Al Franklin has maintained a lifelong interest in aviation. Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1925, he was raised knowing about and admiring aviation. With Dayton as the hometown of Orville and Wilbur Wright, its school children were steeped in the two brothers' great accomplishment of flight and the glory it had brought to their city. Al's family home was near Wright field (now Wright-Patterson Air Base), and he could frequently hear and see the military planes overhead.
Al was in high school during World War II and followed the events of the war with interest, noting the major role that aviation was playing.
He joined the Army upon graduation and qualified as an aviation cadet. Training took him to various places in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Indiana. Earning his pilot's wings and becoming a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps rank among his proudest achievements. He had mastered the B-24 and was learning to fly the B-29 when the war ended. Al went on to college at the University of Virginia and continued some military flying on the weekends for awhile.
Professionally, he opted to become an attorney but continued his avid interest in aviation. He subscribes to Air and Space Smithsonian, Aviation History, and World War II magazines, has an extensive library of books, tapes, and DVDs on aviation, and visits aviation museums at every opportunity.