Leadership

Executive Committee Officers

James “Jim” McCarthy is the President of the Silver Wings Fraternity for the 2011-2012 term, and he will serve on the National Board of Directors through October, 2014.

    Jim’s first solo was in a Piper Cherokee 140 in February, 1969 in Columbia, MO. After graduating  from the University of Missouri with an engineering degree, Jim entered active duty in the US Air Force serving in Southeast Asia where he accumulated 234 combat missions, including 71 over North Viet Nam, and over 400 combat hours in the F-4 Phantom. He retired from the Air Force at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1992 having logged over 2,500 hours in the Phantom. He then worked as an Aerospace Engineer for McDonnell Douglas, now The Boeing Company. He held a variety of engineering and management positions over his career, and at retirement was the Engineering Liaison to the Navy F/A-18 Program Office. Jim has accumulated over 5,000 hours of flying time, and holds a Commercial Pilot Certificate with SEL, MEL and Instrument ratings. He is also a Certificated Flight Instructor/Instrument, and he earned an A&P Certificate in 2007. Jim flies regularly for pleasure and personal travel.

Charles “Don” Fairbanks is Vice President of the Silver Wings Fraternity for the 2011-2012 term, and he will serve on the National Board of Directors through October, 2012.

     Don was a World War II 30-mission B-24 tail gunner who soloed an Aeronca at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1944 while on leave, and today proudly wears his 50 Year Gold lapel wings. In 1957 he started a flight training company, and later enjoyed a long career as a biplane race pilot. Don has logged over 32,000 hours, with 15,000 of them as an instructor. He has flown 215 different makes and models of aircraft, both fixed-wing and helicopter. Don holds ATP and Gold Seal Flight Instructor Certificates in Single-Engine Land and Sea, Multi-Engine Land, and in Rotorcraft. He raced his own airplane in 87 biplane races from 1971 to 1988. Today, Don and his wife Pat operate Cardinal Helicopter Training in Batavia, Ohio. Don also wrote ONCE AROUND THE PATCH, which is a great title for a flier's story. He and his wife Pat have a long record of service to aviation and the Fraternity.

Janice Hughes is Secretary of the Silver Wings Fraternity for the 2011-2012 term, and she will serve on the National Board of Directors through October, 2013.

     Janice is a resident of Enterprise, Alabama, earned her MBA in Accounting from Troy University, and manages her family business, while being active in Open Door Baptist Church and Pilot International. She is currently serving as President of the Luncheon Pilot Club of Enterprise. She received Private Pilot instruction and soloed in 1983, and her Certificate in 1990, and flies for fun. Janice visited the Silver Wings Fraternity Hospitality Center, at the Sun n’ Fun International Fly-In & Expo, for the first time in 2009. She immediately saw the benefits of membership, and is now volunteering her time and energy in support of the Fraternity. Janice was also the Coordinator and Host for the 2011 Annual Convention/Reunion that took place in Enterprise, Alabama on October 13-16, 2011.

Thomas “Tom” Menefee is Treasurer of the Silver Wings Fraternity for the 2011-2012 term, and he will serve on the National Board of Directors through October, 2014.

    Tom worked in positions of authority in both the private and public sectors, and recently retired from the US Postal Service. He enlisted in the US Naval Reserve in 1965 and was trained as an Air Traffic Controller. After completing college, he re-entered the Navy and began Naval Flight Training where he soloed in the T-34 and flew the T-28, and Bell Jet Ranger and Huey helicopters. Tom is a member of the EAA, and he helped his local chapter renovate a Stits Playboy in 2011. Tom is currently pursuing a Light Sport Pilot certificate.

Walter “Walt” Baker is the Immediate Past President of the Silver Wings Fraternity, and will serve on the National Board of Directors through October, 2012.

     Walt served our nation in the US Navy during three wars: World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam; and retired from the Navy in 1969. His flying experiences stem from his first solo in an Aeronca Champion in 1947 at Ravenwood, West Virginia. Other aircraft flown are the Aeronca Chief, Aerocoupe, Piper J-3 Cub, Cessna 172, and the PT-19. He earned his Private Pilot Certificate in 1947. Walt is proud to wear his 50 Year Gold lapel wings. When asked to describe his proudest moment in aviation, his response will be: “When I took my 75 year old grandfather on his first venture into the atmosphere.” Chuck Yeager is Walt’s idol as he is from Walt’s home state, West Virginia, and has accomplished so much for aviation.

Additional Board Members

Raymond Hicks is a former President of the Silver Wings Fraternity, and he will serve on the National Board of Directors through October, 2013.

    Ray soloed a Taylorcraft BC-12D in 1950, and he proudly wears his 50 Year Gold lapel wings. He has flown many General Aviation aircraft including the Piper J-3 Cub, Ercoupe, Cessna 140 through 172, Hawk-XP, Stearman, and the T-6. While serving in the Air National Guard during the Korean War, Ray was recalled to active duty in the US Air Force. Ray is Past President of the Bell Aero Club, and active in several aviation organizations in the Atlanta area. He now owns and flies a Mooney M20F Executive. Ray retired from BellSouth in 1991 after 46 years of service. He and his wife, Betty, reside in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Ray Bell is Chaplain of the Silver Wings Fraternity, and he will serve on the National Board of Directors through October, 2014.

    Ray grew up on a farm in Lee County, South Carolina. At the start of World War Two he worked at the Charleston Navy Yard where he met his future wife, Betty, before joining the US Army Air Corps. His two older brothers were in the 8th Air Force and each flew 35 missions over Europe. Ray was trained to fly the P-38 Lightning, and he flew the B-25 Bomber training navigators and airborne radar operators with the 4th Air Force. He took his flight training in Arizona, Colorado and California, and on VJ day was stationed at Luke Field in Phoenix, Arizona along with a squadron of Chinese pilots that were flying P-40s.

    After his wartime service he returned to South Carolina where he completed his BA degree in History at Furman University, then attended law school at the University of Virginia. He entered the insurance business after college and enjoyed a career in insurance, real estate, and other businesses including a dealership for Mooney Aircraft Corporation.

    Ray is Past Commander of the Flying Fezz unit of the Yaarab Shrine Temple, and he is currently Chaplain of the Georgia Chapter of the Silver Wings Fraternity. He joined The Flying Octogenarians on his 80th birthday and still has an active pilots license at the age of 87. On August 16, 2006 Ray received the FAA "Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award" for 50 years of accident-free continuous flying. His son and grandson are also active pilots. Son Bill is President of the Georgia Chapter of the Silver Wings Fraternity, and grandson Billy is a Boeing 777 pilot with Cathay Pacific Airlines based in Hong Kong, China. Ray owns a private grass airstrip at his mountain home at Cloudland, Georgia,

Appointed Staff Members

Chaplain - Ray Bell, Atlanta, Georgia.

Cottage Manager - James Porter, PE, Clearwater, Florida.

Legal Advisor - Thomas Geygan, Cincinnati, Ohio.