Jerome M. Riesz is Treasurer of Silver Wings and will serve on the Board thru Dec. '04. Jerry first soloed a Cessna 150 at Cincinnati's Luken Airfield on 17 March 1966. He has a Commercial CFI and serves as Treasurer for the Silver Wings Ohio Chapter. Jerry is a salesman for Bearing Distributors, Inc. selling bearings and power transmission products. He and his wife Nancy live in North Bend, Ohio. http://www.silverwings.org/mailto=

William L. James serves on the Executive Committee as an Appointee and is our Honors and Awards Chairman. Bill will serve on the Board thru Dec. '04. He holds a commercial Pilot's license-Single and Multi-engine Land and also a Commercial Pilot's license for gliders. He is Instrument rated and possesses a Ground Instructor license---Basic, Advanced, and Instrument. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and Retired President of the Fennell Corporation (Manufacturer of metallurgical furnaces and heat processing equipment). Bill also is Retired President of Hi Hard Rolls, Inc., (Manufacturers of rolling mills components) and holds several patents related to the metallurgical industry. Bill is a retired USN officer, aircraft maintenance & engineering and also ordnance. He is an active member of several aviation and aeronautical societies. Bill and his wife Dolores live in San Diego, California.

ADDITIONAL BOARD MEMBERS:

Bill Chana will serve on the Board thru Dec. '05. He is Past President of the San Diego, California Chapter of Silver Wings, Past President of the San Diego Aerospace Museum and a member of OX-5 Aviation Pioneers. Bill is also a Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Bill soloed a Piper Cub at the Allentown-Bethlehem Airport (Pennsylvania) in September 1944 and he proudly wears 50 Year Silver Wings. He began his long aviation career at Consolidated Vultee in 1941 as a test engineer on many bombers and fighters, including the XFY-1 (Pogo) and the XF2Y-1 (Sea Dart). Bill served as the flight test engineer for the XF-92A, the world's first piloted 60-degree delta wing aircraft where he rubbed elbows with Air Force greats Chuck Yeager and Pete Everest. He managed the installation and checkout of Convair Atlas missiles at Fairchild AFB. Bill is a proponent for continued growth in members and chapters, a solid business office, fiscal responsibility, and a strong dedication to purpose. "We must preserve the rich heritage of aviation and promote its future through Silver Wings Youth Programs." Bill and his wife, Norine, live in San Diego, CA.

  Earl F. Fisher, Jr. joins the board of Directors to serve through the end of 2004. Earl organized and is the chairperson of the Carolina Palmetto Silver Wings Chapter. He has been chairman of the Berkeley County Aeronautics Commission (South Caronlina), Past President and current V.P. of EAA Chapter 477 and a member of the Cessna 120/140 Association and South Carolina Association. In the late 1940's he was a member of the experimental flight test crews on the Convair XF-92A, Republic XF-91 and later a Flight Test Coordinator with Hughes Aircraft Corp. on the YF-12A Blackbird, SR-71 prototype. Earl operated Pancho Barnes Airport (California) and soloed a J-3 Cub there in 1948. He logged over 6,100 hours in a single, multi-engine and glider aircraft. He built and operated Fisher Ranch Airport. Earl served in the Korean War in 1952-53 as a L-19 Birdog ground crewman and often flew the backseat to fill-in. He has promoted pilot safety, comraderie and encouraged youths to seek careers in Aerospace industries. Earl resides in Charleston with his wife Hoy and family.

Joseph (Bud) O'Brien is a director whose term will expire in December 2006. Bud is proud to have earned his 50 year Silver Wings lapel emblem, first soloed while he was in High School at Harlem Airport on the southwest side of Chicago in a Piper J5A Cub. He received his Private Pilot's license a year later on his seventeenth birthday and moved to Orchard Place (now O'Hare Field) and then up to Palwaukee Airport near Wheeling Illinois. After serving time as an Artillery Officer during the Korean conflict, Bud received his Commercial, Certified Flight Instructor , Instrument and Instrument Instructors ratings at Palwaukee. Bud had extensive cross country time delivering and picking up used airplanes for a local dealer. He spent many years as a CFI and later as chief pilot for Sally's flying school also at Palwaukee. Bud also retired as Senior Vice President of the Strombecker Corporation, a maker of models and toys. Presently he serves as a director and founding member of the Illinois Chapter Silverwings.

Barbara Evans obtained her pilot's license in 1948 and has been a member of the 99s for 53 years and joined Silver Wings under Russ Brinkley in 1976. She wears 50 Years Silver Wings. She chaired the 1997 and 2000 Powder Puff Derby Reunions and Co-Chaired the one in San Diego in conjunction with the Silver Wing Convention in 2002. Barbara and her husband, Ed, live in Danville, CA.

     Merlyn Franck has been a member of the Civil Air Patrol since 1965 and is a Charter Member and the current President of the Gulf Coast Silver Wings Chapter.