all gestrues of friendship and aid by fellow quiet birdmen wherever they may meet.

plauque has the "QB" in the middle of a set of wings.

If you want to know more about the QB's, just adhere to the policy of being decent aviators and "good fellows". Then if you should ever encounter a QB - as signified by his QB wings - engage him in intelligent conversation (aviation), tell him a really good joke, or buy him a drink. This COULD beget you an invitation to a dinner with some of the most fascinating and colorful aviators in the world. It is an organization where every member is an equal. You won't find out much information on us because we all honor the code that we pledge when we join. Our privacy and anonymity are fundamental to our existence. Either a person respects that privacy and anonymity or one could never understand what the QB's are all about.

I attended many QB meetings hopping to become a member the Miami Hangar
The most important contribution a QB does through their HANGARS (that is the name given to the grouping of QBs) is to provide filantropic help to other airmen.
I am very proud of them and I had the opportunity to meet "Pappy" Boyington of the Flying Tigers in China and the Black Sheep Squadron in the Philippines during WW II, at another Hangar meeting.
I wish I had acces to the Miami Hangar as my dear friend that was "sponsoring" me, moved to California.