A Look Back At Friends And Colleagues Who Have Made Their Final
Flight
It is never pleasant to review the roster of those who have left
us over the course of a year, and it seems as if it's never a short
list. But for those who knew each of these pilots and influencers
of aviation who passed in 2011, the memories are warm, and we wish
their families well.
January
ANN received word from ALPA that Capt. Clarence "Clancy"
Prevost, pilot with Northwest Airlines for 25 years before retiring
in 1993, passed away. Prevost is probably best known for his
actions in 2001 as a simulator instructor working for a flight
school near Minneapolis. His suspicions
led to the arrest of 9/11 terrorist Zacarias
Moussaoui.
Larry Newman, the last surviving member of the crew of the
Double Eagle II balloon - first to cross the Atlantic, succumbed to a 3-year long battle with
pancreatic cancer in December.
February
Eurocopter test pilot Jean Boulet (pictured)
passed away at the age of 90. In a statement
released to the media, the company paid tribute to Boulet's
"legendary piloting skills and passion for flying established the
Group's place in the history of rotorcraft."
March
Justin B. “Jack” Cox, EAA Lifetime 14286, who
influenced generations of aviators as the long-time editor-in-chief
of EAA Sport Aviation magazine,
passed away March 6, 2011, at Randolph
Hospital in Asheboro, North Carolina. Over his career at EAA, Jack
was known as “the” spokesman for the homebuilt aircraft
and sport aviation communities.
May
Violet Cowden,
who served as a WASP in the Army Air Forces in 1943 and
1944, passed away in Newport Beach, CA April 10th at
the age of 94. Cowden was among about 200 WASPs who were honored by
President Barack Obama with a Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.
The founder of one of ANN's favorite events ... the Albuquerque International Balloon
Fiesta ... passed away following a lengthy battle with
stomach cancer. Sid Cutter died in his sleep at the age of 77.
Following the injuries she suffered in a March 12 airshow
accident in Brownsville, TX,
Amanda Franklin passed away at the Brookes
Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
June
Maj. Gen. John R. Alison, USAF (Ret.), a
highly decorated World War II combat ace and
Korean War veteran, died on Monday, June 06, 2011, at his home in
Washington, D.C. He was 98 years old. Alison's wartime achievements
include seven confirmed and numerous probable kills while flying
with, and commanding, the 75th Fighter Squadron "Flying
Tigers." Additionally, he was co-commander of an Air Commando
Force – the first in military history – which fought
behind Japanese lines in Burma in World War II. He also is known as
the father of Air Force special operations.
The man best known around the air show circuit as "Big B" ...
Bill Beardsley ...
passed away June 11th after a reportedly long
battle with cancer which he chose to keep private.
July
Marion Cole (pictured) passed away. One of the most famous
(though Marion might have termed that as 'infamous') of the
early generation of aerobatic pilots and
airshow performers, Marion Cole was 86 and had an undeniable impact
on the entire sport aviation world.
An announcement on the
Greg Poe Airshows' Twitter site brought very
sad news. The well-known airshow performer had passed away
unexpectedly of a heart attack.
August
Two veteran pilots were fatally injured when the replica Wright
"B" Flyer they were aboard
went down during a test flight. One of them
was a former president of the Wright "B" Flyer non-profit
organization which had built the aircraft.
An E-Racer experimental aircraft on its first flight nosed over
while attempting an off-airport emergency landing, fatally injuring
the builder/pilot of the airplane.
Jack Morrison, 73, was the only person on
board the aircraft at the time of the accident.
A
decorated veteran and his girlfriend were
fatally injured when the plane they were in went down at the
Warrenton Air Park in Fauquier County, VA. Shannon Beebe was flying
with Elizabeth Pignatello when the accident occurred.
Air Force Col. Ralph Albertazzie (Ret.), who passed away at his
home in Berkley County, WV. Col. Albertazzie had been the pilot of Air Force One during the
Nixon administration.
September
One of the pioneer women in aviation passed
away in Florida. Betty Skelton Erde was 86 years old. Erde, a
resident of Winter Park, Florida, was born in Pensacola, FL in
1926. According to Wikipedia, she set 17 aviation and automobile
records and was credited with opening doors for women in aviation
and the automotive world, as well as astronautics and
advertising.
Cliff Robertson was a man known to many as a fine actor in
everything from "Charly" to "Spiderman" -- but, far more important
to me, he was known to those of us in the aviation world as a
quiet, friendly and uncommonly humble flyer with a heart of gold
and a
never-ending supply of flying stories.
Aviation icon Mort Brown (pictured), the
first Chief Pilot of Production Flight Test, Cessna
Aircraft Company, from 1937 - 1972, died at the age of
103.
October
Former
WWII triple ace fighter pilot and hearing aid
entrepreneur Kenneth Dahlberg passed away at his home in Deephaven,
MN. He was 94 years old. The pilot and entrepreneur had a cameo
role in the Watergate Scandal.
Strong Enterprises reported on the company website that company founder Ted Strong
passed away on Friday. No cause of death was listed in the notice,
but a comment posted to the company website by Strong Enterprises
noted that, "An incident has occurred during a Military Training
exercise."
A memorial service was held for Charles Roger Keeney of Lomita,
CA, who died of natural causes
at age 100 on August 27. Keeney flew for the
last time in his Super Cub on his 97th birthday, in February of
2008.
November
For many years, the term "Learjet" was synonymous with business
aviation. The man
largely credited with making that connection
was Jim Greenwood, a former PR Director for Bill Lear. Greenwood
passed away in Green Valley, AZ at the age of 91.
James Robert “Bob” Moseley (pictured) passed
quietly in his sleep on November 17 at the age of 64. At the time
of his passing, Moseley was serving as
Superior Air Parts' manager of Technical Support and
Training at the Superior Aviation Beijing facility in
Beijing, China.
December
Former FAA Administrator J. Lynn Helms, who led the agency
during Ronald Regan's first term as president and was instrumental
in the firing of some 11,000 striking air traffic controllers,
passed away December 11th at the age of
86.
The last member of the
original Boeing B-52 design team, whose
proposal and balsa scale model won Air Force approval to build the
plane, passed away at age 94.