Herbert O Fisher 1909-1990

In World War II he went to the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations to train members of the Flying Tigers on C-46 transports and P-40 fighters. Although he was a civilian, Mr. Fisher flew scores of combat missions. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented him the Air Force Air Medal in 1944, making him the first living civilian to receive the honor. Herbert O. Fisher was a test pilot for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in engineering, flight testing, public relations and sales. As chief test pilot, Mr. Fisher tested more than 4,000 military aircraft and helped develop the reversible propeller for use as a brake. He worked for the Port Authority of New York for 23 years. As head of aviation-industry affairs, he evaluated requests for aircraft to use airports in the New York metropolitan region. He retired in 1975.