Earthquake: Fighter Pilot, Test Pilot, Commander. The Story of Brigadier General Robert F. Titus

1st Lt. Titus and his F-51 Mustang “No Sweat” in South Korea. (K-46 – Hongsong Airport, 1952). Photo by William B. Scott

By William B. Scott

You probably haven’t heard of him. But rarely has the life story of an American veteran been as varied and compelling as that of Air Force Brigadier General Robert F. Titus. His 32-year military career began when he joined the U.S. Army on his 18th birthday. At the first opportunity, he volunteered for parachute training with the Army, earned his jump wings and was preparing to land in mainland Japan when World War II ended.

On January 12, 1946, Titus participated in the Victory Parade of World War II as a soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division—known as the All-American Division. Major General James “Jumpin’ Jim” Gavin led 13,000 men of the 82nd through the streets of New York City. Young Titus was in the front row, leading the left column. The Army quickly returned thousands of men to civilian life, prompting Titus to resume his engineering studies at Virginia Tech and Virginia State University. His life took a sharp turn in the spring of 1948, when an Air Force recruiter showed up on campus, looking for “guys for flying training,” Titus recalled. He signed up, but wasn’t inducted until September. By then, he had decided that mining engineering was not in his future, so “I didn’t bother going back to engineering.” [to Virginia Tech] “next quarter.”

Private Robert F. Titus, 19, paratrooper, 82nd Airborne Division (1945). Photo by William B. Scott

Despite some hiccups in basic training, Titus quickly proved himself an excellent pilot and set his sights on flying the USAF's newest fighter at the time – the North American F-51 Mustang. But a strange twist of fate forced him to fly the B-25 Mitchell bombers.

“If you’re over six feet tall, you’re too tall to fly a fighter,” he complained. However, he eventually got his hands on a Mustang and was sent to Korea, just after war broke out. Titus flew 101 combat missions in both F-51s and F-86 Sabres, during a particularly dangerous phase. Returning from one mission, the Mustang’s rapidly rising engine temperature forced him to bail out at low altitude in no man’s land between friendly and enemy forces. On the ground, he jumped into a shell hole as Chinese soldiers closed in on his position. Titus’s pistol was clearly no match for the bad guys’ automatic weapons. Then he heard an American voice say, “Keep your head down and crawl this way.” He was close to a Marine bunker, who quickly dispatched the enemy.

“Earthquake” Titus and the F-51 he flew on the final official flight of the U.S. Air Force Mustang. (Photo via Titus)

That was the first of many harrowing experiences that would lead one to believe that Bob Titus had an angel on his shoulder at all times. He returned to the United States and was assigned to the 1737th Transport Squadron, where he flew F-86 Sabres and F-84 Thunderjets to NATO bases in Europe. Transatlantic flights in the single-engine fighters were risky, at best, as evidenced by the fact that pilots were awarded the Air Medal for completing 10 deliveries. Next: the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Although he had no engineering degree, Titus graduated with the 54B class and joined a group of soon-to-be legendary test pilots who brought the Century series of fighters to the Air Force inventory. Ultimately, Titus tested all of the aircraft in this class—the F-100 Super Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, and F-106 Delta Dart—as well as a wide range of other aircraft and weapons systems.

Zero Launch F-100 Super Sabre truck on a truck bed. (Indian Springs, Nevada – 1958). Photo by William B. Scott

The 1950s and early 1960s have been called the “golden age of flight testing,” but fatal accidents claimed the lives of a surprising number of Edwards test pilots. Today, many streets across the sprawling desert base bear their names. By coincidence, Titus had been testing the rocket-powered F-86, which was intended to enable the Sabre to fly supersonic in level flight. Thus, he was the logical Air Force project pilot to fly the heavier, rocket-powered Super Sabre. He flew 10 test flights of the F-100’s “Zero Launch F-100,” or ZEL, system to evaluate the feasibility of dispersing fighters in the event of nuclear war. Using a Rocketdyne solid-fuel booster strapped to the belly of the F-100D, the aircraft would be loaded onto a trailer and raised to a 20-degree nose angle, allowing fighters to be launched from countless hidden locations.

An F-100 missile is fired after the missile ignites. The Super Sabre engine is fully operational. (Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.) Photo by William B. Scott

“It was actually pretty simple,” Titus said. “You get in the cockpit, you turn on the engine, you go to afterburner. You pull the trigger and you go. You go from zero to 275 mph in four seconds and the plane starts moving at 100 km/h.” [rocket] “The booster rocket is down.” Or it was supposed to be down. Once, the rocket's launch system failed, forcing a contracted test pilot to eject. There was no way to land safely with the rocket attached.

After the program ended, Titus was tasked with finding a mission for two F-100 twin-seat fighters. This led to Operation Julius Caesar, which proved that fighters could fly nonstop over the North Pole. Brigadier General Charles Blair, Titus, and two backseat pilots flew two Super Sabres from England to Alaska. The record-breaking nine-hour flight required three in-flight refuelings and navigation procedures developed by Titus. Titus then attended the University of Chicago to earn an MBA and flew F-105 Thunderchief fighters in Europe before being assigned to the U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command Headquarters as the head of the Fighter Operations Branch. Brigadier General Gordon Graham tasked the talented fighter pilot with drafting the General Operational Requirements (GOR) for what became “FX,” a concept that evolved into the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter program.

Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, after a continuous flight over the North Pole in two F-100s. Capt. Albert Kutcher; Brig. Gen. Charles Blair; Capt. Bob Titus; and Lt. George Woody. (1959). Photo by William B. Scott

During this period, “Gordie” Graham once shouted across the hallway, “Send ‘Earthquake’ here!” His casual reference to the Earth’s tectonic movement was immediately adopted as the call sign for then-Major Titus, a title he never liked, but one that those who knew the gruff, deep-voiced officer found fitting. Titus continued to rise rapidly through the ranks as commander of various units, including the “Scotch Tigers,” a squadron of Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter jets. As the first commander of the 10th Commando Fighter Squadron in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, Titus flew more than 350 combat missions and was awarded his third Distinguished Flying Cross. Somehow, he “forgot” to log at least 50 of those missions.

In January 1967, Titus took command of a squadron of F-4C Phantoms at Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam. It didn’t take long for him to form a fighter unit and identify pilots who were true air warriors. “I wanted tough guys who wanted to ‘go north’!” he exclaimed. Over the skies of North Vietnam, he and several of these “tough guys” would engage enemy MiGs and achieve the pinnacle of fighter aviation. Titus earned his first MiG-21 on May 20, 1967, while escorting a large force of F-105 fighter-bombers to targets in North Vietnam. While pursuing an enemy aircraft, Titus and his backseat co-pilot, Capt. Milan Zimmer, fired two AIM-7 Sparrow missiles—both of which failed to aim properly.

Lt. Col. Bob Titus and his F-4C, the three-star “Mig Killer.” (Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam – May 1967). Photo by William B. Scott

“I thought I was going to have to shoot this guy!” roared Titus. A third Sparrow missile fired and hit the MiG-21’s wing root. As the pilot jumped out, Titus shouted, “Hooray! I got that son of a bitch! Yeah, that was exciting. I’ve wanted to shoot down enemy planes since I was a kid!” Two days later, Titus led two flights of Phantoms to escort heavily loaded F-105s when the formation was attacked by several MiGs. He shot down the first with a Sidewinder, then chased a second MiG-21 as it plummeted to the ground. “I couldn’t pinpoint my location with the Sidewinder,” Titus said. “I was aware of a lot of anti-aircraft fire, but I didn’t let that interfere with my activity.”

Ignoring a surface-to-air missile that forced Zimmer to duck his head, “because the missile seemed so close,” Titus approached the MiG, maneuvering at an extremely low altitude. “As [the MiG] I started the draw, put the trigger at twelve o'clock… pulled the trigger and let it fly. [a string of 20-mm rounds]”He ran a chainsaw through it.” It was Titus's third kill with a MiG-21 in two days, this time using a 20mm gun pod mounted on the centerline. He earned the Silver Star for shooting down the first MiG and the Air Force Cross for the second and third.

After flying more than 550 combat missions, Titus was assigned to Air Force headquarters and tasked with getting the F-15 Eagle into inventory. He had to battle a “missile mafia” of senior officers who underestimated the value of weapons in aerial combat, but they succeeded in delivering the Mach 2 fighter with an internal 20mm cannon. The bureaucratic “gunfight” cost him a few more stars, but Titus smiles and says, “But every fighter in the Air Force since has been able to carry its own missiles.” [the 1970s] He had a gun. “He then commanded the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing in Okinawa, served in numerous staff assignments and retired as a brigadier general in 1977. “Earthquake” continued to serve, though, mentoring countless Air Force Academy cadets, who learned to lead by example from one of the Air Force’s most accomplished leaders. At age 97, “Earthquake” remains involved with friends, church and family.

In mid-March 2015, we published a story about the last official flight of a USAF P-51 Mustang which took place on April 15, 1955 with pilot Robert F. “Earthquake” Titus at the controls (click here for the story). A California man, Leon Delisle, wanted to commemorate this momentous occasion by recreating the last Mustang mission with “Earthquake” Titus back in the cockpit of another P-51, and he organized an event worthy of the moment. Delisle created a website here to help spread the word about the honor and help raise money for the flight itself. It was also a great event with two days of celebrations over the weekend of April 18/19 in Petaluma, California. The city of Petaluma even went so far as to officially declare April 18 “Titus Earthquake Day”!

“Earthquake” Titus (right) and Leon Delisle (left) before Titus's flight in the P-51 Mustang “Lady Joe.” (Photo by Ron Close)

Read his amazing stories in his own words, as told to author Bill Scott, who sat down with the legend and conducted several interviews to find out what it was really like.

By William B. Scott

William B. Scott

William B. Scott is the former Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and author/co-author of seven books. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, has logged nearly 2,000 hours of flight time in 81 aircraft types, and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

Author ProfileRelated Posts

Moreno was born in Milan, Italy and moved to the United States in 1999 to pursue a career as a commercial pilot. His passion for aviation began early, inspired by his uncle, an F-104 Starfighter crew chief, and his father, a military air traffic controller. Childhood adventures included camping off bases and watching planes at Linate Airport. In 1999, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia to earn his commercial pilot license, a move that has become permanent. After 24 years in the United States, he now flies full-time for a commercial airline in Atlanta. He is actively involved in the Air Force Commemorative, D-Day Squadron, and other aviation organizations. He enjoys life with his supportive wife and three wonderful children.

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