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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Robert M. Kelly

Tom was born in Lyndhurst, NJ on Sept 14, 1924.
Tom began his love of flying early. Around 1938, Tom and his older brother Ed were building airplane models in their home, located in Rutherford, NJ. They subscribed to "Air Trails" and "Model Airplane News" magazines. Amongst numerous others, Tom built a Commodore model airplane, powered by a Brown Jr. engine.
Tom and Ed got their first airplane ride at Teterborough Airport, near Rutherford, NJ.
Tom's military service during World War II provided him ample opportunities to fly. His military service actually began when he was at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a freshman student in the fall of 1942. Tom enlisted in the Army reserve while at RPI and then transferred to the Army Air Force Aviation Cadet program, beginning active duty at boot camp (Keesler Field, located in Biloxi, MS), in March 1943.
After boot camp and flight training, Tom was assigned as a B-26 "Martin Marauder" bomber pilot, flying bombing missions in and around France and Germany. Tom was in the 9th Air Force and 397th Bomb Group, and later in the 599th Bomb Squadron. Tom chronicled his preparations for, and participation in, the aerial war in Europe in a large collection of letters to his mother, which he transcribed in 1992 onto computer files. Tom's military service ended in January, 1946.

After the war, he married the former Lorraine Elsie Zoschak of Rutherford, NJ on July 1, 1948. During this same post-war timeframe, Tom had returned to RPI to complete his studies. Also after the war, Tom gave his younger brother Jim his first airplane ride in an Aerocoupe.
In 1949, he graduated from RPI with a degree in aeronautical engineering and moved to Hampton, Virginia to work at the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) site at Langley Field. At Langley, Tom progressed to become a supervisor in the 8-foot transonic pressure tunnel, a part of the high-speed aircraft division, and worked with Richard T. Whitcomb (developer of the 'Area Rule' and other aeronautical principles) on a number of projects. He worked on such projects as the area rule (the so-called "coke bottle" shape), the space shuttle and the supercritical wing, all of which were revolutionary advancements in aeronautic technology. He authored or co-authored many NASA technical reports. He worked at NASA until retiring at the GS-15 level in 1979.
After his retirement, he was an active member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter No. 339, and had also served as a glider pilot and instructor with the Tidewater Soaring Society. He was also a licensed airframe and propulsion mechanic. Since his retirement, he had been building a home-built aerobatic biplane, an AcroSport II. At the time of his death, the airplane was almost completed.
Tom's love of all things aeronautic was a life-long addiction, being embodied in his patriotic endeavors during World War II, his distinguished working career, and his post-retirement hobbies. When Tom died, the aeronautic world lost a fervent proponent and ally.
Tom died on Aug 26, 1996 at 71 years of age.