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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:
Tracey Dougherty

Martin J. Quinlan, Jr., from the time you were old enough to look to the sky, you wanted to be a pilot.

You had to overcome many hurdles to achieve your dream, the first of which was convincing your mother to send your life savings to you at naval basic training in Memphis, Tennessee, so you could take flying lessons. Knowing you needed a college diploma to meet your goal, you later earned your degree in accounting from Villanova University, while also working at Bell Telephone among other jobs.

Your first aviation position was as a flight instructor for Chester County Aviation at New Garden Airport, where at the age of 24 you served as airport manager and chief flight instructor. You taught more than 100 students, many of them twice your age. You even learned acrobatics so you could teach that as well. You later moved to Chester County Aviation's airport in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, where you became chief pilot. You went on to become captain of a Lear 35A for Westmoreland Coal Company and chief pilot and director of maintenance for Philadelphia Jet Service, flying a Hawker. You later became director of operations and flew Gulfstream III and IV's.

You have crisscrossed the world, flying more than 21,700 hours to all 50 U.S. states and more than 60 countries on four continents in 35 different types of aircraft. You have made 110 Atlantic crossings and 12 Pacific crossings. In his memoir, "A Flight Through Life," your colleague, Retired Air Force Colonel Albert J. DeGroote, called you "the best stick and rudder pilot I ever flew with."

You faithfully served your country as a flight engineer on C-118B's in the U.S. Naval Air Reserves from 1966 to 1974 and on C-130A's and H models in the Delaware Air National Guard from 1974 to 1986. You entered as an airman and 20 years later retired as a master sergeant, having delivered supplies to American forces in Vietnam and flown on embassy missions throughout Central and South America. You were named Sailor of the Year at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station in 1970 and Outstanding Enlisted Naval Reservist. You received a Presidential Unit Citation and were decorated for meritorious service and humanitarian acts.

You have mastered numerous aspects of your field, holding certificates as a private, commercial, and airline transport pilot; advanced and instrument ground instructor; multi-engine and instrument flight instructor; turbo propeller power flight engineer; and airframe and power plant mechanic. You furthered your knowledge by earning not one but two advanced degrees in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - one in management and one in operations.

You have flown global dignitaries, business leaders, philanthropists, and cultural icons, safely ushering them to their duties around the globe. More importantly, you transported people in times of crisis, helping passengers reach critical medical assistance in distant places and bringing health care personnel and medical supplies to earthquake-ravaged Haiti in 2010. You also have helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House by overseeing the use of the airplane you captained in that charity's annual plane pull fundraiser.

Remembering how a boy scout trip to the airport helped spark your own passion for flying, you have generously given your time to anyone wanting to know more about aviation, whether they were aspiring pilots, Girl Scout troops, or curious neighborhood children (and their equally curious parents). Always the flight instructor, you have narrated many an airshow for family and friends, opening our eyes to the marvel of flight.

In honor of this your 70th birthday, your family is proud to install your name on this wall of aviation heroes at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. You are our hero. Thank you for teaching us the meaning of service, responsibility, and dedication and for reminding us always to hold up our heads and look to the sky.