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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Jerry Pike

Charlie Fritz was born in Alexandria, Virginia in October, 1921, and grew up in Northern Virginia. He was introduced to aviation at the age of four when his father bought an Army surplus Jenny, which was kept at Beacon Field, just south of Alexandria. He would accompany his father on barn storming trips complete with wing walkers. Later when his father gave up aviation, he spent his spare time around the airport looking for rides.
When World War II came along he joined the U.S. Navy as an aviation cadet, was commissioned an ensign and was ordered to the Pacific joining a PV-1 Ventura squadron. He participated in operations against the Japanese in the Central Pacific, operating from Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands.
When the war ended he was ordered to George Washington University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He was then ordered to the Navy General Line School in Newport Rhode Island, for training in the skills needed for a career Naval Officer.
He returned to sea flying in the AJ-1 Savage, the Navy's first nuclear capable carrier aircraft. The squadron was based in North Africa and provided detachments to the various carriers assigned to the Sixth Fleet.
He was next assigned to the Post Graduate School in Monterey California where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering. He was then assigned to Princeton University where he received a Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
He returned to the Sixth Fleet flying the AD-1 Sky Raider to provide counter strike capability in the event of an unprovoked attack on the U.S. from the East. He was next assigned to the Naval Air Test Center from August 1958 through August 1961 where he completed Test Pilot School and participated in the test and evaluation of the newest aircraft of the time. This included the A4D-2N, AO-1, A3J-1, F4H-1, T2J-1, TT-1, UO-1 and the ZPG-3W.
Next came a tour with the Readiness Air Group at Cecil Field where most of his flying was in the F8U Crusader and the A4D Sky Hawk. In June of 1965, he returned to the Naval Air Test Center as coordinator of testing all attack aircraft. This work included preparation for the Navy Preliminary Evaluations (NPE) and Test Center testing of the OV-10 "Bronco" and the A7A "Corsair". These two aircraft were sorely needed in S.E. Asia and were under his cognizance for all the test work to be done by or at the Test Center. A highlight of this tour was his record setting flight, together with his wingman, Major Alex Gilespie USMC, from Patuxent River, Maryland to Evreux, France. The flight was conducted in two A-7A Corsair II's. This established an unofficial record for long-distance, single pilot, single engine non-refueled light attack jets. They flew 3,327 nautical miles in seven hours and one minute. The flight was conducted as part of the Paris Air Show, and the planes were used daily as part of the exhibition. He was promoted to Captain in July 1968.
He was assigned as Commanding Officer of Air Test and Development Squadron Five (VX-5) in August 1968 under the operational control of COMOPTEVFOR Norfolk Virginia. VX-5 was based at NAS China Lake California, located at the Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake in the Mojave Desert at Ridgecrest, CA. The mission of the squadron was the operational test of air-to-surface weapons and weapon delivery systems. He accompanied units operating in the Gulf of Tonkin to determine what the development squadrons could do on a fast reaction basis to help the fleet.
His final assignment was in the Pentagon as head of the air launched weapons requirements section to provide our forces in Viet Nam with whatever they needed to get the job done and to ensure the development of the next generation of air launched weapons.
Captain Fritz retired in 1974 having flown over six thousand hours in forty-six different aircraft.