Page 1 - Aerotech News and Review 8-21-15

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CZ-JOEB,$3FZOPMET the fabric. “I should have just put duct tape over
staff writer
it,” joked Schultz.
Todd Schultz shared his love of collecting and
restoring vintage vehicles including his Schweizer “Todd learned to work on all sorts of mechani-
1-26B glider-sailplane during Plane Crazy Sat- FDOWKLQJVE\EXLOGLQJDQGÀ\LQJPRGHODLUFUDIW
urday recently, the monthly event sponsored by GXULQJKLJKVFKRROLQFOXGLQJUHVWRULQJKLV¿UVWFDU
Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation at the
Mojave Air and Space port. — a 1960 Studebaker Hawk. This has snowballed

“Flying is in his blood, he didn’t have a chance into quite a collection,” says his mother who has
to do anything else,” laughed Cathy Hansen, a
family friend and fellow pilot as she introduced also authored several books including Pancho: A
the Chief Pilot for Golden State Air Charter. His
parents, Phil and Barbara, and his brother Scott biography of Florence Lowe Barnes” and “Flying
are also pilots.
Carpets, Flying Wings.”
“Todd grew up like we would all like to—hav-
ing our own airport,” said Hansen. Between life, owning his own printing shop

“My father took me to Cal City for glider les- and other projects, meticulously and piece by
sons and I soloed around the age of 14 or 15,”
explained Schultz. After attending college and piece Schultz took seven years to complete his
becoming an instructor pilot, he began searching
for a sailplane that was cheap and easy to restore. Schweizer 1-26B.

Inspired by the Walt Disney movie, The Boy His first flight of the rebuilt sailplane took
Who Flew with Condors, Schultz found a sail-
plane in Silver Springs, Nev. It was just supposed place on Memorial Day in Tehachapi at the Vin-
to be a simple recover and paint job but the previ-
ous owner tried to remove the paint by sanding tage Soaring Association’s Western Regatta — the
VDPHSODFH'LVQH\¿OPHGThe Boy Who Flew with

Condors.
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a long time to do a good job and even though I
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been happy that all the details may not have been

perfect.”

Worth the wait — Pilot Todd Schultz shared his experiences in restoring a Schweizer 1-26B glider- Photograph by Linda KC Reynolds
sailplane during Plane Crazy, the monthly event sponsored by Mojave Transportation Museum
Foundation at the Mojave Air and Space port.

JetHawks baseball team honors Jerry Ross

by Jay Levine “What I enjoyed most was hearing about all the exciting pro- NASA photograph by Ken Ulbrich
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center grams that are being done here,” Ross said. “You hear that NASA
is not much into aviation anymore, but I think the tour here dis- Former astronaut Jerry Ross successfully makes a ceremonial
Former NASA astronaut Jerry Ross is a seven-time space shut- proved that. There is still exciting and important work that will ¿UVWSLWFKHVDWDEDVHEDOOJDPHWKDWKRQRUHGKLVDFFRPSOLVKPHQWV
tle mission veteran and nine times walked into the void of space. EHQH¿WQRWMXVW1$6$DQGFRPPHUFLDODYLDWLRQEXWWKHDUPHG
forces as well.”
The U.S. Air Force and NASA have recognized him dozens of
WLPHVIRUKLVH[FHOOHQFHDQGFRQWULEXWLRQVWRKXPDQVSDFHÀLJKW “I think UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] work is very impor-
Ross earned an honorary doctorate from Purdue University and he tant because it appears that’s the way a lot of programs are going,”
even has an elementary school named after him in his hometown he explained. “Being able to enhance and build upon what has
of Crown Point, Ind. already been accomplished is important, but also it is critically
important that we operate UASs and human-piloted aircraft in the
1RZ 5RVV KDV D EREEOH KHDG ¿JXUH LQ KLV OLNHQHVV DV ZHOO same airspace safely.”
thanks to the Lancaster JetHawk’s baseball team and its sponsors
that honored him at the Aerospace Appreciation Night Aug. 9. With seven missions to space, he can’t pick one as his favorite,
The JetHawks are a Single A Advanced California League team. EXWKHGLGDFNQRZOHGJHWKDWWKHHDUOLHUÀLJKWVSURYLGHGPRUHWLPH
to look out the window.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Ross said. “That’s all pretty cool.
It will probably be the only one [bobble head] made of me.” “They were all interesting and rewarding,” Ross explained. “It’s
like asking a mother which of her seven children is her favorite.
Karen Ross, his wife, said the bobble head is especially mean- I enjoyed some of earlier missions more than later ones because
ingful because, “he loves baseball so much and this is a big honor.” the schedule was more relaxed. I launched three communication
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Ross is familiar with the community where the JetHawks play, STS-61B, but there was time to realize that I was in space and
as he graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Ed- view the Earth from a God’s-eye view.”
wards Air Force Base, Calif. While on active military duty at
Edwards, Ross had key engineering and management roles in the /DWHUÀLJKWVZHUHHYHQPRUHSDFNHGZLWKZRUNDQGDOORZHG
B-1 Lancer program. As an astronaut, he landed four times at less time to look out the window as assembly of the International
Edwards from space missions. He also was at NASA Armstrong Space Station began as well as missions aboard the Russian Mir
Flight Research Center (then Dryden) at Edwards for the 1977 ap- Space Station.
proach and landing tests of the Space Shuttle Enterprise prototype
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747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. À\RQDQDLUSODQHGXULQJDIDPLO\YDFDWLRQDQGYLHZHG&KLFDJR
from up above.
Ross was welcomed to NASA Armstrong and the Air Force Test
Center earlier in the day. At Armstrong, he was introduced to the See ASTRONAUT, Page 3
center’s latest projects and programs.

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