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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Steven D. Hayes

This "Wall of Honor" recognition is given to our father, Lt. Col. John W. Hayes, USAF (Ret.), who has spent the better part of nearly five decades in the field of aviation. During those years and even now his dedication and love for flying has been unwavering. His experience has spanned nearly the full breadth of aviation including; military, charter, commuter, corporate and private flying.

He started his flying career in the Air Force learning how to fly a Piper Cub. Later, his military training included time in the T-6 "Texan", T-28 "Trojan" and T-33 "Shooting Star". Graduating from flight school training at Greenville Air Force Base (AFB), Mississippi on March 30, 1955, he has never looked back. Initially stationed at Rhine Main Air Base in Germany he was assigned to a troop carrier unit flying C-l 19 "Boxcars". The unit transferred to Dreux Air Base and flew all over Europe. Next, he reported to McGuire AFB in Sept 1958 and flew the C-l 18 worldwide until late summer of 1964. Later duty included flying C-54s from Torrejon AB in Spain and Lockheed C-141 "Starlifters" at Charleston AFB, S.C. It was at Charleston AFB that his service in the US Air Force's Military Airlift Command culminated in Vietnam duty flying the Starlifter. He left active duty from the Air Force in 1968.

Afterwards, he spent another 10 years serving in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. There, he flew EC-121s and EC-130 "Hercules" for electronic warfare missions, which included Command Post Duty Officer in Red Flag exercises, until his formal retirement from the military in 1980 with 25 years of distinguished service. During that time, in 1974 he began charter flights including the Cherokee 140, Cherokee 6, and the Piper "Seneca, "Aztec" and "Navajo" models. He also performed as a Captain of Allegheny Commuter that included the following airplanes: Cessna C-310, C-320 and C-401 and the Twin Beech (BE-18). After his retirement from the military he took up a corporate flying career joining HRB-Singer Corporation and flying the King Air 90 and 200 models. After HRB-Singer he continued flying corporately and hired on with the Pennsylvania State University as the chief pilot flying both models until March 1997 when he officially retired.

During his career he flew all over the world in 11 military aircraft with 3 aircraft type ratings. He accumulated over 18,000 hrs. total flying time with 4 different pilot ratings in literally dozens of aircraft. He has flown everything from a glider to a 4-engine heavy transport jet and almost everything in between. He has operated in the capacity of Pilot in Command, Chief Pilot and Airline Captain and been on an Airport Advisory Board and has been a member of the Aircraft Owner's and Pilot's Association (AOPA) and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Along the way he also owned several aircraft including; a Piper Super Cruiser, Stinson Voyager, Beechcraft Musketeer, and an Aeronca Champ.

Our dad has devoted his life to aviation. And, it has been the dedication of men and women like our father who advanced the field of aviation not by making bold leaps, but by perseverance and a steady hand. Along the way he made sacrifices, some of which we'll never know. But through it all he provided for a home, served his country, inspired us and set courses of future generations with a respect and appreciation for aviation. Each of us has cherished memories of flying because of you. We love you dad. Thanks for being you and giving us something to be proud of.

Your loving kids,
Diana, Steve and Will