Drury W.Wood 1923-2019

Drury Wood was born in 1923. In 1931,at Atlanta, Drury was taken for a 50 cent ride in a Ford Trimotor by his father, after that, knew instantly what he wanted to do. In 1942 he made his first solo flight in a Piper and graduated to Hellcat and Corsair fighter with the US Marines during World War II from the aircraft carrier Bennington.In the Korean War, Drury fought in the air and on the ground, standing with the 'Chosin Few' in the winter battle at Chosin Reservoir in 1950 where 20,ooo UN troops clashed with 19 times that many Chinese troops.

As a Test Pilot instructor at the US Navy Test Pilot School, Wood had John Glenn for a student. He made the maiden flight of the Douglas A-4B on 26th March 1956.

One of the highlights of Drury's illustrious career, was his involvement with and the maiden flight of the Dornier DO-31 VTOL Transport aircraft. He flew the majority of flights with this aircraft, and set 5 World Records on a flight from Munich to the Paris Airshow in 1969.

In a half century in the air,Drury has flown more than 115 different types of aircraft, and has received many honours including the Kinchloe Award and the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande from the President of the Federal Republic of Germany for the DO-31 program.