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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Carolyn Mc Coy

Edgar Carl Fell (Ed) served as a helicopter pilot in the US Army during the Viet Nam war where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star. Following his discharge from the Army, Ed joined the Federal Aviation Administration, where he served from 1969 to 1999. Ed achieved high rank in the FAA -- in 1983 he was manager of the FAA's National Simulator program, and in 1994, as a member of FAA's Senior Executive Service, Ed was selected as FAA's Aircraft Oversight Executive to head a new agency, organized to operate FAA's fleet of flight inspection aircraft under the same operational safety standards as the air carrier industry. While at FAA, Mr. Fell held an airline transport pilot certificate and was rated on the Boeing 727 and 707. He also held a commercial helicopter certificate and a flight engineer certificate with a turbojet rating.
In 1987, while serving as Assistant Division Manager of the Flight Standards Division of the FAA in Atlanta, Ed was honored to become a Legis Congressional Fellow for Senator Wendell H. Ford, Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee. Senator Ford commended Ed in the Congressional Record of September 29,1987, saying, in part:
"Thanks to Ed's diligence in the safety area, never in the process of drafting any of the aviation bills now pending did I lose sight of the safety factors. . . .I do not think there will ever be a better match of a Senator and the experience of a Legis fellow. I commend the LEGIS fellow program and thank Ed for his sound advice, long hours, and friendship."
Ed continued his service to aviation following his retirement from the FAA in 1998. He is currently (2001) Vice President for Safety and Regulatory Compliance at Northwest Airlink in Memphis, Tennessee. Ed is married, and he and his wife, Evonne, have two daughters, Tara Payne and Leslie Suder, and one granddaughter, Presley Elizabeth Payne.