71st anniversary of the Doolittle Raid

I shot this video last year, on the 70th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid. That afternoon, twenty-two B-25s flew to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and performed a mass flyover to commemorate the event. Four of the five living Raiders (at the time) were in attendance. Sadly, Maj. Thomas C. Griffin passed away this past February.

Although this is from 2012, I haven't posted the video until now. I thought it would be good to share on this, the 71st anniversary of the infamous raid over Tokyo.

Doolittle Raider, Maj. Thomas C. Griffin, passes away

Maj. Griffin, the navigator on Crew 9 during the infamous Doolittle Tokyo Raid, sadly passed away last night at age 96. Following the raid, he served in North Africa and was later captured by the Germans and remained a POW for nearly two years. Four living Doolittle Raiders remain.

Although we never met in person, I feel lucky to have seen him at the USAF Museum's Doolittle Raiders Reunion events in 2010 and 2012. Godspeed and tailwinds, sir.

In Memoriam: John Lane

If you know anything about aviation in the Dayton/Cincinnati area, you probably have at least heard about John Lane. He flew for decades, served as a Designated Pilot Examiner, was a recipient of the prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, and founded what is known today as Lebanon/Warren County Airport (I68) in 1956. Today we are sad to hear he has passed away at the age of 87.

I met him in person a couple times and have heard countless other stories about his skill and personality. He was at home inside an airplane, an incredible pilot - and was rumored to have occasionally introduced a student to spins in a 172 on their checkrides. Outside the cockpit he was one of the nicest people you have ever met, always friendly and willing to chat. They ran a great article about him in the Cincinnati paper last December - I encourage you to read it.

Blue skies and tailwinds, John.

In the rear seat of the restored 1946 Aeronca Champ sat John Lane, carrying with him virtually the entire history of aviation in Warren County.

Lane, 87, was on board the single prop airplane last summer as license examiner for Alaina Kappner, who was celebrating her 17th birthday by earning her sports pilot license at the Warren County Airport near Lebanon.

There was a circle of life tinge to the pairing of the young schoolgirl and the veteran instructor, who essentially built the airport from scratch – with a little star-power help along the way.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2011/12/05/lane-built-airport-armstrong-put-it-on-map/