Major Leonard P. Predaina USAFR (Retired)

Leonard “Lenny” Predaina knew since the tender age of 12 that he wanted to be an aviator after his very first flight on a TWA airplane with his father. His passion for aviation persisted and a mere eight years later, in the winter of 1973, he was accepted into the Air National Guard Officer Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee. Lenny was a distinguished graduate of the officer academy and his class Vice Commandant. In the month between officer’s school and pilot training he turned 21, married his high school sweetheart Sherry Ralph, and moved to Valdosta Georgia’s Moody Air Force
Base for pilot training. He earned a BS in Aerospace Technology with a
minor in Business from Indiana State University.

After graduating from pilot training in 1974, Lenny moved to Tucson, Arizona for F-100 training with the Air National Guard training squadron based at the Tucson International Airport. He was awarded with Top Gun honors for his class upon graduating.

After completing training, Lenny flew with the 113th Tactical Fighter Squadron 181st Tactical Fighter Group in Terre Haute, Indiana. There he flew the F100 until 1979. The aircraft that flew the last operational F100 sortie in the US inventory (aircraft serial number 56-2979) bore his name as pilot, as seen in the attached photo.

He flew the F-4C and later the F-4E in which he earned his squadron’s Overall Top Gun trophy in 1990-1991. He was also awarded the Tactical Air Command Aircrew of Distinction award in 1990 for recovering his crippled, ordinance laden aircraft and landing it safely after striking a turkey vulture that penetrated the canopy, impairing his visibility and tearing out aircraft instruments and mirrors in its path.

When Lenny retired as a Major from military flying in 1992 his Air National Guard career had overlapped with his civilian aviation career with United Airlines for 14 years. From 1978 to 2017 Lenny served United Airlines as Flight Engineer, First Officer, and Captain, flying five different airliners out of four different domiciles. In addition, he trained countless new pilots serving as a Line Check Airman for five years. Lenny also helped insure the security of US commercial air travel by volunteering as a US Deputy Marshall in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. He flew armed in the cockpit in a counter-terrorist role for a decade.

During his 45 years as an aviator, Lenny flew to 47 states and 16 foreign countries, won awards for marksmanship and distinguished service, taught countless pilots to fly as both a civil flight instructor and check airman, and in all fulfilled the dream he first had when he was 12.