Estes originally joined the Royal Canadian Air Force where he trained as a fighter pilot. After Pearl Harbour he enlisted in the AAF and was commissioned October 9 1942. In May 1943 he joined the 384th BG at Grafton Underwood where combat missions began the following month. Shot down 25 July 1943 in a massive raid over Hamburg he managed a landing on the North Sea in 'Weary Wiley'. The crew of ten spent two days in life rafts before being picked up by a passing Danish trawler and then transferred to an Air/Sea rescue plane.

His final assignment was training pilots on the B-29.

2 DFCs, 4 Air Medals