Milton Stombler

Foil: 60 Panel: 1 Column: 4 Line: 22

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Robin Stombler

Starting at Rutherford Field in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Milton Stombler learned to fly when he was in graduate school. Eventually, he earned his commercial license and instrument rating and became the co-owner of a Mooney. After retiring as a university administrator, he volunteered with the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Savannah, Georgia to become part of the renovation team for the B-17 Flying Fortress. An experimental physicist by training (AKA "lab rat"), he expected to bring serious skills to the project. Instead, he found himself the least talented among a group of retired military aircraft mechanics, airplane builders, woodworkers, and plain "good ol' boys" who can fix anything. The joy he experienced in restoring this "City of Savannah" aircraft was dwarfed by his admiration for the crew members that flew them in combat during World War II. He feels privileged to work on behalf those veterans in restoring their magnificent aircraft.