Capt Charles R. Hall

 

 

Chuck Hall, call sign 'Odin', retired as an international airline captain, flying Boeing 747's, and now has over 30,000 hours of flight time to his credit. His professional career began as a 19 year old airline pilot flying the North Pacific between Alaska and Japan. During his airline career he rose to Vice President of Operations for a major U.S. air carrier. He was Chief Pilot on the L-1011 program for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, during which time he was elected to membership in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He graduated first in his class as an Army Aviator and spent his military career flying helicopters.  He is a graduate of the University of Alaska. Over a span of almost 20 years he participated in the Reno Air Races as an unlimited class race pilot flying various P-51 Mustangs. He won several races and was always a top contender. Today, he is very active in the civilian warbird community and is qualified in many of the former military fighter aircraft in civilian inventory. As a member of the Air Force Heritage Flight Demonstration Team he participates regularly in air shows nation wide with his personal P-51 Mustang

 

On May 25, 1972, veteran test pilots Anthony LeVier and Charles Hall transported 115 crew members, employees, and reporters on a 4-hour, 13- minute flight from Palmdale, California, to Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., with the TriStar’s AFCS feature engaged from takeoff roll to landing. It was a groundbreaking moment: the first cross-country flight without the need for human hands on the controls. Fly-by-wire technology was here to stay.

In August 1972, the TriStar arrived at Luton on August 12 for demonstration to Court Line and Britannia. British Caledonian, British Midland, Dan-Air.The airlines had a chance to inspect the aircraft during flights planned from Gatwick on August 17 and Heathrow the following day. The following week the TriStar left for a tour of Ireland, Denmark, Germany and the Near and Middle East which took the aircraft as far as India before returning to the United Kingdom at the beginning of September for the Farnborough airshow.

 

Lt.Col Michael V Love 1938-1976

 Colonel Michael V. Love in front of the X-24B  research aircraft at Edwards Air Base in 1976. The X-24B was a wingless aircraft designed to test theories for development of space ships that could be flown into space and the land back on Earth. His efforts helped the development of the Space Shuttle program.

Air Force Lt Col Michael Love was born September 26, 1938.   He was a test pilot for a joint NASA-USAF flight test program at the NASA Flight Research Center and test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He was a combat veteran of the Vietnam War and was awarded the distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters.  He perished in the line of duty while attempting an emergency landing in an RF-4C on Rogers dry lake bed on March 1, 1976.