Captain Ulus 'Jerry' Buice

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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Mr. Erik Buice

Captain Ulus Gerald "Jerry" Buice flew his first solo flight in 1959 at age 16 in a Piper J-3 Cub at Tamiami field west of Miami, FL. At age 19 he earned his private license and purchased a J-3, in which he logged 400 hours over the next two years. At age 20 he earned a commercial license with instrument, multi-engine, and flight instructor ratings and was hired by United Airlines. His first day with United was January 27, 1964 as a DC-6 flight engineer, moving to copilot a year later. In his first four years with United he flew over 2,000 hours on the DC-6 and 400 on hours on the Vickers Vicount. He earned his Airline Transport Pilot rating in 1968 and flew 1,000 hours as a 727 copilot between 1968 and 1970. In 1969 he purchased a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser, which he spent four years rebuilding and the next 30+ years flying. Between 1970 and 1978 he flew 4,500 hours as copilot on the DC-8. He was awarded a Captain bid on the 737 in 1978 and logged 1,500 hours on the 737 in the next three years.  He next flew over 8,000 hours as a 727 Captain between 1981 and 1997. He completed his commercial career on the 747-100/200, on which he logged 475 hours in 1997 and 1998. He followed in the footsteps of his father Captain Noble Buice as an ardent defender of pilot working conditions (safe crew scheduling in particular) and passenger safety through over 30 years of support for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). He retired in 2002 with over 18,000 hours of commercial flight. In addition to the J-3 and PA-12 Cubs, he has owned a Stinson, Piper Aztec, 1935 Bucher Bu 131 Jungmann – Luftwaffe, and Diamond Katana Motor Glider, in which he earned a glider rating in April 2001.