Foil: 54 Panel: 2 Column: 2 Line: 12

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Scott Harrison

W. Allen Harrison entered the Naval Aviation Cadet program in August 1954 following graduation from Washington & Lee University.
He began his training in Pensacola, Florida, and soloed in an SNJ training aircraft at Whiting Field in February 1955. Subsequently he passed requirements for night flying, formation flying, field carrier landings, and instrument flying. He completed carrier landings on the USS Saipan in August 1955, and after transfer to Kingsville, Texas, he transitioned to jets, first in the TV-2 trainer and then the F9F-5 Panther. Then an Ensign, he was designated a Naval Aviator and assigned to VA-36 at Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Florida.
In January 1957 he received training in “External Delivery of External Weapons” at NAS Norfolk. In Florida he completed carrier training with landings on the USS Saratoga. He was given early release to return to Columbia University Graduate School in January, 1958, at which time he joined VA-831 as a “Weekend Warrior” flying from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, NY. There he transitioned to the FJ-3 Fury and then the FJ-4B.
His employer, Exxon Corporation, transferred him to Coral Gables, Florida where he joined VA-741 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. He transitioned to the A4D-1 Skyhawk. A year later Exxon transferred him to Bogota, Columbia at which time he left the Navy with 1138 flying hours.
Twenty four years later, after intermittent flying, he purchased a 1984 Piper Archer and updated his instrument rating. In 2000 he purchased a Piper Saratoga 11, PA32R-301 and he and his wife flew within the U. S. for the next sixteen years.
He retired from flying in February 2016, having accumulated a total of 3590 flying hours.