Posted on 08/04/2004 9:39:16 AM PDT by BenLurkin
LANCASTER - Lancaster's 15th annual Aerospace Walk of Honor festivities - set for the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - will combine honors for those who served in the skies above the Antelope Valley with remembrance of that tragic day and its significance. "Three years ago, on Sept. 11, the United States was attacked by terrorists in a way we never imagined," Mayor Frank Roberts said.
"In the weeks, months and now years since the attacks, Americans have been reminded of the liberty that we enjoy and the price it costs to preserve that liberty."
With the Lancaster Aviation Faire and Walk of Honor ceremonies on Sept. 11, residents may "come together as a community to remember those who lost their lives and those who continue to place themselves at risk to protect us from terrorism today," Roberts said.
Among the special Patriot Day features at the street fair this year will be a Reflection Pavilion, a quiet tent where visitors may stop to reflect on the significance of the day. With a military veteran, firefighter and police officer playing host, the tent will house a description and drawings of the memorial to be built at Ground Zero in New York City and a memory book that will become part of the city's annual remembrance.
The five new inductees to receive plaques at Boeing Plaza will join 70 others already honored for their achievements in flight test and their extraordinary accomplishments in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base and the Antelope Valley.
Following a 15-year career as a Navy fighter and test pilot, Thomas Morgenfeld led the way in developing some of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' most secret projects, including more than 20 years with the F-117 stealth fighter.
He also piloted the first flights of the YF-22A - the precursor to the F/A-22 Raptor - and the X-35A joint strike fighter, and he eventually piloted all three versions of the X-35.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Morgenfeld flew 120 combat missions in Southeast Asia and made 500 carrier landings before retiring as a captain in the Naval Reserves. He later flew as a member of the Air Force Flight Test Center's 6513th Test Squadron at Edwards, before joining the famed Lockheed Skunk Works.
Morgenfeld is a Fellow and past president of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and has received the McKenna Trophy and SETP's Iven C. Kincheloe Award. He has been part of two Collier Trophy teams. He has 7,000 hours at the controls of more than 70 different kinds of aircraft.
The Buffalo, N.Y., native now lives in Camarillo with his wife, Norma.
Retired Air Force Col. Joseph W. Rogers set the world speed record for single-engine airplanes in 1959 when he piloted an F-106A Delta Dart to 1,525 mph over Edwards, a record that still stands 45 years later.
Rogers, 80, flew 300 combat missions over Korea and Vietnam in P-51 Mustangs, P-80 Shooting Stars and F-4 Phantoms.
When Time magazine named "America's Fighting Man" as its Man of the Year for 1950, Capt. "Whistling Joe" Rogers was noted by Air Force personnel for his trick of barrel-rolling when he came in for a strafing run and the time he attached a whistle to one wing to scare the enemy, earning his nickname.
In his test-pilot career, Rogers helped develop the F-86D Sabre and F-102/F-106 weapons systems before joining the SR-71/YF-12 test force, where he eventually became test director.
Rogers was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit and the Air Medal with 16 Oak Leaf Clusters. A Fellow of SETP, he also has received the Thompson Trophy and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale De La Vaulx medal.
With 13,000 hours in more than 50 aircraft, the Ohio native now lives in Healdsburg, Calif.
Retired Air Force Col. Roger J. Smith was the first Air Force pilot assigned to the F-15 program and led much of the workhorse fighter's early development.
He recalls as one of his fondest memories a flight on Sept. 27, 1972, when he was taxiing back from his first F-15 flight and passed William J. "Pete" Knight taxiing out for his first such flight.
A tactical fighter pilot in the F-100, F-105, A-37 and F-15 aircraft, Smith flew 203 combat missions over Southeast Asia. A 1965 graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards, he returned to the base in 1969 after his combat tour.
Smith served as deputy test director for the F-15 until 1975, attaining several firsts in the aircraft. He took the aircraft to Bitburg Air Base in Germany, where he commanded the first F-15 squadron in Europe from 1977 to 1979.
An SETP Fellow, Smith received the Mackay Trophy in 1975. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Air Medal with 19 Oak Leaf Clusters, and has logged more than 6,000 hours in more than 45 types of aircraft.
The 69-year-old Ohio native lives in Fort Walton, Fla., with his wife, Marilyn.
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Richard H. Truly's astronaut career spanned the Apollo programs to the space shuttle, including the first night shuttle launch and landing. He flew the shuttle approach and landing tests at Edwards in 1977 and piloted the second shuttle mission aboard Columbia in 1981.
Following his active astronaut career, Truly returned in 1986 to NASA, where he led the Challenger accident investigation and spearheaded return-to-flight efforts, rebuilding the shuttle program.
He served as NASA administrator from 1986 to 1992.
A member of SETP, the Astronaut Hall of Fame and a Golden Eagle, Truly's awards include the Presidential Citizen's Medal, SETP's Iven C. Kincheloe and James H. Doolittle Awards, two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and two Space Flight Medals, two Legions of Merit, a Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, two Collier Trophies, two Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophies, a Federation Aeronautique Internationale Gold Space Medal, Harmon International Trophy and the Thomas D. White Space Trophy.
Born in Fayette, Miss., in 1937, Truly now lives with his wife Colleen "Cody" Hanner Truly, in Golden, Colo., where he is director of the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Inspired by Charles Lindbergh's historic flight, Joseph John "Tym" Tymczyszyn pocketed money he was supposed to use for violin lessons to take airplane rides in his native eastern Pennsylvania.
From these humble beginnings, he went on to a diverse career testing airline transports, military fighters, general-aviation airplanes, helicopters and navigation systems.
Tymczyszyn is best known for his work as the Federal Aviation Administration's project pilot on America's first two jet transports, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.
He also headed the FAA's West Coast Supersonic Transport Office and later flew into the wake turbulence of various airplanes and helicopters to determine safe separation distances between aircraft.
At Edwards, Tymczyszyn set major milestones while testing the Boeing 707, 747, Douglas DC-3 through -10, the Convair 340 through 990, all Lockheed Constellation models and the Lockheed Electra.
Tymczyszyn received the first SETP Iven C. Kincheloe Award with James Gannett for testing the Boeing 707. He also received the Octave Chanute Award, Richard Hansford Burroughs Flight Safety Award, Flight Safety Foundation Award and Aviation Week and Space Technology Laurels.
Born in Wilkes Barre, Penn., in August 1918, Tymczyszyn died Feb. 19, 1999. He is survived by his wife Sease (Gwendolyn) and five sons, all pilots.
Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, the free Aviation Faire will feature displays of aircraft, rocket engines and models. Budding pilots may try their hands at the controls of aircraft simulators, and many pilots will be available for autographs.
The fair takes place along Sierra Highway, just north of Lancaster Boulevard and adjacent to Boeing Plaza, where the five newest members of the Aerospace Walk of Honor will be honored at ceremonies beginning at 11 a.m.
The day's events will be capped with the traditional black-tie gala banquet at Park Plaza Convention Center that evening.
Tickets for the banquet are $75 per person and may be purchased at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center box office, (661) 723-5950.
FIVE TO JOIN WALK - Acting City Manager Dennis Davenport announces the honorees for this year's Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster during a press conference Tuesday afternoon at Boeing Plaza on Lancaster Boulevard at Sierra Highway. Walk of Honor festivities will be Sept. 11, at 11 a.m. A free aviation fair will begin at 10 a.m. JENNIFER X. HERNANDEZ/Valley Press
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