Originally published in 2004
Duane Cole
Duane Cole, one of the pioneers of modern aerobatic competition and the air shows that give it an audience, died in Burleson, Texas in February at the age of 89. A legendary teacher and 30,000-hour pilot, he wrote nine books, a series of videotapes and left a vast number of students that includes today’s top air show stars such as Patty Wagstaff. Cole built his career on performance, winning the national aerobatic championships in 1962 and 1964. He was named to the International Aerobatic Hall of Fame in 1987 and to the International Council of Air Shows Foundation Hall of Fame in 1996. Cole spent his whole life in aerobatics and airshows; he had certainly a profound effect on the aerobatic world.
Jerome F. Lederer
Jerome F. Lederer was born more than a year before the Wright brothers made their successful series of flights in North Carolina in December 1903, and he remained close to the greatest achievements in aviation throughout his career as a safety analyst until he died at age 101. He was there when the U.S. Air Mail Service needed an engineer to design safety improvements for its aircraft. Lederer personally inspected the Spirit of St. Louis before it took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island. He organized the Office of Manned Space Flight Safety for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He held numerous key government aviation safety posts and founded the Flight Safety Foundation. Lederer also was appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower to a group that paved the way for the organization of today’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Jean Ross Howard Phelan
Jean Ross Howard Phelan, a pioneer female helicopter pilot whose life spanned the era from Lindbergh to the space shuttle., died in January; she was 87. Phelan learned to fly as part of the civilian pilot training program during WWII. Also. during WWII, she helped aviation legend Jackie Cochran run a base for the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She learned to fly under the Civilian Pilot Training Program; a program that later banned women from its ranks. In 1954 she become the eighth American woman, and 13th worldwide, to receive her helicopter pilot certificate. Phelan was director of helicopter activities at the Aerospace Industries Association, president of the American New Women’s Club and wrote numerous articles about flying. She helped form the Whirly Girls, an international organization of women helicopter pilots, in 1955. The group got its name from Bell’s nickname for her, and its financial support from Howard Hughes. Today. the group has 1,265 members in 41 countries.
International Women Members:
Rose Clement of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina has died. Clement was elected to represent Naval Flight Navigators of WWII and honored as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Aviation at the 2003 International Women in Aviation Conference.
Galina Gavrilovna Korchuganove, the dark-haired Russian test pilot and World Aerobatic Champion honored at the 2003 International Women in Aviation Conference, died on January 18 and was buried in Moscow, Russia.