Mr. Andy Daniel Wilkins was born in 1911. He was orphaned in the early 1920s. He joined the U.S. Army where his first assignment was as a teamster driving a six-horse hitch that pulled an artillery field piece.

After finishing his tour of duty, he joined the Army reserves and worked at Western Electric Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. In the mid 1930s he developed a passion for frying after going to the national air races in Cleveland, Ohio and meeting and seeing Roscoe Turner perform. He learned to fly in a DeHaviland Jenny and later, a Boeing Stearman. He became accomplished in rolls, Cuban eights and hammerhead stalls.

World War II started in 1941 and his Army reserve unit was activated and he served in New Guinea for several years as a warrant officer. After WWII he was able to buy an aircraft and over thirty plus years owned and flew nine different aircraft, flying all over the United States, Canada, Bahamas, and Mexico.

In the early 1980s he lost the vision in one eye due to a detached retina and voluntarily gave up his pilot's license but continued to enjoy flying with others in the right seat. At age 90 he traveled by himself to the Reno Air Races. I was his friend for twenty-five years. He took me to my first air show at Eaker Strategic Air Command B-52 Base in Blytheville, Arkansas in 1986.

Mr. Wilkins died in April, 2001 and is greatly missed. I nominate Andy Daniel Wilkins name to be placed on the National Aviation and Space Exploration Wall of Honor. He would be honored.