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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Marijean Achilli

CRASH LANDING INTO THE LONG ISLAND SOUND WOULDN'T STOP PETER REILLY FROM FLYING! It was his passion.
His life was his wife, Gertrude and their seven children, but his passion was flying. It started in 1967 when his company put him in charge of the newly purchased twin engine plane. He could not understand the jargon of the ex-Navy pilot who captained the plane, so he decided to take flying lessons. He was hooked and continued until he earned his private, instrument and multi-engine licenses and accumulated over 3500 flight hours.
At age 67, retired after 30 years at Warnaco, he purchased a charter and flight school located at Sikorsky Airport in Stratford, Connecticut. Cardinal Aviation, Ltd, had 7 instructors and 15 planes offering all phases of instruction. Over the next ten years hundreds of individuals from 12 to 72 years old earned Private Pilot to Air Transport Pilot licenses from his school.
When faced with making an emergency landing on the highway, risking injury to someone else, or landing in the marsh, endangering the rescue squad, Peter chose to land in the waters near the airport. The luck of the Irish prevailed; he glided into the water just 30' from the breakwater. He and his passenger were wet but were safely picked up by a passing duck hunter.
The crash landing and even emergency heart surgery at 74 years old couldn't deter him from flying. He doggedly recovered to challenge the FAA and his doctors to reinstate his license...for a few more hours of flight time.
He spent WWII on the water ( Lt. Commander, USNR) and two careers on land but on January 21, 2004, his 85th birthday he celebrates 36 years of great memories of the years flying by!!