Fred's passion for flight started as a child during the Second World War, with his building of model military airplanes. Upon graduation from high school, he embarked on a career in the military, graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1960, serving in the Airborne and the Special Forces and two combat tours in Vietnam (1966-67 and 1969-70). Following his tours in Vietnam, he earned graduate degrees in Aerodynamics (a Master's at MIT, followed by a PhD at Virginia Tech). During this time, he also taught engineering and mechanics at West Point for 8 years, and spent several summers on loan to NASA at Langley, Virginia. In his spare time, Fred retained a passion for flying, earning his pilot's license and teaching flying for many years. Some of those early 1940s-era model airplanes are now in the hands of his grandsons ...