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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:
Daniel Ernst

Bill Vickland was fascinated by flight throughout his life. As young boy growing up in Berkeley, CA during the Depression and World War 2, he built balsa wood models of his favorite aircraft to understand how flight worked. He entered the Air Force during the Korean War for the opportunity to work on aircraft, an experience which led him to attend college against his high school advisor?€™s recommendation! Bill attended the University of California, Berkeley and became an Aeronautical Engineer. He was a test engineer working on the Convair F-102-106 series, and for six years was Project Manager of a unique hybrid (solid fuel/liquid oxidizer) rocket engine research and development program at United Technologies Center in Sunnyvale California.

Living in San Jose, CA Bill discovered soaring after driving by a glider port in Fremont. He soloed in a Schweizer 2-22 just a few months after discovering what would become a life-long passion. He ordered a ?€?build it yourself?€? kit from Schweizer in 1966 and built his 1-26, numbered 238, a glider that he flew for pleasure and competition to just within a year of his passing. Bill earned his Diamond Goal and Diamond Distance badges in flights in that aircraft around the Shenandoah Valley after moving to Virginia. He also earned his Diamond Altitude in West Virginia. His Diamond Distance badge is one of only two earned on the east coast in a 1-26. Moreover, he was one of the few pilots to earn all of his Diamond Legs in a low performance 1-26 and one of fewer still 1-26 pilots that accomplished all of the Diamond tasks in the lighter conditions of the East Coast. These stand testament to his skill as a pilot and his determination as a person.

Bill was a fixture at the 1-26 National Championships, competing more than 40 times and often placing in the top 5 of all 1-26 pilots from across the United States. Until her death his wife Joan was his faithful crew, a beloved figure at 1-26 contests, regularly retrieving him from farmers' fields, cattle pastures, and one interstate highway clover leaf!

As a post retirement vocation, Bill obtained his A&P license. He rebuilt several 1-26s and 2-33s, and with his partner, John Ayers, was in the process of rebuilding a Citabria 7KCAB when he passed away.

Bill's passion was flying, but his greatest joy was introducing others to the sport. It gave him great pleasure to take people up for rides and encourage them to learn to fly as well.

Bill will be missed by his friends and family, but his infectious passion for flight will be his legacy that lives on.