Profile: Even as young boy, growing up in the Bronx, NY. David Heisler had a dream of some day flying. His first flight experience was in 1929 at the age of 5 when he persuaded his uncle into taking him on an airplane ride from Floyd Bennet Field on Long Island. Dave never looked back, as his passion and desire for flying and aviation continued to grow-Shortly after High School Dave enlisted in the Armv Air Corp where he attended flight training and then went on to earn his Qualification as a flight engineer on the B-29 Flying Fortress.
After World War II ended, Dave attended the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics in New York-He then went on to work in aviation at Goodyear in Akron Ohio, and then at Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage, NY. During his 27 years working for Grumman he was an integral member of advanced design teams making significant contributions to various aircraft that served our country in the Korean War and Vietnam including the multi-purpose tactical fighter bombers - USN F-111 and F-14 Tom Cat.
Dave also made significant engineering contributions to the design of the Grumman Gulfstream series of executive aircraft, the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye and contributed to the Apollo LM program leading to the successful piloting and soft landing on the Lunar surface on July 20, 1969.
As a flying enthusiast, he was a member of several flying clubs. He participated in the restoration of a vintage Fairchild PT 26 which was made flight worthy and certified for flying. He continued to pilot various general aviation aircraft for over 4 decades.
In retirement Dave continued to contribute to the field of aviation by accepting select project work from Grumman, Lockeed and the FAA where he held a PER certification.
Throughout his lifetime David Heisler was able to make significant contributions in the field of aviation through engineering while always staving focused on his dream of the simple joy of flying.