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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Craig Haddock

My father was born in 1922 into a family that already had one aviator. Seduced as a child by the idea of flight, he began flying in biplanes as a teen and purchased his first aircraft while still in high school. He quit school to enlist in the Army Air Corps and got his commission as a fighter pilot flying P-47's during WW2. Following the war, he started a crop dusting business in Georgia with his brother using surplus Stearman trainers until he was recalled to active duty for the Korean War flying P-51's. Following the Korean War, he took a job as pilot flying a D-18 Beech for the company that eventually became Archway Cookies and stayed with them until 1961. Following that, he went to work for Zantop Air Transport which later became Universal Airlines flying the C-46, DC-6, DC-7, and finally the Lockheed Electra. He continued working for them into the late 70's. He then went to work for Great Northern Air in Alaska flying Electras into remote stations in that region. From there he went to Florida and flew DC-6's throughout the Caribbean and South America and finished up his lifelong career in aviation flying DC-3's for an overnight mail contractor for FedEx in 1986. Through the years he has owned everything from Taylrcart1s to a B-25 Mitchell. He was, and is, highly regarded for his skill and ability as a pilot by those that knew him and flew with him. He taught many people to fly and helped many establish themselves in aviation. In the spring of 2001 he completed the third rebuild on the KR-31 biplane that he has owned for more than 60 years and was the first aircraft he ever owned. At 81 years of age still flies for the love of it.