About Wings Over Kansas
Contributing
educators, authors and aviation professionals who are a valued presence
on this website are listed as follows:
Bill Wright, a private pilot since 1957, has logged over 2,000 VFR hours in various taildraggers. As a fan of vintage and classic aircraft, he has authored numerous articles for Pacific Flyer and other aviation periodicals. Wright practices labor law in Southern California. Rearwin: A Story of Men, Planes, and Aircraft Manufacturing During the Great Depression, was his first book.
Bob Dickens is an AOPA Regional Representative for Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Dickens was formerly the safety program manager for FAA's Kansas City (Missouri) Flight Standards District Office and the principal operations inspector for the Little Rock (Arkansas) FSDO. He has also been an NTSB aircraft accident investigator. He was assigned to some 300 accidents, including the 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 crash at Sioux City, Iowa, where a catastrophic engine failure severed hydraulic lines powering the DC-10's flight controls. Dickens learned to fly in high school and later joined the U.S. Army, where he flew attack helicopters. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star, among other honors. A helicopter pilot for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, he also flew "Copter 10" in the TV series "Emergency." Dickens is a Certified Flight Instructor in both aircraft and helicopters. He has more than 14,000 flight hours, including some 8,000 hours in General Aviation aircraft. He owns a Grumman Tiger, which he says he flies "at the least provocation." Bob can be reached at bdickens@ipa.net.
Bonnie Johnson, President of the Kansas Aviation Museum and Director of the Aerodynamic Laboratories at the National Institute for Aviation Research at WSU.
Carolyn Russell is president of C. Russell & Company Public Relations, and an aerospace/defense and general aviation PR veteran at the both the Boeing Company and Beech (now Raytheon) Aircraft in Wichita. She served two-terms as a national officer for the Aviation/Space Writers Association, and was corporate communication director for Brite Voice Systems before founding her own firm in 1997.
Responsible for all international media relations for the new Air Force One, Russell also handled news conferences and media relations for Boeing in the U.S. and abroad. Russell was editor of Beech Aircraft's employee newspaper during the historic period when Olive Ann Beech ran the company, and through the Raytheon buyout of Beech. She has also worked as a broadcast journalist for NBC and PBS radio affiliates, served as a photographer with the U.S. Army in Germany, as a broadcast and print journalist with the U.S. Army Reserve, and is a published freelance magazine writer and photographer.
Her PR firm has counseled clients and produced winning public relations programs for a variety of industries, including travel, hospitality, technology, ecommerce, and business. You can reach Russell at russ@russcom.com.
Charles Kanaga, started his aviation career at a young age during WWII working at the Boeing Airplane Company during the summer months. Part of his salary was dedicated to flying lessons, learning to fly in a J-3 Cub. His flight instructor was Ted Braley, a test pilot from the Stearman Airplane Company. Charles later took a position with Beech Aircraft Company, now Raytheon Aircraft. During this time Charles attended college but then made a commitment to join the United States Air Force. Unable to get Cadet pilot training, he spent the next four years as a Control Tower Operator and G.C.A. (Ground Control Approach Operator). After leaving the Air Force he earned his private, commercial, multi-engine and instrument ratings. Charles soon formed a flying corporation with a business partner. It was during this time that he found and purchased his beloved 1936 Beech Staggerwing C17-L. Since that time he has logged over 3000 hours in different aircraft. For a period of time he owned a 1944 Stinson Reliant V-77 (Gullwing) and a Stits Playboy, that he flew in aerobatic exhibitions. Charles is a charter member of the Kansas Aeronautical Historical Association, now known as the Kansas Aviation Museum (K.A.M.). He served as it's second president and served on a number of committee's as well as a board member.
Charles can be reached at wefly2@prodigy.net.
Craig Miner is the Willard Garvey Professor of History at Wichita State University. He is well known as an historian of Kansas and the region, as well as business and the West generally. Among his recent Kansas books are West of Wichita: Settling the High Plains of Kansas 1865-1890 and Wolf Creek Station: Kansas Gas and Electric in the Nuclear Era. He is the editor of The Wichita Reader, also published by the Wichita Eagle.
Daryl Murphy is a native of Reno County who has been flying and writing about flying for nearly 40 years. After beginning with Cessna Aircraft in 1965, he continued to work in the aviation advertising and public relations business and became the editor of General Aviation News. Since 1990, he has been a corresponding editor for GAN, Aviation International News and several other magazines and has authored six books.
Dave Higdon is president and co-founder of PhotoProse Productions Inc., a six-year-old company serving the content needs of numerous magazines and corporations from its base in Wichita. A 21-year veteran of aviation journalism, Dave and his wife came to Wichita in early 1991 when he was hired to cover aviation business for the Wichita Eagle. Previously, Dave served as the senior editor for Runways Southern California; as the Washington, D.C. bureau reporter for the New York Journal of Commerce; and as the regional airliner editor for Air Transport World magazine. A hang-glider pilot since 1977, Dave started his aviation-writing career in 1981 at the hang gliding and ultralight magazine Glider Rider. As an active aviation writer and photographer today, Dave draws on his experiences flying more than 4,000 hours in hang gliders, ultralights and light airplanes. An instrument-rated pilot, Dave and Annie use a classic Piper Comanche for their business transportation to fulfill their projects for an internationally diverse list of publications that includes AvWeb, Kitplanes, Flight International, GA Buyer Europe, Aerokurior in Germany, World Aircraft Sales in London, Aviation Maintenance here in the U.S., and several other magazines and corporate clients.
Drew Steketee, President and Chief Executive Officer of the BE A PILOT Foundation in Washington D.C. Prior to this position, Steketee had been Senior Vice-president for Communications since 1991, at the 360,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He received national notice and industry acclaim as General Aviation's leading spokesperson following the tragic John Kennedy, Jr. accident in 1999. The effort won a coveted Aviation Week and Space Technology Laurel Award for the proactive AOPA team responding to the tragedy.
Previously, he was the first Executive Director of the Partnership for Improved Air Travel, founded earlier by the airlines, Boeing and other manufacturers, and the travel industry. Enlisting a quarter-million frequent fliers, the coalition sought public consensus for better airports and air traffic control. He was Director of Corporate Communications for Beech Aircraft Corporation in Wichita in the late 1980s during development and certification of the Beech Starship. Previously, he was Director of Communications for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association and for the Airport Operators Council International, both in Washington, DC.
Steketee, a 2,600-hour Commercial pilot, earned his early flight training by mowing the grass runway at a New Jersey airfield. He is also the founder and volunteer Executive Director of the Civil Air Patrol Historical Foundation. A 1971 graduate of Brown University, he resides in Ashburn, Virginia with wife Carol, an employee of the Air Line Pilots Association. You can find out more about BE A PILOT at their website.
Edward H. Phillips is a general aviation historian and researcher and an active pilot and flight instructor. He has written seven history books about famous Wichita aircraft companies, including Travel Air and Cessna, as well as an in-depth history on the Beechcraft Model 17. He is currently working on a book about the five Travel Air Type R "Mystery Ships" of 1929-1932. Phillips worked for Beech Aircraft Corp. from 1978-1986, and resides in Dallas where he works for a major aerospace news magazine.
Frank Joseph Rowe, has been employed in the General Aviation Industry at Cessna Aircraft Company, a Division of Textron, Incorporated, since 1979. Most recently he is serving as an Advanced Design Supervisor on conceptual aircraft development. Frank attended Virginia Military Institute and is a graduate of Ohio State University. He has authored 3 aircraft related books: "Borne On The South Wind, A Century Of Kansas Aviation" (A general history Co-authored with Craig Miner), "The Famous Airplanes Of Kansas" (A Primer For Children), and "A Developmental History Of The Helio Courier C-STOL Aircraft" (A Technical History).
George R. Bauer, has been a social studies teacher, counselor, teacher and counselor educator, and an educational consultant. He graduated from Baker University, Baldwin, Kansas, in 1954 with majors in Business Administration and Psychology. He received the Master of Arts degree from the University of Denver in 1960. He holds the doctoral degree from the University of Kansas. After almost two years of research, he published a major work in August 1995 entitled Fairfax Ghosts: The "Bomber Builders" and Others Who Made a Difference. That book tells the story of the 59,337 men and women who built the B-25 Mitchell bomber at the North American Aviation plant in the Fairfax District of Kansas City, Kansas, during World War II, and the story of the Kansas City Warbirds who brought one lone
B-25 back "home" to Kansas City 50 years later, restored it, and flew the air show circuit in honor of the "bomber builders." The book that captured my focus was A Century of Kansas City Aviation History: The Dreamers And the Doers, published in 1999.
George W. Boyd is a well-known name in the Wichita area as well as throughout the state of Kansas, serving as the former Director of the Division of Aviation for the Department of Transportation. He is a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, serving as a jet fighter radar intercept officer for over 28 years in the United States Air Force, from which he retired in 1971 as a Tuskegee Airman. His work in the state as Commander of the Kansas Wing serves as in integral part of the total organization.
Frank Mitchell, editor of Twin and Turbine magazine, teaches aviation management courses and is chairman of the aviation advisory council for the Wichita Technical College. He is president of the University Aviation Association. Mitchell, retired from Raytheon Aircraft Co., is a speaker, writer and adviser on aviation education.
Lionel D. Alford, Jr. is an independent design engineer, program manager, and experimental test pilot currently working with and consulting for Defense Research Associates, EG&G, AirLaunch Systems, the University of Dayton Technical Institute and the University of Dayton. Alford is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, and an experimental test pilot with over 6000 hours in more than 60 different kinds of aircraft. He is an active member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Daedalian, the Airlift/Tanker Association, and the Air Force Association. During his Air Force career, Alford served in four operational Air Force combat squadrons and led missions in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Central America. He lived in Germany as a Forward Air Controller flying the OV-10A Bronco and supported the 1/16, 1st Infantry Division US Army. As a C-21A (Lear 35) Instructor Pilot, he was the pilot for the CINCSAC (Commander in Chief Strategic Air Command). He led the Training Division of the 317th Tactical Airlift Wing during Desert Storm/Shield and trained tactical airlift pilots to fly the C-130 in critical airlift and special operations missions in Europe, Central America, and South West Asia. Based on his flight experience and his M.S. Engineering degree, Alford was selected to attend the USAF Test Pilot School. After graduation, he was the chief test pilot for many critical aircraft programs. He made the first flight and was the program manager for an extensively modified Air Force Sabreliner. While stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, he managed and was the senior evaluator for the Air Force T-39 fleet and ran the Air Force Testing Commercial Aircraft for Military Applications (TCAMA) office. He was a test pilot for the newest Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) aircraft and the Chief of the T&E Division overseeing test for all nine AFSOC aircraft types and all AF rotary-wing and tilt-wing aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel Alford worked in Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command as the Chief Test and Evaluation Policy Manager for Air Force developmental test. He was the Chief of System Safety Engineering for the Mobility Systems System Program Office at the Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He is a prolific writer and a dynamic speaker who has published and presented over 40 papers and articles in international forums and journals. He is the author of a historical fiction novel, The Second Mission published in 2003. Alford was selected three times by the AF to compete at NASA for the position of pilot astronaut. Alford is married to the former Tammy Nix. They have four children: Tanna, Christin, Erin, and Devon.
Lionel Alford can be contacted at pilotlion@aol.com, and his technical, aviation, and fiction writing can be referenced at www.ldalford.com.
Lionel D. Alford, deceased in 2000. Mr Alford received his pilot wings in 1944. During tours of duty in WWII and Korea, Alford was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. Alford began his career at Boeing in 1954 as a test pilot, becoming manager of the Boeing Atlantic Test Center five years later. From 1961 to 1973, he was responsible for a range of Boeing programs, including the Minuteman ICBM and the Saturn V moon rocket.
In 1974, Alford became vice president and general manager of Boeing's Strategic Systems Group. He came to Wichita in 1977 as president of the then-Boeing Wichita Company. Alford brought the division from near oblivion to a $2 billion operation by the end of six years, as employment more than quadrupled. Alford's outstanding achievements in aerospace are complemented by his dedicated commitment to civic service in Kansas.
Lyle D. Bighley, Ph.D, is past president of the Kansas Aviation Council and currently is a private investor. Dr. Bighley received his Ph.D in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and retired as a Senior Vice President of Marion Merrill Dow, a pharmaceutical company in Kansas City. Bighley is an instrument rated pilot.
Mary Coln is past Education Director of the Kansas Aviation Museum having begun her work in Aerospace Education in 1991 in the Children's Discovery Center. She is the past Flight Program Coordinator for the Children's Museum of Wichita. Ms. Coln volunteers at public schools to teach classes on aviation, provides curriculum and support information to educators and parents and appears on media promoting aviation as a positive youth activity. She was presented The Frank G. Brewer Memorial Aerospace Award in 1997 as the top recipient in the North Central CAP Region.
Merrie Scott, Project Manager, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and AIAA "Evolution of Flight" Advisory Committee.
Mike Fizer had his sights set on the Air Force Academy to follow in his father's footsteps as a fighter pilot. However a childhood accident curtailed those plans but opened a door to photography through receiving a camera as a birthday gift. Through his school years, Mike developed his photographic talents. He began his career emphasis of aviation photography in 1978 as an assistant with noted aviation photographer, Paul Bowen. Five years later he started his own freelance photography business, contracting with aviation manufacturers and other Wichita area businesses for location and studio photography. Mike's editorial photography background began with Flying Magazine in 1985. He was hired as Staff Photographer for AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association) Pilot Magazine in 1988. Since then, Mike has been an integral part of the editorial staff that has made Pilot a leading aviation publication. In 1995 Mike was selected by Canon U.S.A., Inc. to join their prestigious Canon 55 Group, which recognizes professional photographers around the world for their contributions to commercial photography. Mike is still a member of this elite group and it is through their sponsorship and AOPA, that Mike is now recognized as a prominent speaker for public educational seminars in both aviation and aerial photography. Mike can be reached through his website.
Patrick Rowley, is a graduate of the University of Wichita with graduate course work in creative writing at Wichita State University. He is the author of Artists: A Kansas Collection, and numerous essays published in the Wichita Eagle. Besides current writing and consulting for several companies in the Wichita area, previous professional credentials include creative planning and writing for Beech, Boeing, Cessna, Learjet, Coleman, General Aviation Manufacturers Association and the American Bonanza Society.
Paul Bowen, a commercial photographer based in Wichita, Kansas, has been shooting aerial photography since 1972. He is credited with over 400 magazine covers and countless advertising campaigns. Considered by many to be the Dean of Aviation Photography, he maintains a busy shooting schedule traveling the globe in search of stunning backgrounds. Paul shoots from various aircraft, while flying in tight formation to achieve his desired shots. He is often perched in the open tail-gunner's position of a World War II B-25 bomber, strapped in, thousands of feet up. Paul is best known for his vortices aerials. Canon Camera's have been running an ad campaign for two years featuring Paul and one of his vortices at sunset images. Last year, Paul published his first coffee-table book, "AIR TO AIR." It features countless images from his aerial assignments over the past 25 years.
Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., was born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1915. He graduated from Western Military Academy in Alton, Illionois, in 1933, and later sttended the University of Florida and the University of Cincinnati where he majored in chemistry.
He entered the Army Air Corps on Feb. 25, 1937 at Fort Thomas, Ky. Immediately thereafter, he entered flying school at Randolph Field, and in February 1938 graduated from pilot school at Kelly Field, Texas. His first assignment was to Flight B, 16th Observation Squadron, Lawson Field, Fort Benning, Ga.
In June 1942, he arrived in England and immediately went into combat operations, flying 25 combat missions in B-17s, including the first American Flying Fortress raid against occupied Europe. In October 1942, the general was given the special assignment of flying General Mark Clark to make his rendezvous with the French in preparation for the invasion of North Africa. Upon his return from this trip, he was retained to ferry General Eisenhower and his staff to Gibralter on the night of the invasion. General Tibbets then flew General Clark to Algiers where General Clark took control of the invasion forces. For the next 30 days, General Tibbets conducted bombardment missions in the North African area under the direct control of the British, pending build-up of the American bomber forces.
In March 1943, he was returned to the United States for the purpose of participating in the B-29 program. This flight test work with the Boeing-Wichita factory and Air Materiel Command continued until March 1944 at which time General Tibbets was transferred to Grand Island, Neb., as director of operations under General Frank Armstrong who started a B-29 instructor transition school. In September 1944, he was assigned to the Atomic Bomb Project as the Air Force officer in charge of developing an organization capable of employing the atomic bomb in combat operations, and mating the development of the bomb to the airplane. In this function, he was also charged with the flight test development of the atomic bomb itself. As these developments progressed, General Tibbets was further charged with the tactical training of bombardment organizations and their deployment into the combat theater pf operations. He flew the first atomic bomb mission against enemy forces, dropping the bomb on Hiroshima.
With the end of the war in 1945, General Tibbets' organization was transferred to what is now Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, N.M., and remained there until August 1946. It was during this period that the Bikini Bomb Project took place, with General Tibbets participating as technical advisor to the Air Force commander. He was then assigned to the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., from which he graduated in 1947. His next assignment was to the Directorate of Requirements, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, where he subsequently served as director of the Strategic Air Division. In June 1950, General Tibbets was assigned to Elgin Air Force Base, Fla., and from July 1950 until February 1952, was B-47 project officer at the Boeing Airplane Company, Wichita, Kan., where the service test of the B-47 to determine its operational suitability took place.
From February 1952 until August 1954, he was commander of the Proof Test Division at Elgin Air Force Base. The general then received orders assigning him to the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base. His next assignment was director of war plans, Allied Air Forces in Central Europe at Fontainbleau, France. In February 1956, he returned to the United States as commander, 308th Bomb Wing, Hunter Air Force Base, Ga.
In January 1958, General Tibbets was reassigned to McDill Air Force Base, Fla., where he assumed command of the the 6th Air Division. He is a rated command pilot.
In February 1961, General Tibbets was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force as director of management analysis (re-designated as Directorate of Status Analysis effective March 27, 1961).
In July 1962, General Tibbets was assigned to the Joint Staff, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as deputy director of operations, J-3. In June 1963, with reorganization of the Operations Directorate, Joint Staff, General Tibbets became deputy director for the National Military Command System. He retired in September 1966.
Richard Harris is a general aviation industry reporter/historian, who's flown several general aviation aircraft -- from ultralights and gliders, to antiques and warbird aerobatics, to the latest "glass cockpits." With an instructor's rating, he's developed the pilot training and operating manuals for some of Wichita's newest jets. He's worked for three aircraft manufacturers, an airport and an airline, in various technical and administrative roles, and assisted public-information programs for the Civil Air Patrol, FAA and NASA. He's interviewed hundreds of aerospace people: pioneer aviators and astronauts, student pilots and airshow superstars, mechanics and manufacturing CEOs. His writing has appeared in several aviation magazines (Private Pilot, InFlightUSA, General Aviation News, World AirNews, and others). A member of the American Aviation Historical Society, he's written for their Journal, and provided aviation historical consulting for two TV documentaries. He now helps judge the Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards.
Richard Ross, this late aviator earned BS and MS degrees in aeronautical engineering and then spent 20 years studying, designing, testing and researching all types of flying machines; from simple general aviation aircraft to hypersonic outer space vehicles. He spent several years teaching at universities where he helped others capture his enthusiasm for flying. During this time, he took time to earn a pilots license with an instrument rating and to become an FAA approved ground school instructor. Richard became a member and president of the Wichita Aeronautical Historical Association and from there an avid supporter of general aviation history in the Wichita and Kansas area. He assisted in organizing the first "Aerodrome Days" air show at the Kansas Aviation Museum and six years later was in charge of organizing and directing the first large scale aerobatic air show in Wichita, with pilots such as Patty Wagstaff, The Sierra Aces, Steve Coan, Curt Arnspiger and many others. From these beginnings came the idea to form Air Capital Air Shows, Inc.; an organization that organized and promotes aerobatic air shows. Check out Richard's web site on the WOK link page.
Dr. Robert M.(Rob) Kuhns is an Aerospace and Aviation Education Consultant. Dr. Kuhns received his Doctorate of Education in Aviation and Space Sciences from Oklahoma State University in 1994. In addition, Dr. Kuhns, has instructed many different aerospace classes both at the university and secondary level. In 1996 Dr. Kuhns was honored with the Dean's Award of Outstanding Faculty of the Year at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In addition Dr. Kuhns is an instrument rated pilot and member of NASA Kansas Space Grant Consortium.
Russell W. Watson, is currently active as Consultant, Cessna Pilot Center Sales and Air Age Education. A 1999 recipient of the Frank G. Brewer Trophy, Watson has mentored students through the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA), the University Aviation Association (UAA), and the Aviation Explorer Scouts. He worked with student officers and members in a hands-on coaching capacity helping them do their jobs and gain experience. Mr. Watson initiated the first technical equipment donation program that provided excess aircraft parts and printed materials to aviation technical schools. In 1968, he assembled the first National Aviation Conference for Community Colleges. That same year, co-authoring the Aviation and the Community College Guidebook, published by the American Association of Junior Colleges. This guidebook was used for more than 20 years and led to at least 350 new community college programs that changed the face of collegiate aviation education. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University Aviation Association and provided company and industry liaison for the Civil Air Patrol, the Naval Sea Cadets and the National Congress on Aviation and Space Education. Mr. Watson continues to be active in the growth of aviation education, remaining a volunteer member of the advisory boards of a number of major colleges and organizations. He also participates in a wide variety of educational projects ranging from creating new aviation teaching materials to fund-raising.
Steve French, the late Kansas aviation educator and former President of the Kansas Commission on Aerospace Education.
Walter J. Boyne, former director of the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., enlisted as a private in the U.S. Air Force in 1951 and retired in 1974 with the rank of Colonel and more than 5,000 hours in a variety of aircraft, including the B-50, B-47, and B-52. He has written more than 400 articles on aviation subjects and 28 books, including "Boeing B-52: A Documentary History," "The Jet Age, Messerschmitt Me 262: Arrow to the Future," "The Leading Edge," and, with Steven L. Thompson, the recent best-selling novel, "The Wild Blue." For his achievements, in 1998 the National Aeronautic Association named him an Elder Statesman of Aviation.
For more information on Walter J. Boyne, click here to read the Wings Over Kansas Aviation Profile on Walter.
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