List of Notable Warbird People

[Noha307]

I recommend the forum editor delete the listing of "alleged" warbird personages from this web page. There are more important intellectual issues in aviation history to address than this nonsense.

I could not agree more with you last statement.

It's worth noting that half the reason I started this thread was that I kept running into names, going "Huh? Who was that again?" and then having to go look them up. So one of the major purposes of this thread had nothing to do with determining who deserves to be "venerated" and the inclusion of the word "important" was just to put a limit on notability requirements so that not every Tom, Dick, and Harry was listed.

With that out of the way, I came across a few good stories about how Jerry Yagen got to be where he is and how he came to found the Military Aviation Museum:

• Jerry Yagen - The mystery man and his flying machines
• Collectors in Flight: Jerry Yagen and the Making of the Military Aviation Museum
• History of Jerry Yagen

Also, Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass recently passed away, and the National Air and Space Museum wrote a blog post that mentions his significant involvement with warbirds.[1]

EDIT (22-05-01): Found another article about Jerry Yagen: Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines

Last edited by Noha307 on Sun May 01, 2022 9:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Noha307]

Mike Nixon was mentioned in a previous post, but it's worth mentioning Warbirds News article that establishes his impact: The “New” Vintage V12s - Warbirds News

Also, although he was mentioned in a previous post, I didn't realize until recently that Dan Friedkin of Comanche Fighters was founder of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation.[1][2]

Someone who hasn't been mentioned yet is Jim Slattery. He has a collection of 15 aircraft on loan to the National Museum of World War II Aviation.[3]

EDIT (23-04-30): I came across another article about Mike Nixon the other day. The September/October 2022 issue of EAA's Warbirds magazine has an article titled "Mike Nixon: The Warbird Motor Man" by Budd Davisson starting on page 38.

Last edited by Noha307 on Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Matt Gunsch]

Someone who hasn't been mentioned yet is Jim Slattery. He has a collection of 15 aircraft on loan to the National Museum of World War II Aviation.[3]

There is a reason he was not mentioned, like how he got the money for the planes, and the reason they are where they are is because of on going investigations of his company.

[Warbirdnutta]

One from Downunder, David Lowy funded then donated his warbird collection to the people of Australia.



From Wikipedia
Lowy is the President and Founder of Temora Aviation Museum. (TAM) housed at the former site of the largest Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) World War II training field in New South Wales, Australia. In 2003, Lowy was named a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to aviation, particularly the preservation and promotion of Australia’s aviation history through the establishment of the Temora Aviation Museum. In 2006 he received the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators’ Australian Bicentennial Award, which recognises outstanding individuation contribution to Australian aviation. He became a Special Capabilities Officer in the RAAF Reserves (rank of Flight Lieutenant) in 2019.

Lowy is a former Australian Aerobatic Champion (Unlimited Division, 1998) and was selected to represent Australia at the World Aerobatic Championships in Trenčín, Slovakia in 1998; however he was unable to attend due to business commitments. Lowy has performed at airshows flying a WWII Spitfire as well as Vietnam War-era A37B Dragonfly ground attack jet. He was trained in aerobatics by the late Alan Hannah, who was a former RAAF F/A-18 Hornet and Caribou pilot.

Lowy also holds an FAA Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATP) and pilots a Gulfstream 550 business jet.He began flying in 1985 after a ride in a British Aerospace Hawk inspired him to start his flying career. His interest in aviation began at age 5 after his mother gave him a balsa wood glider.

[Noha307]

Someone who hasn't been mentioned yet is Jim Slattery. He has a collection of 15 aircraft on loan to the National Museum of World War II Aviation.[3]

There is a reason he was not mentioned, like how he got the money for the planes, and the reason they are where they are is because of on going investigations of his company.

Wow, no kidding. I had no idea. All I knew about him was what I found in the article above.

One from Downunder, David Lowy funded then donated his warbird collection to the people of Australia.

That is a good one. Thanks!

[Noha307]

After communicating with a few of them recently, I figured it was about time to update my list of authors from the original post. A common theme for many, though not all, of these individuals is that their books are featured in the Aircraft Profile Book Series Catalog thread:

• Dana M. Bell (Amazon)
• Steve Birdsall (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Martin W. Bowman (Amazon)
• Peter M. Bowers (BowersFlyBaby.com, Museum of Flight, Wikipedia)
• Martin Caidin (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Tom Cooper (Amazon)
• Robert F. Dorr (Amazon)
• David Doyle (Wikipedia)
• Lou Drendel (Amazon, Lou Drendel)
• Jeffrey L. Ethell (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Rene J. Francillon (Aerosphere Research Editions)
• Roger A. Freeman (Wikipedia)
• Steve Ginter (Personal Website, Amazon)
• William Green (Wikipedia)
• Bill Gunston (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Richard P. Hallion (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Edward Jablonski (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Robert Jackson (Amazon)
• Joseph Juptner (Amazon, EAA Vintage Aircraft Association)
• Bert Kinzey (Detail & Scale)
• Jim Lansdale (Pacific Wrecks)
• Paul R. Matt (Amazon)
• Len Morgan (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Edward H. Phillips (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Clarence Simonsen (Bomber Command Museum of Canada)
• Hans-Heiri Stapfer (Amazon, Wikipedia (German))
• Jim Sullivan (Amazon)
• Gordon Swanborough (Amazon)
• Bill Sweetman (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• John W. R. Taylor (Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Thommy H. Thomason (Personal Website, Amazon)
• Scott A. Thompson (Personal Website, Amazon)
• Barrett Tillman (Personal Website, Amazon, Wikipedia)
• Tom Tullis (Personal Website)
• John W. Underwood (Amazon, EAA Vintage Aircraft Association)
• Nicholas A. Veronico (Amazon)
• Ray Wagner (Amazon, San Diego Air & Space Museum)
• Martin C. Windrow (Wikipedia)

EDIT (22-03-10): Added Edward Jablonski.
EDIT: (22-03-17): Added Jim Lansdale.
EDIT: (22-05-01): I came across a section in the American Aviation Historical Society Wikipedia article that enabled me to include a number of people that I hadn't considered. Added Joseph Juptner, Paul R. Matt, Len Morgan, Edward H. Phillips, John W. Underwood and Ray Wagner.

Last edited by Noha307 on Sun May 01, 2022 10:16 pm, edited 4 times in total.

[Noha307]

Although he's already been mentioned, I recently came across a great semi-autobiographical article about Carl Scholl in Aeroplane: Aeroplane Meets Carl Scholl

A person who hasn't been mentioned yet is Tim Savage of Warbird Digest.[1]

In the same vein is Moreno Aguiari, who founded Warbirds News in 2013.[2]

Finally, I'm not sure whether any photographers have been listed yet, but Scott Slocum certainly seems to fit the bill.[3]

[Spitty]

Bit more on David Lowy.

He is the eldest son of Westfield Corporation co-founder Frank Lowy and Principal of Lowy Family Group (LFG), the Family Office and private investment group of the Lowy family. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.

Westfield is a large Supermarket chain here in Australia.

[Noha307]

Bit more on David Lowy.

He is the eldest son of Westfield Corporation co-founder Frank Lowy and Principal of Lowy Family Group (LFG), the Family Office and private investment group of the Lowy family. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.

Westfield is a large Supermarket chain here in Australia.

Thanks. I especially appreciate the clarification about Westfield. I wouldn't have known otherwise.

While we're on the subject of notable people down under, it's worth mentioning the Kiwi version of Scott Rose (as in he established New Zealand's counterpart to WIX, The Wings Over New Zealand Aviation Forum): Dave Homewood. In addition to running WONZ, I don't think I need to tell anyone he also hosts the Wings Over New Zealand Show Aviation Podcast.

This in turn, leads me to another long term forumite, James "JDK" Kightly. In addition to his Vintage Aero Writer blog, he writes for Aeroplane and Flightpath, co-hosts Wings Over Australia and co-organized the Aviation Cultures Mk.V Conference. One other note about "JDK" is I think he might hold the record for most widely involved and prolific historic aviation forum contributor. In addition to his (as of this post) 6,879 posts on WIX, he has 8,195 on Key.aero, 549 on PPRuNe, and 384 on WONZAF. That's just over 16,000 posts!

Two more people from the museum side of things are Chris Henry of the EAA Aviation Museum and Zach Baughman, formerly of the EAA Aviation Museum, now at the Military Aviation Museum.[1][2]

EDIT: I almost forgot, although Ray Hanna has already been brought up more than once before (1, 2), I did come across a good article about him: Profile: Ray Hanna

[Noha307]

Two more recent additions from the curator column are Cory Graff, formerly Military Aviation Curator of the Flying Heritage Collection, now curator at the National World War II Museum and Matthew Burchette, formerly of the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, now Senior Curator at the Museum of Flight.[1][2][3] Both are particularly known for their outreach efforts, with the former having run Cory's Blog for the FHC and the latter having hosted the Behind the Wings Video Series while at WOTR.

[bdk]

One other note about "JDK" is I think he might hold the record for most widely involved and prolific historic aviation forum contributor. In addition to his (as of this post) 6,879 posts on WIX, he has 8,195 on Key.aero, 549 on PPRuNe, and 384 on WONZAF. That's just over 16,000 posts![/url]

Get a life JDK!

[Dave Homewood]

While we're on the subject of notable people down under, it's worth mentioning the Kiwi version of Scott Rose (as in he established New Zealand's counterpart to WIX, The Wings Over New Zealand Aviation Forum): Dave Homewood. In addition to running WONZ, I don't think I need to tell anyone he also hosts the Wings Over New Zealand Show Aviation Podcast.

Hi Noha307, my good mate Matt Austin just alerted me to the fact I'd gotten a mention on this esteemed list. I had missed it till now. Thank you Sir, you're too kind. I just do what I love, aviation. As well as the WONZ Forum and the WONZ Show podcast, my day job is also in aviation as editor of New Zealand Sport Flying magazine, and Administrator of the Sport Aircraft Association of New Zealand, plus I am a historian of wartime RNZAF history and have helped many researchers and authors as well as my own projects, plus I run my Wings Over Cambridge website (separate from the WONZ Forum), and I run several aviation Facebook pages. Keeps me busy, but I love it and have made so many great friends in aviation!

Last edited by Dave Homewood on Fri Sep 09, 2022 5:31 am, edited 2 times in total.

[Dave Homewood]

One other note about "JDK" is I think he might hold the record for most widely involved and prolific historic aviation forum contributor. In addition to his (as of this post) 6,879 posts on WIX, he has 8,195 on Key.aero, 549 on PPRuNe, and 384 on WONZAF. That's just over 16,000 posts!

Sorry, I suspect I can beat that.
The Wings Over New Zealand Forum - 59,333 posts
The Key Publishing FlyPast Forum - 5,517 posts
WIX Forum - 1076 posts

I am usually the quietest person in the room but I am starting to realise maybe I talk too much.

[Noha307]

As a result of a recent thread mentioning his passing, I learned of the founder of Cal Pacific Airmotive, Art Teeters.[1][2]

Another relatively recent passing was that of longtime aviation photographer William T. "Bill" Larkins.[3]

Third, although they were mentioned in the first post of this thread, Tri-State Aviation has a memorial page with a good pair of short biographies of both Gerry Beck and Bob Odegaard.

Ray Fowler, in addition to being the chief pilot of the Liberty Foundation, has also flown for the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum and Military Aviation Museum.[4]

Finally, due to complaints and to deemphasize the "hall of fame" aspect, I have elected to change the name of this thread to List of Notable Warbird People. This is based on Wikipedia's definition of notability, which is a decidedly neutral benchmark used to determine whether a topic is worthy of an article. The key criteria of the policy is that the subject "as received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". Therefore, while far from perfect, I have tried to adhere to the same standard when adding a person to this thread by including a reference where possible. I will note that this is a self-imposed rule, so while I very much appreciate links, don't feel that it has to apply to you.

[soko121]

Did anyone mention Doug Arnold in the UK ? Or Spencer Flak ?