Soloed while in High School, Kinner 5 cylinder Fleet biplane, Houston Texas. Awarded USAAF pilot wings in Feb 44. Combat in China-Burma-India flying Combat Cargo in direct front line support British 14th Army pushing Japanese out of Burma. Redeployed to fly the "Hump" in support of Chinese. Flew over 400 missions in 14 months; the war was over before age 21.Entered Purdue University and graduated with BS, Air Transportation in 1949. During college, flew as instructor in University flight programs and in Indiana Air National Guard - P-51 and A-26. Accepted U. S. Air Force regular commission in 1950 and served in assignments to MATS, SAC and various headquarter and command positions. Retired from USAF as full Colonel, 1967. Served as President, and CEO of Purdue Airlines, a DC-9 charter air carrier. Later served as Managing Director and CEO of Saber, a charter DC-8 operation of the Republic of Singapore. Named Senior VP, British Caledonian Air Lines, North America, in 1974 operating scheduled 707 routes to England. Appointed to the National Transportation Safety Board in 1976 and later served as its Managing Director. Joined the National Safety Council as Executive Director, Washington, served 10 years and retired in 1988. Happily married and enjoying retirement with a great wife, 6 children and 10 grandchildren. Still actively flying; I have some 10,000 total hours and have flown over 55 different types of aircraft, civil and military. Aviation has been my