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I am proud to have known him.......
FINAL FLIGHT 1 January 2010 - The Roadrunners and the aviation world lost one of our aviation icons on the first day of the new decade. Torrey Larsen of Montclair, CA passed away Friday night (1 Jan). Apparently Torrey had fallen off a ladder several days ago hitting his head very hard on the pavement. That's all we know right now, but when more information on funeral arrangements, etc., is available we will pass it along via the Roadrunner news blog and bulletin board on the web site.
Torrey served in the U.S. Army as a H-21 helicopter mechanic at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he was issued a Top Secret for subsequent assignment as the enlisted Army NCO to staff the retreat where President Eisenhower was evacuated. Serving 3 years he entered college and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, University. Graduating in 1963 he started employment with Lockheed California Co., Burbank California in the Lockheed Skunk Works flight test organization as an engineer on the Mach 3 YF-12 variant of the CIA's A-12 being flown at Area 51. Advancing to the position of Senior Test Engineer he remained in that capacity for 158 of its first flights of the YF-12 including activities at Area 51, Edwards Air Force Base, the missile firing at the Pt Magu Naval Test Ranges in California, and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida for a live firing against the QB-47 test droned aircraft. Torrey returned to Area 51 to support the CIA's A-12 Oxcart Project as the A-12 were being deployed to Kadena, Okinawa during Operation Blackshield overflying North Vietnam and North Korea. Torrey remained with Lockheed until 1989, participating in various projects that included assignments to Lockheed's Rye Canyon, the Yuma, Arizona proving grounds. Advancing to the position of international facility development manager he had a number of remote assignments that included Nairobi, Kenya, Algiers, Algeria, and Lagos Nigeria before returning to the skunk Works as the flight test manager for the development of the SR-71, the U-2 and F-117 aircraft. Retiring from Lockheed in 1989, Torrey became an authority on pylon mounting aircraft for display at museums around the world. The Roadrunners are especially proud of Torrey's third pylon mounted A-12 aircraft in December of 2007 at the CIA headquarters at Langley Virginia. He was a supporting member of Roadrunners Internationale, participating in activities at CIA Headquarters during the dedication of the A-12 in 2007, the remembrance of CIA pilot Jack Weeks at the Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama, and virtually all the reunions of the Roadrunners including the one last October in Las Vegas, Nevada. God Speed, Torrey. Our condolences to the family.
Move this if you feel the need!
Owen
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