Pilot For Three CA Governors Was 86

Aero-News has learned the man who served as pilot for three California governors passed away from natural causes December 9. Clarence "Del" Smith earned his wings flying C-47 transports in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he joined the National Guard.

"He loved to fly, and the only way he could keep flying was to join the Guard," his son, John Smith, told The Sacramento Bee.

The Associated Press reports Smith was at Van Nuys Airport in 1946, when then-governor Earl Warren needed a flight back to Sacramento. Soon, Smith was Warren's personal pilot -- flying a converted VC-47A nicknamed "The Grizzly," after the California bear logo painted on its nose.

Accommodations on "The Grizzly" were something less than luxurious in the beginning -- but in 1947, the plane was outfitted with a bar, bunk beds, an oven, and naugahyde walls. The plane's official name was California One.

In all, three governors used the airplane during Smith's time at the controls -- Warren, Goodwin Knight, and Edmund G. "Pat" Brown.

"Clarence was a distinguished public servant and a part of California history," current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said.

Smith remained in the National Guard throughout his tenure as California One's chief pilot. He was appointed assistant adjutant general in 1965, and briefly oversaw the National Guard's deployment during the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles. He retired as a brigadier general in 1968.

"Del" Smith was 86. The plane he flew (shown above) is now undergoing restoration at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, CA.

FMI: www.marchfield.org/vc47a.htm