Joe Shell - Military Pilot

Military Pilot

At the age of fourteen, Shell had begun flying lessons because a pilot who owed the senior Shell money offered to pay in-kind. He secured his pilot's license at the age of sixteen. When World War II began, Shell had flown some 2,000 hours, was studying law at USC, and was already engaged in the oil business. At the start of the war, he was a civilian instructor for the United States Army Air Corps, the forerunner of the Air Force. When the Air Corps insisted that he remain an instructor, rather than enlist, Shell instead became a United States Navy pilot in 1943. After the war, he was a member of the reserves. He continued to fly after the war a number of planes which he owned: a Grumman Wildcat, a Corsair, a P-51, a Beech Staggerwing, and a Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech".