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R M Butch Voris
| Captain R M Butch Voris USN (deceased) Butch Voris was born in Los Angeles, California. Growing up only a few blocks from the airport at Alhambra, Butch became fascinated with flying and airplanes at a young age. In 1940 Butch joined the U. S. Navy as an. aviation cadet. Following preliminary training at Oakland he was sent to NAS Corpus Christi for elementary and advanced flying schools. His final training was as a dive bomber pilot. He received is commission in February of 1942, only a few months following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Butch quickly jumped at the opportunity to switch to fighters. He received his advanced carrier training on the USS Saratoga piloting the F6F Hellcat. Butch's first combat tour was with VF-10 Grim Reapers flying off the USS Enterprise. As part of Air Group 6, Voris was under the command of Butch O'Hare. Voris attained two aerial victories (both Zeros) during his first tour, and was also shot down one time. He was selected by Admiral Radford to participate in the 'Night Bat Tearn,' which was a unique attempt to utilize radar-equipped TBF Avengers to guide F6F Hellcats to intercept low-flying Japanese bombers at night. This concept was abandoned after Butch O'Hare was shot down by one of the Avengers. On his second combat tour with VF-2, Voris served on the Enterprise and then the USS Hornet. He attained six more confirmed aerial victories, bringing his total to eight (all were Japanese Zeros), before receiving his orders to return to the States. Following the War, Butch was selected to organize at Jacksonville, Florida a Navy flight exhibition team. This group, which would become known as the 'Blue Angels' following their first public performance, has marveled tens of millions of spectators since its organization. The Blues were temporarily disbanded during the Korean War, but Butch was called upon again to reorganize the team following the war. This time the Blue Angels entered the jet age flying the F9F-5 Panther. Butch survived one of the worst accidents in Blue Angel's history in 1952 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Captain Voris commanded two carrier fighter squadrons during his career (VF- 113 flying off the USS Valley Forge and VF- 191 Satan's Kittens that flew off the USS Oriskiny.) Butch was also commander of Air Group 5, which was based in San Diego in the late 1950s. Voris retired from the Navy in 1963. He joined Grumman Aircraft as a Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President. In 1973 he joined NASA in Washington, DC where he worked on technology transfer between private industry and the space program. Butch formally retired in 1985. In addition to his recognition as 'the first Blue Ange' Butch was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, eleven Air Medals, the Purple Heart, and several Unit Citations. Following retirement he resided in California with Thea, his wife of forty-eight years, who passed away in 2003. Butch has two daughters and several grandchildren. He enjoyed traveling, golf, family, and public speaking. Butch passed away on August 11, 2005. He will be missed by his family, friends, and a thankful nation. |
Items Signed by Captain R M Butch Voris USN (deceased) |
  | Angels and Knights by Stan Stokes. (B) Price : £120.00 | In 1946 Navy brass selected Lt. Cdr. Roy Butch Voris, a fighter pilot with WW II experience, to organize a flight exhibition team. The twenty-six-year-old Voris wasted no time in forming his team, and developed an exciting low altitude acrobatic dem...... | |
| | Angels and Knights by Stan Stokes. (C) Price : £95.00 | In 1946 Navy brass selected Lt. Cdr. Roy Butch Voris, a fighter pilot with WW II experience, to organize a flight exhibition team. The twenty-six-year-old Voris wasted no time in forming his team, and developed an exciting low altitude acrobatic dem...... |
Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Captain R M Butch Voris USN (deceased) |
| Squadrons for : Captain R M Butch Voris USN (deceased) | ||
| A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Captain R M Butch Voris USN (deceased). A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
| Squadron | Info | |
Country : US Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of VF-10 | VF-10 Full profile not yet available. | |
| Aircraft for : Captain R M Butch Voris USN (deceased) | |||
| A list of all aircraft associated with Captain R M Butch Voris USN (deceased). A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
| Squadron | Info | ||
Manufacturer : Grumman Number Built : 12000 | Hellcat The Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat was to become the US Navys primary carrier borne fighter plane during World War II. Over 12,000 Hellcats were produced, and the Hellcat was credited with 4,947 of the 6,477 kills of enemy planes downed by carrier pilots during the War. The Hellcat had a top speed of 375 MPH, a range of 1,089 miles and was armed with six machine guns. The aircraft was powered by an 18-cylinder Pratt and Whitney, air-cooled, radial engine which generated 2,000 horsepower. | ||
Retired : 1958 Number Built : 1382 | Panther The Grumman F9F Panther was the manufacturer's first jet fighter and used very successfully by the U.S. Navy as a carrier based jet fighter. The Panther was the most widely used U.S. Navy jet fighter of the Korean War, flying a total of over 78,000 sorties and scoring the first air-to-air kill by the US Navy in the war, On 3 July 1950, Lieutenant, Leonard H. Plog of U.S. Navy's VF-51 flying an F9F-3 scored the first air victory of the war by shooting down a North Korean Yakolev Yak-9 fighter. This was followed by The first MiG-15 being downed on the 9 November 1950 by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander William (Bill) Amen of VF-111 Sundowners Squadron flying an F9F-2B. Two more were downed on 18 November 1950, and the other two were downed on the 18 November 1952. The US Navy successes during the Korean war from the Panther variants F9F-2s, F9F-3s and F9F-5s downing two Yak-9s and five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s with a loss of one F9F. The Astronaut Neil Armstrong flew the F9F extensively during the war, even ejecting from one of the aircraft when it was brought down by a wire strung across a valley. Panthers were withdrawn from front-line service in 1956, but remained in training roles and with Reserve units until 1958. Total F9F Panther production was 1,382, with several variants being exported to Argentina. | ||
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