Page 8 - Aerotech News and Review, Sept. 21 2018

Hansen barbecue brings test pilots together
by Diane Betzler
staff writer
What started as a friendly gesture more than 20 years ago has become a family tradition for the Hansen family as, Antelope Valley, Calif., residents Al and Cathy Hansen celebrate with the men and women who graduate from local test pi- lot schools.
The Hansens own a hangar at the Mojave Air and Space Port which gives the patriotic couple the room needed to open their doors and pay trib- ute to the graduates for all their hard work and effort.
“We held our first barbecue in 1997 when I ran into some Navy pilots in the pilot’s lounge at the Mojave Airport,” Cathy Hansen recalls.
Hansen said she jokingly asked what the Navy was doing in Air Force land and was told they were doing their qualification flights in civilian aircraft here because the Camarillo airfield was fogged in.
Hansen’s heart went out to the Navy pilots and she invited them all to dinner at her hangar. She told them she’ll buy the steak if they bring the beer. They accepted!
“I called Burt and Tonya Rutan and some of the local pilots and invited them to join us and meet some Navy test pilots. They did and we all had a blast!” Hansen reminisced.
Hansen said a few days later she began receiv- ing inquiries about when the next test pilot dinner was going to take place and says that’s how the tradition began. The Hansens now hold a gradua- tion dinner for test pilot students every September and March.
“I can’t say no to anyone that’s in the military,” she says.
The Sept. 18 event included guest speaker Jim Brown III, vice president/chief operations officer for the National Test Pilot School.
Brown has flight tested the MiG-21 and MiG- 23 Soviet fighters and shared what he’s learned and about the differences between the Russian military jets and American fighters.
Hansen says her reward for holding the dinners for the graduating test pilot students is the joy of meeting so many young men and women from all around the world.
She said in a written statement, “These kids are the greatest and give real hope for the future of the free world.”
Jim Brown III, vice president/chief operations officer of the National Test Pilot School, talks about the MiG 21 and MiG 23 Russian military fighters to a captive audience. Brown pointed out the many differences between the two Russian-built jets and American fighters. He said in order to teach pilots to fly the MIGs, NTPS staff had to rewrite the flight manuals because the Russian style of writing technical orders is not as explicit as Americans are used to.
Future test pilot 2-year-old Benjamin Hammond helps himself to a cold drink after running around the Hansen Hangar during the barbecue dinner honoring test pilot school graduates.
Dr. Allen (Al) Peterson, president and CEO of the National Test Pilot School, chats with veteran pilots Dave Vanhoy and Alan Juspersen during the Hansen Hangar BBQ. When asked what the NTPS is best known for, Peterson said the school’s one-year professional course takes students from pilots to test pilots.
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Photographs by Diane Betzler
From left: National Test Pilot School students Corey Gonder of the Royal Canadian Air Force; Jan Vincent Kleu, German Armed Forces; Kyle Standley, also of the Royal Canadian Air Force; and Jens Meyer enjoy an evening of wonderful food, plenty of drink and meeting fellow test pilot students. The event was held at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif., and was hosted by Al and Cathy Hansen.
Congressman Steve Knight chats with Cathy Hansen before joining test pilot school graduates. The congressman listened to their stories and shared a few of his own stories about life with his father William J. “Pete” Knight, who holds the world’s speed record for flight in a winged powered aircraft.
September 21, 2018
Nigel Speedy, a helicopter instructor at the NTPS in Mojave, Calif., chats with Cathy Hansen at the Hansen Hangar BBQ Tuesday evening.