Oliver "Ollie" Crawford To Speak At Banquet

The Texas Aviation Historical Society will honor all those who have "slipped the surly bonds of earth" at its Silver Wings Banquet on Saturday. The society takes the theme for the event from the poem "High Flight" by John Magee. Magee wrote about pilots who had "slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings."

The banquet will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at Tradewind Business Park Hangar One in Amarillo (TX). Featured speaker for the event "Silver Wings - the Best Among Us" will be Amarillo native Oliver "Ollie" Crawford. Crawford joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and received his wings and his commission as a fighter pilot in April 1945. He was assigned to fly the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. After the war, Crawford remained in the reserves for 13 years as a flight instructor. After attending South Texas University of Law, he began work with Time Inc. He flew many company aircraft, including the Douglas DC-3 and the Fokker F-27 and F-28. Crawford is now a charter member of the Air Force Association, honored by the association as "Man of the Year" in 1989.

Crawford was honored by the U.S. Air Force in 1992 with the "Exceptional Service Award" for his contributions to the defense effort. He has flown nearly 100 types of civilian aircraft and flies the P-40 in Commemorative Air Force air shows.

As part of Saturday's event, guests will be able to purchase airplane rides on a Polish Iskra, a Czech L-39 and a classic Stearman. A silent auction will take bids on rides in a S-2B Pitts, a R44 Raven II helicopter, hot air balloon and a sailplane. Specially framed aviation and space photographs and aircraft models will also be available for purchase.

FMI: www.texasaviationmuseum.org