Website of Col. Walter J. Boyne USAF (Ret)
Profiles of the pilots, commanders, engineers, and visionaries who shaped the history of flight — written by Col. Walter J. Boyne USAF (Ret).
Major General John "Johnny" Alison and Col. Philip Cochran — creators of the First Air Commandos, whose 1944 Operation Thursday glider assault in Burma established the template for every special operations air mission since.
Zantford "Granny" Granville and his brothers — the Springfield, Massachusetts men who built the fastest and most dangerous air-race planes in history, and paid for it with their lives.
The brilliant engineer behind the Gee Bee Super Sportsters — the man who made Doolittle's Thompson Trophy victory possible — and his later work on the MAC-1 and HM-1 "Time Flies".
Medal of Honor recipient, Tokyo Raider, blind-flying pioneer, racing champion, and commander of the 8th Air Force — the most decorated American combat aviator of the 20th century.
Designer of EMSCO transports, the Arctic Tern amphibian, and the HM-1 "Time Flies" for Frank Hawks — a visionary who combined structural excellence with exceptional aesthetic harmony.
Museum director, author, publisher, film producer, and videographer — Fred Johnsen's extraordinary aviation video work captured flight pushed to the absolute edge.
Author of more than 50 books, director of the National Air and Space Museum, nuclear test pilot, Vietnam veteran, and founder of Air & Space magazine — Boyne's own story is among the most remarkable in American aviation.