LeRoy W. Bish, Jr.

1951 Graduated from high school in
Littlestown, Pennsylvania

1951-1954 United States Marine Corp. Served as an
aircraft mechanic in Korea for more than a
year. I was promoted to rank of Staff
Sergeant.

1954-1957 Attended Parks College of St. Louis University
earning a B.S. in Aircraft Maintenance
Engineering in 3 years. I completed course
for A&E Mechanics License, and got a private
pilot's license with seaplane rating, earned
by flying a Cessna float plane on the
Mississippi River.

1957-1958 In my senior year of college, I attended college classes and also
worked for McDonald Aircraft in St. Louis,
where they manufactured the F-101 Voodoo
and F4B aircraft.

1958-1960 I received a Direct Commission into the
Navy as an Ensign. I received my Navy
"Wings of Gold" after graduating from
Pensacola in June of 1960 and rose to the
rank of Lieutenant Commander in the
Navy Reserves.

1960-1963 After carrier training in San Diego, I was
assigned to an AD Attack Squadron VA-145.
I made two long cruises, one on the
CVA-16 USS Lexington, and on CVA-64,
USS Constellation. We were at sea in the
Far East for most of 2 years. I made 208
carrier landings, 75 of them at night.

1963-1965 Assigned to BuWeps at Grumman Aircraft
Corporation, Bethpage, NY. I served as a
Program Manager for the A6A Intruder
Aircraft, and flew acceptance test flights
On the S2F and A6A aircraft.

1965-1991 Pan American World Airways
I trained as a co-pilot on 707 aircraft, and
earned a flight navigator license, which was
my crew position for two years. For the next
15 years, I flew as a first officer on the
707, L-1011, and 747 aircraft.
I was promoted to Captain on the
Lockheed L-1011 in May 1982, and to
Captain of the Boeing 747 4 years later.

I flew for more than 40 years and had total flight time of 20,800 hours. I consider being a pilot the "World's Greatest Job"!