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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Aviation Emeritus educator, Department Chairperson, FAA mechanic Examiner, and current Adjunct Faculty member for Airframe and Powerplant Technology for Orange Coast College in California. Also, currently an Aviation Consultant, CEO, and Aviation Technician Education Council President, Western Region, of the United States.
Born Dec. 1, 1937 in Sabina, Ohio. Parents: Ulysis Blaine and Olive Imogene (Storer) Clifton. Married to Regina (Esposito) Clifton, August 1961. Children: Christopher Blaine and Jennifer Regina.
Education received includes a Bachelor's of Vocational Education Degree, a Masters of Arts Degree, and an Administrators Credential received from Long Beach State College, and the California State University, Long Beach. Also, received was a Life Vocational Teaching Credential from UCLA, ten different state approved teaching credentials, and several different federal certifications.
Currently, he is President of the Aviation Technician Education Council, Western Region which he was instrumental in forming in 1990. He has served two terms as President and one term as Vice President. This organization consists of twenty eight colleges and universities. He served seven years as an elected executive board member for the national organization and was instrumental in curriculum development, government relations, and scholarship awards.
Today, he is also a CEO for an organization called the International Aerospace Training Standards, Inc., (IATS) which is working to develop an International Aviation Mechanic's Training Program Standard for the international workforce of the future.
Over forty-three years of Aviation experience and still going strong. Industry experience includes military (U.S. Army, several years of airline experience, manufacturing flight test and certification work, commercial technical representative, bush mechanic in Alaska, two years as a Federal Aviation Administration designee, and thirty years of educational experience.
Other accomplishments include the original training curriculum FAA certifications and the writing of several state grants for the "Willa Brown Aviation Training Program" for single female parents and displaced female homemakers via partnership participation at the college, high school and industry. Besides his formulation of several internships, other developed partnerships tied together the government, industry, and the college in the development of aviation curriculum and computer based training software. Because of his involvement, Orange Coast College was one of the first Airframe and Powerplant Training Programs in the nation to develop and complete computer laboratory in 1990. The program incorporates over two hundred hours of computer based training, which includes "state of the art" avionics, into all phases of the current FAA approved curriculum. Finally, he was the developer and creator of seven different and original films for aviation training at the college level.
Published writings include the aviation curriculum design for the Career Vocational Education Division, California Department of Education's book on "Industrial and Technology Education Frame work and Standards". Also, he designed and developed the Aviation Section of the "Tech Prep Microcomputer application Software User's Guide", a book used as a resource for California educators. Finally, his input was well received in the late FAA sponsored Job Task Analysis Study of the aviation maintenance industry via Northwestern University.
Peer faculty first nominated and elected into the prestigious publication, "WHO'S WHO IN THE WEST" in the 21st edition, in 1987-1988.
Avocations: Involved in youth sports as coach and/or director of soccer, softball, and/or baseball since 1972. The rebuilding of antique cars.